ACC swoons over Miami

[Diehard Pony]

In response to Nachos' request to clarify myself. What I am saying is that it is in the realm of possibilities (if Bennett and Dement..or his replacement...gets it done) that we could be in a position of strength with respect to a mid-major re-do in the near term, and POSSIBLY be in consideration for a BCS slot in the longer term as changes continue to happen (e.g., Baylor continues to be hopelessly futile, and we rise to prominence among mid-majors).

Again, the BCS thing is very much a long shot, but it is certainly possible to strengthen ourselves for the next shift among mid-majors.

[Nacho]

Diehard I admire your never say never attitude. At this time we do not control our fate. In fact most would consider us to be insignificant. I'm not ready to give up yet either. Until they tell me that we don't play football I will be at all the home games and many of the away games.

I do think that we suffer greatly from a lack of visionary leadership. Cavan stayed for too long. Dement has stayed for too long. We don't recruit juco transfers. In short we don't and haven't done the things necessary to be successful.

The future is pretty hard to predict. The key is survival. If we can survive we may one day come out ahead, assuming that we get leadership committed to doing all the things needed. We will never be the top dog but we may end us a the junior partner. So I guess that I agree with you.

[EastStang]

I was looking at the CUSA board, they are hoping that Va. Tech, Pitt and W.Va. will join them and that they'll become a BCS conference. Since the BE is a BCS Conference and has I think a four year period to continue to comply with BCS requirements, I am sure that they will more likely raid the other way and try and snatch up the most promising CUSA team. The TCU board folks are all a flutter that they'll be picked for the Big East (along with ND) after Miami, etc. leave. I suspect that the Big East will try to stay east of the Mississippi. Army, East Carolina, USM, USF, Louisville, UAB, Cincinnati, and Memphis meet that criteria. Out of that bunch, I suspect that the BE will go for Memphis, LU, and Cincy. Another wild card would be Marshall, but they do not fit for basketball. Things will start to get interesting for everyone. Unfortunately, we'll be like the ugly girl at the dance, waiting to see who's left to dance with.

[Eddie P]

Here's a story about this I just read on Sunday...

<A HREF="http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/colleges/5786756.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/colleges/5786756.htm</A>




[This message has been edited by Eddie P (edited 05-05-2003).]

[PK]

The worst thing about ALL of this is that evidently no one gives a flying F about tradition and long time rivalries anymore...it is ALL about money...period. The breakup of the SWC is a prime example of that. Might as well go out and find a pro team to support...which just gags me. One of the reasons I enjoy college sports is that it is (was) more pure from the stand point that the players were not playing for the big money (I know some were playing for money, but it was still for the most part playing for the fun of the game and pride). Today, the kids still play for fun and pride, but a group of schools and athletic departments are getting very greedy to the detriment of the college sports atmosphere.

I know it takes money to run these departments and Title IX has added a finacial burden in some respects, but when a few try to control and collect most of the money that is out there, it is just plain wrong. I'll give the MWC credit in that they were willing to suffer if necessary to preserve their rivalries and traditions. Today it is everyone jockying for the money and the hell with traditions.

[This message has been edited by PK (edited 05-05-2003).]

[NavyCrimson]

i couldn't have said it any better!

i think there are a lot of us that are getting closer & closer to that point!

yeah - let's have one big super conference (LOL) of 50-60 teams & let's see what happens when there's no one to play them & over half the teams like texas goes 5-6 for a couple of yrs! mmmmmmmm then what? then the crowds fall off & they all finally figured that they shot the 'golden goose' - but its then tooooo late. HA!

[Charleston Pony]

PK and Navy & Crimson: I hear what you are saying, but it sounds like the words of someone on the outside looking in. The truth is that interest in college athletics has boomed since the TV networks have increased their coverage, and the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" has simply widened.

I personally do not believe the creation of the so-called "Super Conference" (if it was based on the size of the schools' athletic budgets) is necessarily a bad thing. Yes, it might hurt some rivalries. The one that immediately comes to mind is Duke/UNC because Duke would not compete with the big boys in football, whereas UNC would. If handled properly, those two could preserve their bball relationship, but the day might come when Duke might not care to continue the football rivalry. Obviously the vast majority of well known rivalries like UT/OU, UT/A$M, Mich/Ohio St, Fla/FSU, Ala/Aub, etc...won't be affected.

The mid-majors of football today get to play in "break-even" $750k bowls that have no meaning and have trouble drawing more than 30k. What would the interest be for a 16 team playoff (like I-AA and the lower divisions play), where teams like TCU earn home games based on their seedings on their march towards a national championship at the "next" level down from the "Super Conference"? My feeling is that interest would be just as strong as it is today for the mid-majors. Did anyone really get "jacked" watching our conference champ, Boise St, beat the last Big XII team picked to compete in a bowl? Wouldn't it have been more interesting if our conference champ had been matched up with TCU in a 1st or 2nd round playoff game? Of course, if the NCAA ever restructured things along these lines, we would be playing regional competition and the odds are many of us would support our conference champ in their quest for a national championship (even if that meant pulling to TCU...GASP!)

College basketball is tremendously popular today and conference tourneys truly kick off "March Madness". Obviously, the "have nots" of college hoops get jacked for the opportunity to go out and try to win a 1st round game against the big boys, who avoid scheduling quality mid-majors like the plague. Very few mid-majors have any realistic hopes of reaching the final four, or sweet 16 for that matter. The latter becomes the goal of most mid-majors. With 65 teams competing, I'm not sure the Super Conference idea extends to bball. There are plenty of smaller schools who play quality bball and have no football program. It's king football that clearly seperates the haves from the have nots budget wise.

