In 2015 Where Will SMU Athletics Be?

[StallionsModelT]

With all of the uncertainty surrounding college athletics these days, I think this would be a cool sock drawer prediction thread for what you think will happen to A) Superconferences, teams going indy, etc. and more importantly, B) Where our beloved SMU Mustangs will find themselves. Here are my options:

The Fairy Tale - The dream that Orsini, Turner, and Jones are trying to sell to the Big 12 or some other BCS conference comes to fruition. SMU is thrust back into the national spotlight, the Boulevard is insane, Ford is expanded to 45K and the "lost generation" and casual sports fan in Dallas finally has a reason to come experience a game at SMU.

Not So Bad, Not So Great - The BCS dream doesn't come true, but due to the fallout that will occur when the big boys are done butchering each other gives CUSA some solid additions like Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, TCU, Boise State, or some other lower tier BCS conference program.

Well....This Sucks - Houston goes Big 12. TCU stays Big East. SMU is left standing at the altar again. Now stuck in a CUSA without Houston, CUSA adds La Tech or UNT. Attendance at Ford dwindles back to the mid to high teens. We look foolish for pounding our chests with the media blitz and slink back into obscurity with Rice and Tulane.

WTF?!?!? - This could be anything. PAC 12 adding Texas, Tech, OU, and OSU with SMU being a potential backfill candidate for a very watered down Big 12. Anything goes here!

[Hoop Fan]

To me, the whole thing hinges on Notre Dame vs. the SEC and the expiration of the BCS contract. The SEC is gonna be a 14 team league with a monster strength of schedule once they add Aggie and FSU or Clemson. Logic tells me that there is no way the SEC is gonna let ND keep its sweetheart AQ deal. At that point, ND is forced into a conference. Their ultimate decision of Big East, Big 10 or some form of Big 12 will spur the final dominos. SMUs place totally hinges on a numbers game. if 4 x 16, we in trouble. if its 5 x 16 or 6 x 14, we have a chance because our location and DFW airport allows us to fit anywhere.

[RyanSMU98]

I'll feel much more comfortable answering this after the game this weekend, but my guess is somewhere between the Fairy Tale and Not Bad, Not Great. I think once the Aggies bolt, and the Big 12 realizes that the Longhorn Network is only going to be shown in 20 households nationwide, Okie and Okie Lite look to move, and the Big 12 implosion begins. We have a strong showing against aTm and TCU this year, and suddenly we start to look attractive to a remaining BCS conference that wants a more solid foothold into the DFW market, or we pick up the remainders of the Big 12 into C-USA, jettison a couple weaker teams from the conference to make room and push C-USA as an AQ option. I think we can bring a lot to several suitors IF we can show we can join a major conference and be competitive. Heck, I think the true fairy tale is we follow the Aggies into the SEC (gives them stronger holds in the houston and DFW markets in one fell swoop, and [deleted] off UT as an added bonus - not a bad day's work). I don't think Orsini AND Turner stick their necks out this far without a pretty solid idea of where a fit might be; it's just no their style. My gut says if we take a Big 12 invite we only do it as a stepping stone to something more stable after spending a year or two showing we can consistently compete at the big boy level again.

Granted, I am writing this at a time when I really should be in bed, so consider this a pipe dream post. The alarm clock will go off in 6 hours. Night night, Pony Fans!

[Water Pony]

The future will (should) have Dallas as the 'traveling' epicenter for the fans and alumni of the Lone Star / Great Plains Conference. Why? The Big 12 with UT and Ok as it's core needs a certain future with stability, tradition and competitive programs. Dallas (like Chicago and Indianapolis for the Big Ten) will serve as a destination for every Big 12 team in every sports. Bi-annually, each school will be showcased in the 45+k seat Ford Stadium and newly renovated Moody, while jointly enjoying the Boulevard with their conference mate, SMU. Downtown becomes a happening place on Fall Saturdays, sending fans on the DART to Mockingbird Station.

