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Imagine if you will, Larry Templeton is still MSU's athletics director in 2026....

vhdawg

vhdawg

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....God forbid, I know, but I wondered what would a Larry Templeton 2026 schedule look like this season, with the exact same opponents and the exact same home/away designations. The only external consideration I took was keeping both Texas and Oklahoma off the Red River date. Check this out and tell me it doesn't belong on a poster in Impact font with Jackie Sherrill's picture on it.

09/05/2026 Louisiana–Monroe*
09/12/2026 at Minnesota*
09/19/2026 Auburn
09/26/2026 at LSU
10/03/2026 at South Carolina
10/10/2026 Vanderbilt
10/17/2026 Tennessee Tech [HC]*
10/24/2026 Oklahoma
10/31/2026
11/07/2026 at Texas
11/14/2026 Alabama
11/21/2026 Missouri
11/28/2026 at Ole Miss

Strangely, I think I like it better. It feels spiritually more normal. Even has Mizzou in the traditional Arkansas Trap Game slot.
 
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W

Willow Grove Dawg

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We would have sold at least one of the home games probably Oklahoma to play it in a neutral site like Dallas or even Norman

Raffo would be our baseball coach after taking over when Polk retired again in 2016. The New Dude would not exist.
He would have run off Stansbury about the same time Stricklin did and then hired Butch Pierre followed by Derrick Zimmerman a couple of years ago
Mullen would have never been hired. Larry would have given Croom until at least 2011-2012. He would have made 3-4 perfectly ****** coaching hires in the last 13-14 years like Chad Morris level ****** hires
Womens basketball would have never hired Vic & had their solid run.
MSU might be in the damned Sunbelt now
 
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Walkthedawg

Walkthedawg

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Just when you think things couldn't be much worse... someone finds a way to make us say "Yes. Absolutely that would have been worse. I retract my previous statement." And it's even with someone who was already employed for years in the position that could be worse.
 
PBRME

PBRME

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Dont Put That Evil On Me Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
 
TheBannerM

TheBannerM

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I can't imagine how bad we would be in the current environment of college football (NIL, rev share, etc) with Templeton as AD. It would make 2025 Oklahoma State look like 2026 LSU.
 
Maroon13

Maroon13

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Agreed. I like bama in November and a meaningful home game before a road egg bowl.

Even with a sec opponent there will be less than 30k state fans at that point in November with deer season starting. But... better than the 10k that show for the cupcake games.

Leach's last home game, v TSU, may have been the smallest crowd I've ever seen since stadium expansion. The percentage of seats filled had to be the lowest in my lifetime.
 
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Maroon13

Maroon13

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But in the spirit of LT, If I was an AD, I'd try to sell that Oklahoma game to Jerry Jones to make a few million.

No sarcastericks.
 
Maroon13

Maroon13

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Speaking of nostalgic schedule let me ask this hypothetical.....

should that TN Tech or any one game be moved to Jackson?
 
GloryDawg

GloryDawg

Heisman
Mar 3, 2005
20,112
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If I was him, I would have gotten that booger out of my nose before filming Thunder and Lighting.
 
M

MSUDC11-2.0

Heisman
Sep 29, 2022
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Maroon13 said:
Speaking of nostalgic schedule let me ask this hypothetical.....

should that TN Tech or any one game be moved to Jackson?
Click to expand...

There is no way an SEC team is playing a football game in Jackson in the year of our Lord 2026. The high school state championships aren’t even played in Jackson anymore.
 
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vhdawg

vhdawg

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L4Dawg said:
How long has he been gone now? Jeez.
Click to expand...
Many years ago, this was after Byrne was AD and while LT was working for the SEC, I flew to Orlando, and while walking away from the gate toward baggage claim, I saw LT coming the opposite direction toward a gate, and I tell you I have never wanted to sucker punch someone so badly.
 
DawgsOnTheWing

DawgsOnTheWing

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vhdawg said:
....God forbid, I know, but I wondered what would a Larry Templeton 2026 schedule look like this season, with the exact same opponents and the exact same home/away designations. The only external consideration I took was keeping both Texas and Oklahoma off the Red River date. Check this out and tell me it doesn't belong on a poster in Impact font with Jackie Sherrill's picture on it.

09/05/2026 Louisiana–Monroe*
09/12/2026 at Minnesota*
09/19/2026 Auburn
09/26/2026 at LSU
10/03/2026 at South Carolina
10/10/2026 Vanderbilt
10/17/2026 Tennessee Tech [HC]*
10/24/2026 Oklahoma
10/31/2026
11/07/2026 at Texas
11/14/2026 Alabama
11/21/2026 Missouri
11/28/2026 at Ole Miss

Strangely, I think I like it better. It feels spiritually more normal. Even has Mizzou in the traditional Arkansas Trap Game slot.
Click to expand...
ChatGPT Image Jul 10, 2026, 10_10_24 AM.png
 
Maroon13

Maroon13

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Obviously to play in Jackson again, a lot would have to change. Starting with a renovation upgrade of that stadium.

With all that said, I'd like to know the net income on a game v Tn Tech in late November. These schools want to generate new revenue. I'm not sure State needs 7 home games if you can trade off one for a big pay day.
 
