It’s all about the scheduling at Ole Miss and MSU
Ole Miss figured out scheduling in football within the SEC and on the non-conference side
decades ago. Johnny Vaught and Bear Bryant only went head-to-head 8 times over Vaught’s career.
Billy Brewer made a living on 4 non-conference patsies and MSU over his 11 years in Oxfored. Brewer
would lead Ole Miss to 6 bowl games. Ole Miss wanted it more, and has figured it out on the scheduling side.
Look at the 2009 Ole Miss football schedule: Memphis, Southeast Louisiana, Vandy, UAB and Northern Arizona.
Now, look at the 2010 schedule: Jacksonville State, Tulane, Vandy, Freson State and La-Lafayette. Somebody should
buy Pete Boone a trip to Italy this summer. That somebody is Houston Nutt.
How to make it harder than it is? Go to Starkville, MS
If you would like a PHD on how to screw up your football program by scheduling tough non-conference opponents look no further than Starkville, MS and previous athletic director, Larry Templeton. Jackie Sherrill’s non-conference opponents while he coached in Starkville: Texas, Oregon, BYU, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Houston. Sherrill had to fight the beasts of the SEC, while navigating a brutal non-conference schedule. MSU fans can thank LT.
Sylvester Croom suffered from the same incompetence. Croom’s teams played Ga Tech, Houston & West Virginia. Great foresight and planning by the athletic administration. Don’t get me wrong, Croom didn’t need a lot of help to set himself up to fail, but that scheduling was brutal.
Some numbers for you to feast on:
Ole Miss has played Alabama 54 times.
MSU has played Alabama 93 times.
Ole Miss has played Vanderbilt 84 times.
MSU has played Vanderbilt 21 times.
Looking outside of the state – Kentucky has done a great on non-conference scheduling.
Vanderbilt has completely dropped the ball, like MSU.
From The Sports Think Tank,
Bo Bounds
Host, The Out of Bounds Show
ESPN 105.9 The Zone
Jackson, MS
Magnolia Tribune
