Here is a dumb question

[StudPony]

I am a lost Pony, a little out of the loop, but desparately wanting to be proud of a respected program. I live in Colorado, still have season tickets, give to the Mustang Club and Lettermans Assoc., and have attended 4 FB games live in the last 3 years, but virtually attend as many FB and hoops games as possible.

Here is my question: Why did we join CUSA? The WAC seems to have better football and basketball teams, more media exposure and on its way up.

Any legit answer or excuses are welcome.

StudPony out.

PS - I also attend as many Triple Threat Cowboy events as possible

[DallasDiehard]

Not a dumb question at all. But C-USA is better in football and men's basketball, has better (and more) bowl tie-ins and has a more regional base of teams that allows families and fans to travel to more games, and reduces the financial strain of travel. The move was a no-brainer.

Beat Baylor!

[PK]

Actually, C-USA gets better national media coverage than the WAC because of its boundary extending into the media heavy east coast area. With the WAC offices being located in Denver, it may appear to you that the WAC gets more exposure.

[GoRedGoBlue]

I am a lost Pony, a little out of the loop, but desparately wanting to be proud of a respected program. I live in Colorado, still have season tickets, give to the Mustang Club and Lettermans Assoc., and have attended 4 FB games live in the last 3 years, but virtually attend as many FB and hoops games as possible.

Here is my question: Why did we join CUSA? The WAC seems to have better football and basketball teams, more media exposure and on its way up.

Any legit answer or excuses are welcome.

StudPony out.

PS - I also attend as many Triple Threat Cowboy events as possible

HERE'S YOUR ANSWER:

1) It probably costs 40% more to travel in the WAC than in the new CUSA

2) The travel times are a bear on the teams when they have to go west coast, or the BBall teams have to make a Thur-Sat 2-stop out west, etc. - which leads to fatigue and losing as well (witness the Sasser teams and even Rhonda's team last year dropping off at end - consistently).

3) No one looks at Western time games because they aren't even over by the time ESPN is broadcasting College Results at 10-11 (central time).

4) The DALLAS COWBOYS are in the NFL "EAST" for a VERY good reason - the media is centered EAST COAST with much of it in CENTRAL (Chi-DFW-Hou-StL-KC)

5) CUSA actually had better bowl tie-ins and more money in the TV department - the new CUSA still does.

6) REGIONAL - we stand a much better chance of getting 1000 Rice fans at SMU than 100 Fresno State fans here...its marginally better, arguably, but still better. - PLUS, we can make easier 'night-before' or even 'day' trips to all of the W-CUSA teams...its still easier to go EAST to the Eastern teams than to West against the WAC teams.

7) The WAC being 'great' at the top is recent phenomena with the emergence of Boise State. Don't think for a minute that BSU and FSU aren't on the Mountain West expansion plans...(and I am the #1 hugest BSU fan in Dallas - I promise you).

If that were to happen, the SMU-Tulsa-Rice would have been in the WAC with Idaho, NMState, etc... you like that ? TCU is looking as well at the possibility of those teams being added to 'their' conference - thus, they play in the very conference, basically, that they used to make fun of SMU being in...the old WAC! I think it likely that Hawaii-BSU-FSU join MWC...or perhaps Nevada.

MWC probably has different ideas that have prevented them from pulling the trigger...like, UNLV may want Nevada (or NOT< I dunno), whereas Wyoming may NOT want Boise State... But, let's face it, the TOP of the WAC is better than the top of the MWC, CUSA, or MAC right now...

Those are the BASIC reasons. Probably a few more mentioned or will be mentioned.

[Stallion]

here is some interesting ratings from Sagrin on average rating per team and conference ranking that might surprise some people:

7. Mountain West 71.80
8. WAC 64.80
10. CUSA 61.73
12. MAC 59.58
14. Sun Belt 54.33


and yet some Bozos on the CUSA fan forum are complaining about our 5 bowl games when that is about as many as the other 4 conferences have combined-I realize I'm exaggerating. But for now the common sense answer is that CUSA makes more sense geographically for TV, bowls and recruiting. I will say that common sense doesn't always work out best and if schools like Rice, Tulsa, SMU, Tulane and UH( UTEP gets a 1 year exemption for going to the Houston Bowl) don't get off their [deleted] and build strong facilities and athletic programs then many of these teams will circle the toilet bowl into Division 1A oblivion with very little bowl possibilities or financially rewarding TV opportunities. This is a tenuous common sense wedding among schools which are quite diverse when you compare the East and West. SMU is probably lucky based on its recent past to be in CUSA which has decent bowls and TV. Don't think for a moment that the bottom may not fall out again.

