Question Regarding the Bowl Streak

[ArcherSPS]

Would you rather schedule a decent team that would bring folks to DWS with the potential of us not making a bowl or keep how we’ve been operating with a mix of MTSU, UL, USA, etc. with a trip to a lower half SEC bowl?

 

[patdog]

Our current scheduling format is the right one. A mid-level P5 team (you conveniently left this out of your post), 2 reasonably competitive G5 teams, and a buy game.

 

[dawgstudent]

I’m all for continuing the bowl streak. We are #8 in the nation in terms of the bowl streak.

 

[Smoked Toag]

This is easy - the bowl game. This is like the 4th thread on this in the past week.

I don't know why people think a decent OOC team brings more people to town. I was at the K-State game in 2019, pathetic crowd. It's a flawed concept. But either way, the SEC mandates that we do it, so we need to play the easiest games possible. Since we started doing that in 2016, we are 2-2 (BYU and Kansas State). Whereas we were usually 4-0 before that, from 2010 to 2012, and 2014-2015 (lost to Georgia Tech twice from 2008-2009 and Oklahoma State 2013). Obviously our OOC record is NOT stellar.

You might have a decent argument if you said you wanted to play a big name or elite program, like Notre Dame.

It is SOOOOO much easier for us to prepare and play a big OOC team as a bowl game, when it's not midseason in the grind of an already tough SEC schedule. If you disagree with this, you're just flat WRONG and don't understand football, no other way to look at it.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

I say schedule for as many wins as possible.

We already play 8 SEC games plus an additional P5 non-con. Our schedule is already difficult enough. Even with Vanderbilt as our East crossover and NC State as our P5 non-con, our SOS ranks 16th. That’s how good the West is.

The odds of State not making a 12-team playoff because of our schedule is very low. It’s going to come down to winning games on an already difficult schedule. Short of that, we need to always make a bowl.

 

[ronpolk]

This is easy - the bowl game. This is like the 4th thread on this in the past week.

I don't know why people think a decent OOC team brings more people to town. I was at the K-State game in 2019, pathetic crowd. It's a flawed concept. But either way, the SEC mandates that we do it, so we need to play the easiest games possible. Since we started doing that in 2016, we are 2-2 (BYU and Kansas State). Whereas we were usually 4-0 before that, from 2010 to 2012, and 2014-2015 (lost to Georgia Tech twice from 2008-2009 and Oklahoma State 2013). Obviously our OOC record is NOT stellar.

You might have a decent argument if you said you wanted to play a big name or elite program, like Notre Dame.

It is SOOOOO much easier for us to prepare and play a big OOC team as a bowl game, when it's not midseason in the grind of an already tough SEC schedule. If you disagree with this, you're just flat WRONG, no other way to look at it.

That game was also hot as hell, early in the day and half the fan base had realized Joe was not the answer at coach. Now I’m not advocating for loading up a tough schedule but I’m not sure that game is the best gauge for attendance against a P5 opponent

 

[aTotal360]

Agreed. The hubris of some of our fans that think we should throw in a Wisconsin or Oregon on top playing Bama, LSU, Auburn, a decent SECe opponent, Arky, and OM. I don't get it.

I'm convinced those are the same fans that haven't been to a game since they graduated and think it would be cool to watch on TV.

 

[The Peeper]

How about answer C) Keep scheduling MTSU, UL, USA, and just not go to "lower half SEC bowls? Trips to those type bowl games i.e. Memphis, Birmingham, Shreveport, Charlotte, even Tampa, Nashville, etc just don't do it for many fans anymore and obviously the locals either because the stadiums are largely empty every time. Because the payouts are relatively low the bowls cost the university in the long run when they take many athletic department personnel, their spouses, team, band, cheer squads, then the chartered flights, buses, meals, etc. Lately it seems we've had weekday games too which means missing work. All of that with the hassle that flying has become, crowded restaurants for bowls, its just not worth it for me anymore. Many of you talk of how easy it is to stay and home and watch, this is one of the times I will agree with you. Not so much for home games, but bowls are much easier to stay home for. I'd rather go to Nashville, Dallas, etc on a weekend of my choice rather than when its jam packed

 

[Smoked Toag]

That game was also hot as hell, early in the day and half the fan base had realized Joe was not the answer at coach. Now I’m not advocating for loading up a tough schedule but I’m not sure that game is the best gauge for attendance against a P5 opponent

It's absolutely a perfect gauge. The whole purpose of many of these guys' rant for scheduling harder is to get people here. Well it didn't work. More evidence is that USM drew just as many people, in the same heat. Give it up.

