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Why is it always Alabama, Ohio State, etc? There are P5 teams with whom we could compete that could raise our stature and hopefully bring in some interested fans also.

Because you all hate TidePony! Just kidding!

How about we beat TTech, or Kansas, Arizona, Colorado, even a BYU.
We can pick off wins from the 5 if we get the right team.
Agree with mrydel.

mrydel wrote:Why is it always Alabama, Ohio State, etc? There are P5 teams with whom we could compete that could raise our stature and hopefully bring in some interested fans also.

Because the ones who we could pick off are the ones every G5 program is begging to play. The Kansas's, Vandy's, Purdue's, etc. are the schools fighting off lower-conference members for that very reason - they are beatable, they bring a big check and possibly fans, they off exposure in other markets, etc. Those schools tend to try to play each other - I know Vandy first tries to schedule better academic schools who face the same challenges they do before looking elsewhere. Northwestern, Duke, Wake Forest, Ga Tech, etc. play Vandy a lot - they get NOTHING out of playing the likes of us, so schools like that tend to steer clear of us.

And you think Alabama wants to play us? There are many P5 schools that are not in the top 5 in the nation.

Schedules are done 5 years in advance so you never know the ability of the team you will play but you can pretty well count on the top ones remaining high. I would say get someone like WSU. Leech would probably like having a game on Texas. We have played them before home and home. They should draw some casual observers. We have a history with Okie State. North Carolina and Kansas have come. Missouri needs to finds teams they can beat with a tough SEC schedule in conference. Lots of options. Candy is too good right now but Kentucky may be worth a shot.

in the 2nd year of our bowl run in 2010 Washington St. v SMU drew 18,184 and probably cost us more to get a P5 team to play in Ford. Most of those hypothetical games proposed make no financial sense for P5 schools or SMU at all. Maybe Kansas or even a good traveling school like Iowa St.. Illinois has suddenly started recruiting Texas hard-might try them but you don't know how strong they will be in 6 years.

Thats why you build up your own fan base by beating chumps, until you are thought of as good - (or at least decent) and then you schedule up to the next rung and don't have to worry who travels with the lower P-5's. Stallions solution is to just schedule the old southwest conference. We are what, 1 and 50 in the last 15 yrs? That is what has gotten us no fans so lets do it some more!! Yeh haw!

scheduling home/home series with former SWC mates is going to become more difficult for SMU if Chad stays on and elevates this program to a point where we are competitive with Big XII programs. Mid and lower level P5 programs are looking to schedule non-conference games that will help them become bowl eligible. We are fortunate to be playing TCU home/home every year. Let's just hope that series continues but the reality is that it is going to get tougher and tougher to find P5 programs willing to come to Ford to play SMU. Might be able to schedule 2 for 1 series but I suspect this is going to be a challenge for Hart going forward (again...assuming SMU can knock off mid level and even some upper level P5 programs within the next couple of years)

Charleston Pony wrote:... if Chad stays on

Charleston Pony wrote:assuming SMU can knock off mid level and even some upper level P5 programs within the next couple of years)

CP, I still think that is an optimistic assumption. Our only P5 wins in the last twenty years are against two of the worst programs in P5 history - Kansas and Washington St. And we still have no wins against against area Big 12/SEC schools that matter. Unless we pull off a major shocker this year in FW (our only P5 opponent) we will go another year without a signature P5 win. The Houston win last year was big, and so was the TCU win in 2011, but at the end of the day neither were P5 wins. That is why this year's OOC schedule is so disappointing. One of the three no-names (SFA, UNT and Ark St) should've been against a TT, Missouri, Northwestern, Purdue type P5.

Instead, best case scenario is we start 3-1 and 95% of alums/fans have already checked out because we've only played one significant school and that was a loss. Therefore, 10,000-15,000 will show against our remaining no name home conference opponents as we try to get to seven wins for very minor bowl appearance. I still don't understand SMU's goal for the program. The school NEVER addresses the major attendance issue. Try something, anything to get non-SMU people to the games but it never happens. I'm certain this is the year when Morris is fighting to get us to bowl eligibility in November against UCF or Tulsa and he'll look up in the Ford stands and see about 5,000 people and finally think, what the hell am I doing here? Same thing that happened with JJ. For a school that claims to be smart, we keep doing the same things over and over expecting different results. But hey, just wait until next season. That will be our year.

The problem I see is that our primary donor base is aging significantly. The middle age donors who should be in earning prime were students during the DP and for the Pye era afterwards. Many of them do not even know SMU football exists. Where is the Ford, Sewell, etc money going to come from? In the words of the late great Sleepy Morgan, we need to make hay now. We have been promoting the "let's win for 10 years" plan for the last 20 years. It has not been implemented. Something needs to be figured out before my generation is dead and that is getting nearer everyday.

gostangs wrote:Thats why you build up your own fan base by beating chumps, until you are thought of as good - (or at least decent) and then you schedule up to the next rung and don't have to worry who travels with the lower P-5's. Stallions solution is to just schedule the old southwest conference. We are what, 1 and 50 in the last 15 yrs? That is what has gotten us no fans so lets do it some more!! Yeh haw!

Beating up on chumps won't build a fanbase because no one cares about those teams (even the lower P5s) and they won't care about us if that's all we ever play. We'll just be that team that beats up on nobodies because they're too afraid to play anyone good. Playing and beating the old SWC is the only way we'll ever gain in any traction in this region because those are the teams everyone cares about.

LA_Mustang wrote: I'm certain this is the year when Morris is fighting to get us to bowl eligibility in November against UCF or Tulsa and he'll look up in the Ford stands and see about 5,000 people and finally think, what the hell am I doing here?

He's already had that moment multiple times, now it's all about winning enough to get the job he wants.

Morris knew the pros and cons of taking this job. He knows nobody will blame him for attendance problems but he was never going to have even 35,000 screaming, rabid fans backing him up. I'm sure he's at peace with his decision right now. Coulda gone to Baylor is fan base were so important.

Look, nobody here wants a schedule full of Sam Houston States. But the next step in development, for both SMU and Morris, is to get back to a minor bowl game. This years schedule will help with that. It also helps us develop for the next year which, depending on who our HC is, could be the true money/payoff year. Christ, we go to Michigan and have TCU at home. Take advantage of the patsy schedule while it lasts.

Come to think of it, I'm willing to bet the weak schedule may have been one of the things that kept HCCM here - it sets him up beautifully to make a play for a new school after this year. If there's ANY truth to that idea, the schedule earned it's paycheck right there.

One more thing and I'll let it go. I have to get this off my chest every so often when come to the football board. If Morris wasn't here where would he be?? Do some of you really think he could've had the Baylor job, or any other D1 HC job right now? I'm obviously not a Morris cheerleader and I have no idea what he has done to make people think he's this hot prospect in the coaching ranks. I still believe with better in game coaching last season we win two more games. The guy has yet to show me he has the chops to be an elite, even decent D1 HC.