[TH Spangler]

Nope. They can keep their semi pro league, I will root for OU in that one and Liberty in D1A.

I'll watch the NFL it I want to see pro.

[tyndal23]

Louisana will not "move the needle" in Lynchburg. Only scheduled opponent that will move the needle right now pertaining to a home game, is Virginia Tech. Plus Army to a lesser degree.

So you are staying home when BYU visits?

[olldflame]

Louisana will not "move the needle" in Lynchburg. Only scheduled opponent that will move the needle right now pertaining to a home game, is Virginia Tech. Plus Army to a lesser degree.

The only team that needs to "move the needle" in Lynchburg is *Liberty*. I couldn't care less about filling the Bill with Hokie fans. Been there, done that in the Vines a couple of times. Not a good look and not conducive to winning. If we keep winning and playing exciting football, the size of the crowd will not be dependent on who we play. They will be there to see and cheer on their Flames.

[ballcoach15]

So you are staying home when BYU visits?

I have only missed 5 home games in the last 14 years, therefore chances are good that I'll make BYU game.

[olldflame]

In fairness to ballcoach, the term "moving the needle" is not referring to diehard fans like him.

[alabama24]

Louisana will not "move the needle" in Lynchburg. Only scheduled opponent that will move the needle right now pertaining to a home game, is Virginia Tech. Plus Army to a lesser degree.

There is ONE team which will "move the needle." Liberty, winning games. Yes, "Virginia Tech" would be a guaranteed sell out. By VT fans. So that does not count as "moving the needle."

[rtb72]

"Moving the needle". Not sure what the measurement some of you see is for this and "success". But I do think we have the right people with the right experience to determine that. FYI...I don't think they post here. However, I do know that winning is the bottom line for fans. Exciting players plays a part. We need to keep fielding players like Malik Willis and others of his caliber and THAT is what draws the attention. That is what fans want to see. That's what gets the "buzz" going. And that's what draws attention to us. I can tell you, just in my small circle....several of my friends who are alumni from other colleges are now watching LU in football AND basketball. Why? Because the past two/three years have been about winning, bowl and NCAA appearances. Malik Willis played a large part of that, but so did the attention garnered by AGG in the last draft. These folks never thought twice about LU....until......back to back Cure Bowl wins! NCAA win over Miss. State! I would argue that also makes us attractive to conferences. Conferences that we truly have a chance of being a part of, and want to be a part of.

Scheduling? I trust Ian and our staff. I trust Ian and HCHF and their vision and ability. It will come. P5 equivalent? I could care less what we are considered. If we are going to make an impact and draw attention and increase our fanbase....it starts with winning ballgames and recruiting kids like Malik and some of our recent transfers (PS...the two are NOT mutually exclusive). That shakes the bush! That gets headlines. Reality has to play a role here. We are not going to be invited into the ACC or SEC no matter what we call ourselves. In the meantime, we resolve to what we are capable of at this point, and use our talent and strengths to continue a progression toward winning ballgames, attracting quality recruits, and spending money in our programs. The focus on LU the past two years has been amazing, and I would venture to say....beyond what many of us would have thought possible in such a short time. The folks we have over our athletics aren't "rookies". Assuming the present trend and implications dictate....LU is going to be successful. But trying to push us somewhere we aren't ready, capable, or compatible...that will yield nothing more than frustration on all sides. And that is not going to move the needle, at least, not in the direction we want.

At the end of the day, we have NO CONTROL over what the SEC, ACC, NCAA, or others do. We DO have control over what WE DO. And that is to win ballgames and making ourselves the most attractive commodity we are capable of. I think we have the right folks to do that, and I truly think they will have LU where LU needs to be for the future. In the meantime....I'm counting down the days till the first kickoff!

