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A revitalized Tulane program is good for us. (1) It makes our conference look better even with the new adds. (2) If a conference is shopping for 4 teams for example, it gives us a travel partner out of our region with ties to another top market which like us they don't dominate. (3) It motivates us to get better faster. The fact is we've had winning records for what four straight years, this was Tulane's first. This year was a learning year for a first time head coach.

redpony wrote:

JasonB wrote:

This. Their Board and President were determined to do what it took to enable the success of TCU Athletics because they recognized how important it was to rebuild the TCU brand.

SMU has never been unified on that goal since the DP. The school drags its feet on any decision that requires change (I would argue football related or not). We need refreshed leadership.

Obviously, We have a pres and a.d. that are totally happy with being mediocre. As pointed out we won't see any changes until we have new leadership and IMO that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

I wouldn't say happy with mediocracy. I would say resistant to change. We have certainly seen changes over the last 15 years, it has just been incremental because of the reasons I stated earlier.

New leadership might accelerate change, but honestly we are pretty much where we need to be now. It just took us 15 years to make the necessary changes, whereas an aligned TCU made those changes in 2.

EastStang wrote:A revitalized Tulane program is good for us. (1) It makes our conference look better even with the new adds. (2) If a conference is shopping for 4 teams for example, it gives us a travel partner out of our region with ties to another top market which like us they don't dominate. (3) It motivates us to get better faster. The fact is we've had winning records for what four straight years, this was Tulane's first. This year was a learning year for a first time head coach.

Playing devils advocate, Tulane winning without committing to the investments we have made might be further ammunition to resist change.

JasonB wrote:Playing devils advocate, Tulane winning without committing to the investments we have made might be further ammunition to resist change.

I just want a football coach to like being here and not have friction with SMU.

TCU is the very blueprint for how to do it right post-SWC. They get a grade of 100. We get a 50 so far. If we get into a P5 conference soon, we rise to an 70. Rice gets a 20.

SMUstang wrote:Tulane has been mediocre for the past 20 years since Tommy Bowden left. This year was a fluke. TCU was determined to never be left behind again since the SWC broke up. They realized how important athletics was to the success of the school. They have improved recruiting each year since. Entering C-USA, the MWC and finally the Big XII ahead of schedule and winning in each conference. SMU de-emphasized athletics since Pye and Turner.

True but winning a New Year's Six bowl (against the Heisman winner) is a hell of a fluke.

Terry Webster wrote:Last year Tulane went 2-10 and people were calling for the coach to be fired.

The difference is in many cases one player - not all this administrative hand wringing that all the old ladies like to constantly moan about. Tulane has an élite running back that has won almost every game for them. Put that guy on our team and we win all but maybe UCF.

Tyjae Spears is a lowly 3-star. We have 5-star RB.

gostangs wrote:

Terry Webster wrote:Last year Tulane went 2-10 and people were calling for the coach to be fired.

The difference is in many cases one player - not all this administrative hand wringing that all the old ladies like to constantly moan about. Tulane has an élite running back that has won almost every game for them. Put that guy on our team and we win all but maybe UCF.

He gave USC fits running for over 200 yards.

If we cannot eek our way into the Pac-12, I do not see a future where we even make it to a NY6 bowl, let alone win one. We made it to a single C-USA championship and lost, and now the American is basically that same old C-USA. We just don't have the culture or the recruiting to elevate, and its hard to see NIL closing any gaps. Let's not fool ourselves that the new end zone will make the slightest difference in recruiting between a mid-tier American school and any other decent program in Texas. Even if Sonny had stayed, I dont think our season would have gone much differently. We've been getting P5 scraps for years now and cant get a bowl win or a conf title.

Best we can hope for is what we saw under June: 2nd, 3rd or 4th place in the American with the real victory being a win over any struggling P5 program like Pitt in 2011.

*Edit: we can also enjoy cheering for ponies that have success in the NFL and count that as a win. And the occasional victory over TCU, say 1 out of 8 games.

ponyboy wrote:TCU is the very blueprint for how to do it right post-SWC. They get a grade of 100. We get a 50 so far. If we get into a P5 conference soon, we rise to an 70. Rice gets a 20.

Rice is about to be in the same conference as us, has played in 6 Bowl games, won 2 conference championships in football, and played in 2 NIT's. In that same span SMU has played in 7 Bowl games, won 0 conference championships in football, and played in 4 NIT's and 2 NCAA tournaments. Rice also won a national championship in baseball along with multiple college world series appearances. I'd say they are about even with us without the hype.

And a Rice grad is Governor of Virginia with his Mustang bride.

mtrout wrote:

JasonB wrote:Playing devils advocate, Tulane winning without committing to the investments we have made might be further ammunition to resist change.

I just want a football coach to like being here and not have friction with SMU.

The fact every coach has so much friction tells me we will never be any good.

gostangs wrote:

Terry Webster wrote:Last year Tulane went 2-10 and people were calling for the coach to be fired.

The difference is in many cases one player - not all this administrative hand wringing that all the old ladies like to constantly moan about. Tulane has an élite running back that has won almost every game for them. Put that guy on our team and we win all but maybe UCF.

He is awesome, but I disagree. They had a great Offensive and Defensive line that allowed them to play with the big boys. It let their LBs make plays on defense and let the RB go all over the place on offense. The RB has been there for 4 years, but this year he had a to notch line and a healthy QB.