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vhdawg

vhdawg

All-Conference
Sep 29, 2004
4,611
2,331
113
Maroon13 said:
Obviously to play in Jackson again, a lot would have to change. Starting with a renovation upgrade of that stadium.
Click to expand...
That's never going to happen....JSU would rather have a stadium on their campus, and they've accumulated enough land east of their main campus to do it, they just don't have the funding. And the bill that Haley Barbour (!!!) signed that gave the stadium to JSU specifies as soon as JSU has another facility, that entire property goes to UMMC, who has future plans for the area that don't involve a 60,000 seat football stadium.

This is a side topic, but I expect at some point it will become worth it for the state to fund an on-campus stadium for JSU in order to free up that land for UMMC.
 
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Bobby Ricigliano

Bobby Ricigliano

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vhdawg said:
....God forbid, I know, but I wondered what would a Larry Templeton 2026 schedule look like this season, with the exact same opponents and the exact same home/away designations. The only external consideration I took was keeping both Texas and Oklahoma off the Red River date. Check this out and tell me it doesn't belong on a poster in Impact font with Jackie Sherrill's picture on it.

09/05/2026 Louisiana–Monroe*
09/12/2026 at Minnesota*
09/19/2026 Auburn
09/26/2026 at LSU
10/03/2026 at South Carolina
10/10/2026 Vanderbilt
10/17/2026 Tennessee Tech [HC]*
10/24/2026 Oklahoma
10/31/2026
11/07/2026 at Texas
11/14/2026 Alabama
11/21/2026 Missouri
11/28/2026 at Ole Miss

Strangely, I think I like it better. It feels spiritually more normal. Even has Mizzou in the traditional Arkansas Trap Game slot.
Click to expand...
I won’t.
 
OG Goat Holder

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
13,361
12,317
113
vhdawg said:
....God forbid, I know, but I wondered what would a Larry Templeton 2026 schedule look like this season, with the exact same opponents and the exact same home/away designations. The only external consideration I took was keeping both Texas and Oklahoma off the Red River date. Check this out and tell me it doesn't belong on a poster in Impact font with Jackie Sherrill's picture on it.

09/05/2026 Louisiana–Monroe*
09/12/2026 at Minnesota*
09/19/2026 Auburn
09/26/2026 at LSU
10/03/2026 at South Carolina
10/10/2026 Vanderbilt
10/17/2026 Tennessee Tech [HC]*
10/24/2026 Oklahoma
10/31/2026
11/07/2026 at Texas
11/14/2026 Alabama
11/21/2026 Missouri
11/28/2026 at Ole Miss

Strangely, I think I like it better. It feels spiritually more normal. Even has Mizzou in the traditional Arkansas Trap Game slot.
Click to expand...
I used to love looking at those schedule cards and analyzing them, home games always in caps. It always felt like there was some science behind it, and back when the conferences were semi-equal, almost felt like there was some ideal consistency to it. And yeah then you argue about how such and such schedules, this and that, inside those paramaters.

But I keep getting older, and realizing it's all about money. No idealism. And that's what makes me most cynical about MSU, is how hopeless it is. Not only are schedules and rivalries all jacked up, but we've done nothing but add harder teams to the SEC, and also another game PLUS the P4 OOC game. And it sucks because we had FINALLY figured out a realistic, consistent way to field football teams in the old system, then poof, NIL/portal and all this expansion make is harder than ever before.

But at least we still have the money. It feels weird to say that we may be in a better situation than many other schools out there simply due to that, regardless of winning.
 
vhdawg

vhdawg

All-Conference
Sep 29, 2004
4,611
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113
Willow Grove Dawg said:
I left off my list earlier:

5 home football games because our fan base cannot afford season tickets when we have 6 or 7 home games
Click to expand...
Well as you know LT grew up in the shadow of Scott Field where he grew up expecting there to be about three home games in Starkville most years, so he thought a) he was giving us more than we expected, but b) not more than we could handle. He was a giver.
 
aTotal360

aTotal360

Heisman
Nov 12, 2009
22,213
15,526
113
vhdawg said:
....God forbid, I know, but I wondered what would a Larry Templeton 2026 schedule look like this season, with the exact same opponents and the exact same home/away designations. The only external consideration I took was keeping both Texas and Oklahoma off the Red River date. Check this out and tell me it doesn't belong on a poster in Impact font with Jackie Sherrill's picture on it.

09/05/2026 Louisiana–Monroe*
09/12/2026 at Minnesota*
09/19/2026 Auburn
09/26/2026 at LSU
10/03/2026 at South Carolina
10/10/2026 Vanderbilt
10/17/2026 Tennessee Tech [HC]*
10/24/2026 Oklahoma
10/31/2026
11/07/2026 at Texas
11/14/2026 Alabama
11/21/2026 Missouri
11/28/2026 at Ole Miss

Strangely, I think I like it better. It feels spiritually more normal. Even has Mizzou in the traditional Arkansas Trap Game slot.
Click to expand...
We would lose the same number of games and not have LED lights.
 
L

L4Dawg

All-American
Oct 27, 2016
11,372
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113
MSU fans are like a vengeful ex. Enough already….its been A long time. I have personal reasons to dislike the guy…..it’s been a LONG time. Enough already. It won’t help a damn thing.
 
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TaleofTwoDogs

TaleofTwoDogs

All-Conference
Jun 1, 2004
4,175
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113
Maroon13 said:
Leach's last home game, v TSU, may have been the smallest crowd I've ever seen since stadium expansion. The percentage of seats filled had to be the lowest in my lifetime.
Click to expand...
Sorry, fact check. Leach's last home game was against East Tennessee State on Nov 19, 2022. We won 56-7 and the attendance was 49,117.
 
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