[tyndal23]

"Moving the needle". Not sure what the measurement some of you see is for this and "success". But I do think we have the right people with the right experience to determine that. FYI...I don't think they post here. However, I do know that winning is the bottom line for fans. Exciting players plays a part. We need to keep fielding players like Malik Willis and others of his caliber and THAT is what draws the attention. That is what fans want to see. That's what gets the "buzz" going. And that's what draws attention to us. I can tell you, just in my small circle....several of my friends who are alumni from other colleges are now watching LU in football AND basketball. Why? Because the past two/three years have been about winning, bowl and NCAA appearances. Malik Willis played a large part of that, but so did the attention garnered by AGG in the last draft. These folks never thought twice about LU....until......back to back Cure Bowl wins! NCAA win over Miss. State! I would argue that also makes us attractive to conferences. Conferences that we truly have a chance of being a part of, and want to be a part of.

Scheduling? I trust Ian and our staff. I trust Ian and HCHF and their vision and ability. It will come. P5 equivalent? I could care less what we are considered. If we are going to make an impact and draw attention and increase our fanbase....it starts with winning ballgames and recruiting kids like Malik and some of our recent transfers (PS...the two are NOT mutually exclusive). That shakes the bush! That gets headlines. Reality has to play a role here. We are not going to be invited into the ACC or SEC no matter what we call ourselves. In the meantime, we resolve to what we are capable of at this point, and use our talent and strengths to continue a progression toward winning ballgames, attracting quality recruits, and spending money in our programs. The focus on LU the past two years has been amazing, and I would venture to say....beyond what many of us would have thought possible in such a short time. The folks we have over our athletics aren't "rookies". Assuming the present trend and implications dictate....LU is going to be successful. But trying to push us somewhere we aren't ready, capable, or compatible...that will yield nothing more than frustration on all sides. And that is not going to move the needle, at least, not in the direction we want.

At the end of the day, we have NO CONTROL over what the SEC, ACC, NCAA, or others do. We DO have control over what WE DO. And that is to win ballgames and making ourselves the most attractive commodity we are capable of. I think we have the right folks to do that, and I truly think they will have LU where LU needs to be for the future. In the meantime....I'm counting down the days till the first kickoff!

Very well stated. At what point will winning just for winning’s sake but never being considered for a playoff spot due to SOS factor in to random people following our football program ? If our hoops team just lost 1 game but never made the tourney, are they still following from afar? Again, Western MI went undefeated, win a MAC Conference Title, beat 2 P5 teams and ended up 17th by Playoff Committee. I don’t care about P5/G5 with a playoff, but I do care that our goal is making a 12 team playoff and our scheduling philosophy (5 years in advance) should mirror that. I would like to hear Ian’s thoughts on that at some point. Right now, future scheduling just got put at the bottom of his to do list. Going 8-4 for 3 years straight but then making a Playoff year 4 - are you taking that over averaging 10-2 for 4 years but never making a Playoff?

[rtb72]

"Moving the needle". Not sure what the measurement some of you see is for this and "success". But I do think we have the right people with the right experience to determine that. FYI...I don't think they post here. However, I do know that winning is the bottom line for fans. Exciting players plays a part. We need to keep fielding players like Malik Willis and others of his caliber and THAT is what draws the attention. That is what fans want to see. That's what gets the "buzz" going. And that's what draws attention to us. I can tell you, just in my small circle....several of my friends who are alumni from other colleges are now watching LU in football AND basketball. Why? Because the past two/three years have been about winning, bowl and NCAA appearances. Malik Willis played a large part of that, but so did the attention garnered by AGG in the last draft. These folks never thought twice about LU....until......back to back Cure Bowl wins! NCAA win over Miss. State! I would argue that also makes us attractive to conferences. Conferences that we truly have a chance of being a part of, and want to be a part of.