Go back and look in 2017 (2018 was an away game at K-State). Charleston Southern drew as much as BYU, and both were less than even Kentucky.

It's just not going to accomplish what they want, especially if we are losing.

 

[Smoked Toag]

How about answer C) Keep scheduling MTSU, UL, USA, and just not go to "lower half SEC bowls? Trips to those type bowl games i.e. Memphis, Birmingham, Shreveport, Charlotte, even Tampa, Nashville, etc just don't do it for many fans anymore and obviously the locals either because the stadiums are largely empty every time. Because the payouts are relatively low the bowls cost the university in the long run when they take many athletic department personnel, their spouses, team, band, cheer squads, then the chartered flights, buses, meals, etc. Lately it seems we've had weekday games too which means missing work. All of that with the hassle that flying has become, crowded restaurants for bowls, its just not worth it for me anymore. Many of you talk of how easy it is to stay and home and watch, this is one of the times I will agree with you. Not so much for home games, but bowls are much easier to stay home for. I'd rather go to Nashville, Dallas, etc on a weekend of my choice rather than when its jam packed

I think his point is raising attendance for Starkville home games, not bowl games. Bowls are all about TV eyes anyway, nobody cares about ticket sales there.

And if you think we are turning down a bowl trip, you have lost your mind. They do not cost the university in the long run. We all give our payout to the SEC and they distribute it. We ALWAYS make money from bowls.

 

[patdog]

That's some revisionist history there. JoMo was 10-5 coming into that game, 2-0 on the current season. State fans aren't so jaded that everyone had turned on him at that point.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

FYI our non-con schedule is set through 2025 and we have a P5 non-con scheduled through 2031, so I doubt our scheduling philosophy changes anytime soon.

 

[OliveBranchDAWG]

Our current scheduling format is the right one. A mid-level P5 team (you conveniently left this out of your post), 2 reasonably competitive G5 teams, and a buy game.

This. And this is what most SEC teams are doing.

We’ve reached the point in the off-season when people are creating posts to ***** about imaginary problems. Our current and future FB schedules are attractive and competitive as any.

 

[Seinfeld]

If we had a chance to get a name school like FSU, Texas, or Norte Dame, I’d be all for it. Other than that, though, I have no desire for putting another possible L on the schedule until we get the hell outta the SEC west. I really hope we’re no more than a year or two away from doing away with football divisions

 

[patdog]

Agreed. The hubris of some of our fans that think we should throw in a Wisconsin or Oregon on top playing Bama, LSU, Auburn, a decent SECe opponent, Arky, and OM.

How soon people forget the days we did schedule teams like that OOC and the beatdowns we took. If you think the bitching about the "easy" OOC schedules now is bad........

 

[Bill Shankly]

I wish we didn't have to schedule that OOC Power 5 team.

 

[MSUDC11]

Been there, done that, not interested.

The last thing on my mind when Oregon, West Virginia, and Georgia Tech were running up and down the field on us was "boy I sure am glad we are playing these guys instead of someone easier".

 

[OliveBranchDAWG]

Been there, done that, not interested.

The last thing on my mind when Oregon, West Virginia, and Georgia Tech were running up and down the field on us was "boy I sure am glad we are playing these guys instead of someone easier".

Part of the issue is we played those teams when we were at our absolute worst 2002-2008.

We have NC State, Arizona, Arizona State, Minnesota, & Texas Tech lined up for a home&home over the next decade. Looking forward to it.

 

[00Dawg]

Bowl, please.

I said back at the beginning of the Mullen era that we should revisit this after 10 straight bowls, so I'm okay with discussing, but the evidence says our program has still not reached the next level. Or maybe it says we were there and stepped back...