It may be counter-intuitive, but SMU will help deliver that stability in the heart of the Big12. A 12 member Big 12 (nice symmetry) anchored by the firm commitment of current members, especially UT, OK and MO, emerges stronger after losing the Aggies. With new members BYU, UH and SMU, revenues, competition and tradition grow. Stability, geographically centered on Big D, results. Each member fans look forward to traveling to the new epicenter, served by Love and DFW.

And, if ND and the service academies want OOC games, we offer Big D, KC, St. Louis, Houston and the Lone Star State as regular destinations.

Stability, competition and tradition!

Stability, tradition and competition!

[Pony ^]

The BASEBALL team will have just competed in the conference championship

[Water Pony]

And, the Men's and Women's SMU Swimming & Diving teams host the Big 12 championships in the new A.R.Barr Natatorium, located on tree lined Bishop Boulevard.

[PonyPlayer4]

No idea, but this Sunday we will be playing at College Station. Go Stangs

[East Coast Mustang]

All depends on SEC/Big Ten expansion...that will drive everything. I think the Pac-12 is set at 12 schools...OU, OSU, and Tech are TERRIBLE academic fits in that conference. Only way the Pac-12 goes to 16 is with those three riding Texas' coattails...Texas may no have choice depending on stability of the B12. If Mizzou bolts for the B10 (which WILL eventually go to at least 14 if the SEC does- mark it down) then the B12 becomes even more watered down.

SEC will likely raid the ACC for a 14th member to balance out the conference (which I still think will be Virginia Tech, even though there are no credible rumors to suggest this so far). That will send the ACC to raid the Big East for a team (which could also be raided by B10), then the Big East will raid CUSA.

I would think our best chances are a depleted B12 or a depleted BE...I don't see us being in a conference with Texas EVER again...that will NEVER happen in my opinion. But who knows? Two months ago I would've laughed if you mentioned the possibility of A&M playing in the SEC in 2013

Bottom line...don't listen to anything ESPN/mainstream sports media says. A few weeks ago they were reporting FSU to SEC was a done deal. They also prematurely reported the Pac-16 last summer.

[westexSMU]

For me, marketing the Dallas area for more fan support and improving on our winning percentage will get it done for SMU. A signature win is a must this year.Of course Coach Jones will deserve a lot of credit.

[gostangs]

you think academics have anything to do with this? How quaint. Pac 12 picked Colorado due to their academic fit did they?

[East Coast Mustang]

you think academics have anything to do with this? How quaint. Pac 12 picked Colorado due to their academic fit did they?

http://www.aau.edu/about/article.aspx?id=5476

[East Coast Mustang]

For me, marketing the Dallas area for more fan support and improving on our winning percentage will get it done for SMU. A signature win is a must this year.Of course Coach Jones will deserve a lot of credit.

Doesn't change the fact that Texas, A&M, OU, and Tech own our market. We wont add one penny to the Big 12's TV contract if we're picked up as a member...and sadly, that's all that matters.

Boise State was the winningest program of the past decade and sells out regularly- and no AQ conferences are knocking on their door. See also: ECU, Southern Miss

[No Quarter]

East Coast Mustang wrote in part:

Doesn't change the fact that Texas, A&M, OU, and Tech own our market. We wont add one penny to the Big 12's TV contract if we're picked up as a member...and sadly, that's all that matters.

Sad but true, IMO.

For SMU to join a BCS conference would require continued sellouts in a stadium larger than we now have AND prospects for much larger TV viewership than would seem to be the case. Tradition - what we were in the late forties or during Pony Express - does not matter, nor I am afraid, the interest shown in JJ's successes. "Support" from the city of Dallas won't do it either.

I hope I am wrong.

[One Trick Pony]

I just hope water pony gets his pool

[Water Pony]

I just hope water pony gets his pool

And, I thank you for that acknowledgement, as do the hundreds of SMU swimming and diving fans and alums.

As for the observations above, for no logical reason and despite the 'negatives' attributed to our most recent past, I feel cautious optimism about elevating our athletic affiliation. With A&M's departure, there are scenarios, self interests and mojo that may actually be working in our favor.

Stranger things have happened.