This hasn't been said but it finally has been solidified that we open with Valley in 2013...
It was based off of the Charlie Foxtrot that was the USM/Jackson State game.
The MSU/JSU game three years ago won me over, as well as the Alcorn MSU football game. The fans for both schools behaved well. My theory is that their "casual" fans weren't able to buy tickets at the window, and thus we only got the upper crust of their fanbases. That's my theory- might be wrong. I think it's good for Mississippi personally. The fact of the matter is we are proclaiming ourselves to be Mississippi's school and Mississippi's football team. The way we do that is to beat the in state teams and also to help out the smaller/weaker teams in the state.
Back to the SWAC games for a second- I really enjoyed seeing their fans- and the ones that do come are the diehards- come over to MSU and take it all in and relish in the fact that they are finally playing a SEC team, an in state SEC team, and MSU. It's huge for them and their school- they don't care about the fact that they are about to get beat 56-0. To me, that's what I really get the most out of it- how appreciative their fans are. We almost single handedly support their athletic program for a year as well. And the players have to love the fact that they are getting to play a SEC school as well and in a SEC stadium- heck, I would bet that the Vet in Jackson is one of the nicer stadiums in the SWAC for reference. Obviously, these are the weaker teams.
As far as the stronger teams- to be the king, you have to beat your competition. Just like the Romans. We play Ole Miss every year. We have beaten them the past two seasons and three out of the last four. Check. Now as far as USM,I think we would look, well, scared, if we played every in state SWAC team and not USM. Personally, I don't mind playing USM. I never have- even when Bower was at his height. At the same time, I understand the arguement as to why we shouldn't play them every year, and I am not for that. I do think it would be good to play them every two-three years home and away like we are about to do. That's the best solution for all, in my opinion. I also think that MSU/USM will be good for Mississippi as well. And if we want to be the school of Mississippi, we need to show that we are not scared to play them anywhere, and also that we are going to beat them, which we will hopefully do when the time comes.
OK, now that that is out of the way- I do NOT support playing tough BCS opponents during the regular season OOC. You can say "Well, we didn't know that West Virginia and Georgia Tech were going to be so good eight years ago"- to that I say, if there is even a remote chance that they will be good, don't do it. The SEC is tough enough as it is.
I really don't get fans that are like, "Well, I only watch SEC teams, or BCS teams. La Tech is boring". To that I say, I would rather watch Michigan in Jan at the Gator Bowl versus in Starkville in Oct. These are the games where you get to see the freshmen play- which is the future of MSU, and we get to see Tony Frankln go up against Dan Mullen- two spread gurus, plus did I mention that IT'S FOOTBALL? Come on people.
The thing is, people will complain when we aren't any good, but the fact of the matter is, to be good, you have to build, and you do that by going to bowls. That's at least part of it. These "easy" games allow us to build depth, and they allow us to rest people so that we can have a fighting chance against people like LSU, Alabama, and all of the other "non-boring" games. Not to mention the extra bowl practices and the exposure from going to a bowl. If we keep going to bowls, we will recruit better, and we will get better players. These "easy" games also allow our players to build confidence in themselves.