[Billy Joe]

Don't hold your breath on SMU holding its own in C-USA in the revenue sports. There has been talk of building new basketball facilities for almost a decade now. Where is the new facility? I have heard countless excuses, though. Why has Tubbs struck out on all of the local recruits so far? Wiff! If Tubbs keeps striking out he could earn himself a spot on the Texas Rangers. Ford stadium is a first class facility. However, when you have policies in place that restrict the coaches ability to recruit from the same base of athletes than are competition, you cannot get the quality of players in the nice stadium to compete. It does hurt not being in a BCS conference. However, schools such as Houston, TCU, UTEP, Fresno St., Boise St., North Texas, La. Tech, and now, Tulsa are successful getting quality Division 1-A transfers and JUCO transfers to complete their respective rosters. SMU, on the other hand, will not accept many credits from JUCOs or other Division 1-A schools so SMU is limited in recruiting this avenue. These schools also have a wider range of courses that are more athlete friendly. Remember, many of these kids would not be in college if they were not good athletes. Until SMU makes changes (which may be never) do not expect success on the field or the court. It it clear SMU does not want to make the changes necessary to compete in Division 1-A revenue sports.

[Stallion]

All true except let's give Tubbs a break on the basketball recruiting. In recent reports he has made the Final List for both 5 star recruit Arthur and 4 star recruit Lewis, 3 star recruit Odufuma and also has a shot for at least 2 more 3 star kids locally. He's still at bat with some of the top recruits in the country so even I don't think its fair to say he's whiffed yet.

[DiamondM75]

Don't hold your breath on SMU holding its own in C-USA in the revenue sports. There has been talk of building new basketball facilities for almost a decade now. Where is the new facility? I have heard countless excuses, though. Why has Tubbs struck out on all of the local recruits so far? Wiff! If Tubbs keeps striking out he could earn himself a spot on the Texas Rangers. Ford stadium is a first class facility. However, when you have policies in place that restrict the coaches ability to recruit from the same base of athletes than are competition, you cannot get the quality of players in the nice stadium to compete. It does hurt not being in a BCS conference. However, schools such as Houston, TCU, UTEP, Fresno St., Boise St., North Texas, La. Tech, and now, Tulsa are successful getting quality Division 1-A transfers and JUCO transfers to complete their respective rosters. SMU, on the other hand, will not accept many credits from JUCOs or other Division 1-A schools so SMU is limited in recruiting this avenue. These schools also have a wider range of courses that are more athlete friendly. Remember, many of these kids would not be in college if they were not good athletes. Until SMU makes changes (which may be never) do not expect success on the field or the court. It it clear SMU does not want to make the changes necessary to compete in Division 1-A revenue sports.

THANK YOU FACULTY SENATE!!

[Mustang1412]

Because the Wac is wack.

[SMU Football Blog]

here is some interesting ratings from Sagrin on average rating per team and conference ranking that might surprise some people:

7. Mountain West 71.80
8. WAC 64.80
10. CUSA 61.73
12. MAC 59.58
14. Sun Belt 54.33


and yet some Bozos on the CUSA fan forum are complaining about our 5 bowl games when that is about as many as the other 4 conferences have combined-I realize I'm exaggerating. But for now the common sense answer is that CUSA makes more sense geographically for TV, bowls and recruiting. I will say that common sense doesn't always work out best and if schools like Rice, Tulsa, SMU, Tulane and UH( UTEP gets a 1 year exemption for going to the Houston Bowl) don't get off their [deleted] and build strong facilities and athletic programs then many of these teams will circle the toilet bowl into Division 1A oblivion with very little bowl possibilities or financially rewarding TV opportunities. This is a tenuous common sense wedding among schools which are quite diverse when you compare the East and West. SMU is probably lucky based on its recent past to be in CUSA which has decent bowls and TV. Don't think for a moment that the bottom may not fall out again.

Absolutely. Conference USA could easily split up the way the WAC did. Somebody in the West needs to step up to the challenge. With a little effort, it could easily be SMU.

SMU is now in the middle of what is effectively its third conference change: The demise of the SWC; the split of the MWC from the WAC and the move to C-USA. You could argue a fourth when C-USA rejected SMU and took TCU. Each previous change has been met with the same lethargic attitude from SMU's leadership, will this one be any different? History says no. My only hope is that those who cut the check for the Conference USA buy in, got a commitment from the University that it would get its act together.

[Billy Joe]

I am excited about the new conference. I just hope SMU holds its part of the bargain and does not become the 'whipping boys' of the league. I am anxious to see if the DMN gives SMU and C-USA a little more coverage than we got last year being in the WAC. I also predict TCU's coverage in the DMN drops off a little.

[Caballo]

TCU's DMN coverage will definitely drop off. Their road games in football will end about 12 to 1 a.m. local time. They will get to share space in the Monday paper with the Dallas Cowboys. There will be a short blurb about their game in the back of the sports page, and maybe a box score.

[EastStang]

The WAC is only really strong at the top. Boise, Fresno. After that the schools look like something you threw in a blender.