A nice 3 game series for them, including 1 at home at Gilette. Interesting to see UMass loading up their schedule
After Tulane and Louisiana Tech canceled or moved games to future years, the AD for
Mississippi State (
not Ole Miss) refers to needing to fill 2016 scheduling holes. From a Miss State perspective, he plugged one hole with an opponent desperate for home games. Grabbing a game in Boston is attractive for both traveling Miss State alumni and expats in the northeast, and a likely miniscule pay out to umess and 2 future home games is a financial win fall for the Bulldogs.
For scheduling purposes, umess is now an independent. With minimal time and what had been a pretty empty 2016 schedule, especially for home games, umess' negotiating position leaned heavily on the side of any school open to playing a 2016 away game. To their new AD's credit, Mississippi State, Tulane, and Louisiana Tech are good gets and more attractive than MAC conference opponents.
With 2-for-1 contracts, no marquee sports as negotiating fodder, and a very weak negotiating position, the sustainability of umess football is dubious to highly questionable at best. As bad as being in the AAC is, imagine actually hoping and praying for an AAC invitation ...