(07-29-2018 02:30 PM)Volkmar Wrote:  

(07-29-2018 02:12 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  [quote='Rabonchild' pid='15404277' dateline='1532890973']
Remember, do you have a realistic chance of booking a home and away with the Teams you have listed?

We host Houston in 2018, 2021, and 2023.
We host Texas in 2019.
We'll get the Tigers and Aggies back here at some point.

To be fair, you don't host Texas at your stadium though since they only agreed to play you if it's at NRG Stadium (home of the Texans). And you then also play two games in Austin as consolation. Texas fans will also FAR outnumber you there even though you're hosting, probably by a 4-to-1 margin at the minimum.

As for "hosting" Houston, well they're a cross-town rival, and realistically, they'll also have far more fans in the stadium because they're just a much larger school. So whether you play the Cougars at UH, Rice, or at NRG, you're never truly hosting them in terms of fan support; not even close.

Yes, both of those schools would spike your attendance numbers though. As for LSU and A&M, yeah you might host them again at some point, but I can almost guarantee you it'll also only be at NRG Stadium again, and only because they'd probably rather play you guys than UH because UH might actually pull an upset. No offense, but it's true.

And granted, UTSA doesn't even have a stadium, since we use the Alamodome, but it was still worth mentioning.
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I personally don't like the NRG games, but the money is too good to turn down. It's not my preference for all the reasons you mention. I wouldn't give big-time schools a return trip to Houston unless they agreed to play us in our real home. Our fans are outnumbered, but we usually play much better football at Rice Stadium.
As for the small schools that boost attendance, Rice has recently scheduled ULL, Texas Southern, Lamar, and Prairie View. SMU, Tulane, and Texas State would all draw fans.