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ponyboy wrote:It seems to me that playing important games against real competition is what Dallas likes. I'm convinced we're on the road to doing exactly that in football as we've done in basketball. But I don't expect too much for the upcoming season in terms of butts in seats at Ford. Baylor is going to be a great crowd to start the season though.

'convinced we're on the road to playing important games against real competition'......how's that exactly?

By eventually getting into a P5 conference? Or by dominating our conference and getting many more alums and local football fans to actually fill the stadium?

According to most here the only games that matter are TCU and Baylor, and our conference is a bunch of teams that nobody cares about.

Just curious.

Same questions are being asked at Rice, Tulane, Tulsa, UNT, UTEP, Texas State, UTSA, etc. To the casual fan that has no allegiance to these schools it is very difficult to convince them to give up their Saturday of watching big boy football from 10 in the morning until midnight in the comfort of their own home in full HD to watch SMU vs. Temple. That is the reality.

Can we overcome it? Yes. But it isn't going to happen overnight and it won't be the quantum leap that we made in basketball. I'll be very encouraged if we can get 18K average for the non Baylor/UNT home games. That will be encouraging. If we have the kind of year that Chad Morris wants and expects (i.e. bowl game) then I think we can expect a significant bump in year two. If we start playing at his quoted championship level in year two (i.e. 9 plus wins and exciting brand of football) then I think we can expect another bump in year three.

My hope is that in year three we average 25K at Ford. That's a tall order but I do believe it is possible.

StallionsModelT wrote: My hope is that in year three we average 25K at Ford. That's a tall order but I do believe it is possible.

Hope and Change. Hope and Change. Same refrain with each new head coach. 25K average in year 3 IS possible, not probable. But, I'll be there.

We have 6 to 7 home games each year. There is a possibility of having 3, 4 or even 5 of those games being against good competition since our conference is getting better and our OOC will usually have TCU and other teams from P5. A schedule a few years from now with TCU, UCF, Memphis, Houston, Navy and Tulsa could be a nice draw for us if those teams keep improving as expected. You have to remember that our teams in AAC have a chance to get better too and the conference will not always be "down".

Bergermeister wrote:

StallionsModelT wrote: My hope is that in year three we average 25K at Ford. That's a tall order but I do believe it is possible.

Hope and Change. Hope and Change. Same refrain with each new head coach. 25K average in year 3 IS possible, not probable. But, I'll be there.

We haven't spent a week in the Top 25 since the Reagan administration so I can totally understand why the casual fan hasn't made it a priority to show up at Ford.

If we can get to the point that we are a borderline Top 25 program, win games that people care about, continue to focus on DFW, and play an exciting brand of football then it is totally possible to average 25K at Ford by year three. We have never had the combination of energy, passion, coaching, recruiting, and community engagement like we do now with Chad Morris. Before we give up why don't we see if it works?

SMT just won this thread.

No more questions your honor.

I just had a random gimicky idea I think is decent to approve attendance. It at least would generate a lot of buzz.

It is obviously not my money but...what if someone donated a Mustang (the car) and gave it away to a student at the end of the year from a drawing performed at halftime of the last home game. However in order to be eligible you would have to check in first quarter and check out fourth quarter of every home game on the "varsity" app that was used this year to check into games for bball. It is like a $20,000 car and would generate decent student interest. The media coverage from the DMN, local tv news, and maybe even ESPN would be worth it, I think. Consider it a marketing expense.

I am also very nervous for HCCM to see the attendance during conference games.

I think all that generates is incentive for students to find ways to beat the system. How about we just get a product that will make students want to come watch.
Plus, if all the students came we would still have an empty stadium if we do not generate interest in the community.

mrydel wrote:I think all that generates is incentive for students to find ways to beat the system. How about we just get a product that will make students want to come watch.
Plus, if all the students came we would still have an empty stadium if we do not generate interest in the community.

that works too haha

Give away a Range Rover and then the casual students *might* care

Some students haven't cared for the same reason others haven't: product, like others have mentioned. 126/128 and 4-38 vs .500 does not build a fanbase. We will get them interested like they are for hoops, which does not go 4-38 vs .500 programs.

10 win seasons and a top 25 ranking are what attract fans. Students or non-students. Period. Win and become relevant and people come. They will pack the house when we play someone good and it will be 75% full when we are playing the sisters of the poor. Win win win.

Tradition is what keeps people coming when you are .500 or worse. We have no tradition to anyone under the age of 50.

Tradition takes time to build. If SMU has a bad basketball season in the next two years, Moody will empty. 10 straight years of good basketball and you will establish a new tradition that can bring back the old and make us consistently relevant.

Cincy is a great example. They won back in the day with Oscar Robertson, and had a great tradition. Then disappeared for a long time. They are just now getting to the point where they are recognized as a consistent winner again and might be able to survive a couple of losing seasons in their basketball stadium.

Start winning and give it some time.

Pony Boss wrote:

whitwiki wrote:It's much easier to attend a basketball game...

How so?

2 hours versus 4. Less traffic. Less TV timeouts.

JasonB wrote:10 win seasons and a top 25 ranking are what attract fans. Students or non-students. Period. Win and become relevant and people come. They will pack the house when we play someone good and it will be 75% full when we are playing the sisters of the poor. Win win win.

Tradition is what keeps people coming when you are .500 or worse. We have no tradition to anyone under the age of 50.

Tradition takes time to build. If SMU has a bad basketball season in the next two years, Moody will empty. 10 straight years of good basketball and you will establish a new tradition that can bring back the old and make us consistently relevant.

Cincy is a great example. They won back in the day with Oscar Robertson, and had a great tradition. Then disappeared for a long time. They are just now getting to the point where they are recognized as a consistent winner again and might be able to survive a couple of losing seasons in their basketball stadium.

Start winning and give it some time.

The Huggins era in Cincy being glossed over as part of "disappeared for a long time" is an interesting choice

Have you all saved old posts on subjects like these? Then when we recycle them every 90 days, you can just ctrl + v and save a ton of time.