LSU athletic director Joe Alleva thinks he knows why non-conference opponents don’t want to put the Tigers on the schedule. … they’re scared.
Death Valley is where dreams come to die, according to LSU head coach Les Miles and the decided home-field advantage that is created inside Tiger Stadium has been a nightmare for many teams throughout the years.
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That’s the reason LSU athletic director Joe Alleva cites for the difficulty in scheduling high-profile non-conference games to be played inside Tiger Stadium. We’ve seen LSU play tough non-conference opponents, like Wisconsin and TCU, but those games were on a neutral field and Alleva thinks it’s because non-conference opponents are scared to play at LSU.
“Literally 80 percent just say ‘no’ right away” Alleva said Tuesday morning on 104.5 FM ESPN’s Culotta & The Prince radio show (as transcribed by The Advocate). “They’re a little more open to the so-called neutral-site game. That’s why we were able to attract a Wisconsin, a TCU … BYU in the future.”
With strength of schedule the second-most important criteria behind conference championships it would seem for the College Football Playoff committee members, playing a marquee opponent in the non-conference part of the schedule will take greater importance for LSU and others moving forward, even if it means sacrificing a home date.
“Teams don’t want to come to Tiger Stadium and get their butts beat,” Alleva suggested. “That’s just a fact of life. I’m being as blunt as I can be…they don’t want to schedule losses.”
A few teams weren’t scared off by the challenge of invading Tiger Stadium with Texas (2020), Arizona State (2023), UCLA (2024) and Oklahoma (2028) on the future schedule.
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