Five National TV Games Highlight 2013 Football Schedule

[CajunRebel]

When recruiters at UTSA, FAU, MT and FIU are hammering it into their heads that they just left the SBC because it was a bad league. Then, I imagine the 18 year old recruits figure it out pretty quickly.

Also, if the bigger leagues get better TV deals with more exposure, then it's not so much the league, as it is the league's television deals.

Nothing about staying in the SBC is a positive. Nothing. The only argument that could be made is that if we surround ourselves with bad programs. Then, maybe we can become a really big fish in a small pond.

Don't for a second think I don't realize how crappy the Sun Belt is. It sucks and if we want to grow as a program it's vital for us to get out.

I'm just wondering if recruits, many of whom have never paid attention to non-BCS football and therefore wouldn't see much of a difference between confereces, realize it as much as we do.

[RedCajun]

Can Farmer hire an outside firm to handle our scheduling?

[RCAJUN90]

I understand what you are trying to say, but soft schedules do not build any credibility with Bowl Committees or recruits, in fact it makes it harder to sell your program's accomplishments on the football field. While a soft schedule aids in helping your program win immediately, those are not the programs that draw top athletes to come play at your program. It's the games on national television, bowl games, head coaches, facilities and your schedule that excite potential student athletes. I've interviewed enough recruits to tell you that playing FCS transition programs hurts your program and adds to the stigma of playing in a week conference. Coach Hudspeth made it clear that it will be difficult to recruit to the type of conference schedule that has games against USA, GSU and others in the near future.

You guys mentioned Boise State, most of the seasons prior to recent years they schedules 2 or 3 games a season against BCS programs. Washington State, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State are some of those though the years, playing mainly at times within their region. UL will continue to play 2 BCS money games per year as long as 12,000 or more season tickets are sold. If we fall below that number then UL might have to play 3 BCS programs a season. The bottom line is you need to play a balanced schedule that allows you team to compete against other mid-majors that you reruit against from the MAC, CUSA and MWC. You should play one FCS game per season at Cajun Field against programs that can travel fans like Southern, Grambling and McNeese State on a rotating basis. You don't have to play the LSU's, Alabama's or Florida's every year. You should certainly try to schedule a Kansas State, Kansas,
and other regional programs. A good balance is needed in scheduling and with all the conference shifting going on and uncertainty, it has made it difficult to do so now.

Poor scheduling and our conference affiliation does not help recruiting or raise respect for your program. The evidence has been overwhelming in recruiting interviews and coaches interviews on my site and radio show.

I believe you are right on the money about everything. However, there's not much anyone here can do to change things. We might as well put lipstick on the pig of the schedule and make the best of things. There was a five second spot on UNO basketball. This once proud basketball program has gone right down the drain. WE MUST BOLT FROM THE BELT!
http://www.unoprivateers.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball

[Just1More]

Don't for a second think I don't realize how crappy the Sun Belt is. It sucks and if we want to grow as a program it's vital for us to get out.

I'm just wondering if recruits, many of whom have never paid attention to non-BCS football and therefore wouldn't see much of a difference between confereces, realize it as much as we do.

Do the recruits on their own know the difference? In the early stages... because they haven't really given much thought to the "never really gave those conferences a lot of thought" schools... no, they don't. Is the overall perception "explained" repeatedly to them by their peers, high school coaches while they begin the process of college evaluation... and as they're being recruited? Yes. Does it become a "fact" in their mind once they're in the recruiting game? Yes. CajunT and Hud will both tell you that once they are in the process, "the recruiting game", the facts as others "perceive to them"... become their recruiting reality.

[Just1More]

The only way this schedule is acceptable is if we have a 10 (9 would be a "tweener state") plus win season out of it. AND, it is acceptable if it never happens again... as the crappy schedule that it is... for the existing/new fanbase... following that 10 plus win season.

If this kind of schedule becomes the norm (the crappy schedule - ie conference opponent slate) for years beyond this year... regardless of this silly "Boise State" notion that will never pay dividends... UL football is doomed. We are not going to do anything else in the "program build" we seek, if we keep the... and I'm borrowing this without permission... this Southland 2.0 conference mentality.

