In today's Democrat Coach BB said there's interest in Nuetral games with Big Time Programs.

[ZERO]

Boston College and Georgia Tech are very good ACC schools and much better than you think they are. What is our advantage playing them?  Remember Rutgers?  How did that work for us?

Rutgers was total garbage. They're incredibly lucky to have played us when we were having pretty much literally the two worst years since WWII, but a win is a win. I'd love the chance to reschedule them in the future and even up the series, because what happened would not happen very often.

[Pig in the Pokey]

Not necessarily a Saturday "down south". More like a Saturday in the Midwest in regard to home games.

gtho!

[Pig in the Pokey]

Good thought about them using the neutral site OOC game as a bone to throw at the remaining LR crowd who might make noise about pulling out of WMS.

He mentioned the Superdome, probably because one can see his recruiting focus on south Louisiana getting bigger as time goes on especially after Les leaves Baton Rouge.

I could also see them trying to set up something in St Louis which would both appeal to LR & east Arkansas and might be easy to arrange with a B1G opponent.

If Memphis would ever replace the Liberty Bowl that would be a good site but in the mean time they might consider Nashville.

Les leaving BR will in no way help Arkansas.

[Pig in the Pokey]

It's much harder to get direct information out of people at the BAC these days but it's pretty obvious that that they've decided they no longer want to play a reduced revenue game in central Arkansas.

Until a few years ago you still had enough of a homefield advantage at WMS to justify the revenue reduction. However losing SEC games to Mississippi State and Georgia the last two years apparently convinced somebody on the Hill that for the remainder of the contract they should schedule teams in LR that they're pretty much assured of beating.

Central Arkansas hates these type games and it's not hard to understand why. Who is going to get all lathered up on the golf course to go watch Middle Tennessee State? They're not even selling these type games out.

Guess what? Games like that don't draw much better in Fayetteville and if Long decides not to renew the WMS contract then he gives that game back to Fayetteville. So what's the solution? Make that game a big one that is either home and home (Michigan) or the neutral site game that Bielema mentioned.

All of this brings up the odd nature of Razorback football with relation to it's population base. Tuscaloosa is just a short drive down the Interstate from Birmingham, the biggest population base in the state. How far is Baton Rouge from New Orleans? Knoxville from Nashville?

Arkansas is a different animal. The population of NWA is growing but the fact is there are not enough people living there to consistently fill up RRS. So the U of A will continue to need fans to come in from central Arkansas and other parts of the state. But how many times a year are those folks willing to travel?

The fact is eight home games a year will not work for this program. Before NWA began to grow three games was about the limit for Fayetteville which is why much of the time Frank scheduled four for LR and that was back in the days when only 11 games were played.

With LR about to be out of the picture seven games is a stretch for Fayetteville even with the increased population. Six is better. So I can see why they like the Jerry World game and why Bielema is high on a neutral site game.

College Football is in beginnings of a radical change. In five or six years it will be all TV ratings of big games on TV. That's where you'll get the exposure you need for recruiting and a big chunk of the money to run your program.

No the live gate is not going away. But if a school like Arkansas can average 70,000 for six games, play a conference game in a big time venue like Cowboys Stadium and add quality nonconference game at an NFL stadium located in a targeted recruiting
area, then that's where we're headed IMO.

awesome post and a great plan.

[Inhogswetrust]

It's much harder to get direct information out of people at the BAC these days but it's pretty obvious that that they've decided they no longer want to play a reduced revenue game in central Arkansas.

Until a few years ago you still had enough of a homefield advantage at WMS to justify the revenue reduction. However losing SEC games to Mississippi State and Georgia the last two years apparently convinced somebody on the Hill that for the remainder of the contract they should schedule teams in LR that they're pretty much assured of beating.

Central Arkansas hates these type games and it's not hard to understand why. Who is going to get all lathered up on the golf course to go watch Middle Tennessee State? They're not even selling these type games out.

