STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State football team is looking for a new non-conference opponent to complete its 2012 schedule.
MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin confirmed Tuesday that Louisiana Tech bought its way out of its agreement to play at Davis Wade Stadium. The $300,000 buyout nixes a home-and-home agreement from the 2008 season, when MSU lost 22-14 at Louisiana Tech in the season opener Aug. 30. The Bulldogs went on to finish 4-8.
The return game was supposed to be played in 2009, but then-MSU Athletics Director Greg Byrne pushed the game back to add Jackson State to MSU”s 2009 schedule.
Louisiana Tech ran into a scheduling conflict when it was asked to move the game to later in the year due to Southeastern Conference TV scheduling that didn”t involve that game.
“We could not fulfill this request, so we asked to move the game to a later year, and Mississippi State declined,” Louisiana Tech Athletic Director Bruce Van De Velde said. “At that point we elected not to play the game. This also allowed us to schedule a sixth home game in 2012. We have another three-game series with Mississippi State beginning in 2015.”
Louisiana Tech spokesman Patrick Walsh confirmed the school will complete its 2012 schedule with a home game against Rice on Sept. 15 and a road game against the University of Virginia on Sept. 29. The Rice game is part of a home-and-home agreement.
While Louisiana Tech declined to release how much Virginia will pay it to play, Walsh said “it is significantly more than $300,000.”
MSU has yet to find an opponent to complete its 2012 schedule.
MSU is slated to play non-conference home games against Jackson State and South Alabama and a road game against Troy.
Though the open date is more than a year away, deals for non-conference games are usually done several years in advance.
“This is kind of late to have to do it, but we”ll make the best out of it and figure out an opponent,” Stricklin said. “I think we would look for somebody with a similar profile to Louisiana Tech that fits within our scheduling philosophy.”
MSU”s home game against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 24 this season won”t be affected by the 2012 buyout.
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