2018 non conference

[Hark Mudspeth]

App got the play they did off of Tennessee (at the time) because they were coming off an 11-2 season and are still winning...if app was 7-5, 8-4 or whatever and continue to lose after tenn it would mean nothing. I'll go a step further and say just because commentators use it as a talking point during their games doesn't mean their near win against Tennessee still resonates with national perception. It's simply something for them to talk about. If they finish 11-2 again that's what will gain traction with national perception, back to back 11-2 seasons with a SBC title, not a close loss...and nobody will care about their schedule...they will be 22-4 in the past 2 seasons.

[31Ragin97]

apparently just convincing them to come to your house is way more important

[CajunAmos]

I'm wondering why Arkansas State got either $1.7M or $1.8M for playing Bama?

Hey, we probably negotiated for a future home date in lieu of the extra $500K!

[CajunT]

I submit to you that had neither Troy nor App nearly pulled the upset they would not be getting near the votes for the Top-25 they are getting right now.

I'm not entirely certain about that, Northern Illinois received top 25 votes without defeating anyone in the Top 25 a few years back during the season. Louisiana Tech received Top 25 votes the year they defeated Virginia and Illinois, neither had a winning record. Western Michigan best two wins are against Northwestern and Illinois, neither are in the Top 25. Those were wins, not almost wins, but going undefeated through 8 games in the season will get you some votes.

Again, my bottom line is when we can't schedule from the group of preferred G5's, we should schedule a P5.

Okay, but you made no mention of whether those games were on the road or at home until you last post. I have a problem playing 3 rent-a-win games a year on the road with P5 programs. We play one at home and the other on the road, I'm game.

All four of our NOLA Bowls would still have happened if we had 3 P5's instead of 2.

Our conference record had more to do with going to the NO Bowl. We received more national attention defeating higher ranked G5 programs in the bowl game, San Diego State, East Carolina and Nevada.