2006 schedule

[RaginFan2]

In my opinion what we should have learned is to not schedule teams like texas and LSU.. i know, its big money, but to me its just a show of how weak the team is... its a give away game... play people we can compete against, build up good records and move up in the polls... no.. we arent going to crack the top 25, but maybe a top 50 or 60 ranking isnt out of the question if we finished 9-2 or 8-3... helps with recruiting also when the recruits know they wont be sacrificial lambs for one game a year..

On the contrary, I think we should play 1 or 2 of these games a year. We have been almost since the time D1-A came into being. We've been blown out some, but we've played pretty competitively in many others. Obviously the win over aTm was the high point. But we have had close exciting games against Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, etc. A lot of near-misses. A play here or there, maybe one more high quality recruit, and we win a few of those near-misses. Besides the big payday, it can be a recruiting plus to play some of these games, ie, more exposure to NFL scouts. We are certainly (for the near future anyway) going to lose many more than we win in those games, but IMHO it is worth the effort. Now, I don't favor playing more than 1 or 2 BCS schools each year. But playing an LSU and Texas A&M in the same year is not prohibitive. Next year with a 12 game schedule, that still gives us a reasonable chance to win 10 games. I do agree that I'd rather play a BCS school after the first game, but sometimes you get what you can.

[shof]

On the contrary, I think we should play 1 or 2 of these games a year. We have been almost since the time D1-A came into being. We've been blown out some, but we've played pretty competitively in many others. Obviously the win over aTm was the high point. But we have had close exciting games against Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, etc. A lot of near-misses. A play here or there, maybe one more high quality recruit, and we win a few of those near-misses. Besides the big payday, it can be a recruiting plus to play some of these games, ie, more exposure to NFL scouts. We are certainly (for the near future anyway) going to lose many more than we win in those games, but IMHO it is worth the effort. Now, I don't favor playing more than 1 or 2 BCS schools each year. But playing an LSU and Texas A&M in the same year is not prohibitive. Next year with a 12 game schedule, that still gives us a reasonable chance to win 10 games. I do agree that I'd rather play a BCS school after the first game, but sometimes you get what you can.

This is one of those arguments that could go on for days The main thing I see today is that the gap has widened between the "have's and have not's" of the world. The BCS is a major factor in today's plight -- they get soooooo much money in those conferences that even the bottom feeders (Baylor, Vandy) still do well financially. They get as much in bowl payouts as we have in our entire football budget!
Now, back to the games. We can compete with middle of the road BCS teams. I don't mean we are favorites to beat ANY of them; but at least we can compete. Who knew Texas would be one of the top 2 programs in the nation when we scheduled them? Who knew that LSU would still be a top 5 type program? A lot of its timing, a lot of its luck. I just don't want to see us take on too much and get beaten down before conference play begins. While I will take a conference title any day, I'd much prefer it with an 8-3 or 9-2 record than a 6-5 record. I wish we could get the occaisional matchup with Ole Miss or Miss St, or some of the mid-lvl Big 12 teams. We'd certainly have a better chance to pull off the upset than against teams like UT and LSU that are nothing but money games.

[Oldman]

A&M not on schedule. Got that from a good source as well.

Houston, Ohio, and Eastern Michigan are at Cajun Field. Plus 4 home conference games.

Heard a rumor about a possible backout of the LSU game because Oklahoma offered us 3/4 of a mil to go to Norman next year. LSU only paying $400k.

NO, no backout at lsu but an increase in money....lsu don't want to keep this game
we are playing 6 home games don't know what order

[DestinCajun]

In my opinion what we should have learned is to not schedule teams like texas and LSU.. i know, its big money, but to me its just a show of how weak the team is... its a give away game... play people we can compete against, build up good records and move up in the polls... no.. we arent going to crack the top 25, but maybe a top 50 or 60 ranking isnt out of the question if we finished 9-2 or 8-3... helps with recruiting also when the recruits know they wont be sacrificial lambs for one game a year..

Then start writing large checks to the UL Athletic Dept.

[CajunNation]

If we want to get this program on a par with the likes of Southern Miss, Fresno State, Boise State, etc, we are going to have to beat a few big boys along the way.


That's the only way to garner attention and donations from the casual fan.

[Corndog308]

I may be a little slow, but why have we played at ULM the past 3 years? And will they finally come to Lafayette next year?!

[CAJUNJUDO]

I may be a little slow, but why have we played at ULM the past 3 years? And will they finally come to Lafayette next year?!

Something to do with only having 8 teams in our conference. Wanted to get the Florida schools and Troy to play an "evenly-spaced" home-away schedule. We should be on track come next season. ULM at Cajun Field in 2006!!

[Clutch0364]

If we want to get this program on a par with the likes of Southern Miss, Fresno State, Boise State, etc, we are going to have to beat a few big boys along the way.


That's the only way to garner attention and donations from the casual fan.

They built up there program before playing thoughs BCS team though...you can go back and take a look at Boise State and see that they beat up on 1AA teams to get where they are at. Now they are starting to step it up but they were going 8-3, 9-2 against weak competition. I'm a huge fan of Boise's program because they built up by winning games and not by being a sacrificial lamb.

[CajunNation]

They built up there program before playing thoughs BCS team though...you can go back and take a look at Boise State and see that they beat up on 1AA teams to get where they are at. Now they are starting to step it up but they were going 8-3, 9-2 against weak competition. I'm a huge fan of Boise's program because they built up by winning games and not by being a sacrificial lamb.

Boise went 1-A in 1996. In the 5 years prior to that, '91-'95, they were 35-24. Hardly setting the world on fire in 1-AA.

1996 they were 2-10
1997 they were 4-7
1998 they were 6-5

From '96-'04, Boise has a 1-11 record vs "BCS" programs.
In 1996, they lost 2-56 to Arizona State.
In 1997, they lost 0-58 to Washington state.

Just like the rest of us, Boise has to take it on the chin from time to time. In '04, they BEAT Oregon State, and they almost got a BCS bowl bid because of it.

They do schedule fewer "money" games than we do, but winning them is what really gets you noticed.

[cajun tom]

This comes from a good source for the non conference games and the order we play them.......

LSU-away
Houston-away
Ohio-home
Texas A&M-away
Eastern Michigan-home

Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Troy-away
Arkansas State, North Texas, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee-home