Bear Nation wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 11:41 am
Missouri State 49-SMU 48
Maybe it is wishful thinking that we can win the ballgame, but I know we can score against the SMU defence. Your offense will present a big challenge but if we can catch a few lucky breaks, the atmosphere and crowd will make it a tough atmosphere to overcome. It's going to be the biggest sports weekend in Springfield since the major league Cardinals came to town to play against the AA Cardinals in an exhibition game.
Looking at the many tickets still available, for the biggest game in bear history. You might stop spending your time on message boards and get busy selling tickets. So we can witness this "tough atmosphere"
I've read some discussion from people way smarter than me explaining that there are actually fewer tickets available than what that website shows. I don't fully understand but the AD has been adamant that it's going to sell out. Springfield has always had the reputation as a wait and see type of crowd so I am sure if there are tickets available the walk up crowd on Saturday will be good especially after the win at Marshall.
Missouri State has more than twice the student enrollment SMU has. I can't imagine they will have any trouble filling a stadium that reportedly has a capacity of only 17.500. I thought D-I FBS required schools to have at least a 30,000 seat stadium but with all the realignment and conference shuffling that has taken place in recent years, maybe that requirement has been relaxed?
Charleston Pony wrote: Wed Sep 10, 2025 11:46 am
Missouri State has more than twice the student enrollment SMU has. I can't imagine they will have any trouble filling a stadium that reportedly has a capacity of only 17.500. I thought D-I FBS required schools to have at least a 30,000 seat stadium but with all the realignment and conference shuffling that has taken place in recent years, maybe that requirement has been relaxed?
I don't think there was ever an official capacity requirement but there used to be a rule that you had to average like 15,000 fans over a period of a few years. Schools got creative with the numbers to get around that but that requirement was dropped during the Covid era.
Outsiders won't understand how dead the MSU program was until Bobby Petrino arrived. There had only been two FCS playoff appearances in school history in 1989 and 1990 and Petrino doubled that number by the end of his second year. The recently retired MSU president indicated that there was serious push by some to eliminate the program and landing Petrino was a last gasp that altered our institution's history. When I was in school many students would go to tailgate at Mizzou or Arkansas rather than watch the Bears play. We're still having to teach the students basic fan etiquette like being quiet on offense and loud on defense. It's a learning process a lot of people who don't understand big time college football.
