State/USM sign 2-1 deal

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

Guess I'll keep my Mondays open in 2024 til they announce a date...

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

No Spiderman, this is not nearly my first rodeo.

 

[patdog]

This is a good series for us. We should schedule a 2-for-1 with them every 8 years or so. For the people bitching that it would be embarrassing to lose to them, it's pretty unlikely and it wouldn't be any more embarrassing than losing to LA Tech would be. As for recruiting, we will never lose a recruit to them unless he's got some tie to USM. The difference in our revenues and exposure and theirs is 100 time greater than it was 20 years ago.

 

[Todd4State]

Southern could be a real power player if they simply embraced their alumni. Any ulumn of USM who feel engendered to their Alma mater please weigh in and tell everyone why I've heard wrong...

I'm pretty sure any directional school feels this way.

 

[patdog]

Southern could be a real power player if they simply embraced their alumni.

No. They couldn't. They used to have free reign to take all the recruits they now have to compete with Central Florida, South Alabama, UAB, UL-Lafayette and LA Tech for. And guys like Brett Favre and Sammy Winder don't get overlooked by the big schools today like they did back then.

 

[Todd4State]

I'm OK with this. I don't think we should at them every year but I'm OK with something like twice every five or six years or so.

 

[11thEagleFan]

I think I know why some State fans don't like the series, but I think their concerns are overblown. Here's the deal... Losing to USM would suck, but at this point it doesn't really damage you in any way. Losing to an in-state rival sucks, period. That's why the game is more special. When Mississippi State was a bad P5 school and USM was one of the top mid-majors, there was some risk. The thing is, your brand and image have grown exponentially in the past decade, whereas we've slid a bit. It's really no different from Tennessee playing Memphis, NC State playing East Carolina, West Virginia playing Marshall, etc. In this day and age, it's kinda hard to give a crap about most of the OOC games. I enjoy Starkville, and look forward to going to the games there and the one at The Rock.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

I'm a huge fan of this.

Any time we can get a 2 for 1, take it.

 

[ll Martain ll]

At least the USM games kinda feel like a rivalry game, makes it more fun than buying wins from MTSU/UAB/UMass/Charleston Southern/etc... I have a hard time caring about those games.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

I actually like this series, and pull for USM against anyone but State. But some of the decisions made by administration there have baffled me, almost as much as UM.

 

[FightOn924]

Hell, it's better than going to freakin UMass! Give me a road game that our fans can drive to any day of the week. We're at the stage in our program now where a team like USM doesn't scare me.

 

[BiscuitEater]

I'm a little surprised Cohen went for the 2-for-1 but I'm certainly not opposed to it.

Play the 2 @ DWS .. cancel the one in the Burg.

How many teams 'owe' us a home game? Thinking Tulane and Baylor, at least.

 

[BiscuitEater]

I've always wondered how an urban non-HBCU university would do in Jackson. Louisiana has UNO

Good question. New Orleans actually has 3 Universities ..
Tulane University (~13K)
University of New Orleans (~10K)
Loyola University (~5K)

 

[OneParticularHarbor]

Technically it's a money game in 2019, then a 1-1 just like 2014-15 in 2023-24. It's two separate deals. Cohen didn't set any precedents. I have a lot of MSU family and friends. 2015 was a fun time with them in Hattiesburg. The MSU fans I encountered were great.

 

[MSUDC11]

I am a bigger fan of a 2 for 1 than I was a straight up home and home. As long as we win all three games, none of it should be a big deal. Of course the freshmen in the 2024 game in Hattiesburg are currently in the fifth grade, so we've got a ways to go.

I like it being Week 2 in 2019 after we open with ULL in NOLA. Not crazy about the timing of the next two games. If they get stuck between someone like Auburn and LSU for us, that's a potential trap game for sure.

 

[wpmusm]

USM has a long history of incompetent leaders. No doubt about that.

However, I think our current prez is pretty good. We had Martha Saunders and Shelby Thames who were the Ellis Johnson of university presidents. Current AD hasn't been here long enough (this is his 6th month) for me to really judge him yet. He's off to a good start so far with scheduling.... like that he got deals going with Tulane (2-2) and MSU (2-1).

 

[johnson86-1]

As long as we are doing 2 for 1's (which it appears we will be doing for the foreseeable future), USM seems like as good of an opponent as any.

Financially, it seems like we should be doing 2 for 1's with USM, Tulane, Memphis, UAB, and USA. That gives us home games that are economical and also away games that are in our natural recruiting footprint and also economical for players to travel to, so that we show good support in front of local recruits.

Honestly out of that group, I'd prefer Tulane and USM over the others, so I'm more than fine with that trade off. I'd actually be willing to play Tulane 1 and 1 (provided we always get the first home game) if financially that allowed a buy game with another mid major.

 

[patdog]

Financially, it seems like we should be doing 2 for 1's with USM, Tulane, Memphis, UAB, and USA.

I really doubt Memphis or Tulane would ever agree to a 2-for-1 deal. We need to be doing them aggressively with the CUSA & Sunbelt schools in the region, which we are doing.

 

[wpmusm]

Memphis wouldn't, bet Tulane would though.

 

[patdog]

Hell, it's better than going to freakin UMass!

That was actually a very good road trip. I'm biased because my brother lives 20 minutes from Gillette Stadium, but it would have been an awesome trip anyway. I like Stricklin's philosophy on making the OOC road game each year be an interesting one for our fans (either a good opponent and/or a good destination) and hope Cohen continues it

 

[johnson86-1]

I really doubt Memphis or Tulane would ever agree to a 2-for-1 deal. We need to be doing them aggressively with the CUSA & Sunbelt schools in the region, which we are doing.

Memphis's program is probably a tweener for us. 1 and 1 doesn't make sense for us but 2 for 1 might not make sense for them. But I think Memphis, Tulane, and even UAB are much better for us than a 2 for 1 with a La Tech or USA, so I think we should try to make something work. I'd love a 3and 2 with Tulane. Just because we'd be getting the NO trips. Not sure I'd want to play anybody else that much, but maybe a 2-1 with a bigger payout from MSU or a 1-1 with a small payout to MSU would work for other schools.

 

[MaroonCrusader]

3-2 with Tulane would be great. I would be happy with a 1-1 with UCF/USF also.

 

[Todd4State]

As long as we are doing 2 for 1's (which it appears we will be doing for the foreseeable future), USM seems like as good of an opponent as any.

Financially, it seems like we should be doing 2 for 1's with USM, Tulane, Memphis, UAB, and USA. That gives us home games that are economical and also away games that are in our natural recruiting footprint and also economical for players to travel to, so that we show good support in front of local recruits.

Honestly out of that group, I'd prefer Tulane and USM over the others, so I'm more than fine with that trade off. I'd actually be willing to play Tulane 1 and 1 (provided we always get the first home game) if financially that allowed a buy game with another mid major.

I agree but I would also add La Tech if they would agree to move their home game to Shreveport.

 

[was21]

It doesn't matter.....it's not the match up it once was in the late '70's early '80's. Just another OOC game we should be able to handle...easily

 

[was21]

Yes...huge difference between playing in Shreveport stadium than the field in Ruston