I absolutely guarantee we will "fade to obscurity" with fan support... except for those "I'll love my program even if I'm loving them all by myself - stupid __ - you know him... the guy and his friends that helped destroy our program because they're too stupid to listen to people telling him what it takes to force the management to produce a better product - and loves themselves for being a bag of douche juice sitting in a near empty stadium - squawking on here about how you too should come out and watch crap being balled up into a turd while it wears our uniform - you know those guys - anyway... We will fade to obscurity on a scale we have yet to know - if we don't improve our conference affiliation and home schedule line up for UL football. Know it and stop talking about other possibilities. It is absolute fact that we will slide off the football cliff if we do not upgrade our conference situation.

[CajunT]

I don't disagree with anything you said but in one sentence you talk about the need to play money games then later you say we shouldn't always schedule the powerhouse schools. But these two go hand in hand since the powerhouse teams are the ones who pay us the most. Florida will pay us way more to play at their house than Baylor ever will. I'm not a fan of playing these top 10 teams. But if we as a program feel we need to play a money game to boost our revenue I think we need to do what we can to maximize the revenue we receive from playing this money game. For example we should play Texas for $1,000,000 instead of Texas Tech for $250,000.

Also,
how aware are recruits of the non-BCS conference pecking order? I know when I talk to people who only follow major college football they really don't see a difference between the MWC, C-USA, or Sun Belt even though we all know better. Do you think an 18yr old kid puts much stock in the fact that the conference with UTSA, FAU, MT, and FIU in it is better than the conference with TSU, UL, A-State, and Troy?

It's not a contradiction if you look at it this way. We sold 12,000 season tickets this past year and we played two BCS programs Florida and Oklahoma State for an average of around $850,000 between the two games. Can UL get by with maybe scheduling a Kansas or Texas Tech for around $500,000 or $600,000?....I believe it can should we sell more than $12,000 seats and don't have the make up the lost revenue. It addition to that you balance out your schedule with home and home agreements with a Kent State, Akron or Ohio from the MAC and occasionally get a 2-for-1 with a Oklahoma State to come to Lafayette. That is one reason you do add the seating at Cajun Field. MAC, CUSA and MWC are the conferences we need to work with to get home and home arraignments with.

Because of our current situation, we are playing Nicholls State, Georgia State and South Alabama. In my count we are playing one FCS program, one FCS transition program and one former transition program in 2013. You don't think coaches are using that against UL in recruiting battles? Athletes don't look at our conference's short term or long term potential in the same manner as we do; they just see three bad programs on our schedule and hear the competition continue to say the Sun Belt is the worst conference in the country. The only way to combat our current conference affiliation is to win conference championships, win bowl games and build facilities. But that will only work short term because we are light years behind other in facility improvements and everyone is looking to improve their facilities.

[Zeebart21]

It's not a contradiction if you look at it this way. We sold 12,000 season tickets this past year and we played two BCS programs Florida and Oklahoma State for an average of around $850,000 between the two games. Can UL get by with maybe scheduling a Kansas or Texas Tech for around $500,000 or $600,000?....I believe it can should we sell more than $12,000 seats and don't have the make up the lost revenue. It addition to that you balance out your schedule with home and home agreements with a Kent State, Akron or Ohio from the MAC and occasionally get a 2-for-1 with a Oklahoma State to come to Lafayette. That is one reason you do add the seating at Cajun Field. MAC, CUSA and MWC are the conferences we need to work with to get home and home arraignments with.

Because of our current situation, we are playing Nicholls State, Georgia State and South Alabama. In my count we are playing one FCS program, one FCS transition program and one former transition program in 2013. You don't think coaches are using that against UL in recruiting battles? Athletes don't look at our conference's short term or long term potential in the same manner as we do; they just see three bad programs on our schedule and hear the competition continue to say the Sun Belt is the worst conference in the country. The only way to combat our current conference affiliation is to win conference championships, win bowl games and build facilities. But that will only work short term because we are light years behind other in facility improvements and everyone is looking to improve their facilities.

