Last year, the MAC went from being a conference that was widely looked down upon to one that gained a tremendus amount of respect on one Saturday. On September 20, 2003, N. Ill beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Toledo defeated Pittsburgh in Toledo, and Mashall shocked #6 Kansas State in Manhattan, KS. All you heard about on Sports Center that day and the next was the "MAC ATTACK" and how they could compete and so on and so on. And, deservedly so. The teams at the top of the MAC overshadowed the ones at the bottom who consistantly had miserable showings, few butts in the seats, and were in ESPNs "Bottom 10" a lot.

One, day. 3 wins. That's what it took to get the attention and draw the nation to other positive things the MAC had to offer. No doubt some MAC teams had some tremendous accomplishments and great games on other days, but that one day was what opened the nation's eyes and brought them out of the cellar once and for all.

Fast forward. Sep. 4, 2004. This could be our day. With the exception of the Cajun's (and possibly FIU) ALL of the Sunbelt teams play on the road vs BCS or "name" football opponents. North Texas vs Texas, Troy State vs Marshall, ULM vs Auburn, Utah State vs Alabama, Ark State vs Mizzou, FAU vs Hawaii, MTSU vs Florida, Idaho vs Boise State, and NMSU vs Arkansas.

None of our teams will be favored in any of those games. The Cajuns may very well be the only Sunbelt team that doesn't start 0-1. But then again... maybe not. Maybe this dog has his day. Maybe our respect comes early. Maybe, just maybe, lightening strikes a few times. If the Belt could just go 3-6 against these guys, then you'll see an outpouring of some of the respect and attention we've been hoping for. 3 wins takes us from the bottom to more around the middle of the non-BCS conferences (perception is reality). 3 wins. That's all. Question is, can we get them? What brave Sunbelt teams and fans rise up and grab the gold ring? I for one will be scoreboard watching big time this day. Time to quit being cupcakes and be some beef that the "big boys" are going to choke on.

To heck with 3 wins, let's win them all!

"The streets shall flow with the blood of the non-believers!" -Beavis

littlebittyschool Wrote:Last year, the MAC went from being a conference that was widely looked down upon to one that gained a tremendus amount of respect on one Saturday. On September 20, 2003, N. Ill beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Toledo defeated Pittsburgh in Toledo, and Mashall shocked #6 Kansas State in Manhattan, KS. All you heard about on Sports Center that day and the next was the "MAC ATTACK" and how they could compete and so on and so on. And, deservedly so. The teams at the top of the MAC overshadowed the ones at the bottom who consistantly had miserable showings, few butts in the seats, and were in ESPNs "Bottom 10" a lot.

One, day. 3 wins. That's what it took to get the attention and draw the nation to other positive things the MAC had to offer. No doubt some MAC teams had some tremendous accomplishments and great games on other days, but that one day was what opened the nation's eyes and brought them out of the cellar once and for all.

Fast forward. Sep. 4, 2004. This could be our day. With the exception of the Cajun's (and possibly FIU) ALL of the Sunbelt teams play on the road vs BCS or "name" football opponents. North Texas vs Texas, Troy State vs Marshall, ULM vs Auburn, Utah State vs Alabama, Ark State vs Mizzou, FAU vs Hawaii, MTSU vs Florida, Idaho vs Boise State, and NMSU vs Arkansas.

None of our teams will be favored in any of those games. The Cajuns may very well be the only Sunbelt team that doesn't start 0-1. But then again... maybe not. Maybe this dog has his day. Maybe our respect comes early. Maybe, just maybe, lightening strikes a few times. If the Belt could just go 3-6 against these guys, then you'll see an outpouring of some of the respect and attention we've been hoping for. 3 wins takes us from the bottom to more around the middle of the non-BCS conferences (perception is reality). 3 wins. That's all. Question is, can we get them? What brave Sunbelt teams and fans rise up and grab the gold ring? I for one will be scoreboard watching big time this day. Time to quit being cupcakes and be some beef that the "big boys" are going to choke on.

To heck with 3 wins, let's win them all!

"The streets shall flow with the blood of the non-believers!" -Beavis

The most likely wins out of those listed are Troy, USU, Arkansas St., and FAU.
USU doesn't matter 'cause they are leaving.

OOC games are HUGE this year. The future of this conference just might be riding on this year's football results.

Ramifications? Try 2nd bowl game and respect. Respect leads to better perception of THE BELT which leads us to the promised land.