Either way, we've now seen that outside of the 1999 season when we didn't do it, there was no upside to playing bigger name teams. It only hurt us or at best, provided no assistance; as in there was no boost to ticket sales, and a more difficult schedule didn't get us to a bigger bowl than our record deserved.

 

[Smoked Toag]

That's some revisionist history there. JoMo was 10-5 coming into that game, 2-0 on the current season. State fans aren't so jaded that everyone had turned on him at that point.

Yep, most people started jumping off the train AFTER that K-State game, and the final stragglers bailed after the Tennessee game.

 

[philduckworth]

FYI our non-con schedule is set through 2025 and we have a P5 non-con scheduled through 2031, so I doubt our scheduling philosophy changes anytime soon.

another problem with college football^^^^

 

[philduckworth]

LOL at people still thinking bowl games matter.

 

[GloryDawg]

Our current scheduling format is the right one. A mid-level P5 team (you conveniently left this out of your post), 2 reasonably competitive G5 teams, and a buy game.

I'm looking forward to the NC state game. I thinking they will bring a lot fans.

 

[patdog]

LOL at people who think they don't. Is there anyone who wouldn't agree the 11 straight bowl games from 2010 - current is a hell of a lot better than the 1 bowl game from 2001 - 2009 was?

 

[Drebin]

LOL at people still thinking bowl games matter.

Pretty stupid to think they don't.

 

[Dawgg]

LOL at people still thinking bowl games matter.

Screw you dude. There's a monetary payout, extra practices, and the chance to build momentum going into the next season. That's a boost for the program.

You get to watch your favorite team play one more game, travel to somewhere you haven't gone before, or get to see them play locally when you normally wouldn't have. That's a boost for the fans.

If you're going to sit here and tell me that you didn't enjoy seeing Dak play one more game in 2015 or that having him go out with a win against NC State didn't matter to you, then why are you even a fan?

 

[Dawgg]

More evidence is that USM drew just as many people, in the same heat.

Where are you getting your numbers? I'm asking in earnest. The numbers I'm seeing I assume are "tickets sold" at 54K for MState vs KState and 27K for Southern Miss vs Troy.

 

[Quincy A. Wagstaff]

Where are you getting your numbers? I'm asking in earnest. The numbers I'm seeing I assume are "tickets sold" at 54K for MState vs KState and 27K for Southern Miss vs Troy.

I think they mean our game vs USM the week before: 55,143 (USM), 54,522 (KSU)

 

[GloryDawg]

LOL at people still thinking bowl games matter.

Matter or not that's more football games I get to watch. What's wrong with more football? Also sometimes those early bowls turn out to be entertaining games.

 

[Philly Dawg]

I had doubts before, but when Joe brought back a clearly still injured Stevens instead of Shrader, who’d just beaten Kentucky, I was finally done with him.

 

[aTotal360]

I swear we had the worst run of playing "ok" OOC teams when they inexplicably took a turn for the better. Oregon, GT, Houston...

And let's not act like the OOC games are memorable events either. Ok St, KSU, NC State...we'll have forgotten about them in no time.

 

[aTotal360]

Who needs practice and money? Over. Rated.

 

[Dawgg]

How about answer C) Keep scheduling MTSU, UL, USA, and just not go to "lower half SEC bowls? Trips to those type bowl games i.e. Memphis, Birmingham, Shreveport, Charlotte, even Tampa, Nashville, etc just don't do it for many fans anymore and obviously the locals either because the stadiums are largely empty every time. Because the payouts are relatively low the bowls cost the university in the long run when they take many athletic department personnel, their spouses, team, band, cheer squads, then the chartered flights, buses, meals, etc. Lately it seems we've had weekday games too which means missing work. All of that with the hassle that flying has become, crowded restaurants for bowls, its just not worth it for me anymore. Many of you talk of how easy it is to stay and home and watch, this is one of the times I will agree with you. Not so much for home games, but bowls are much easier to stay home for. I'd rather go to Nashville, Dallas, etc on a weekend of my choice rather than when its jam packed

What cities would you go to?

Of course, there is the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and Orange Bowl in Miami during our once in a generation NY6 trip.

