The only team to draw 40,000+ to Cajun Field is Southern, and that was 5,000-6,000 more than Alabama and 2,000-3,000 more than Texas A&M! What P5’s do you think we could get to come to Cajun Field anywhere close to the status of those two? We could offer 3 million and they wouldn’t come back. But once again, I’m all for trying to get someone to come, but not by breaking a bank we don’t have!
I think there would be bigger crowds just because UL Football is so much better and comparative than back then, and the area has certainly grown population wise....i could see Houston, SMU, Memphis, UAB, or so low hanging team like GA Tech, Vandy, or South Carolina or Mizzo, drawing large 30k+ crowds.
Dida quick search on Phil Steeler's mag.
Miami at Ark State was cancelled due to Covid.
In the past 5 years, UL had only 1 home game vs a P5 school:
UL hosted Miss State in New Orleans
G5 hosting P5 this year:
App State hosts North Carolina
GA State hosts North Carolina
ODU hosts VA Tech
Western Michigan hosts Pitt
Fresno State hosts Oregon State
Hawaii hosts Vanderbilt
E. Carolina hosts NC State
Navy hosts Notre Dame
BYU hosts Notre Dame in Las Vegas
BYU hosts Baylor
Houston hosts Kansas
UCF hosts Louisville
UCF hosts GA Tech
Cincy hosts Indiana
Over the past 5 years, G5 hosting P5:
With a few exceptions, most schools listed were like UL, only hosted 1 P5 game in 5 years. However, the majority of G5 schools have not hosted a G5.
USM hosted Kentucky
Texas State hosted Baylor
LA Tech hosted Miss State
Marshall hosted NC State
Coastal hosted BYU
Boise State hosted OK State
Colorado State hosted Vanderbilt
Wyoming hosted Missouri
Wyoming hosted Washington State
Wyoming hosted Oregon
Fresno State hosted Minnesota
San Diego State hosted Arizona State
San Diego State hosted Stanford
UNLV hosted Iowa State
Nevada hosted Purdue
Nevada hosted Oregon State
Hawaii hosted Arizona
Hawaii hosted Oregon State
E. Carolina hosted S. Carolina
Memphis hosted Miss State
Memphis hosted Ole Miss
Memphis hosted UCLA
SMU hosted TCU
Tulsa hosted OK State
Tulane hosted Wake Forest
USF hosted Florida
USF hosted GA Tech
USF hosted Illinois
Temple hosted Boston College
Temple hosted Maryland
Temple hosted GA Tech
BYU hosted Arizona
BYU hosted Virginia
BYU hosted Washington
BYU hosted California
BYU hosted LSU
BYU hosted Utah
Houston hosted Texas Tech
Houston hosted BYU
Houston hosted Washington State
Houston hosted Arizona
UCF hosted Pitt
Cincy hosted UCLA
If I recall, ECU plays NC State on a somewhat regular basis...did you list App hosting Miami?
I think if we hosted ole miss or Mississippi state in the first game of the year we would have near 40k. Which is why we really missed out on the Mississippi state series with our home game being in Nola. We shoulda pushed for a 4 game series with 2 there 1 in Nola and 1 at Cajun field.
Ok…4 non conference games a year…play a 3 for 1 each year for five or more years in a row…at some point, we would be right back where we started because the 3 side of the equation would become due. It’s not something that would be spread out into the next couple of decades.
Last 2 p5 games at Cajun field going off memory and I was at both. Kansas state in a monsoon and Oklahoma state on a Friday competing with high school football. So numbers are lower than could be. And we weren’t a good program. You host miss state on Saturday at 6:00pm you’d easily have 35k
It’s the chicken and egg argument. We can’t afford to bring in a quality opponent because we don’t have the money because we don’t sell tickets because we don’t bring in quality opponents. It’s an investment!!!
We’re talking about spending 50+million on a stadium renovation that doesn’t guarantee a return. But we can’t spend 1-2 million on a quality opponent to boost ticket sales. Let’s stop saying we want to be big time, and quit wondering why we aren’t.
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