(06-19-2012 08:14 AM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  Unless you are competing for a spot in the top bowls, a difficult schedule earns you nothing.

Bluedink is b*tching because ULM HAS to play all those body bag games to survive into the next year. UL, stAte and for sure FIU doesnt have to do that.

Z

I like our ooc schedule.
One top tier team, one on our level (er....most years), and one 'should be' win.

(06-18-2012 04:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  Well the Cajuns have Florida, Okie State, Tulane and Lamar as OOC opponents, so I guess it doesn't say much for the Sunbelt huh?

It's easy to see names like Florida and Oklahoma State on there and consider it a tough OOC, Florida went 7-6 last year finished outside the top 25 and likely won't start the season in it this year. Oklahoma State lost a lot(most notably Weeden and Blackmon), they'll take their first step back in a few years. Tulane? Lamar?

(06-18-2012 04:25 PM)Bigtom9221 Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:20 PM)panama Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:15 PM)OsageJ Wrote:  Wow..USA should go undefeated with that schedule...3109....

LOL!!!!!!!

UL will lose only one game this season and that will be Florida.

Riiiiight...

(06-18-2012 04:25 PM)Bigtom9221 Wrote:  UL will lose only one game this season and that will be Florida.

(06-18-2012 04:25 PM)Bigtom9221 Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:20 PM)panama Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:15 PM)OsageJ Wrote:  Wow..USA should go undefeated with that schedule...3109....

LOL!!!!!!!

UL will lose only one game this season and that will be Florida.

ULL will probably lose at least 2 games this season (Florida and Oklahoma State). ULL could easily lose 5 game this season, because ASU, FIU, and WKU are seem capable of beating them.

(06-19-2012 03:24 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  Well the Cajuns have Florida, Okie State, Tulane and Lamar as OOC opponents, so I guess it doesn't say much for the Sunbelt huh?

It's easy to see names like Florida and Oklahoma State on there and consider it a tough OOC, Florida went 7-6 last year finished outside the top 25 and likely won't start the season in it this year. Oklahoma State lost a lot(most notably Weeden and Blackmon), they'll take their first step back in a few years. Tulane? Lamar?

AD's don't look at depth charts and recruiting classes when schedule agreements are completed, sometimes two or three years in advance. So when you see a Florida on the schedule, they are and have been an SEC power and the current condition of the program is not known in hindsight. The same goes for Oklahoma St, UL signed the agreement and they have been Top 10 and Top 20 program the last two years. Again, we looking at this in hindsight.

Tulane and Lamar are regional games, one CUSA and one FCS with attendance numbers in mind. I see no difference between UL playing Tulane and MTplaying Memphis, both are bad CUSA programs. And I will say this again, the fact that a program's schedule has a good preseason strenght as more to do with luck, than actual planning. Other then that, it means very little if you are sitting at home during bowl season.

(06-19-2012 05:23 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:25 PM)Bigtom9221 Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:20 PM)panama Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:15 PM)OsageJ Wrote:  Wow..USA should go undefeated with that schedule...3109....

LOL!!!!!!!

UL will lose only one game this season and that will be Florida.

ULL will probably lose at least 2 games this season (Florida and Oklahoma State). ULL could easily lose 5 game this season, because ASU, FIU, and WKU are seem capable of beating them.

UL is capable of losing any game under certain conditions. Having said that ASU, FIU and WKU are all at home and I will take my chances with Hudspeth in those games. UL went undefeated at home last season and lost to ASU and WKU on the road. The Cajuns will be emotionally ready to play both of those games for obvious reasons. UL faces two very emotional games on the road at ULM and Troy. Both of those games will be dog fights in my opinion. There are no easy games on the road.

(06-19-2012 06:21 PM)CrazyCajun Wrote:  

(06-19-2012 03:24 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  Well the Cajuns have Florida, Okie State, Tulane and Lamar as OOC opponents, so I guess it doesn't say much for the Sunbelt huh?

It's easy to see names like Florida and Oklahoma State on there and consider it a tough OOC, Florida went 7-6 last year finished outside the top 25 and likely won't start the season in it this year. Oklahoma State lost a lot(most notably Weeden and Blackmon), they'll take their first step back in a few years. Tulane? Lamar?

AD's don't look at depth charts and recruiting classes when schedule agreements are completed, sometimes two or three years in advance. So when you see a Florida on the schedule, they are and have been an SEC power and the current condition of the program is not known in hindsight. The same goes for Oklahoma St, UL signed the agreement and they have been Top 10 and Top 20 program the last two years. Again, we looking at this in hindsight.

Tulane and Lamar are regional games, one CUSA and one FCS with attendance numbers in mind. I see no difference between UL playing Tulane and MTplaying Memphis, both are bad CUSA programs. And I will say this again, the fact that a program's schedule has a good preseason strenght as more to do with luck, than actual planning. Other then that, it means very little if you are sitting at home during bowl season.

