Thoughts on our nonconference scheduling.

[mstatefan88]

I know Slive has made a big stink about SEC teams beefing up their nonconference schedule, but I don't have a problem with us having one of, if not the weakest nonconference schedules over the coming years. We are in a tricky spot right now. We are trying to get ourselves on the national scene, but this program still needs win. We aren't competing for BCS titles, we are trying to get8 to 10wins a year consistently.

A couple of losses to some bigger name teams could do more damage to this team than good. I think we should schedule some lower to middle BCS teams in for the future, especially in the years USA gets added to the Sun Belt because they are still like a DivII team.But I think a nonconference schedule loaded with La Tech, Bowling Green, Troy, and USA is ok for our program for now. Any thoughts?

 

[mstatefan88]

I know Slive has made a big stink about SEC teams beefing up their nonconference schedule, but I don't have a problem with us having one of, if not the weakest nonconference schedules over the coming years. We are in a tricky spot right now. We are trying to get ourselves on the national scene, but this program still needs win. We aren't competing for BCS titles, we are trying to get8 to 10wins a year consistently.

A couple of losses to some bigger name teams could do more damage to this team than good. I think we should schedule some lower to middle BCS teams in for the future, especially in the years USA gets added to the Sun Belt because they are still like a DivII team.But I think a nonconference schedule loaded with La Tech, Bowling Green, Troy, and USA is ok for our program for now. Any thoughts?

 

[tenureplan]

Back to back cotton bowls while having the weakest non-conference schedule in the SEC. Unless you are vying for an at large BCS spot, this is absolutely the right move.

 

[57stratdawg]

I realize we had a rough run at things with WV and GT, but I dont mind. I'd like to see us playing ACC schools or Big Ten schools. I think it'd be cool to see MSU playing at Iowa or having Clemson come to Starkville.

I like it 1 BCS school and 3 cupcakes.

Clemson, Memphis, Duke, Middle Tenn

 

[ckDOG]

Until we get to the point where we are a legit potential BCS team, there's no reason for us to beef up the schedule. I'll take an easier path to 8-9 wins a season right now, build the program in the process, then worry about style points later. If Slive wants to ***** about us having an easy schedlue being in the SEC West of all places, that's just one more item to add to the "17 Mike Slive" list.

 

[FISHDAWG]

.

 

[Coach34]

I dont remember him saying it about football

 

[maroonmania]

especially the SEC West, I don't give a rat's behind about having a tough game out of the league. ESPECIALLY when we are not getting to play Vandy or a rather down Tennessee program from the East. Half of our games will still be against teams that will be ranked during most of the year (LSU, Aub, AL, Ark, GA, SC).

 

[SyonaraStanz]

MSU vs. any of these CUSA schools has alot less appeal than MSU vs. a decent BCS school.

Less appeal means less asses in the seats and less money on game day.</p>

 

[maroonmania]

on Louisiana Tech's rear end this year.

 

[mstatefan88]

Teams like Bama and LSU need these tougher games to beef up their resume for a national title. If we were a legit title contender, then we should do the same. But we will have to fight very hard this year to get to .500 in SEC play this year, so making our nonconference schedule harder at this point just doesn't make sense to me. I enjoyed playing Ga Tech and WV, and under Mullen we probably have a good shot to beat them. But for now, we aren't having problems filling up the stadium so I'm ok with us playing these weaker teams.

 

[Arthur2478]

MSU vs. any of these CUSA schools has alot less appeal than MSU vs. a decent BCS school.</p>

What about MSU vs Michigan in the Gator Bowl, did that appeal to you? Because if we hadn't gone 4-0 in non-conference last season, we'd have been in the Liberty Bowl playing a CUSA school.

 

[tenureplan]

At least our beat writer was first on one piece of news.

 

[ckDOG]

That may be true on an individual game level for a season or two. Having better odds at going to bowl games (or it being the difference between crap bowls and decent bowls) is going to be fair healthier for ticket sales and entertainment. I'd rather whip UAB's *** on our way to a bowl game than risk sitting at home in the post season after havign toughed it out with a decent BCS team. The SECW schedule is entertaining enough for me...

