New League

[Nacho]

How does this grab you? I'm going to have to think about this one.

<A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59742-2003Jun14.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59742-2003Jun14.html</A>

[Hoop Fan]

I thought Navy would have a better option frankly, such as the leftover Big East. I think. My first reaction is that I would like a league like that. Army and Navy are better football draws than most non Big 12 teams we could find anywhere. Obviously, basketball would be a problem. Put Vanderbilt, TCU and Baylor in that conference somehow and bring it on.

[Nacho]

Since this is a private school league, how about Miami? That would be wild!

If this is a football only league what do the other sports do?

This is out of left field. I think it's going to grow on me if the other 1-2 teams add value. I like your suggestion of Baylor and Vandy. Who knows what will happen.

[FloridaMustang]

I hate this idea. And a football only league wouldn't fit us well.. we need to get basketball into a better conference.. such as C-USA. I don't want to be in the same league as Navy. As far as I can tell, C-USA will probably look at adding teams from either the WAC, MAC, or both. I just don't see these conferences going anywhere, or any new ones being formed for that matter. No one really wants to have to deal with the logistics of something of that magnitude. The ACC presidents are having a hard enough time trying to get their **** together for expansion. Just ask the C-USA members how fun that conference was to create.

[This message has been edited by UNFMustang06 (edited 06-15-2003).]

[PaulWave]

Add Air Force and TCU to this mix and it actually becomes interesting. Play other sports by getting the non-football sun belt teams (New Orleans, S Alabama, W Kentucky, maybe Florida Atlantic/intertnational - whichwever one) to join with Tulane, SMU, TCU, Tulsa and Rice.

[FloridaMustang]

*Yawn*

[Sam I Am]

I grow weary of pipe dreams about attracting other schools that are well situated into some kind of dreamed up new conference. If the runts and left-overs realign, that makes sense. The non-BCS schools are just shuffling chairs n the deck of the Titantic. I don't look for SMU to improve its postion in the post-ACC changes because we don't have anything to offer right now that would entitle us to move up in conferecne status. Only a class action suit that forces a Div. 1-A playoff system will help us.

[FloridaMustang]

Sam I Am is now officially the biggest pessimist on the board.

And you can't say you're a realist. Stallion already holds that position.

[This message has been edited by UNFMustang06 (edited 06-15-2003).]

[originaloverthehilltop1]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nacho:
[B]How does this grab you? I'm going to have to think about this one.

this is the most interesting thing i've seen. however it needs a couple more schools doesn't it? don't tell me baylor and vandy-they arent going to leave the big $ to join this list. probly tcu and af won't either. they idea of playing schools who don't accept nonqualifiers and have similar admiittance standards would make a more competitive conference year in and yr out. and with a couple more additions, might even get a tv contract and bowl possibilities. can we wait till the bcs gets sued to do something?

[originaloverthehilltop1]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nacho:
[B]How does this grab you? I'm going to have to think about this one.

please tell me how this conf would work with bball and other sports? somebody tell us who the addl schools might be who fit. is va tech dissatisfied w/ BE enough to consider this? please, more discussion.

[SMUstang]

The most logical schools who would fit in philosophically would be Vandy and Baylor. They are more concerned about graduation rates than BCS bowls, and they are possibly quite tired of being the whipping boys of their conferences. I know that money is a big issue for them though so the new conference would need to work a TV deal or some way to garrantee them a big enough paycheck. Anybody got any suggestions along those lines?

[leopold]

I am not going to shoot down this potential league because it is a group of schools that seem to have an agreed list of priorities and have a lot in common. We could compete athletically very well in this league, should it come to pass.
That being said, and I don't believe I am being to much of a killjoy here, but there are some serious issues that need to be addressed:
1)It seems to me that this league is going to based more on academics than athletics, ESPECIALLY football. Does this mean we are planning another version of the Ivy League? Keep in mind that the Ivy League is D-IAA for a reason, would we be planning such a move in the coming years?
2)It seems to me that everyone is going to rip up traditional rivalries (the ones that are left). Do you really think SMU alumni are going to travel to New York and Annapolis for games? I mean, how are they going to put butts in the seats, and I include us in that area. In that sense I see it as no better than the WAC.
3)It seems as though some of the schools, especially Tulane, are financial difficulties and have an uncertain future in the longterm. I would want to know how they are going to fix these problems.
I think that this is a very well intentioned league put not the answer to our problems. If you want a "southern ivy-league" then prepare to go I-AA. I think we need to position ourselves for at least a re-figured Con-USA.

[Charleston Pony]

Sounds like that league may have been discussed in the context of "what if everyone dumps on us and we have nowhere to go?" While the schools have things in common, nobody but the fans of those teams will care about a league like this, so there will be no post season bowl opportunities and only the Army/Navy game will draw national TV interest. Maybe each of the other schools can get a local independent station to broadcast their games against Army/Navy, because that's where the interest will be.

Meanwhile, where would our other sports play? This looks like a conference of last resort for football, and it was probably discussed in that context. For those of you who talk about going Independent in football, sounds like this would be the foundation of that approach.

[EastStang]

The article only mentioned six schools, obviously you would need two more to make a conference for 1-A purposes. My take is that it is a good start. I like the SW private angle with the Academy twist. That makes at least one 25-30,000 attendance game per year. The SW teams will draw better than SJS or FSU. What wasn't said in the article was important. Tulane and Army must believe that CUSA will be destroyed by the Big East. That could mean that TCU might be available. Temple also comes to mind. I don't think Vandy, Wake, Miami, Duke or Baylor will leave their money leagues that's not going to happen. Finding that 8th team will be interesting. Here's a name for you. Notre Dame. They have a long history with Navy, they play them every year. Gene Corrigan their AD is good friends with Copeland from their old ACC days. If you wanted to add a 9th school, AFA might join the other academies in a league that had five central time zone teams. For basketball, you might add St. Louis who will be orphaned by CUSA.

[Nacho]

Good points ES. The academies will draw well in Dallas. I wouldn't dismiss this conference as posturing as some have suggested. I think this is SMU's way of saying we are not going to be suckerd into playing the UT $50 million/yr downward spiral into oblivion. The more I think about this conference the more I like it. We can survive in this conference. Adding 3-4 top names as OOC opponents will help revenue also.