Scheduling? I trust Ian and our staff. I trust Ian and HCHF and their vision and ability. It will come. P5 equivalent? I could care less what we are considered. If we are going to make an impact and draw attention and increase our fanbase....it starts with winning ballgames and recruiting kids like Malik and some of our recent transfers (PS...the two are NOT mutually exclusive). That shakes the bush! That gets headlines. Reality has to play a role here. We are not going to be invited into the ACC or SEC no matter what we call ourselves. In the meantime, we resolve to what we are capable of at this point, and use our talent and strengths to continue a progression toward winning ballgames, attracting quality recruits, and spending money in our programs. The focus on LU the past two years has been amazing, and I would venture to say....beyond what many of us would have thought possible in such a short time. The folks we have over our athletics aren't "rookies". Assuming the present trend and implications dictate....LU is going to be successful. But trying to push us somewhere we aren't ready, capable, or compatible...that will yield nothing more than frustration on all sides. And that is not going to move the needle, at least, not in the direction we want.

At the end of the day, we have NO CONTROL over what the SEC, ACC, NCAA, or others do. We DO have control over what WE DO. And that is to win ballgames and making ourselves the most attractive commodity we are capable of. I think we have the right folks to do that, and I truly think they will have LU where LU needs to be for the future. In the meantime....I'm counting down the days till the first kickoff!

Very well stated. At what point will winning just for winning’s sake but never being considered for a playoff spot due to SOS factor in to random people following our football program ? If our hoops team just lost 1 game but never made the tourney, are they still following from afar? Again, Western MI went undefeated, win a MAC Conference Title, beat 2 P5 teams and ended up 17th by Playoff Committee. I don’t care about P5/G5 with a playoff, but I do care that our goal is making a 12 team playoff and our scheduling philosophy (5 years in advance) should mirror that. I would like to hear Ian’s thoughts on that at some point. Right now, future scheduling just got put at the bottom of his to do list. Going 8-4 for 3 years straight but then making a Playoff year 4 - are you taking that over averaging 10-2 for 4 years but never making a Playoff?

Why is scheduling falling to the bottom of the list? Also, I'm good with 8-4 or 10-2...so long as we are playing up to our potential and positioning ourselves to be a quality program. So long as we are attracting good talent and expanding our fan footprint. I'm sure these discussions have been a regular collaboration with our athletics staff, and I'm sure there are lots of parts moving now and for the future that we will not know about until it's public.

[tyndal23]

"Moving the needle". Not sure what the measurement some of you see is for this and "success". But I do think we have the right people with the right experience to determine that. FYI...I don't think they post here. However, I do know that winning is the bottom line for fans. Exciting players plays a part. We need to keep fielding players like Malik Willis and others of his caliber and THAT is what draws the attention. That is what fans want to see. That's what gets the "buzz" going. And that's what draws attention to us. I can tell you, just in my small circle....several of my friends who are alumni from other colleges are now watching LU in football AND basketball. Why? Because the past two/three years have been about winning, bowl and NCAA appearances. Malik Willis played a large part of that, but so did the attention garnered by AGG in the last draft. These folks never thought twice about LU....until......back to back Cure Bowl wins! NCAA win over Miss. State! I would argue that also makes us attractive to conferences. Conferences that we truly have a chance of being a part of, and want to be a part of.

Scheduling? I trust Ian and our staff. I trust Ian and HCHF and their vision and ability. It will come. P5 equivalent? I could care less what we are considered. If we are going to make an impact and draw attention and increase our fanbase....it starts with winning ballgames and recruiting kids like Malik and some of our recent transfers (PS...the two are NOT mutually exclusive). That shakes the bush! That gets headlines. Reality has to play a role here. We are not going to be invited into the ACC or SEC no matter what we call ourselves. In the meantime, we resolve to what we are capable of at this point, and use our talent and strengths to continue a progression toward winning ballgames, attracting quality recruits, and spending money in our programs. The focus on LU the past two years has been amazing, and I would venture to say....beyond what many of us would have thought possible in such a short time. The folks we have over our athletics aren't "rookies". Assuming the present trend and implications dictate....LU is going to be successful. But trying to push us somewhere we aren't ready, capable, or compatible...that will yield nothing more than frustration on all sides. And that is not going to move the needle, at least, not in the direction we want.

