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The attention of most SEC fans is focused on the upcoming 2015 football season, now less than four months away.
But the Mississippi State Bulldogs now must turn their attention to the 2016 season, as MSU was left at the alter by the Tulane Green Wave regarding the ’16 schedule.
Football news: Tulane has canceled its game with Mississippi State in Starkville in 2016. Was the final game in a seven-game contract.
— Bob Carskadon (@bobcarskadon) May 18, 2015
The issue is not just that Mississippi State is now left to search for a new 2016 opponent at the 11th hour, but that it might not be able to find an opponent willing to travel to Starkville to take on the Bulldogs.
Obviously, puts MSU in a tough spot for scheduling. I'm told they have some contingency plans, concern now is if they can get a home game.
— Bob Carskadon (@bobcarskadon) May 18, 2015
Mississippi State has a scheduled road game against BYU on its 2016 schedule that will satisfy its mandatory power conference (or independent) scheduling requirement, so that is not an issue.
But that game is on the road, as is another 2016 non-conference showdown with Louisiana Tech. If Mississippi State can’t find someone to come to Starkville to replace Tulane on the schedule, it may have to play three of its four non-conference contests on the road. If that were the case, MSU would have only five home games in 12 games in 2016, which wouldn’t just make the schedule more difficult, but would also cost MSU financially in a big way in terms of travel and lost ticket sales.
According to a report by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Tulane owes MSU a six-figure payout still to be determined in exchange for dropping the final game of the seven-game series in 2016.
We will continue to update this story as Mississippi State continues to search for a replacement opponent for 2016.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