These dudes hear what they want to hear. You're wasting your breath.

Z

[Zeebart21]

The only way this schedule is acceptable is if we have a 10 (9 would be a "tweener state") plus win season out of it. AND, it is acceptable if it never happens again... as the crappy schedule that it is... for the existing/new fanbase... following that 10 plus win season.

If this kind of schedule becomes the norm (the crappy schedule - ie conference opponent slate) for years beyond this year... regardless of this silly "Boise State" notion that will never pay dividends... UL football is doomed. We are not going to do anything else in the "program build" we seek, if we keep the... and I'm borrowing this without permission... this Southland 2.0 conference mentality.
I absolutely guarantee we will "fade to obscurity" with fan support... except for those "I'll love my program even if I'm loving them all by myself - stupid __ - you know him... the guy and his friends that helped destroy our program because they're too stupid to listen to people telling him what it takes to force the management to produce a better product - and loves themselves for being a bag of douche juice sitting in a near empty stadium - squawking on here about how you too should come out and watch crap being balled up into a turd while it wears our uniform - you know those guys - anyway... We will fade to obscurity on a scale we have yet to know - if we don't improve our conference affiliation and home schedule line up for UL football. Know it and stop talking about other possibilities. It is absolute fact that we will slide off the football cliff if we do not upgrade our conference situation.

whats mine is yours... last paragraph is the best ever in the long storied history of Ragin Pagin. Immediately names came to mind...

Z

[Oiler]

Before July, I believe that CUSA will need to replace two more members who will have left. Once it does this, realignment could be finished for quite a while. WKU will get the first open spot, or at least everyone seems to believe they will. We'll then face stiff competition against Texas State, Georgia State, Arkansas State, and New Mexico State for that last spot in CUSA. Of these five options, I believe that UL is clearly the best one for CUSA. Without a doubt, a lot is at stake here. Our future in football literally depends on how this shakes out. Win that last CUSA spot, and we'll have future schedules with regular home games against regional opponents like Rice, USM, La Tech, UNT, and UTSA, as well as semi-regional opponents UTEP, MT, and UAB. Lose out in getting that last spot, and we'll just have to get used to next year's schedule as being the norm for us. One way or the other, I believe that by July, we'll no longer need to fret about it. It will be finished.

[Zeebart21]

Before July, I believe that CUSA will need to replace two more members who will have left. Once it does this, realignment could be finished for quite a while. WKU will get the first open spot, or at least everyone seems to believe they will. We'll then face stiff competition against Texas State, Georgia State, Arkansas State, and New Mexico State for that last spot in CUSA. Of these five options, I believe that UL is clearly the best one for CUSA. Without a doubt, a lot is at stake here. Our future in football literally depends on how this shakes out. Win that last CUSA spot, and we'll have future schedules with regular home games against regional opponents like Rice, USM, La Tech, UNT, and UTSA, as well as semi-regional opponents UTEP, MT, and UAB. Lose out in getting that last spot, and we'll just have to get used to next year's schedule as being the norm for us. One way or the other, I believe that by July, we'll no longer need to fret about it. It will be finished.

Our window of opportunity is closing fast. The only positive is that Dr Savoie has realized what kind of a bind we are in and has taken this bull by the horns and made it his baby. Those that have proven that they cant find their ___ with both hands have been relegated to menial tasks.. the adults are working now.

Z

[Turbine]

This schedule should have been billed as an "uncomfortable anomaly"

The only option left is . . . for Hudspeth and Company to "CRUSH IT"

[Oiler]

Our window of opportunity is closing fast. The only positive is that Dr Savoie has realized what kind of a bind we are in and has taken this bull by the horns and made it his baby. Those that have proven that they cant find their ___ with both hands have been relegated to menial tasks.. the adults are working now.

Z

Another positive is that our competition for that last spot in CUSA is pretty weak. TX St and GA St are still new to FBS and CUSA already has plenty of start-up programs coming in. ASU and UL are the two best "established" FBS programs left for CUSA to pick from. I like our chances against ASU.