Guess what? Games like that don't draw much better in Fayetteville and if Long decides not to renew the WMS contract then he gives that game back to Fayetteville. So what's the solution? Make that game a big one that is either home and home (Michigan) or the neutral site game that Bielema mentioned.

All of this brings up the odd nature of Razorback football with relation to it's population base. Tuscaloosa is just a short drive down the Interstate from Birmingham, the biggest population base in the state. How far is Baton Rouge from New Orleans? Knoxville from Nashville?

Arkansas is a different animal. The population of NWA is growing but the fact is there are not enough people living there to consistently fill up RRS. So the U of A will continue to need fans to come in from central Arkansas and other parts of the state. But how many times a year are those folks willing to travel?

The fact is eight home games a year will not work for this program. Before NWA began to grow three games was about the limit for Fayetteville which is why much of the time Frank scheduled four for LR and that was back in the days when only 11 games were played.

With LR about to be out of the picture seven games is a stretch for Fayetteville even with the increased population. Six is better. So I can see why they like the Jerry World game and why Bielema is high on a neutral site game.

College Football is in beginnings of a radical change. In five or six years it will be all TV ratings of big games on TV. That's where you'll get the exposure you need for recruiting and a big chunk of the money to run your program.

No the live gate is not going away. But if a school like Arkansas can average 70,000 for six games, play a conference game in a big time venue like Cowboys Stadium and add quality nonconference game at an NFL stadium located in a targeted recruiting
area, then that's where we're headed IMO.

Agree but Knoxville to Nashville (and even other parts of the state) is similar in driving time of LR to Fayetteville (and other parts of the state).  There are obviously other schools that are perhaps closer to their population center yet they still must draw fans from outside that population center. I will admit the closer a team is to the population center the more consistent they may be in attendance IF they are good. ALL teams have had trouble filling up when playing less than P5 decent teams even IF close to the respective population center.

[010HogFan]

Not necessarily a Saturday "down south". More like a Saturday in the Midwest in regard to home games.

[HotlantaHog]

You start out with N. Carolina vs. S. Carolina which is supposed to be a "neutral" site but it is in Charlotte.

Charlotte is an hour and a half drive from Columbia, SC, and three hours from Chapel Hill. There are a lot more South Carolina football fans than UNC fans right now. I expect the stadium to be pretty evenly split but if anything more USC fans.

[HotlantaHog]

I worry at how well Arkansas fans will travel. Arkansas fans love Dallas and clearly will travel to Jerry World. But I go to a lot of the Away games and have been to the SEC Championship games (and SEC basketball tournament too) and Arkansas fans haven't traveled that well to Atlanta, to Tuscaloosa (a very big game), to Columbia, SC, to Nashville ...

Clearly, Arkansas could get a big crowd in Memphis or Dallas --but where else? Oklahoma City maybe, though that would not be a good spot for a game with either an Oklahoma or OK State ... St. Louis I guess is a possibility ... or Kansas City ...

[EastexHawg]

I worry at how well Arkansas fans will travel. Arkansas fans love Dallas and clearly will travel to Jerry World. But I go to a lot of the Away games and have been to the SEC Championship games (and SEC basketball tournament too) and Arkansas fans haven't traveled that well to Atlanta, to Tuscaloosa (a very big game), to Columbia, SC, to Nashville ...

Clearly, Arkansas could get a big crowd in Memphis or Dallas --but where else? Oklahoma City maybe, though that would not be a good spot for a game with either an Oklahoma or OK State ... St. Louis I guess is a possibility ... or Kansas City ...

We never drove to Knoxville or Columbia because of the sheer distance.  We live in Texas and we would have to take days off on both Friday and Monday to get to South Carolina and back.  Gainesville is pretty much the same deal for us.

