Former SMU QB Craig James Disses the Teasips and the WAC!!

[MrMustang1965]

Former SMU RB Craig James is quoted in today's Houston Chronicle's TV-Radio Notebook column by Dave Barron:

"Texas fans were never fond of Craig James, who played a major role in SMU's victories over the Longhorns in the 1980 and 1982, and they won't be any more fond of him after hearing his thoughts on the 2003 season.

"The only team I feel good about projecting for the national championship game is Oklahoma," he said. "You know about Texas. I think they'll stub their toe in the Red River Shootout (against Oklahoma) and they'll stub their toe one other time. I think the Aggies will be better, but they play a tough schedule."

Turning to his alma mater, he's not a big fan of the WAC.

"The WAC doesn't work, at least for SMU," he said. "I'm a big proponent of this league people are talking about with Houston, Rice, Tulane, UTEP, TCU, Southern Mississippi and Tulsa. I think that regional appeal would be a winner."

That may be, but does it have enough national clout to wedge its way into the BCS power structure? Doesn't matter, James said.

"Don't worry about that," he said. "The first thing you have to do is get fans to show up and take an interest. Everybody bellyaches about not being in the BCS, but they're not good enough. SMU isn't good enough. Neither is Houston, Rice, TCU or Southern Mississippi. They're not good enough to be in it. They can cry all they want, but that's just the way it is."

James will be going back to ESPN to work as a college analyst this fall. He got his start there in 1991 and stayed thru 1996. James' only assignment, thus far, for this fall will be to work with Dave Barnett and Bill Curry as an analyst on ESPN2's prime time college games this fall. But don't be surprised if his workload expands as the season progresses.

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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!" S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!

[This message has been edited by MrMustang1965 (edited 07-25-2003).]

[This message has been edited by MrMustang1965 (edited 07-25-2003).]

[EastStang]

First, Craig was a running back/punter, not a QB. He didn't diss the WAC so much as he said it doesn't work for SMU which is true. I think he was wrong about the BCS stuff. SMU, Rice, TCU are certainly as good as Temple, Rutgers, UConn., Vandy, and Duke to name a few. We'll see how we stack up with Baylor this year.

[WreckEm16]

I think a regional league with Rice, SMU, TCU, UNM, UNT, etc. would be a great idea. Hell, I'd probably go to a few games and I don't have connections with any of those schools.

What do SMU fans/alumni think about the idea?

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And when I die
You can bury me
In Lubbock, Texas,
In my jeans.

-Mac Davis

[NavyCrimson]

you're exactly right - east stang...

while you're at it...let's throw in Wake Forest, Baylor, northwestern & even Stanford in the mix to name a few…

in fact, all these, including the one’s u mentioned – Temple, Rutgers, UConn, Vandy & Duke average anywhere from the low 20’s to 30’s whenever they play teams that are as good as they including div 2 teams that come to their stadiums…

in fact, a yr or so, Duke had 18-19K @ one of their games!!!

& on a good day – smu will give them a run for their money including a whipping!

Yep – no argument there.


[This message has been edited by Navy&Crimson (edited 07-25-2003).]

[MrMustang1965]

Sorry about the 'typo'...I know he was a RB, just typed 'QB' intead. AARRGGHHH! I'll run 10 laps around Ford Stadium now...

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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!" S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!

[OlePony]

Craig should not be confused with a supreme court judge. His league would have 7 teams? I don't think that works for anyone even if all he propsed were accepting of the idea. TCU is not good enough for a BCS? I can name 20 BSC teams that TCU would beat regularly. How about Baylor and KU from the "Big 12" to start. Even poor lowly SMU will do OK against that competition. I like Craig and he usually sticks up for SMU but this makes no sense.

[Charleston Pony]

James mentioned 7 other schools who presumably would be confrence mates with SMU, so he actually mentioned enough to form an 8 team league. Interesting that he made no mention of La Tech or UNT, but mentioned only the programs that have been in I-A the longest.

As for the comment about those schools not being "good enough" for the BCS, I think he's saying they're not good enough to play in the BCS games. There is no doubt that some of the teams mentioned are better than some of the teams that are cellar-dwellers in BCS conferences, but he's right when he says TCU (or Boise or CSU or UNT) or any of the top teams from the non-BCS conferences don't belong among the final 8 who should theoretically be playing in those 4 BCS games.

James has been an advocate for SMU over the years but that doesn't mean he's lost sight of reality.