I agree. There are plenty of programs that we could play that wouldn't be too difficult for our team but would look a hell of a lot better on our schedule. When you're playing someone and my initial reaction is, "they have a football team?", it's not good. Any of the service academies, Maryland, Stanford, Rutgers, NC State, Washington, Pitt, Virginia, TCU, Boston College, BYU, Northwestern....there's a long list.
Come to think of it, if having games against teams from the Dallas market is indeed an angle for our recruiting, I wonder why we don't schedule SMU or Baylor?? ...then again, programs like SMU and Baylor (i.e. schools from mid-major and major conferences) will be looking for a "home-and-home" or "2 for 1" deal whereas North Texas wants nothing more in return than a nice payday and the bottom line with that is that LSU gets more HOME games, reguardless of whether people view them as good matchups or not. It's simply one more game that the school can provide it's fan base with.
The article was a bit confusing. It didn't really say what they are going to do with Troy State, but I just assumed they are moving them to a different date next season because of this comment: We had two openings before the North Texas announcement.
I seriously doubt that a date can be filled with a better opponent that near in advance...would need to be searching for teams to play us in '09 or later to get a decent matchup... And I am seriously looking forward to the USM game in '09! (although, technically, they OWN us!! )
This has already been said but deserves an analogy: Step 1. Have cake Step 2. Eat it too LSU will have to agree to more home and away series to get the mid-majors in period. However, this NT scheduling doesn't fall into this category because of short notice. I would love to see more Boise State, TCU, Utah thrown in the mix since they or whomever else it is this/that year have earned reps for being darkhorses. But you have to accept the risk of a loss since that is what the game is really about opposed to being a lock for beauty pageant polling. Later tirk, Fur
What you guys are missing is that North Texas has hired the great Texas HS coaching legend Todd Dodge as HC. You're right, it will still be a bad game... http://sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9966543 The rest is fog because on Christmas Day, Dodge was still coach of the seven-time state champion Southlake (Texas) Carroll High Dragons. The next day, he was 20 miles down the road, in charge of his own Division I-A program. One of a handful of high school coaches who have ever made the jump to college head coach. Maybe the only one who left better facilities and a better program behind. Southlake has an indoor facility. North Texas has some fine indoor lighting. Southlake is 79-1 the last five years. North Texas won the Sun Belt five years ago, finishing 5-7. Southlake has won 48 consecutive games and three straight state titles in a row. Last month's victory over the school his father-in-law used to coach (Austin Westlake) made it four titles in five years and state-record tying seven overall. Dodge packed up his whistle having gone 98-11 in seven years in a place where high school numbers like that mean more than in any other state.
North Texas not too long ago was a perennial bowl team from the Sun Belt. They had the nation's leading rusher two years in a row if i remember correctly, and they were different players. I'm thinking its around the time they were a bowl team that we scheduled them...
Fellers, it ain't about rousing matchups and it ain't about boring blowouts. It's about money. A few comments: Fact -- LSU football funds itself and the entire athletic department. Fact -- LSU football must have seven home games to cover costs and eight to make money. Fact -- In a 12-game season, LSU must play four SEC road games. That leaves the eight desired home games of which 4 must be SEC teams. Consider -- If LSU schedules one major OOC opponent who demands a home-and-home, then LSU will have a 7-game season every other year. Not optimum, but acceptable. Then consider -- If LSU schedules a second major OOC opponent, it will mean LSU will have 7 home games every year, which is problematic. Scheduling a third such team would mean a 6-game home season in odd years, which is unacceptable financially. Therefore -- It is essential to LSU athletics that LSU schedule three football opponents at home who do not demand a return engagement. Conclusion -- Small schools have their place in Division I. They get some exposure to the big time and some money for their program while the major schools get to make their budgets by having more tickets to sell. Note -- Any contender who loads up on major opponents is not only guaranteeing himself a poor record, but their program will go bankrupt at the same time.
Red, you're counting Tulane as an away game every other year, when in fact we get the lion's share of the ticket sales. It's not a true away game, financially speaking. Prior to expanding to 12 regular season games, Skip said 7 home games were needed to make money, not to break even. Now we add another regular season game and we need 8 to make money? Add the Tulane financial deal and it's more like 8.5 home games. I agree it's only about money with Skip. We'll see if the next AD continues that philosophy.
You guys want a "worthy" opponent who will come to LSU every year? Think about So. Miss............they have been going to Bama for years with no return game. Their motto is "anybody, anywhere, anytime." And they pretty much mean it. You will not be downgraded much if any. If they get by Tenn. early this year, they could go unbeaten. (at Tenn. of course) But if they are scheduled, expect a game. Even in the sixties, USM was looked down on compared to SEC. But everyone who played them knew that they could be down by 30, late in the fourth quarter, and they would still knock your jock off. It's still like that. Why do you think Ole Miss and MSU refuse to schedule them? If they get beat, everyone around here laughs and says "you let USM beat you..........and you call yourself SEC?" You win and they say "great...you beat a USA team. Big deal!" And think about how bad that could hurt recruiting. Seems like there is nothing to gain and a lot to lose. You may beat USM but you WILL NOT INTIMIDATE THEM............ They are the kind of team that if you beat them after four quarters, they want to know if you want to play another quarter......................