We drove to Auburn twice.  One time, the game time was moved to 11 a.m. for Jefferson Pilot (or whatever it was at the time) coverage.  My wife and I both had to work on Friday.  We left home at around 6 p.m., got about three hours of sleep in Meridian, and got into Jordan Hare right after the eagle did his pregame flight after driving across Alabama like a bat out of hell.

Don't ever stop at the McDonald's in Selma for a "quick" breakfast.  That was the slowest moving disaster of a "fast food" restaurant I ever saw.  I think the average IQ inside the building was around 14.

[wildturkey8]

The A&M game is Dallas is here to stay. The recruiting advantage is obvious.

It's also obvious to me where Bielema is going with the idea of playing a power conference opponent at a neutral site. It would be a replacement for the one game a year in LR.

The truth is non conference games in Fayetteville are a horrible draw. So you minimize the problem by going with a big game at a neutral site. You're already giving up a home game a season to LR. All you do is transfer it to a national stage with a name opponent.

When they play Nicholls State yes but when they play USCw no.  I see what you mean about six v seven home games, though.

[Mulberry Squeezins]

This all makes sense. Plus, if the playoff field ever expands to the point that all major conference champions are in regardless of record there will be more incentive to play games that draw well, both at the gate and on TV.  There will be less incentive to play rent a wins designed to eliminate the risk of losing.  Goodbye, Tennessee Tech..hello Virginia Tech or Texas.

IMO a playoff scenario where all major conference champs does several things.  First it makes polls moot, especially preseason polls.  Second, it is actually beneficial for a team to play a tough non conference schedule, which would be a win for the fans.  The game speeds up quite a bit from say Middle Tenn, playing a major P5 opponent better prepares us for the SEC.    I'd like to see something like this.

A) 1 game v.s. Cupcake
B) 2 games v.s. a  lower tier P5 conference opponents.  I.e, Kansas, Colorado yada yada
C) 1 game v.s. a Major P5 opponent.  I,e, Nebraska, Tejas, Michigan yada yada

I realize B would be difficult in that the opponent would want a return game.

[jabohog]

The A&M game is Dallas is here to stay. The recruiting advantage is obvious.

It's also obvious to me where Bielema is going with the idea of playing a power conference opponent at a neutral site. It would be a replacement for the one game a year in LR.

The truth is non conference games in Fayetteville are a horrible draw. So you minimize the problem by going with a big game at a neutral site. You're already giving up a home game a season to LR. All you do is transfer it to a national stage with a name opponent.

Mike this isn't meant as a criticism but just a question. Is the game in Dallas an obvious recruiting advantage, or just preceived advantage? The reason I ask, and I'm no recruiting guru, but I don't see a lot of recruits that we are up against A&M, TCU, Texas, etc. that we win out for. We may beat out Oklahoma on occasion, but I am wondering what the evidence is that this is a recruiting advantage. An advantage over who? We have always gotten Texas players with or without this game. Just wondering what your take is?

[bphi11ips]

Mike this isn't meant as a criticism but just a question. Is the game in Dallas an obvious recruiting advantage, or just preceived advantage? The reason I ask, and I'm no recruiting guru, but I don't see a lot of recruits that we are up against A&M, TCU, Texas, etc. that we win out for. We may beat out Oklahoma on occasion, but I am wondering what the evidence is that this is a recruiting advantage. An advantage over who? We have always gotten Texas players with or without this game. Just wondering what your take is?

I think Mike really means the presence of Arkansas in Dallas has an obvious influence on recruiting.

Without Little Rock and Dallas, the Razorbacks, and the University itself, would look much different than it does today.  It's the presence of the team in these two metropolitan areas, and their relative proximity to Fayetteville, that has influenced recruiting for almost a century.

I believe what Mike is suggesting is that those currently making decisions have concluded that Arkansas's presence in Little Rock is no longer worth the price, and further, that they perceive greater value in a neutral site game with mass television appeal.  Maybe that is the way college football is going.  Maybe it's not.  Time will tell if that is the course the program takes. 

