SMUleopold

Bunny's backhand has been erratic all day. Probably one too many Bloodies before the match....

My own argument has been based on how many times you see a basketball school get the nod over a football school - none, by my count. Memphis, Kansas, UConn, even Louisville until they won at football - they all get passed over until they have a good football team. As far as budgets and facilities are concerned, I'd assume they're identifying metrics that are attempts to gauge programs long-term potential based on more than just last years win-loss records.

Army has said 'no' a couple of times. We'll see if they change their minds. I don't think they are worth waiting around for. The networks want someone who will move the needle. There really isn't any undiscovered markets out there, and every available G5 team, even in the AAC, plays second fiddle in their own markets, so you have to have someone who can compete on the field - it's the closest thing to a fair shot as we can find. As a result, UNT, App State, UAB, or whomever is going to have to punch their way into the top 25, allowing the AAC to make the case for them. If somehow a Boise State emerges from the Southeast/Texas region, that will be the easiest possible sell to the networks. Avoid this trap. UConn has four national titles in men's basketball in the last twenty years alone, not to mention their powerhouse women's team, and they are the 'butterface' of college realignment. Basketball means little to nothing, as mean as that sounds.

For the record, I don't disagree with you. Rutgers and Maryland aren't in the Big Ten because of their gd football teams. But I'm telling you as plainly as I can tell you, and I'm having this argument on the AAC boards: The AAC needs a football team. If 'P6' is the goal, and we say it is, then the conference has to win on the football field - has to. The conference media deal has just been signed, and isn't going to change significantly over the next decade, so in the meantime the biggest step forward has to be on a football field. As a result a team could exist in a city or state that 'brings' 5M to the TV sets, but if they lose on the football field nobody cares or wants to watch them and nobody takes the conference seriously in the most important field, so that school is dead weight; UConn fit this description to a T. So you can take this for whatever it's worth, but I say whichever program can show that they can be a consistent top-25 presence is the answer. App State went 12-1 last year and beat two respected P5 programs, so they're on peoples radar. ECU may not like it, but if ASU does it again the next few years (I know their schedule this year includes Wisconsin) then they make a compelling case, and the pirates may get voted down. If you could triple the TV contract the next time around, like the AAC did a year ago, by letting in a local competitor then you need to do it. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're a fool. I'm not being funny, or cute, or anything - if you dangle $25M/year in media rights in front of SMU then I'm willing to bet we'd happily go along with it, regardless of the addition.

We don't have any more pull than any other school. It's simple: Win and you're in.

Here, let me help ya'll out Uhhhhh....here's one..... ;) Good luck on the next kid.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/education/university-of-tulsa-trustees-hold-fast-to-financial-hard-line/article_49ec9d32-2bd6-50d4-8f31-fac13e931821.html Keep in mind, UT was having problems even before Coronavirus; here's an article from a year ago: https://www.city-journal.org/university-of-tulsa

Yeah, ECU managed to start to rival Southern Mississippi for dumbest firing of all time when they let Ruffin McNeil go and as a result they have stunk for a couple of years. (Not as bad a firing as Bower, but up there) Still, there looks like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for them. That being said, you're right in that Navy should be in the East and, hey, there's a spot open right now - just go 13-0 and win a NY6 Bowl and you'd be surprised how many people would start to pressure SMU/UH to let UNT in, especially after showing signs of life in basketball. Seize the Day.....

He's not kidding. Take a look at this: https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/ Granted, this was from a couple of years ago, but costs have probably only gone up since then. Without any football revenue whatsoever these schools are going to be on the hook for as much as $100M, maybe more. You still have to pay the volleyball coach, the janitor, the admin people, etc. and a school that has NO revenue coming in whatsoever isn't going to be able to cover these expenses when the actual school itself is scrambling to cover it's own loses. No football means that the athletic departments, especially ones who are already struggling or those who haven't been able to keep costs under control despite money raining down from the sky could actually go bankrupt.

It was all about timing. When the AAC was formed, SMU had begun to reach it's potential in C-USA while Southern Miss, for example, had bottomed out. Before the transition was made, SMU had the 1) largest football budget in CUSA 2) highest paid HC in the conference 3) highest budget for assistant coaches in the conference 4) newest football stadium in the conference that had recently undergone a round of renovations and upgrades 5) arguably the best recruiting base in the conference 6) and was coming off a second place finish in the conference in football and a bowl win. Meanwhile USM had bottomed out after making the DUMBEST firing in CFB history after firing Bower. They were winless the year before the conferences creation and had thrown away their title of being the Boise State of the Southeast. SMU was even formally invited to the Big East in 2011, leapfrogging schools like Memphis, East Carolina, and USM - we actually had our act together. But when that conference was created, you had to put SMU in over other schools based on what was going on at the time.

I'm not necessarily against it as a number of people have already spelled out it's risks and why a coach or AD would stay away, but let's just say I got sick of seeing the Paul Quinn's and Oral Roberts on the schedule years ago.

This is probably accurate, TBH. But we find ourselves on the other end of it when it comes to scheduling anyone but TCU. UT hasn't played us in a major sport since they left for the Big XII. I've advocated playing a basketball tournament at the beginning of each season featuring the eight Texas schools from the SWC playing in Dallas or Houston or on rotation, but good luck with something like that happening, and for the same reason.

Nah. Houston would find a way to screw it up. TBH SMU has known desperation when we joined the damned 16 team MWC so I won't ever say 'never.' But the AAC is one good realignment raid away from the conference becoming something quite similar to that.

*cough* https://www.denverpost.com/2019/08/21/cu-buffs-grad-transfer-mikial-onu-safety/