If we get to the point where 9/10 wins seasons are the norm and we need some high-profile games to take us to the next level, I'm all for beefing up the schedule. Until then, lets facilitate the easiest path to W's. We need consistent success and post season appearances...

 

[PBRME]

I would like to see us play a better ooc schedule, BUT I would rather see us win. So bring on 4 easy ooc wins to help towards that bowl qualification.</p>

 

[MedDawg]

How about writing that State had not only the toughest schedule in the country just two seasons ago, but the 2nd toughest among all NCAA teams in the last 10 years?

It's called RESEARCH, Marcello. You can't write about MSU like nothing ever happened before you becameState's beat writer.

</p>

 

[Seinfeld]

Did we not sell out every home game last season?
Weren't every one of our games televised?

My point is, how much more "appeal" is Slive looking for than having an SEC bottom feeder sell out its entire season and have every game on tv? When it comes to college football, most fans want to see wins. Simple as that.

I wouldn't mind playing at least one decent BCS team every year, but I personally enjoy the occasional cupcake game when you're coming off a back to back to back games against national championship contenders. The break is nice and quite frankly, I like to watch a good *** beating every now and then.

In no way does it surprise me that LT was involved with this. He's one of those guys that if he were a co-worker making a presentation, I'd consistently do the opposite of anything he was recommending.

 

[patdog]

And the schedules we have for the next several years are conducive to winning games. I like them. The GA Tech loss in 2010 cost us a bowl game. And UM'sweak OOC schedule in 2010 got them in the Cotton Bowl instead of something like the Music City or Liberty.

 

[fishwater99]

Mississippi State has the 4th toughest schedule for the 2nd straight year in 2010. The Bulldogs hosted non-conference opponents Memphis and UAB and traveled to Houston. SEC games included Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, at Alabama, at Florida, at LSU and at Ole Miss.

http://www.fbschedules.co...th-of-schedule-rankings/

 

[jakldawg]

has UK been to by following the same "complete joke of a non-conference schedule + 2 or 3 conference wins" formula? Unless Slive's brain trust in Birmingham wants to start doing the scheduling for the teams, I'd tell them to get bent. The more teams that get into bowl games (regardless of merit), the more money the conference gets.

 

[tenureplan]

I don't think Slive ever made these comments. Our beatwriter doesn't know the difference between football and basketball apparently.

 

[mstatefan88]

I wouldn't necessarily blame Marcello. He was just quoting what Templeton said. I'm sure Slive said it, although I don't know why he would feel it necessary considering the SEC has won the last 5 national titles. We aren't having any problems getting to the game, I think he just wants more money. Bama vs Penn St, LSU vs Oregon, those are prime time matchups, and big time money makers. Templeton says Slive wants to boost our BCS ratings, but that's horse ****. He wants the money generated from a national tv audience and not the money generated by a local audience watching Bama play LA Monroe.

 

[SyonaraStanz]

and we showed we can beat the **** out of other BCS programs. Anyway, I agree with you; I'm speaking on the angle of dollars and cents, and we lost money from the Gator bowl.

 

[SyonaraStanz]

When you play a ****** team, and less fans show up, the school, the local businesses, and Starkvilleexperience lowerrevenues, from t-shirt sales to sales tax dollars.

I agree with playing a cupcake, and maybe another lesser opponent, but I'd like to see at least one, more favorably two, solid opponent(s) for everyone to get excited about.

 

[SyonaraStanz]

I agree with what you say, but maybe I'm getting higher expectations than others now. I think we're a top 25 (or at least top 30) program right now, so I think we could stand to add a GT, WV, or someone like that. Yeah those teams beat us recently, but we're a different team now.

Watching the Alcorn game on TV this year, our stadium looked half full. I heard the crowd wasn't nearly as good for the tailgates too. That has an effect on things besides ticket sales.

 

[mstatefan88]

I would say Top35 for sure, but Top 25? I think it's a little soon for that. I know we finished 15th, but we weren't the 15th best team in the country. We have a great staff that get's the most out of it's players, but I think we need another year to determine if that will translate to the Top 25 every year. On a neutral field, we probably lose to 5 ranked below us last year. FSU, Va Tech, andMissouri would all probably have beaten us, with TAMU, SC,and Nebraska giving us alot to handle.

