(subtitle: Project While Watching A&M Bitchslap 'Bama, Because I Can't Devote 100% Attention To A Game Unless It's LSU Or The Saints) Thinking about the Towson game, the Tigers' uninspired performance, and the fan apathy. I expect more of the same next year when we play Furman, and probably for Kent St as well. So I've taken it upon myself to make the non-conference schedule for the foreseeable future. Thinking I want to upgrade both the schedule quality and schedule interest. Parameters: I kept games that are already scheduled (they are in italics). I also assumed the SEC will stay with the 8-game schedule, leaving 4 non-conference games. My source for opponents' dates was fbschedules.com. In other words, the dates are real, and according to that site, the opponent currently has the date I've chosen as open. And I tried to be realistic: for instance, I really wanted a home-and-home with USC. But they've already had an SEC opponent scheduled in the available years, and probably wouldn't pick up a second. I avoided teams we have played since 2001, other than a couple of state schools. For schedule strength, I created 4 categories. Elite (E) programs are traditional powerhouses, or have been top tier programs in recent years. Mid Majors (MM) are teams from BCS conferences that usually are above average and are potential conference title contenders. Low Majors (LM) are BCS conference bottom-feeders or perennial title contenders for non-BCS conferences. Finally, we have Rent-a-Wins (RW), which are only scheduled from Louisiana or East Texas. I imagined a 2-season scheduling cycle, with 1 Elite, 3 Mid Majors, 3 Low Majors and 1 RW every two years. If I deviated from that formula, it was always upward. Finally, for an opponent to rate a home-and-home, their stadium has to seat 80k minimum. For your enjoyment, discussion or ridicule that I would put so much thought and time into this: 2014...Sept. 6-UL-Monroe (LM) replaced by Wisconsin.....Sept 13-Georgia Southern replaced by Sam Houston St.....Sept. 20-at Florida State replaced by UL-Monroe .....Oct. 4-UCLA New Mexico St. 2015...Sept. 7-Jacksonville St. replaced by McNeese (RW).....Sept. 12-Arizona St. replaced by Syracuse (MM).....Sept. 26-Air Force Eastern Michigan.....Oct. 17-Stanford Western Kentucky 2016...Sept. 3-Southern Miss replaced by Wisconsin .....Sept.10-Jacksonville St......Sept. 17-Florida State replaced by Missouri (SEC).....Oct. 15-South Alabama replaced by Southern Miss 2017...Sept. 9-North Carolina State replaced by BYU.....Sept. 16-Navy Chattanooga .....Sept. 23-at Michigan Syracuse.....Nov. 4-Tulsa Troy 2018...Sept. 8-Southern Methodist Miami (neutral site).....Sept. 15-at Oklahoma replaced by Southeast Louisiana La Tech.....Oct. 20-Utah Rice 2019...Sept. 7-at UCLA Ga Southern.....Sept. 14-Virginia Texas.....Sept. 21-Oklahoma replaced by Northwestern St. .....Nov. 10-Army Utah St. 2020...Sept. 5-Stephen F. Austin ......Sept. 12-at North Carolina State (MM).....Sept. 19-Nebraska (E).....Oct. 11-California (LM) no non conference due to Covid 2021...Sept. 11-Boise St. UCLA....Sept. 18-at Wisconsin McNeese.....Sept. 25-Tulane Central Michigan.....Oct. 16-Central Florida UL-Monroe 2022...Sept. 3-Rice Florida St......Sept. 10-Pittsburgh Southern.....Sept. 17-Michigan New Mexico.....Oct. 15-Maryland UAB 2023...Sept. 2-Georgia Tech at Florida St.....Sept. 9-UL-Lafayette Grambling.....Sept. 16-Wisconsin Army.....Oct. 21-Colorado Georgia St. 2024...Sept. 7-San Diego St. USC (neutral site).....Sept. 14-at Nebraska Nicholls St. .....Sept. 21-Louisville UCLA.....Nov. 19-Lamar South Alabama
Don't know what made me think of this post, but its offseason and I'm bored on Friday afternoon, so I am revisiting and grading my effort to create LSU's non-conference schedule from 2012 (year of original post) until this past year. I've mapped out my accuracy in the OP, here's the code: Games that were already on the schedule are in italics, games I scheduled are boldface. Going back, I focused on the opponents picked than the dates of the games. Teams I selected that we did play at some point in the 10-year period are in green boldface, teams I selected that were never scheduled are in red boldface After each game I selected, the actual opponent played is listed in purple if I never scheduled them, in green if I selected them but for a different date. In some instances, LSU replaced or moved opponents that were already on the schedule, that's also noted. This is what I call a "nerd project", and its the kind of thing I am prone to do now and then. I may soon give this another go for 2025-35.
Nice. I didn’t remember your original post. I wish LSU would schedule Tulane more and the other Louisiana schools less.