We just need to do one thing.

Win.

I don't understad your thinking CajunNation. Why wouldn't Utah States games matter. You don't hear any MAC fans saying that about Marshall and their OCC schedule this season. Even though we head to C-USA next year, our games with Ohio State and Georiga are huge. And if are wins are MAC wins not C-USA wins. The same would hold true for Utah State. So my question still stands. Why don't the games matter. I always thought every conf or ooc game mattered and this would go twards Sun Belt Publicity.

HerdZoned Wrote:I don't understad your thinking CajunNation. Why wouldn't Utah States games matter. You don't hear any MAC fans saying that about Marshall and their OCC schedule this season. Even though we head to C-USA next year, our games with Ohio State and Georiga are huge. And if are wins are MAC wins not C-USA wins. The same would hold true for Utah State. So my question still stands. Why don't the games matter. I always thought every conf or ooc game mattered and this would go twards Sun Belt Publicity.

Its different because Marshall was in MAC for a long time, and had become ingrained in that conference. USU abandoned ship before they could even play in any other sports in the conference, so no one assosiates them with us.

Tuffguy

Probably the most important game of that lot will be Troy vs. Marshall. Win that game and then suddenly it's two games in a row. no fluke. :tank: Go Troy!

We will have our day in the sun AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Ahh our day in the sun...it will be sweet too, drinken some tequila...and yea passing out like this dood.



ahh..our day in the sun!

Tuffguy

I 'll be honest Texas will be a stretch for us, but we have very winnable games after against Colorado and then Baylor 2 Big 12 Teams who may not be Top Notch but still provide BCS scalps.

I think that UNT could possibly beat Texas...I mean, it wouldn't be unheard of...I just hope MT doesn't get embarrassed against the Gators like we did last time... :bang:

Stan R Wrote:We will have our day in the sun AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Stan, I agree...but isn't the game AT Marshall? THAT really WOULD be impressive...Not taht the first win wasn't, but The Herd is more like a Stampede when they are at home.

HerdZoned Wrote:I don't understad your thinking CajunNation. Why wouldn't Utah States games matter. You don't hear any MAC fans saying that about Marshall and their OCC schedule this season. Even though we head to C-USA next year, our games with Ohio State and Georiga are huge. And if are wins are MAC wins not C-USA wins. The same would hold true for Utah State. So my question still stands. Why don't the games matter. I always thought every conf or ooc game mattered and this would go twards Sun Belt Publicity.

1 year in a conference does not a member make. Even if they did win, you'd hear something along the lines of " USU, soon to be WAC member wins against BCS opponent". In reality it is a win for the Belt, I don't really see anyone that considers them a true conference member anymore, same for NMSU.

I will say beating Baylor (while not a overly tough opponent) again will be oh so sweet. There is nothing better than listening to a Baylor fan incessently ***** after losing to what they call "inferior comeptition".

Tuffguy20 Wrote:Ahh our day in the sun...it will be sweet too, drinken some tequila...and yea passing out like this dood.



ahh..our day in the sun!

Tuffguy

How'd you get that picture of me from Spring Break in Cancun?

The Sun Belt was 7-39 last season against all other conferences. That includes going 3-5 vs 1-AA teams. Needless to say that is an embarassment. That 7 win total needs to be tripled and a loss to a 1-AA team is unacceptable. It goes without saying that the goal is to win all our games, but IMHO right now we need to worry less about beating the Kansas State's every now and then and more on beating the Montana's every time and going .500 vs the WAC, MAC, and C-USA teams. It does no good for a team like the Cajuns to defeat Kansas State if we lose to Northwestern State the next week. We are still a young football conference but going into our 4th year it is time to start showing the improvement (we all hope/think we have seen from our teams) on the scoreboard.

Composite SBC OOC opponents so far (I did not include scheduled games against future SBC members FAU & FIU)

Games we must win (1-AA)
Northwestern State

We must win at least half these games
Boise State
Eastern Michigan
Hawaii
Louisiana Tech**
Wyoming**
Akron
Marshall
UNLV
Utah
Memphis**
New Mexico**
UTEP**
** Designated Conference Games


Any win against these teams is extra
Missouri
LSU
Mississippi
Washington State
Oregon
Kansas State
Auburn
Arkansas
Florida
Cailfornia
Texas
Colorado
Baylor
South Carolina
Alabama
Clemson