Any truth to the rumor that the coogs are dropping us for OU next Sept? Some of their message boards have talking about it?
That would be a surprise ... don't think they would do it ... on second thought ... let's get a petition to get Skip to throw the Houston game in the crapper ... We could invite Bulleye and his Dwarf coach Stoops over for some more Louisiana hospitality
Yep, there's an article in the Houston Chronicle about it this morning. They want to go to OU instead coming to Baton Rouge. If we allow this to happen, this is complete BS. The Va Tech thing was bad enough, but at least that situation was more about money than anything else. From the article, they simply say they want to play Big 12 teams. I would tell them "sorry maybe next year." Although not a powerhouse, they are an improving team and went to a bowl game this past season. Would be good for our strength of schedule. We got lucky being able to schedule Oregon State to replace Va Tech, but I'm not sure lightning will strike twice. I can already see Southeast Alaska A&M coming in here on that date. If this is going to continue to happen why schedule so far in advance anyway? If it does happen, it will mean all three non-conference games will be different from the original schedule. Original: Va Tech Houston ULM Revised: Oregon St Southeast Alaska A&M Troy State
This would be terrible but if they drop us we can't do anything about it except have them pay the cancellation fee, which is not very much since this was before we upped the fee this year. Can't remember how much Raddovich said it was for VA Tech but it was pretty low, not enough to really discourage a team from backing out. Then all of the media will try and trash us again just like last season. I really hope we go public in a big way if they ARE trying to get out of this game.
How would you feel about more of a standardized schedule for non-conference games? To do this, all of the BCS conferences need to expand to 12 teams and permananently expand the season to 12 games. Then you would play teams in the other conferences based on order of finish from the previous year. Now I'm not suggesting doing exactly what the NFL does (i.e. last place teams getting an easier schedule, first place teams more difficult), but something where at least there would be no bias. For example (this is just a prototype): Divide the six BCS conferences into two divisions...remember this is for scheduling only...not for playoffs, BCS standings etc. Division A PAC 10 Big 12 SEC Division B Big 10 ACC Big East SEC #1 vs Pac 10 #1 Home SEC #1 vs Big 12 #4 Away SEC #1 vs Pac 10 #8 Away SEC #1 vs Big 12 #12 Home Then you would just rotate every year or every other year...ie. switch to playing the Big 12#1, Pac10 #4, etc. You would need a computer for all the combinations and some years things might be skewed if a conference was having an off year. Obviously it would still involve some luck of the draw. But at least you wouldn't have teams backing out all the time.
I doubt you could ever get the conferences to agree on something like that but it would be interesting to see if they could. At least the article in the Houdston paper says "if LSU can find another opponent", maybe they won't back out if the game if we don't find a suitable replacement. Also, can't believe they don't have lights good enough for a night game on T.V., damn, I remember LSU getting better lighting for that back in the 70's.
If you recall the days before the East Upper, ESPN used to add lighting in the SW corner of the endzone. Don't tell me it can't be done. I was blinded for years by those darn ESPN lights. Since the new upper, and new lighting, there is now sufficient lighting to meet ESPNs requirements. Roll in those extra lights boys!!!
things could still work out nicely for us. due to the Big East/ACC lovefest free-for-all, there are still several schools there who may have some scheduling problems (more likely in the Big East). so maybe we pick up someone like Syracuse instead of Houston. I believe that's a huge improvement. I also read somewhere (no link and not much credibility, bc it may have been another board) that Houston most likely wouldn't want to pull any nasty stunts with us because of our other ties to them in baseball and basketball. (that sounds plausible). and as somebody already said, the Chronicle article stated the change "IF" LSU could schedule someone else. so if Houston wants to do some legwork for us and help us upgrade our opponent I'm all for it. it could become one nasty schedule though. also: the Houston situation is just as much about money also. if you read the rest of the article they talk about them wanting to move their game against Miami in Reliant Stadium to a Thurs night on ESPN, that's all about money.
U Of H doesnt draw that many fans at home. If we could replace them with a syracuse i'm for that. Geaux Tigers
I don't know, I heard SE A A&M was an up and coming program in the same mold as Marshall 6 or 7 years ago.