At the end of the day, we have NO CONTROL over what the SEC, ACC, NCAA, or others do. We DO have control over what WE DO. And that is to win ballgames and making ourselves the most attractive commodity we are capable of. I think we have the right folks to do that, and I truly think they will have LU where LU needs to be for the future. In the meantime....I'm counting down the days till the first kickoff!

Very well stated. At what point will winning just for winning’s sake but never being considered for a playoff spot due to SOS factor in to random people following our football program ? If our hoops team just lost 1 game but never made the tourney, are they still following from afar? Again, Western MI went undefeated, win a MAC Conference Title, beat 2 P5 teams and ended up 17th by Playoff Committee. I don’t care about P5/G5 with a playoff, but I do care that our goal is making a 12 team playoff and our scheduling philosophy (5 years in advance) should mirror that. I would like to hear Ian’s thoughts on that at some point. Right now, future scheduling just got put at the bottom of his to do list. Going 8-4 for 3 years straight but then making a Playoff year 4 - are you taking that over averaging 10-2 for 4 years but never making a Playoff?

Why is scheduling falling to the bottom of the list? Also, I'm good with 8-4 or 10-2...so long as we are playing up to our potential and positioning ourselves to be a quality program. So long as we are attracting good talent and expanding our fan footprint. I'm sure these discussions have been a regular collaboration with our athletics staff, and I'm sure there are lots of parts moving now and for the future that we will not know about until it's public.

AD’s in every conference right now are churning through conference realignment scenarios and trying to figure out what will happen and how to best position themselves. Taking calls about non con schedules 5 years from now is at the bottom of their list ( I would guess - could be wrong ).

[sstaedtler]

Scheduling should never be at the bottom of Ian McCaw's list. If you don't schedule enough P5's and tough games, there will be no shot at any playoff spot, period. You can't continue to schedule UMass, UConn, NMS, and 1 FCS team all in one year. Two of them? Fine. But. you need 3 Power 5 teams and at least 1 good Independent like BYU or Army, sprinkled with games against the AAC, WAC, and perhaps 1 or 2 top G5 teams like UCF, App. State, Coastal, UAB, etc.

[LUGrad2000]

If the Big 8 doesn’t add any more schools, that would leave with 5 games a year to fill. It would be nice to play one of them a year. Baylor on a semiannual basis would be fun.

[Ill flame]

If the Big 8 doesn’t add any more schools, that would leave with 5 games a year to fill. It would be nice to play one of them a year. Baylor on a semiannual basis would be fun.

They would never stay at 8. I don't see them staying at less than 10 teams. You also have to think of all the other sports that could be negatively affected by only having 8 teams.

[LUDad]

If the Big 8 doesn’t add any more schools, that would leave with 5 games a year to fill. It would be nice to play one of them a year. Baylor on a semiannual basis would be fun.

They would never stay at 8. I don't see them staying at less than 10 teams. You also have to think of all the other sports that could be negatively affected by only having 8 teams.

Wasn't there a spat between B12 & ESPN about the AAC absorbing the rest of the B12?

[Ill flame]

If the Big 8 doesn’t add any more schools, that would leave with 5 games a year to fill. It would be nice to play one of them a year. Baylor on a semiannual basis would be fun.

They would never stay at 8. I don't see them staying at less than 10 teams. You also have to think of all the other sports that could be negatively affected by only having 8 teams.

Wasn't there a spat between B12 & ESPN about the AAC absorbing the rest of the B12?

I don't think the big 12 specifically accused the AAC although that's what everyone's assumption is. I don't see any big 12 schools going to the AAC unless it's the last resort. It's one thing to have Houston, Memphis, UCF and/or Cincinnati join the big 12 but schools like Oklahoma St won't want any part of being in the same conference as Tulane, ECU or temple.