We still have recruiting problems, and we still have only had 2 winning seasons in 10 years. Until we have at least one more season under our belts, I don't think we can say we are a perenially Top 25 or Top 30 program. </p>

 

[Arthur2478]

and we lost money from the Gator bowl.

That's too near sighted of an outlook. The amount of exposure and publicity we got from going to the Gator Bowl is enormous. It would have cost us a fortune to pay for that much marketing.

 

[Hanmudog]

I agree with what you say, but maybe I'm getting higher expectations than others now. I think we're a top 25 (or at least top 30) program right now, so I think we could stand to add a GT, WV, or someone like that. Yeah those teams beat us recently, but we're a different team now.

<font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" color="#cc0000">Watching the Alcorn game on TV this year, our stadium looked half full.</font> I heard the crowd wasn't nearly as good for the tailgates too. That has an effect on things besides ticket sales.

I went to every home game last year and it was never less than 80% full and the Junction was packed for every single game.

 

[MississippiStateDog]

8-4would not have happened if we had played, say Clemson, Texas A&M, or similar teams in place of Alcorn and UAB (29-24).We had just enough talent to contend withour tough-guy schedule.

We got a break with Houston's injuries, but almost didn'tsurvive Ballard and Relf's injuries. Thank goodness for Perkins tobreak out when he did.

We want another 8-4 or better, not a tougher schedule and 7-5. 8-4 meant the Gator, but 7-5?...........probably the Liberty.

</p>

 

[tenureplan]

nm

 

[Hanmudog]

Wasn't it just great back when we were playing a ranked Georgia Tech and an undefeated Houston team and sitting our asses home for the holidays while Ole Miss was playing Northern Arizona and SELA and partying it up in Dallas?

 

[bulldognation]

Not so long ago, we were thrashing OM for getting to the Cotton Bowl by way of cakewalk scheduling.

Better be prepared to hear it thrown back at us this year.

 

[RebelBruiser]

Back to back cotton bowls while having the weakest non-conference schedule in the SEC. Unless you are vying for an at large BCS spot, this is absolutely the right move.

That's not quite true. In 2008, we did play a bowl bound Wake Forest team that was Top 25 at the time, and it was on the road. We lost that game. We beat Memphis, Samford, and ULM in the other 3 games.

If we had played another patsy in 2008 instead of Wake, we might have been Capital One Bowl bound instead of Cotton Bowl bound.

In 2009, we had a very weak schedule and as patdog said, it got us a Cotton Bowl instead of a Music City/Liberty type bid.

From what I've seen, Stricklin/Byrne haven't/didn't schedule you another BCS opponent for the forseeable future. You play the CUSA tour, 1AAs, and Sun Belts, and that's about it. That's just smart scheduling. Football rewards wins way more than tough schedules. It's not like basketball or baseball, where RPI comes into play.

The goal of OOC scheduling should be to schedule yourself a pretty certain 4-0 every year if possible. Who that 4-0 comes against really doesn't matter unless you're in the BCS title discussion, and even then it only plays a small factor if the cards fall just right to where schedule strength has to enter the debate.

I don't think either of our programs will be in danger of worrying about BCS championship qualification anytime soon, so you're smart to schedule a bunch of nobodies.

I think I saw where someone said Slive is pushing tougher scheduling. That's typical, because Slive is purely reactive to whatever the media is saying about his league. When people criticize his league for doing anything (weak scheduling, oversigning, etc.) he reacts by pushing for it to change, even when it isn't necessary.

 

[Johnson85]

Not so long ago, we were thrashing OM for getting to the Cotton Bowl by way of cakewalk scheduling.

Better be prepared to hear it thrown back at us this year.

while they went to the cotton bowl. It'll be tough, but I thinkState fans will ultimately manage to suffer through it without any long term damage.

 

[rawdawg14]

we have a few seasons of powderpuff nonconference schedules to gobefore we can even think of catching up to them! They've been doing it for years!

 

[SLUdog]

the better chance we have to win more SEC games because we will be less beat up.