What a Joke...

I hope the media has a field day with this as the Rebels have scheduled two FCS schools for next years football season. There is no reason a school in the best football conference in America should be scheduling schools like Northern Arizona. Why not go ahead and play the Valley, it's the same thing.

I love these excuses that Pete Boone tries to point out in the press release. I don't give a damn who Duke and North Carolina are playing, nor do I care what teams have played the Lumberjacks in recent years. Who cares? Bottom line is there is no reason for Ole Miss to schedule them. This press release does nothing but show how weak the administration is with its excuse making.

We are.......Ole Miss

(UMAA)
, Miss. – Following a lengthy process to accommodate ESPN’s request to add this year’s Ole Miss game at South Carolina to its Thursday Night national television package, Athletics Director Pete Boone announced Tuesday the Rebels’ complete football schedules for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Highlighting the 2009 schedule will be home Southeastern Conference dates with Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU, while SEC road trips will be to South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Auburn and Mississippi State.
The non-conference schedule has Coach Houston Nutt’s Rebels visiting Memphis to open the season on Sept. 5, while home games with Southeastern Louisiana, UAB and Northern Arizona will provide non-conference opposition in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Ole Miss will be facing the Lions, Blazers and Lumberjacks in football for the first time in school history, with the Oct. 17 UAB game designated as Homecoming on the Oxford campus.
Moving the South Carolina date from a Saturday to Thursday night resulted in two additional schedule adjustments for Ole Miss in 2009. Ole Miss was to have played Vanderbilt on Sept. 19, but that game is now scheduled for Oct. 3. Another change that became necessary was to move a scheduled home game with Southeastern Louisiana from Sept. 12 to Sept. 19.
“Over the past several months, due to the ESPN request, we have been in and out of discussions with literally 15 to 20 schools in order to complete our 2009 schedule,” Boone said. “When you have to consider things like available dates and each team’s needs for home and away games, it does complicate the decision-making process.”
The final piece of the puzzle fell into place this week when Ole Miss added Northern Arizona for a game on Nov. 7. The Rebels will have an open date on Sept. 12.
While the 2009 schedule includes two Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) teams in Northern Arizona and Southeastern Louisiana, Boone noted that this year’s schedule was an anomaly. “We didn’t intend to schedule two I-AA teams nor do we anticipate scheduling two I-AA teams in the same year again,” he said.
In the past six seasons, Northern Arizona has played Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) teams Arizona (2004, 2005, 2007), Arizona State (2006, 2008) and Utah (2006). In addition to playing Ole Miss this season, the Lumberjacks will also face Arizona.
The Rebels are among a number of BCS schools playing two FCS opponents this season. They include Atlantic Coast Conference members Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State; Big 12 Conference member Kansas State; and Big East member South Florida.
The 2010 schedule will have Kentucky replacing South Carolina inside the SEC for a game to be played in Oxford. Other home dates with SEC teams include Vanderbilt, Auburn and Mississippi State, with SEC road games set at Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU. Non-conference opponents at home in 2010 will be Fresno State, Jacksonville State and Louisiana-Lafayette, with Tulane on the road.
Boone also announced additional non-conference opponents for the future, which will include home-and-home dates with Texas, Tulane, Clemson and Georgia Tech as well as return dates with UAB and Fresno State, plus home games with Southern Illinois and Central Arkansas.

OLE MISS 2009 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
DATE
OPPONENT
LOCATION
Sept. 5
Memphis
Memphis, Tenn.
Sept. 12
Open
Sept. 19
Southeastern Louisiana
Oxford
Sept. 24
South Carolina (ESPN)
Columbia, S.C.
Oct. 3
Vanderbilt
Nashville, Tenn.
Oct. 10
Alabama
Oxford
Oct. 17
UAB (HC)
Oxford
Oct. 24
Arkansas
Oxford
Oct. 31
Auburn
Auburn, Ala.
Nov. 7
Northern Arizona
Oxford
Nov. 14
Tennessee
Oxford
Nov. 21
LSU
Oxford
Nov. 28
Mississippi State
Starkville, Miss.

OLE MISS 2010 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
DATE
OPPONENT
LOCATION
Sept. 4
Jacksonville State
Oxford
Sept. 11
Tulane
New Orleans, La.
Sept. 18
Vanderbilt
Oxford
Sept. 25
Fresno State
Oxford
Oct. 2
Kentucky
Oxford
Oct. 9
Open
Oct. 16
Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Oct. 23
Arkansas
Fayetteville, Ark.
Oct. 30
Auburn
Oxford
Nov. 6
Louisiana-Lafayette
Oxford
Nov. 13
Tennessee
Knoxville, Tenn.
Nov. 20
LSU
Baton Rouge, La.
Nov. 27
Mississippi State
Oxford

Ole Miss future non-conference games scheduled:
2011
Sept. 3
Southern Illinois
Oxford

Oct. 1
Fresno State
Fresno, Calif.

2012
Sept. 1
Central Arkansas
Oxford

Sept. 8
UAB
Birmingham, Ala.

Sept. 15
Texas
Oxford

Sept. 22
Tulane
Oxford

2013
Sept. 14
Texas
Austin, Texas

2015
TBA
Clemson
Clemson, S.C.
TBA
Fresno State
Oxford

2016
TBA
Clemson
Oxford
TBA
Tulane
New Orleans, La.

2017
TBA
Tulane
Oxford

2019
TBA
Georgia Tech
Oxford

2020
TBA
Georgia Tech
Atlanta, Ga.