I think you've mistaken my intention. You implied that your Sun Belt conference schedule is dragging down your strong OOC schedule and I was merely pointing out that it's not nearly as strong as it appears. I'm very familiar with how scheduling works and fluctuations down the road work both ways. A game you scheduled several years out can look completely different once it arrives due both to fluctuations in the quality of the team you scheduled as well as the quality in your own team. I wasn't suggesting you shouldn't play Tulane or Lamar, just saying neither one of them contribute to your implied strong OOC schedule. I was not passing judgement, I was not suggesting your AD should have done anything differently, I was merely pointing out that your schedule just isn't that tough. It's tougher than MT's, but not by a great deal.

McNeese-Lamar: wash

Memphis-Tulane: wash

Miss State-Florida: toss-up finished with the same record last year, should be close in quality this year but one could certainly end up being tougher.

Georgia Tech-Oklahoma State: Cajuns definitely have the tougher game here, but both are likely losses.

(06-20-2012 07:10 AM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(06-19-2012 06:21 PM)CrazyCajun Wrote:  

(06-19-2012 03:24 PM)MTPiKapp Wrote:  

(06-18-2012 04:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  Well the Cajuns have Florida, Okie State, Tulane and Lamar as OOC opponents, so I guess it doesn't say much for the Sunbelt huh?

It's easy to see names like Florida and Oklahoma State on there and consider it a tough OOC, Florida went 7-6 last year finished outside the top 25 and likely won't start the season in it this year. Oklahoma State lost a lot(most notably Weeden and Blackmon), they'll take their first step back in a few years. Tulane? Lamar?

AD's don't look at depth charts and recruiting classes when schedule agreements are completed, sometimes two or three years in advance. So when you see a Florida on the schedule, they are and have been an SEC power and the current condition of the program is not known in hindsight. The same goes for Oklahoma St, UL signed the agreement and they have been Top 10 and Top 20 program the last two years. Again, we looking at this in hindsight.

Tulane and Lamar are regional games, one CUSA and one FCS with attendance numbers in mind. I see no difference between UL playing Tulane and MTplaying Memphis, both are bad CUSA programs. And I will say this again, the fact that a program's schedule has a good preseason strenght as more to do with luck, than actual planning. Other then that, it means very little if you are sitting at home during bowl season.

I think you've mistaken my intention. You implied that your Sun Belt conference schedule is dragging down your strong OOC schedule and I was merely pointing out that it's not nearly as strong as it appears. I'm very familiar with how scheduling works and fluctuations down the road work both ways. A game you scheduled several years out can look completely different once it arrives due both to fluctuations in the quality of the team you scheduled as well as the quality in your own team. I wasn't suggesting you shouldn't play Tulane or Lamar, just saying neither one of them contribute to your implied strong OOC schedule. I was not passing judgement, I was not suggesting your AD should have done anything differently, I was merely pointing out that your schedule just isn't that tough. It's tougher than MT's, but not by a great deal.

McNeese-Lamar: wash

Memphis-Tulane: wash

Miss State-Florida: toss-up finished with the same record last year, should be close in quality this year but one could certainly end up being tougher.

Georgia Tech-Oklahoma State: Cajuns definitely have the tougher game here, but both are likely losses.

No, I understood your post. I think the original post in this thread is not thinking along the same lines. Tulane and Lamar are smart moves on our part because similarity to Memphis and MT, the game will draw a good crowd and both programs do not like each other.

Lamar is our one FCS game, not a long trip for them down I-10 to Lafayette and they were a hated rival back in the SLC days. It will be interesting to see if they can bring a decent crowd to Lafayette since some of their fans have been touting future Sun Belt membership on other boards.

Overall I like the schedule because it has good balance with one FCS program, two quality BCS programs and one in-state CUSA program that has done it's best to avoid us in recent years. If Florida finally lives up to all the young talent that it has recruited over the past few years and a few Sun Belt programs like Troy and UNT improve upon last years performances, the our schedule strenght might be a little better then it's preaseason rank at this point.

(06-19-2012 08:14 AM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  Unless you are competing for a spot in the top bowls, a difficult schedule earns you nothing.

Indeed! This sums it up nicely.

(06-19-2012 01:27 PM)zeebart21 Wrote:  

(06-19-2012 08:14 AM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  Unless you are competing for a spot in the top bowls, a difficult schedule earns you nothing.

Bluedink is b*tching because ULM HAS to play all those body bag games to survive into the next year. UL, stAte and for sure FIU doesnt have to do that.

Z

Man am i ever ready for that to be over. But We get you at home this year and it's not the opening day of duck season!

(06-20-2012 07:32 PM)Trulyb Wrote:  

(06-19-2012 01:27 PM)zeebart21 Wrote:  

(06-19-2012 08:14 AM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  Unless you are competing for a spot in the top bowls, a difficult schedule earns you nothing.

Bluedink is b*tching because ULM HAS to play all those body bag games to survive into the next year. UL, stAte and for sure FIU doesnt have to do that.

Z

Man am i ever ready for that to be over. But We get you at home this year and it's not the opening day of duck season!

IF, you beat Baylor...IF...You will have an SRO crowd for the UL game. If you get whipped, UL will have more in attdce than you guys.. Which has been the case for umpteen years.

Z