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I would be looking at Boise State, Air Force Academy, SMU and xxx. Where xxx could be South Florida or Memphis or San Diego State or someone else.

More likely scenario is that an expansion to 14 teams would include Memphis and Boise State and if they ever consider growing to 16 members, USF and AFA would probably be invited before SMU unless we are able to sustain Top 25 caliber teams in both football and bball and start filling Ford & Moody

The rumors right now are Memphis, SMU, USF and Boise State.

Second rumors, these would have been added with the first round but 1 or more wanted to pause, most likely Memphis, due to certain internal issues.

Attendance and enthusiasm for SMU is really disappointing.

SMU_Alum11 wrote:The rumors right now are Memphis, SMU, USF and Boise State.

Second rumors, these would have been added with the first round but 1 or more wanted to pause, most likely Memphis, due to certain internal issues.

That's the most likely scenario although I would replace Boise State with Temple if I had my way. That would definitely solidify the Big XII as the premiere basketball conference and keep it relevant in football while adding Eastern eyeballs. That would be another good rival for West Virginia and Cincinnati.

mustangxc wrote:

SMU_Alum11 wrote:The rumors right now are Memphis, SMU, USF and Boise State.

Second rumors, these would have been added with the first round but 1 or more wanted to pause, most likely Memphis, due to certain internal issues.

That's the most likely scenario although I would replace Boise State with Temple if I had my way. That would definitely solidify the Big XII as the premiere basketball conference and keep it relevant in football while adding Eastern eyeballs. That would be another good rival for West Virginia and Cincinnati.

Except the Big XII needs a travel partner or at least another mountain time zone team for balance

SMUstang wrote:Attendance and enthusiasm for SMU is really disappointing.

That crowd against Tulane was embarrassing

Lebanese4Life wrote:

SMUstang wrote:Attendance and enthusiasm for SMU is really disappointing.

That crowd against Tulane was embarrassing

It felt pretty good for a Thursday night game. Sadly we had a lot more families attend than t-shirt fans as I heard alot of people say that they had to leave to get ready for work the following day. I get that App St. had a full crowd Wednesday but it's a college town whereas our alums and fans have the jobs that can't just take the following day off.

SMU_Alum11 wrote:

Lebanese4Life wrote:

SMUstang wrote:Attendance and enthusiasm for SMU is really disappointing.

That crowd against Tulane was embarrassing

It felt pretty good for a Thursday night game. Sadly we have more families attend than t-shirt fans as I heard alotnof people say that they had to leave for work the following day. I get that App St. had a full crowd Wednesday but it's a college town whereas our alums and fans have the jobs that can't just take the following day off.

And that just sums up what SMU is all about, i.e., casual fan interest and not enough interest to warrant P5 inclusion. Looks like SMU's future (at least hopefully) is to be among the "best of the rest" but that will be difficult to sustain with the recruiting disadvantages our coaching staffs will face.

and how many fans did Tulane bring? Problem is- week night and people do have other obligations plus most other teams in the conference have few fans that travel.
We probably had more fans at Navy than most other teams' fans travel to DFW to see SMU vs their school.
Not just an SMU problem but more of a conference problem.

redpony wrote:and how many fans did Tulane bring? Problem is- week night and people do have other obligations plus most other teams in the conference have few fans that travel.
We probably had more fans at Navy than most other teams' fans travel to DFW to see SMU vs their school.
Not just an SMU problem but more of a conference problem.

And that would be why we are G5

Charleston Pony wrote:

SMU_Alum11 wrote:

Lebanese4Life wrote:
That crowd against Tulane was embarrassing

It felt pretty good for a Thursday night game. Sadly we have more families attend than t-shirt fans as I heard alotnof people say that they had to leave for work the following day. I get that App St. had a full crowd Wednesday but it's a college town whereas our alums and fans have the jobs that can't just take the following day off.

And that just sums up what SMU is all about, i.e., casual fan interest and not enough interest to warrant P5 inclusion. Looks like SMU's future (at least hopefully) is to be among the "best of the rest" but that will be difficult to sustain with the recruiting disadvantages our coaching staffs will face.

I think like Hart said that is shortsighted. I think if SMU can hold and this year is the best opportunity given down years for Houston, UCF and Memphis to go 11-1 or 12-0. If we do that and keep generating interest, people are going to naturally be inclined to go to a game. There's always a lag effect to these things and 2019 campaign wasn't big enough impact to generate the interest needed. However a Thursday game like that with a fairly no name opponent got that crowd size shows improvement. You just need positive trends to get accepted.

SMU_Alum11 wrote:

Lebanese4Life wrote:

SMUstang wrote:Attendance and enthusiasm for SMU is really disappointing.

That crowd against Tulane was embarrassing

It felt pretty good for a Thursday night game. Sadly we have more families attend than t-shirt fans as I heard alotnof people say that they had to leave for work the following day. I get that App St. had a full crowd Wednesday but it's a college town whereas our alums and fans have the jobs that can't just take the following day off.

Correct 11. Rush hour traffic in Boone, NC isn't quite as bad as Dallas.

max the wonder dog wrote:

SMU_Alum11 wrote:

Lebanese4Life wrote:
It felt pretty good for a Thursday night game. Sadly we have more families attend than t-shirt fans as I heard alotnof people say that they had to leave for work the following day. I get that App St. had a full crowd Wednesday but it's a college town whereas our alums and fans have the jobs that can't just take the following day off.

Correct 11. Rush hour traffic in Boone, NC isn't quite as bad as Dallas.

Also parking is so much easier than the root canal we have to go through here. I wish they could build a bunch of parking garages on the east side of 75 and have a nice shuttle service to the game since the neighborhood south of SMU is under a massive reconstruction of the roads 2) have obnoxious rules regarding parking. The other nice thing would be to lobby Dallas to make a cover over 75 like the Woodall cover to make it walkable and add restaurants and bars on it.

I do think the ease of getting to the game is a barrier to fair weather fans showing up.

The official attendance for a national TV broadcast was the lowest home attendance this year. Officially 22,843, but most of the stands were totally empty. Looks bad for SMU.