[tyndal23]

2023 BYU schedule. Cinci just bought out of their game with OHio St. since it will be year 1 Big 12 for them. Will be interesting to see if BYU which P5 games they elect to drop. Opportunity for LU to tweak 23/24 schedules if we want to. I don’t think any of us are real high on those schedules are we ?

https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/byu/

If we are flying west for NMSU 11/25 - would love to take the USC game off of BYU hands and buy out NMSU.

https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/liberty/

[flameshaw]

I wish you guys would share some of that stuff you are smoking.

[tyndal23]

I wish you guys would share some of that stuff you are smoking.

You would rather play 2 P5 games and NMSU vs 3 and USC ? The year after we play 4 ?

[Ill flame]

If USC wants to play us I would be all for it. Getting nmsu off our scheduling and replacing it with a game in a talent rich area would be a no brainer. I don't see this happening though.

[tyndal23]

If USC wants to play us I would be all for it. Getting nmsu off our scheduling and replacing it with a game in a talent rich area would be a no brainer. I don't see this happening though.

Guaranty their AD would take that offer in 30 seconds flat with the season BYU is having and the season USC is having. Another auto win on the schedule for future head coach. Heck, would probably kick in a few hundred k to get BYU off the last week of their schedule. Are we willing - that is the question.

[tyndal23]

If USC wants to play us I would be all for it. Getting nmsu off our scheduling and replacing it with a game in a talent rich area would be a no brainer. I don't see this happening though.

Guaranty their AD would take that offer in 30 seconds flat with the season BYU is having and the season USC is having. Another auto win on the schedule for future head coach. Heck, would probably kick in a few hundred k to get BYU off the last week of their schedule. Are we willing - that is the question.

Look - be a coach trying to get 4* player in - they look at your schedule. 4 MAC teams and end the season with UConn,Umass,NMSU ? Thanks but no...

[Ill flame]

If USC wants to play us I would be all for it. Getting nmsu off our scheduling and replacing it with a game in a talent rich area would be a no brainer. I don't see this happening though.

Guaranty their AD would take that offer in 30 seconds flat with the season BYU is having and the season USC is having. Another auto win on the schedule for future head coach. Heck, would probably kick in a few hundred k to get BYU off the last week of their schedule. Are we willing - that is the question.

Look - be a coach trying to get 4* player in - they look at your schedule. 4 MAC teams and end the season with UConn,Umass,NMSU ? Thanks but no...

We are both in agreement here although I'm not super worried about short term schedules like these. Winning matters in recruiting more than anything.

[tyndal23]

Guaranty their AD would take that offer in 30 seconds flat with the season BYU is having and the season USC is having. Another auto win on the schedule for future head coach. Heck, would probably kick in a few hundred k to get BYU off the last week of their schedule. Are we willing - that is the question.

Look - be a coach trying to get 4* player in - they look at your schedule. 4 MAC teams and end the season with UConn,Umass,NMSU ? Thanks but no...

We are both in agreement here although I'm not super worried about short term schedules like these. Winning matters in recruiting more than anything.

Ha, yes meant to quote flameshaw, not you. He thinks it is a ludicrous proposition...

[LUOrange]

I'd love to drop NMSU for USC. But it's not happening.

[tyndal23]

I'd love to drop NMSU for USC. But it's not happening.

Tell us why? I bet $ BYU drops that game and USC fills it with someone else. Do you think they want to fill it with a “ power house” or a G5 last game of season before Comference Champ week. UNless it is a financial major hit - Neither BYU or USC are in love with that game. LU can keep it from being a financial hit if they want the game ( who else can that week ? ) . Tell me why we wouldn’t. Our schedule smells like Poo. I would absolutely take a probable loss with 2 million plus eyeballs over a 50 k eyeball blowout of NMSU in a year we have a garbage schedule and still make a bowl.