I think that OU only happened as a 1 for 1 because the Advocare Texas Kickoff wasn’t technically a home game, but a “neutral site” kickoff game. We showed well in that game, in attendance, TV viewership and on the field.
Texas Kickoff already has partners for 2018 (TTU vs Ole Miss) and 2020 (Balyor vs Ole Miss, bet they wish they could have that one back). 2019 is open, but that’s our at OU opener.
I would hope that HY is pushing HARD for a 2021 invite versus a big name that we would travel to in 2020.
TCU wants nothing to do with us since they left C-USA. They weren’t a big supporter of us to the Big East and have basically tried to avoid us in every sport since. To be fair, they know we are on their level and are worried about recruiting. Baylor is basically the same, although, that may change with a new regime in place.
The template is 2 P5, 1 local G5 and 1 other G5 for recruiting purposes.
He tries to schedule every P5, but most want a 1 off at their place or a 2-1 deal. I have no problem with him saying no and continuing to beat mid to lower P5’s. If we can use that to spring board into the NY6 access bowl or a playoff spot, we’ll play the bigger fish there. Getting to the Access Bowl is what helps with season tickets and our profile.
Sometimes, we’ll get a little lucky and the P5 we scheduled is actually really good. When we scheduled Louisville, they had just left the AAC and were bringing back Petrino. Not many thought they’d be a top 10 team with a Heisman candidate a few years later when they came to Houston.
As for the other poster that talked about Georgia State, we scheduled them for recruiting purposes. Atlanta is a nice area with plenty of recruits. Doesn’t hurt to dip our toes there and seeing if we can catch some eyes. Same for the local G5. CMA even mentioned it earlier this week that Rice allows the coaches to stay home and recruit that week. UTSA allows us to recruit San Antonio, Texas State gets us into the Austin area, and North Texas gets us into Dallas. It also allows us to assert our dominance over those schools and ensure that we’re seen at a level closer to the P5 programs. Sure, Air Force or Army or Colorado State may be better for the fans, but what does that do for us recruiting-wise?
Looks like the Texas Tech packaging and the give-aways to students really brought the number of tickets available down. If the number is correct (and there’s always the possibility that UH releases more tickets later), we’re already close to 35K attendance with 4 days to go.
Updated Ticket Count for Rice (Number in parenthesis is difference from my last count)
Total Tickets = 5,160 (-6,822)
Season Tickets = 494 (-87)
Lower Level: 0 (-12)
200 North Side: 239 (-15)
200 East Side: 7 (-27)
300 South Side: 110 (-8)
300 North Side: 138 (-25)
Single Game Tickets & Mini-Plan Tickets = 4,666 (-6,735)
Lower Level: 400 (all in section 122) (-195)
200 North Side: 261 (+106)
200 East Side: 23 (-1025)
200 West Side: 28 (-32)
300 South Side: 3,026 (3,816)
300 North Side: 928 (-1,773)
Scheduling is about money and wins. Wins seem to be the driver here at UH so I would lean toward having a good record instead of having Notre Dame’s schedule each year. For what it is worth, we played OU and Louisville last year and both were good teams. I don’t think we schedule like Baylor, but should follow the same scheduling pattern.
Yea, I get this is a problem. They won’t let us into their conferences, to chicken to play us regularly. Eventually, someone who cares (the pollsters, playoff committee) is going to figure out that good is good no matter what conference you are in.
Understanding that non-conference schedules are set far in advance, I wonder how long top P5 schools will continue to schedule ND if they keep on sliding into oblivion?
They have hidden empties in the past only to release those seats as we got closer to the event.
Though I think that 6k number is for students. Though I wonder how many of those who claimed the tickets will actually use them? The student section holds 5k and the extras are likely in the 300 level but you can bet the overflow students will stay in concourse right by the student section.