Outside of that, there's the Citrus Bowl in Orlando being the top tier non-NY6 bowl.

Then the following are considered 'equal' in the selection process:
Texas Bowl - Houston
Liberty Bowl - Memphis
Duke's Mayo Bowl - Charlotte
Music City Bowl - Nashville
Las Vegas Bowl - Las Vegas
Gator Bowl - Jacksonville
Outback Bowl - Tampa

The 'left over' bowls are:
Birmingham Bowl - Birmingham
Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl - Tampa

Outside of that, unless we're picked to be a fill-in somewhere like 2016 and last year, that's it.

I think Vegas would an interesting bowl game, especially to get Leach matched up against a Pac-12 school, but outside of that, I'm not sure I'm seeing what location moves the needle for fans regardless of the perceived tier of the bowl.

 

[Dawgg]

Been there, done that, not interested.

The last thing on my mind when Oregon, West Virginia, and Georgia Tech were running up and down the field on us was "boy I sure am glad we are playing these guys instead of someone easier".

B-b-b-b-b-b-but in 2009 we only lost to the ACC Champ by 11.***

 

[Dawgg]

I swear we had the worst run of playing "ok" OOC teams when they inexplicably took a turn for the better. Oregon, GT, Houston...

And let's not act like the OOC games are memorable events either. Ok St, KSU, NC State...we'll have forgotten about them in no time.

It would have to be extreme examples on both sides (marquee match-up vs lowest possible bowl) for me to consider the better OOC over the bowl.

If the question is getting to the Birmingham Bowl or narrowingly losing a Herbstreit/Fowler week 4 game against the eventual winner of the Pac-12 or Big Ten, then you might have something to think about. Otherwise, I think I'd stick with the bowl game. Almost beating OU isn't some badge of honor to carry around.

The other problem is that we already play the top (by a pretty wide margin, btw) program in the country EVERY year, so when we're on a hot streak, the Alabama game already has a lot of eyeballs and attention on it. You cannot tell me that there was an OOC opponent (Clemson, Notre Dame, Texas, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida State, Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, et al ad infinitum) that would have given DWS a better atmosphere than 2017 vs Alabama.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

I think we should join C-USA so we can keep our bowl streak alive and make it easier to win 10 games.**

I’d rather us schedule real teams. I understand the pros and cons of a stronger/lighter schedule. I just don’t enjoy watching us play crappy teams.

 

[aTotal360]

All of those teams you listed will never play us in a regular season game. They don't need the money and the risk isn't worth it.

 

[Dawgg]

I said back at the beginning of the Mullen era that we should revisit this after 10 straight bowls, so I'm okay with discussing, but the evidence says our program has still not reached the next level. Or maybe it says we were there and stepped back...

Either way, we've now seen that outside of the 1999 season when we didn't do it, there was no upside to playing bigger name teams. It only hurt us or at best, provided no assistance; as in there was no boost to ticket sales, and a more difficult schedule didn't get us to a bigger bowl than our record deserved.

Most seasons, our conference slate is tougher than most teams' total season. I firmly believe that 2010 team could have won the following:
All G5 conferences
Big East
Big 12
ACC
maybe the Big Ten

... and we finished 5th in our own division. That was the season with the SEC's New Year's Massacre vs the Big Ten.

 

[philduckworth]

Matter or not that's more football games I get to watch. What's wrong with more football? Also sometimes those early bowls turn out to be entertaining games.

I like watching an extra football game. But we went to a bowl at 5-7. We went to one last year after winning, what, 3 games? It's not that hard to make a bowl game these days. Stay off probation and win 5-6 games.

I wouldn't trade a regular season game vs Wisconsin for a bowl game against Miami of Ohio or Tulsa.

 

[dogmatic]

Being stuck with the SEC West schedule already has us playing the real-est teams there are. I'm not interested in playing Oregon.

The Belk Bowl with Dak was one of my favorite family experiences as a State fan, second only to taking my dad and son to the recent CWS. It was a fun game in a fun town, nice after-Christmas getaway for us all. I wouldn't want to have missed that because we'd narrowly lost to Michigan State in September.