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EastStang wrote:Great post 3rd. My point exactly. The Big XII is a toaster leavings conference. No real stars there (except Kansas and Baylor in hoops). Yeah, we have history with the Frogs, Bears, Red Raiders and Cougars. But this is the conference that Texas, OU, CO, NE, Mizzou, all left. While the PAC is a long plane flight from Virginia, I'd welcome joining the PAC-12 if they'll have us.

Kansas, West Virginia and Iowa are insignificant states in terms of population and trajectory. Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are academic laughing stocks. Baylor, TCU and Houston? If we are in a P5 conference we will destroy them with NIL. Our church school bretheren from the Big 12 hung us out to dry but in the end it will come back to bite them. The PAC has 6 flagship state schools. I'll take them over the Big 12 and then some.

I too have long felt the PAC-12 and the ACC were better conferences for SMU than the Big XII. Even with Texas and OU in the mix, the PAC-12 seemed more advantageous. And now that Texas and OU are gone I don't think the Big XII will have nearly the national clout as will the Pac-12. The coasts are the hubs of the national networks. I just hope we have a positive deal soon. Fingers crossed.

jpe747 wrote:I too have long felt the PAC-12 and the ACC were better conferences for SMU than the Big XII. Even with Texas and OU in the mix, the PAC-12 seemed more advantageous. And now that Texas and OU are gone I don't think the Big XII will have nearly the national clout as will the Pac-12. The coasts are the hubs of the national networks. I just hope we have a positive deal soon. Fingers crossed.

As long as they're sending teams to the CFP and making noise in March, they'll be fine. It also helps that they have a bunch of teams that don't appeal too much to the B1G, SEC or even ACC so they ironically become incredibly resilient and stable while having a good TV deal on the table. So long as they perform, the rising tide will raise all boats in that conference.

And...we DO know how to celebrate.

The good if we get in is that with NIL and the portal, we can bulk up quickly and be competitive. Otherwise, it looks like a 3-5 year slog if it works at all. With donor money pouring in for NIL, we'll get a new look quickly.

If we don't get in, it's another year of 'Gee, I hope USF brings a lot of fans this week' and 'I can't wait for the trip to Tulsa.'

If we stay where we are, there's a good chance we'll get to the College Football playoffs often which would cause P5 teams to want to get us to a place where we'll lose more games. Sure we'll play AL in the first round. Everyone outside of the Roll Tide folks will be rooting for us.

EastStang wrote:If we stay where we are, there's a good chance we'll get to the College Football playoffs often which would cause P5 teams to want to get us to a place where we'll lose more games. Sure we'll play AL in the first round. Everyone outside of the Roll Tide folks will be rooting for us.

Not if the SEC and Big 10 eat up all of the at-large bids the way the big conferences take up all of the March Madness spots. It is a big drawback for the sake of rankings when we are fighting off an upset at the hands of UNT and UAB or whoever rather than competing on a weekly basis with P5 level teams. I'm thinking that the MWC may carry more prestige than the AAC.

Hopefully, we run the table and win a few P5 games now and then to get bumped up. If we go undefeated this fall, we would likely be in that dance if it were held this year.

Water Pony wrote:

EastStang wrote:And not only in football and basketball. Stanford and Cal will be great upgrades competitively for our swimming program. Stanford in golf and tennis. We'll upgrade their conference in soccer both men's and women's. So, there is lots to like about adding us.

Swimming & Diving, along with all our non-revenue Men's and Women's teams will benefit and attract recruits, who value the greater competition and the P5 brand. The PAC-12 will enjoy their visits to Dallas, as well, with our improved facilities across the board and access to DFW football talent. I don't think that will make the BigXII schools happy.

Yet another reason I hope the Pac-12 deal comes to fruition