If I were the Big XII

[TidePony]

Actually I have been to games where there was maybe 12,000 people there. Our attendance is trending up not down. If we have good attendance for the UCF and Tulsa games we could easy average 25,000 plus - which is a move forward.

[mtrout]

22,000. So the stadium was 2/3 full? I don't know how they get those attendance #s. I want to drone flyover and photo to count fans w/ 5:00 left in Q2 every game.

[SMUstang]

I'm with you, I question the official attendance numbers too. If the stadium holds 32,000, it looks more like 2/3 empty rather than 2/3 full.

[PK]

The south end zone was packed if you didn’t notice. Not sure how many were in the suites, but that wouldn’t show up on tv. The attendance numbers don’t tell how many stayed for the whole game, only how many came to the game.

[Dukie]

I'm with you, I question the official attendance numbers too. If the stadium holds 32,000, it looks more like 2/3 empty rather than 2/3 full.

Are you actually a fan? My goodness redpony is depressing but I know he’s a fan. I am unsure about you.

[Charleston Pony]

If everyone that was in the south endzone was sitting in the east side stands, that "crowd" would have looked much better but the problem is that TV cameras are catching the east side that is always sparsely populated

[SMUstang]

I'm with you, I question the official attendance numbers too. If the stadium holds 32,000, it looks more like 2/3 empty rather than 2/3 full.

Are you actually a fan? My goodness redpony is depressing but I know he’s a fan. I am unsure about you.

Why? Because I question the attendance numbers? The stadium looks close to empty on TV.

[redpony]

Are you actually a fan? My goodness redpony is depressing but I know he’s a fan. I am unsure about you.

Sorry if you think I am depressing. I always try to be very objective- unfortunately at SMU that tends to be somewhat negative at times. I have wanted us to be champions since I was a little child- rarely has that happened thanks to an admin who is more interested in fountains than sports and an AD that has to be considered a joke among other ADs.

[fan]

Actually I have been to games where there was maybe 12,000 people there. Our attendance is trending up not down. If we have good attendance for the UCF and Tulsa games we could easy average 25,000 plus - which is a move forward.

Agree with this comment. I've been to games when there were less than that.

The students want to sit/stand in the grass- which is absolutely fine with me. There were several thousand there on Thursday. It doesn't look great on tv but so what.

I find it amusing that those who complain about attendance weren't there to see where the crowd was actually sitting.

[Water Pony]

As a fan isolated in Big Ten country, I am thrilled to see SMU reemerging after decades in the desert of irrelevance. Can we be excited and optimistic for long suffering alumni and fans everywhere?

We can be critical of past misdemeanors and errors of administrations, mostly made in the far past. However, when I read about Turner, Hart and Foundations, my reaction is more tempered. Given our fall from the SWC and the heights of our teams in the 80’s, it is hard to imagine we could have created a different path back.

Clearly we all wish it would have happened much earlier, as in the 90’s, but our former conference mates were happy to ignore us, while we struggled in second class conferences and competition. We remain impatient today.

We can never be a big enrollment school in a classic college town; so we are rebranding ourselves as Dallas’ (college) Team in a Pro City. In the Big 12 we could fill an expanded Ford. In any other conference Ford is the right size, although it can certainly be renovated and made absolutely first class, albeit on the small size.

If we continue to improve, leverage our location and offer the best version of the SMU Mustangs, we all will be pleased with our future. Painting our situation as worse than it is, won’t help now or in the near future.

Let’s go all in on the Ponies and other fans of college football will root for us.

[Charleston Pony]

Let’s go all in on the Ponies and other fans of college football will root for us.

There's truth to that statement, at least in my experience. Everywhere I have lived (OKC, Durham NC, Charleston & Columbia SC and now near Charlotte) there are several friends and former neighbors texting me during our games and commenting on this year's Mustangs. We do have some adopted fans. It's kind of like getting the Delta variant Covid. I've read that every infected person will on average expose 6 others...so if every hard core Mustang fan can just "infect" 6 others perhaps we can grow our fan base organically

[Water Pony]

Let’s go all in on the Ponies and other fans of college football will root for us.

There's truth to that statement, at least in my experience. Everywhere I have lived (OKC, Durham NC, Charleston & Columbia SC and now near Charlotte) there are several friends and former neighbors texting me during our games and commenting on this year's Mustangs. We do have some adopted fans. It's kind of like getting the Delta variant Covid. I've read that every infected person will on average expose 6 others...so if every hard core Mustang fan can just "infect" 6 others perhaps we can grow our fan base organically

CP, I agree. FB fans of other schools tend to wish us well and have some sympathy for us due to the DP.

[Dukie]

Are you actually a fan? My goodness redpony is depressing but I know he’s a fan. I am unsure about you.

Why? Because I question the attendance numbers? The stadium looks close to empty on TV.

Sorry if you think I am depressing. I always try to be very objective- unfortunately at SMU that tends to be somewhat negative at times. I have wanted us to be champions since I was a little child- rarely has that happened thanks to an admin who is more interested in fountains than sports and an AD that has to be considered a joke among other ADs.

I asked because, if I were trying to play a troll to come here and stir up anger and frustration among SMU fans, well, the posts I would produce would look a lot like both of yours. But, sorry to you both. There has been and still is plenty to be depressed about, certainly. And a few things not to be so depressed about.

[JasonB]

Not filling the stadium might be a decision not to pop the bubble as much as anything else.

[dr rc]

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.

That is an AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL excuse. Like just terrible to the point that it's insulting to everyone you said it to.