Because if you're going to play an FCS team most years (and we are) then you want to play FCS teams that bring in a good gate.
When we're getting left out of access bowls, that'll be the time to start worrying about our scheduling. I think we're ok for the moment.
Past that, while FCS schools are very much not all equally difficult to beat, I think the general public and even the committee will just lump them all together. If we're playing an FCS team at all (and we will be in most years) there is no sense in trying to split hairs for SOS purposes. It just gets filed under "FCS team" no matter whether you played North Dakota State or Mississippi Valley State.
I do not diagree with any of the posts so far, ULL has huge crowds when they play Southern. My only concern is that we historically play down to inferior programs ( and not just NLU)-we struggled against Grambling in Shreveport and lost to a i-aa team a few years ago. One thing for sure, ALL of us have to not take game as win ahead of time!
We've certainly done some of this to ourselves and passed on good chances for decent home games, but it really is hard to get home games.
P5 teams do not like to travel. And if they are going to travel, most of them are going to do neutral site games against other big names. Yeah, we can all name good games that we've had or should have had, and can think of examples of other G5 schools with decent home games, but the exception basically proves the rule. Those games are exceptions.
We've done ok with other G5 teams over the last 10 years or so, but it's not like we can just pick whomever we want. We've got to work with our conference schedule, their conference schedule, their willingness to play, our other commitments, their other commitments, etc. Not to mention the fact that several of what would have been good OOC teams until recently are now conference games. And what would be an awesome G5 OOC series anyway? Houston or SMU are close. Tulsa and Memphis are not terribly far. Boise and UCF have some history with us and have been really good recently. After that. . .
I actually think that general fandom tends to go too far in the opposite direction of what you suggest. I think (based on years of reading this board) that we've all become so used to NCAA football simulators on PlayStation that we think scheduling is a piece of cake and can't fathom why we don't just call up Arkansas and Notre Dame and play them in Ruston whenever we feel like it. It's fun to talk about dream schedules every off-season on the internet, but I really wonder about how our fan version of how this stuff works matches up with reality.
LOL... Guess you didn't attend many GSU games. Yes, the concessions at the half will be busy, just not from the jazillion Southern fans who are supposed to attend. Happens all the time. Football team wonders where the crowd went in the 3rd quarter.
Louisiana Tech University
Flagship of the University of Louisiana System
DG, TMac and SH listen to our fan base.
Home and home gives up the big paycheck for one and done. It's all about budget and not about best fan-attractive home schedule.
I have been screaming this for years! Excellent choice for a state FCS visitor to Aillet.
WELL DONE!!!!
Love it! I think we should play Southern every four years in Ruston. Grambling, too.
It is a great move. Tech Football & athletics in general should have a positive economic impact on the local economy. Packed restaurants and hotels are welcomed by the local merchants. Plus Southern's band will make halftime more entertaining. Besides Southern & Grambling, we should add Alcorn & Jackson State in that rotation. Their fans travel well also.
I disagree with the call. Harms the rep we are building. If all you want is a full house play the JUCO while they're hot or semi-hot and their fans will come, too (as long as LSU is playing) and I a not advocating playing them, either, really. Oh hell, even LSPOO plays McNeese every not and then.
Guys, you do realize this is Southern, don't you???? The way you all are going crazy, you would have thought we signed the NE Patriots to come to Ruston!!!!
I am not so concerned with how many people a team will bring of their fans, but rather how many 'on the fence' Tech fans we pull in!!!! I just don't think that the folks in SBC, Monroe or even the Homer or Minden folks will come running to see us play the Jags!!!! Band or no band...........
For the opening of the SEZ project, we should have done a better job of planning and gotten a bigger name.
IMHO