Editorial - Dallas Morning News

[JayM]

Bring It Back: A new Southwest Conference makes sense

07/09/2003

You don't have to pine away for Doak Walker or Earl Campbell to love the recent discussion about a new Southwest Conference. Forget the past; heck, a SWC II has loads of possibilities for the future.

A SWC that consists of SMU, TCU, Rice, the University of North Texas, Houston and several other regional universities would give Texans and their neighbors a chance to attend more of their local school's games. Today, supporters of smaller Texas colleges that play in conferences like the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA must travel to Louisville, Ky., and Provo, Utah, to attend away games. No offense to those destinations, but they don't create what politicians term "communities of interest" for teams in Texas and the Southwest.

A regional conference would create a community of interest, plus natural rivalries. And forget all the stuff about smaller schools not being able to win. Rice just captured the NCAA baseball title. And TCU had a top-25 football team last year.

The SWC chatter has started because the Big East is splintering and schools are looking anew at NCAA alignments. Let the discussion continue. Issues like automatic entries into the NCAA basketball tournament need addressing. But a new SWC? We love it.

[Tradition Pony]

Last time I checked, Provo is no longer in the WAC. But then again, I guess that is part of our problem.

[EastStang]

Hey at least they spelled SMU correctly. Anything with a positive buzz is good for us.

[FloridaMustang]

The DMN is such a joke... why don't they actually put together some logical re-alignment scenarios like credible newspapers.

[PK]

Hey 06...have you been playing again down on the beach and gotten a bunch of sand wedged between your cheeks?? You have been on a rampage of late. The editorial kind of reinforces what I thought earlier about a new SWC...it would provide an improvement in local interest in SMU due to us playing teams that have alums in the area instead of west coast or even east coast teams. The reality though is that without TCU in the mix it is not nearly as desirable an idea...and they evidently aren't interested. Therefore unless all else fails, a new SWC is a plan C fallback plan.

[Charleston Pony]

There's no question that under the current rules, a reborn SWC is not likely...but I still like the idea. The problem is, it takes vision and most people are hung up on what is happening TODAY and who the power brokers are TODAY.

The financially strapped mid-majors are not likely to leave conferences with established bowl tie-ins, NCAA bball tourney bids and existing TV contracts...so they will continue competing with schools 1,000 miles away. While TCU wants to maintain an "advantage" over SMU by way of conference affiliation, and SMU wants to do the same to UNT, UTEP to NMSU, etc... I've got to believe there is potential in the formation of a regional group where the competition would be intense and the visiting team would most likely turn out more fans. After talking to a former Mustang football player of my era (who reminded me we played NMSU during our years at SMU and they outdrew TCU, Rice & Baylor), I wouldn't mind this "last ditch alternative" developing if the new SWC could look something like this:

WEST: UTEP, NMSU, SMU, TCU, UNT, Tulsa

EAST: Houston, Rice, Tulane, La Tech, So. Miss, Memphis (or even substitute Ark St & La-Laf for USM & Memphis if the latter two prefer a southeastern alignment)

This conference would initially be looked at on a par with the MAC or WAC, but would certainly have potential. Look at how much UNT has improved in football in recent years...and NMSU has been up and coming under coach Samuels. Houston was finally moe competitive on the gridiron last year and we certainly have hope under coach Bennett of future improvement. This group might not be BCS material, but I've got to believe we could all help each other continue to compete at the I-A level and I've got to believe that will someday mean our conference champ would earn an invitation into a 16 team national championship playoff. Until then, there would be a conference championship game, TCU brings the Ft Worth bowl and there would be negotiating opportunities with New Orleans, Houston, El Paso and Shreveport for local bowl games (if the BCS conferences don't have enough qualifiers as is being discussed with the Sun Bowl people)

With the future so uncertain, I'm not ruling out anything.

[FloridaMustang]

CP, exactly... and the DMN knows that TCU will never be a part of a SWC II. So why are they spewing out this nonsense?

And CP... getting that sand out of my crack is a very delicate and deliberate process, so I might be a bit agitated for some time to come.

[PK]

Oh hell 06, just get out a fire hose, bend over and spray.

[OldPony]

I'd rather try to be an independant than to join a conference with Ark St and LaLa. If Memphis and So Miss aren't part of the "eastern division" then that conference won't be looked at on par with Wac or anyone else except maybe the very lowest of the low.