Concept of playing a winnable Home opener in review

[oldguystudent]

Only 12% of the people at last night's game know the difference between FBS and FCS. Hell, we could host a division II from Texas and most people would be happy with it.

If for no other reason, I could tell by their 12-man roster. I saw them come out and kept waiting for the rest of the team.

[JesseMartin]

Discussed this at home last night too. One thing you guys didn't say much about is the fact that you get a bit more of a confidence boost AND less pain inflicted on your players if you're still generally considered a "mid-major" FBS team as we are. Playing an FCS team - again, like everybody else including the Floridas, Michigans, etc - also means you aren't stuck in the scenario we often are, 3-4 killer games to start the season, dull the players' confidence, and possibly exhaust or hurt them. Even if it is frowned upon in a statistical sense, i.e. polls, I think the benefits far outweigh the detriments, including everything else you guys have already pointed out.

[glick1980]

Having a big name team come in is great and all but nothing can be worse for a program that what happened to southwest texas state at san marcos last night. The majority of the 33,000+ that showed up to watch them get stomped by Texas Tech will never be back.

[emmitt01]

Joe Fan,at this point, is the ONLY person we should care about. The die-hares will be there regardless and Joe Fan (much like my aunt last night) will look at the score and say "Go Mean Green! I just saw UNT is winning big"- that's a direct quote of a text I got. Joe Fan neither gives us credit for quality losses or frowns upon cupcake wins...he/she doesn't know any better!! All they know is "did you win or not?"

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I agree it was a great way to start. Had two friends with us last night who had never been to the stadium and live within walking distance who really enjoyed it last night.

I would be for scheduling an SFA or Texas State.

[H-towngreen]

Actually, the BCS system does look back and take note of who played a FCS team. All 6 component polls grade an FCS win as a "draw" for the team. Now, if you're Alabama, you play plenty of games that can make up for that. If you're North Texas or SMU looking at the BCS system this year of the selection system in 2 years, playing an FCS could very well keep you out of championship (or high-end bowl) play at the end of the year. For the selection committee especially, a win over Idaho or UTSA will be much more impressive than one over Northeastern Rhode Island College of Mines and will make a difference at the end of the year.

You're correct, playing FCS teams is really going to hurt our chances of making it to a BCS Bowl.

[NT91]

SHSU or ACU or SE LA

[Green Mean]

SHSU or ACU or SE LA

If your'e referring to Abilene Christian then I think they're Division 2 and I could be very wrong about this but I am not even sure if we'd be allowed to schedule a D2 school.

[Sweet Dee]

I also like the idea of playing a top 10 ranked team on the road to start the season - I believe we received some great credibility after the LSU game. Plus, now with ULM upsetting Arkansas this week, again I ask - why not us?

[JesseMartin]

Exactly. For us, it's a good balance - a tough game where we may occasionally pull off an upset, balanced by one on the other side that should be a fairly easy win, then 1 or 2 decent OOC opponents that may be a bit tougher than conference play but not at the level of the games with the often-seemingly-insurmountable odds.

[Mean Green Matt]

If your'e referring to Abilene Christian then I think they're Division 2 and I could be very wrong about this but I am not even sure if we'd be allowed to schedule a D2 school.

They're moving to the Southland.

[Mean Green Matt]

I also like the idea of playing a top 10 ranked team on the road to start the season - I believe we received some great credibility after the LSU game. Plus, now with ULM upsetting Arkansas this week, again I ask - why not us?

It will be decades before ULM beats another ranked team.

[shaft]

It will be decades before ULM beats another ranked team.

It's been less than 5 years since they beat Alabama coached by Saban.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=273210333

Instead of hating on our conference mates maybe we should celebrate these upsets. Especially if we beat them.

[GTWT]

Just because other BCS schools do it doesn't make it right. It's boring. I'd rather watch a good Highschool game than a ridiculous mismatch in college.

[buff64]

They're moving to the Southland.

Right, both Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word are moving up to DI from the Lone Star Conference ( DII). also Houston Baptist is adding football, they already belong to the Southland Conference.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Joe Fan,at this point, is the ONLY person we should care about. The die-hares will be there regardless and Joe Fan (much like my aunt last night) will look at the score and say "Go Mean Green! I just saw UNT is winning big"- that's a direct quote of a text I got. Joe Fan neither gives us credit for quality losses or frowns upon cupcake wins...he/she doesn't know any better!! All they know is "did you win or not?"

You're absolutely right, but I would add another person to care about: the recruit.

And as has been mentioned a million times before, coach Snyder built up the Kansas State program by scheduling easier OOC games. So not only does 'Joe Fan' only care about wins, but apparently those same wins can sway recruits as well.

[golfingomez]

You're absolutely right, but I would add another person to care about: the recruit.

And as has been mentioned a million times before, coach Snyder built up the Kansas State program by scheduling easier OOC games. So not only does 'Joe Fan' only care about wins, but apparently those same wins can sway recruits as well.

yup, at the end of the day, being able to tell a co-worker 'we won 34-7 on Saturday' is a much better sell than, 'well, we lost 41-14, but we actually looked really good, all things considered'