LSU should never play a non I-A school during the regular season period. I think it would be cool if LSU and Southern scrimmaged each other for the Spring Game in TS and split the proceeds.
It would be nice . . . but LSU has to have a 7 or 8 game home season to make a profit. You can't do that without scheduling teams that don't insist on a home and home arrangement. Those teams are in I-AA.
No. I don't see the benefit for either team and as a paying fan...I surely won't get excited about playing Southern. I'm not a fan of the pressure LSU receives to play in-state schools. We don't receive state funding for sports so I don't believe politics should be involved. How many hotel rooms will be booked for that weekend? I would assume occupancy would be quite low. I would also expect another game where the stadium would be empty by the end of the third quarter. What are the chances the game would be covered by any sports channel? "0" If at some point they end up on our schedule I hope it's to replace another Louisiana school. I don't like playing more than one in-state school per season. We finally got rid on Tulane. I don't want an annual tradition of playing 2-3 in-state schools each year. BORING! What would be the highlight?...watching a band who can play music versus a band who can dance?
I love home games so the more the merrier, But... In Pictures: College Football's 20 Most Valuable Teams - 7. Louisiana State Tigers - Forbes.com 1 game does not bankrupt the program. Scheduling a home and away series won't break the bank. dump one of the Louisiana schools and get a decent BCS/mid major series. On a side note, Is the North Carolina game in the Georgia Dome supposed to be considered a home game for us?
You are correct, in that 1 game will not break the bank, but what is interesting in that ranking is that we dropped from 6th to 7th. A fact that I am sure the big decision makers are keeping a close eye on.
So now Southern's band can't play music? Riiiigggghhhht.... Don't let the dancing hide the FACT that SU's band are highly talented MUSICALLY. Hence the numerous inauguration invites where the dancing is prohibited. What a BS assumption...
I voted no, but only because there was no answer like "depends on.." In the regular season, no I don't think they should play eachother. The reason being strength of schedule. Of course, McNeese is also a 1-AA school (or whatever they call it these days), but I don't like us playing them either. Thank goodness we have WVU and NC to play or our OOC schedule would be extremely laughable. Now... if they could play in some sort of "exhibition" game, that would be cool. I'm sure the NCAA has something in place to prevent something like this from ever happening outside of the normal season though. I could be mistaken, but I don't recall any other teams being able to play another team in the spring or any other time outside of football season or bowl season.
That's not true either. It's economics, not ability. Case in point, both Southern and Grambling play Louisiana schools that are playoff participants and the games are competitive, with Southern and Grambling winning frequently. With the popularity and monetary support of HBCU football, some of the schools make more money NOT going to the playoffs. Southern and Grambling are pretty much the only HBCU's that will never participate in the I-AA playoffs because the Bayou Classic falls on the first week of the I-AA playoffs. The loss of proceeds from the Classic are not worth the occasional chance that either team will advance. I remember a study years ago that concluded that both teams would have to play through the entire I-AA playoffs and make it to the championship game to make up what both schools make for the Classic. The decline of HBCU football has lead to less participation in the playoffs because unlike ten years ago, very few, if any, HBCU's were ranked nationally. During the late 90's, SU was consistently ranked in the I-AA top 25, as was FAMU, Hampton, and a few others. I was at SU during the 90's and HBCU's were well represented in the playoffs during that time, with FAMU making a few deep trips into the playoffs. It's a good sign for college football as a whole because as we all know the HBCU's used to be the only option for black athletes. Now that black athletes make up the majority of many major programs, HBCU's logically suffer. I'm an alumnus and I'm fine with that on several levels.