[oldhawg]

Would two games a year in Arlington be worth the effort (A&M and a significant OOC game)?  Would making Cowboy Stadium the Razorbacks second home positively impact recruiting in the Metroplex and other parts of Texas?  Should the Razorbacks invest that much time cultivating relationships and recruiting in Texas at the expense of other areas?  Or would trying to make a presence in another part of the country be more beneficial?   

I do Believe that fairly close proximity to Arkansas has to be a major consideration.

NOTE:  I am in my first month of my third retirement, and am driving my wife up a wall.  Think I may have to start another career.  Wonder if it could have something to do with the Razorbacks?  Maybe a small group tour for seniors, with service to historical sites in Arkansas, Texas, and other places. 

At least I have time on my hands to think about it during my long walks through the countryside..

[Corkscrew Johnson]

Zero upside to playing a strong OOC opponent.  If you go undefeated in the SEC you are in the playoffs with zero exceptions (and likely in the playoffs with 1 loss, and potentially even with 2 losses if circumstances permit).  There is no extra "respect" you are going to get from that OOC opponent than you would for taking care of business in the SEC.   Maybe some incremental recruiting exposure, but with the SEC network and the ESPN contract, the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

[jabohog]

I think Mike really means the presence of Arkansas in Dallas has an obvious influence on recruiting.

Without Little Rock and Dallas, the Razorbacks, and the University itself, would look much different than it does today.  It's the presence of the team in these two metropolitan areas, and their relative proximity to Fayetteville, that has influenced recruiting for almost a century.

I believe what Mike is suggesting is that those currently making decisions have concluded that Arkansas's presence in Little Rock is no longer worth the price, and further, that they perceive greater value in a neutral site game with mass television appeal.  Maybe that is the way college football is going.  Maybe it's not.  Time will tell if that is the course the program takes. 

Yeah, I got the gist of the post. I guess I was getting off topic. I have heard more than Mike say it is a recruitment advantage. I was just wondering what evidence there is of that that is different than when we weren't playing there. We have about 12-13 scholarship players from Texas on the roster listed on the Hog website. I could sorta see that angle when it was first brought about, but now nearly all the SEC teams are playing a game there. Mike knows things I don't know, that's why I ask him.

[Hogwild]

One think you have to remember about the neutral site games is the TV rights, if play a Big 12 team in Dallas, they get the TV rights.  Notre Dame had to replace Baylor when the were unable to move the game to the Superdome.

If you look at who the SEC plays in those Texas kickoff games, they aren't playing the Big12
Alabama v Michigan
LSU v TCU (pre Big12)
LSU v Wisconsin
LSU v Oregon
Future games are
Alabama v Wisconsin
Alabama v USC
LSU v Miami
Florida v Michigan

[nchogg]

We never drove to Knoxville or Columbia because of the sheer distance.  We live in Texas and we would have to take days off on both Friday and Monday to get to South Carolina and back.  Gainesville is pretty much the same deal for us.

We drove to Auburn twice.  One time, the game time was moved to 11 a.m. for Jefferson Pilot (or whatever it was at the time) coverage.  My wife and I both had to work on Friday.  We left home at around 6 p.m., got about three hours of sleep in Meridian, and got into Jordan Hare right after the eagle did his pregame flight after driving across Alabama like a bat out of hell.

Don't ever stop at the McDonald's in Selma for a "quick" breakfast.  That was the slowest moving disaster of a "fast food" restaurant I ever saw.  I think the average IQ inside the building was around 14.

Sounds like a Hardees in Washington, NC but that was mainly because of one female that chenged her mind about six times until I told her to make a decision. It took her almost 10 minutes.

[ricepig]

Sounds like a Hardees in Washington, NC but that was mainly because of one female that chenged her mind about six times until I told her to make a decision. It took her almost 10 minutes.

Pretty sure he was taking about the MacDonald's in Marion, AR, slowest in the world.