Schedule analysis: What Louisiana brings (and no Notre Dame?)

East Lansing, Mich. - If you know much about college, you know that Louisiana - the newest addition to MSU’s future football schedule - is anything but a cupcake.

Michigan State announced on Thursday that the Spartans will play host to the Ragin’ Cajuns on Sept. 14, 2024 at Spartan Stadium.

Michigan State’s 2024 schedule now includes the opener vs Florida Atlantic at Spartan Stadium, a bye week prior to the Louisiana game, and then a trip to Boston College on Sept. 21.

Meanwhile, there are indications that the expected home-and-home with Notre Dame for 2026-27 is in question.

COMP’S TAKE: Firstly, on Louisiana. No one is pretending that non-conference home games against FAU and Louisiana equal the pageantry and intrigue of old series against Notre Dame. But this game against Louisiana could very well be more difficult than MSU’s Power Five non-conference opponent in 2024, Boston College.

Boston College is on the schedule in 2023 and ’24, replacing the old Notre Dame series - as was the case in recent games against Oregon and Arizona State.

Louisiana has become one of the top Group of Five teams in the country. A member of the Sun Belt Conference, Louisiana went 10-1 last year, handily upset Top 25 Iowa State in the opening weekend fo the season in 2020, and finished the year ranked No. 15 in the AP poll.

Louisiana’s lone loss was a 30-27 defeat at the hands of Coastal Carolina.

In 2019, Louisiana went 11-3, with losses to Mississippi State, and Appalachian State (twice).

Louisiana head coach Billy Napier is in his fourth year at the school. If he keeps winning at this clip, it’s doubtful he will still be at Louisiana in 2024.

If you’re a season ticket holder who enjoys competitive football, Louisiana is a good bet to bring that to Spartan Stadium in 2024. Maybe too much of it. Louisiana probably would have beaten Michigan State in each of the past two years if they had played.

Scheduling non-conference opponents becomes a question of cost-benefit analysis for Power Five schools. Michigan State will pay Louisiana $1.1 million to play at Spartan Stadium in 2024, according to the Lafayette Daily Advertiser. Would that money, and a spot on MSU’s dance card, been more smartly given to someone else - maybe one of the usual suspects from the Mid-American Conference?

A price tag of $1.1 million is roughly the going rate for mid-major teams that play at Michigan State, whether it’s Louisiana or a MAC team team. However, Michigan State is reportedly paying $1.5 million to play Western Kentucky this fall. The takeaway is that Louisiana will accept less money to come to your place because they think they’re going to win, and the win is more valuable than the extra $400,000 they are leaving on the table.

Meanwhile, if you’re a season ticket holder, would you rather see Michigan State play a challenging, semi-dangerous opponent such as Louisiana, or another game against Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan or Western Michigan? In this part of the country, there is more sizzle to a game against Central Michigan. There is also more on the line if you lose.

Michigan State had a couple of damaging losses to Central Michigan in the 1990s. Michigan State hasn't lost to Western Michigan or Eastern Michigan for the past 100 years, although the Spartans have had some tight, exciting games against WMU. Of course, Michigan State gets criticized if a game against Western Michigan ends up being tight and exciting.

But what about Louisiana? I’ve already heard complaints today that Michigan State didn’t schedule a more attractive opponent in that slot. Those are the same people who complain when Michigan State doesn’t beat Western Michigan by more than 14 points. You might think Louisiana lacks intrigue but I can promise you that Louisiana sees Michigan State as low-hanging fruit. So be careful who you might overlook. Those of you who know college football won’t make that mistake.

If you’re buying season tickets, you want attractive opponents. But you also want your team to be 3-0 when it enters Big Ten play. With Notre Dame no longer on the annual schedule, the chances of going 3-0 have increased a bit.

From a ticket-selling and marking standpoint Michigan State is able to play two non-marquee home games against FAU and Louisiana in 2024 because the Spartans have home games against Michigan and Ohio State that year. Michigan State wasn’t going to improve its season ticket sales by scheduling a home-and-home against bigger “name” opponents in 2024 like, say, North Carolina State or Georgia Tech, if they had been available. The games against Michigan and OSU will sell the tickets and satisfy most season ticket holders. (Meanwhile, if Michigan State had scheduled a bigger name opponent like NC State or Georgia Tech, Michigan State would have had to play a return game at their stadium, which would upset scheduling balance in the future).

With Notre Dame no longer on MSU’s annual schedule, the Spartans have added home-and-home games against Boston College (’24 and ’25), Washington (’28 and ’31) and Oregon (’29 and ’30).

Last year’s scheduled game at BYU, which wasn’t played due to COVID-19, has been rescheduled for 2032, Michigan State announced on Thursday.

Now, Michigan State has an opening for a major-conference, “name” opponent for a home-and-home series in 2026 and ’27. Michigan State has been expecting to play Notre Dame that year, but it’s unclear whether a contract is or was finalized. As part of MSU’s press release on Thursday, Notre Dame wasn’t listed among future non-conference opponents for Michigan State.

Frankly, I’m not expecting the Michigan State vs Notre Dame series to be finalized for 2026-27. On one hand, that will give Michigan State an opportunity to put some new out-of-conference flavor in the schedule. On the other hand, I think many of us would like to see the Irish on the schedule, perhaps one last time.