If we have fans concerned about us losing to USM, then we aren't where we need to be as a program.
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If we have fans concerned about us losing to USM, then we aren't where we need to be as a program.
I don't like it.
Because I'm scared we'll lose?? Hell no.
I don't like it bc it's a lose/lose for us. It benefits them and only them. If we win by 100, we did what we were supposed to do....they win either way, by playing with us every now & then, and by collecting a check from us. There's a reason Alabama doesn't play UAB imo, and it isn't bc we have football figured out and they don't.
But I'm fine with disagreeing with those of you saying you like it. I just see absolutely zero benefit whatsoever to MSU. It's not like beating them helps recruiting...we out-recruit them anyway. But what if once every 10 times we play them they pull a South Alabama on us.....that's not being scared, that's just real life.....and that small risk alone in conjunction with the fact that we have nothing at all to gain, makes it very simple for me to say it's dumb. Just makes no sense. At least we got a 2 for 1, I guess that's a little less dumb than the home & home
I'm not as much against it as I was when Byrne re-upped the series and conference re-structuring has negatively affected them tremendously over the last twenty years or so.
My basic point is if we catch a decent USM team, like the one that beat The same Kentucky team we lost to last season, they're gonna treat it like the Super Bowl. We are trading a patsy for a possible loss is all I'm saying; just know that. Especially with our yearly schedule where OOC wins are paramount.
ETA: plus what Cadaver said
Stop bitching about easy wins!
All I know is Cohen better have secured tickets for us when we go to Hattiesburg if not we need to **** them like they did us. Mother ****ers.
I think playing them actually had the opposite effect as far as recruiting. By killing them it showed recruits the distance between us and them. And we were seriously competing with them for recruits before 2014- like Brandon Bryant. Not so much since then.
I think the 2014 game was as big for us in the rivalry as the 1980 game was for them because it showed their fans and everyone else the gap between them and the SEC. On the field results speak volumes and took away some of USM's selling points against us.
If we beat someone nine out of ten times I'd say we made our point.
That's the ticket!**
https://media.tenor.com/images/d071c...eff5/tenor.gif
Everything you just said applies to every nonconference game we play ever, except for against Power 5 teams. But our fanbase has this pride thing about not wanting to prop up USM in any way, shape, or form. If people would look at them as what they are (a Group of 5 team that is occasionally somewhat competitive but never has and never will be on the level of even a bottom tier SEC school), then it wouldn't be such a big deal. We've played dozens of teams like them over the years, some on the road too. But instead, there's a paranoid obsession that we are "giving them exposure" or "letting them climb the ladder at our expense". It's all completely false....they will never be on our level as a program or anywhere close to it, even if they beat us. Just like UAB won't (and they beat us), and La Tech won't (beat us multiple times), or South Alabama won't (you get the idea).
In the end, it all comes down to money. We can compete with the big boys of the SEC. But we have to do it by spending smarter than they do. I'd much rather put that money in places where that money packs a punch, like facilities upgrades and coaching salary increases. The flip side to that is throwing it away to play some out of state G5 school that is in high demand for everyone in the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 to give them a game all because we are too prideful to get a bargain deal on a similar caliber team in-state.
Also, Auburn played Jacksonville State a few years back, so it's not unheard of for other SEC schools to do either.
I like this. It spreads our program around the state. Plus the timing is spectacular as it hits that boost right as TCSUN is about to shed their penalties. This boosts us and slams them into the dirt that much longer.
I agree. And I don't understand why we play out of state FCS schools. I think it should only be Jackson State, Alcorn, or Valley assuming Valley gets their act together. I would be fine with a FCS school that's coached by a former MSU player to help them out or something like that as well. I'm not sue why we stopped playing JSU and Alcorn for a little while at least. I know Alcorn is coming up on the schedule soon.
Some of us have MacBooks, OK....
Like the series. I know most of you don't. That's fine.
We have some people in our fanbase that bitch about not getting P5s to Hattiesburg, but are complaining about this series because it's a 2-1 or because they think State will buy out the 2024 game. Just can't please some people.