At any rate, if UT and A$M went off to play in the Super Conference, it might not rule out their playing one game each year against the likes of SMU, TCU or Baylor (much like happens today when the I-A powers schedule a game against a I-AA program). Tradition could be preserved by allowing one such game each year, allowing UNC to continue to play Duke. The old SWC powers could rotate games with the smaller SWC privates so everyone associated with those schools could take an occasional "nostalgia" trip.

Sorry for my long, rambling posts but the idea of realignment has me excited about future possibilities for SMU...even if it means accepting that we won't be playing Ohio State for the national championship anytime soon, if ever.

[AusTxPony]

I AGREE! Let's take 1-3 teams from the top ten states (based on population) i.e. California (3), Texas (3), New York (1), Fla (3), Ohio (1), Michigan (2), etc. and 0-2 teams from the rest of the states and put them in 4-5 Super Conferences (semi-pro???) comprised of 50-55 teams. Let them pay their players if necessary, but keep their scholarships resticted. No bowls without a WINNING record. Then let the rest of us go back to the old traditional amateur college football. That would give the rest of us enough good teams and rivalries to make it fun again! Plus many of us would still play these Super guys (RESTRICTED to no more than two or three games) much like some teams play 1-AA teams now to improve their records. What do you think?

[Chavo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by AusTxPony:
<B>I AGREE! Let's take 1-3 teams from the top ten states (based on population) i.e. California (3), Texas (3), New York (1), Fla (3), Ohio (1), Michigan (2), etc. and 0-2 teams from the rest of the states and put them in 4-5 Super Conferences (semi-pro???) comprised of 50-55 teams. Let them pay their players if necessary, but keep their scholarships resticted. No bowls without a WINNING record. Then let the rest of us go back to the old traditional amateur college football. That would give the rest of us enough good teams and rivalries to make it fun again! Plus many of us would still play these Super guys (RESTRICTED to no more than two or three games) much like some teams play 1-AA teams now to improve their records. What do you think? </B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The odds of that happening are as good as the band Poison making a comeback and taking the title of greatest band ever. Be realistic. SMU is just going to be in a regional WAC.

[EastStang]

Guess what, that is what Brand wants to happen. I think he really would like to see all of the mid-majors drop to 1-AA to "strengthen 1-AA". The 1-AA teams complain, that they don't get to play 1-A teams regularly because of the bowl eligibility rules. This is not what they were promised when they dropped out of 1-A. Mid-Majors complain because they don't have access to BCS $$$$. BCS complains that there might be a few crumbs left on the table that they aren't getting. The problem for schools like SMU, Rice, TCU, Baylor, Duke, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest is that they have traditions built on 1-A football. Duke, SMU and TCU have won or competed for National Championships in football. When I was in grad school at William & Mary, the 1-AA issue was debated. William & Mary usually played a game against East Carolina, Navy, Rutgers and either UVA, or VT. It created a lot of discussion about losing those games off the schedule and the history involved. But because their rival Richmond and several other schools in Virginia opted 1-AA they went along and are doing fine. But under the current rules that won't happen. If Rice, SMU, TCU, Tulsa, Houston, Tulane, and some other schools agreed together to drop to 1-AA, then rivalries could be preserved. If SMU were to drop down alone it would be relegated to playing the Sam Houston States of the world. BTW, when SMU decided to build a 32,000 seat stadium, instead of a 35,000 seat stadium, it was clear to me that it was hedging its bets.

[PK]

CP, I agree with a lot of what you said above, but the BCS group of schools are not going to let the rest of the schools into any kind of championship playoff. That would put their goal of getting all the money at risk. Unlike basketball, football is too expensive to operate when you are held back from sharing in the big bucks...so fielding a team that has a legit chance of crashing the BIG BOY"S party are slim at best.

[Nacho]

All your friends are false; all your enemies are real.

--Mexican proverb

[NavyCrimson]

CP, your statement: "At any rate, if UT and A$M went off to play in the Super Conference, it might not rule out their playing one game each year against the likes of SMU, TCU or Baylor (much like happens today when the I-A powers schedule a game against a I-AA program)..."

but what if we (smu) and all the other 'left-out' mid-majors refused to play these schools? that, my friend, is our last & only bargaining chip...if we & everyone who wasn't involved in the 'super conf' didn't or refused to play them, that could be the final turning point of this whole ridiculous mess.

[This message has been edited by Navy&Crimson (edited 05-06-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Navy&Crimson (edited 05-06-2003).]

[Nacho]

Nothing ever goes exactly like someone predicted. With that in mind I hereby predict that SMU will end up in the Big 12 so that Baylor can have a rival.

[IslandBoy]

Reporter Gregg Doyel wrote this today in the Charlotte Observer:

"IF THE DOMINOES FALL

Should the ACC add Miami, Syracuse and Boston College, the impact would extend far and wide. Consider:

• Big East drops football and adds Charlotte, Marquette, DePaul and St. Louis from Conference USA

• Conference USA adds Temple from the Atlantic 10 while the Big Ten adds Pittsburgh from the Big East to grow to 12 teams

• The Pac-10 adds Fresno State from the WAC and Utah from the Mountain West to grow to 12 teams

• The WAC and Mountain West merge to form a 14-team league and take the Big East's automatic BCS bid."

Pony fans should find the last bullet point VERY intriguing...

[This message has been edited by IslandBoy (edited 05-06-2003).]