Hughes Trigg announcement

[Pony_Fan]

What a dumb thing to say by Bennett and why wouldnt you want to keep playing TCU anyway? They are our closest competition besides the Green.

<small>[ 11-05-2003, 12:47 PM: Message edited by: Pony_Fan ]</small>

[The PonyGrad]

Originally posted by INFINITYRR:
SMU's Bennett: Ignore Frogs if they jump
03:32 PM CST on Wednesday, November 5, 2003

By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News

"I've been a TCU fan," said Bennett, an assistant coach at TCU in 1997. "If they choose to leave [C-USA], I wouldn't want to play them again – in any sport, obviously in football."

Wow!! That is a statement. :w00t:

[Mike Damone]

Good! Not to be bitter, but if we hurt their SOS as badly as they say, let's not play them.

Why save them the expenses? Let them play one of the MWC schools as their annual rivalry game. Instead of the skillet, they can play for SkyMiles or snow clothes or something like that.

View Frog opinion:

http://www.killerfrogs.com/forums2/index.php?act=ST&f=4&t=15617&s=7868af93a49e96ac6fa71f20c629a953

<small>[ 11-05-2003, 12:55 PM: Message edited by: Mike Damone ]</small>

[Hoop Fan]

There is nothing dumb about that statement at all. It may be a response to the comment Patterson made in the media about all Texas schools needing to be good, 'even SMU'. Maybe he's hacked off by something, maybe he is posturing, but at the least I'm not sure we should play TCU anymore either if they go. They want their cake and eat it too, so for recruiting purposes the best move we can make is to freeze them out in the Rockies.

[FWMustang]

Maybe there is a little of the Ol' Ball coach in Bennett. He may be telling his guys to forget TCU. They think their "mess" doesn't stink, and he's got 3 weeks to get his boys wound up to poop on their parade.

Whatever it is, I think I like it. We need a little brashness and swagger over on the Hilltop. So what if we don't win a game, we can still screw TCU, by giving them a game on the 29th.

[KnuckleStang]

I don't have a problem with the strong statement, but do we really need to give the Frogs bulletin board material for this year's game? Timing could be better. I prefer the Lou Holtz approach.

He obviously has a lot of confidence in his ability to recruit at least toe-to-toe with Patterson, in this kind of regional setup. "Freeze em out in the Rockies." Has a nice ring to it.

[Greenwich Pony]

Bulletin Board Material? "Hey you guys, SMU doesn't want to play us if we leave..." I don;t think we have to worry on that account.

What STILL doesn't make sense to me is how the Froggies benefit from a move? The MWC is not in any better place for a BCS bid- they may play good ball but who cares? Who here watches Canadian League Ball? The MWC's ratings have been lower than even the WAC's and I was no fan of the WAC. No TV executive is going to want to give the MWC a bid, and it will be a chilly day in Hades before the Big East loses theirs, even with weaker ball- a television won't box out the northeast (BC to the ACC be damned).

While the TV contracts are all going to be renegotiated, I can almost guarantee that the guys up in Bristol aren't going to shell out much more money for MWC football than they do CUSA or WAC ball, even if the MWC adds TCU, Boise, Fresno and Hawaii. Simply put, there aren't enough TVs and fan interest to be worth it.

The MWC is even further from the northeast media, whom are rather important to rankings.

Furthermore, it can't be cheaper to send the women's tiddywinks team to Boise State every other year- that costs money, and I would guess more than $200,000 more than what they're paying.

That'll be a great recruiting pitch- "Come play for TCU, you'll spend most of your time in the rockies..."

Also, TCU is the BMOC in the WAC. They get a conference slate of five beatable teams, and can schedule five or six OOC games to boost their SOS. TCU would rule the roost, at least for awhile. In the MWC, BYU, AF and CSU are the major interests, and I have a feeling that what BYU wants, BYU gets over there. Say nothing for what that bunch did to TCU before...

I frankly couldn't care less what TCU does, they haven't been in our conference for several years, we could almost as easily replace them with UNT on our schedule, or maybe even Baylor regularly. After all, now we have several teams on the schedule that are convenient. I just don't understand how a move benefits the Frogs and nobody (including, might I add, TCU) has been able to explain how a move would help that program.

[PlanoStang]

Originally posted by INFINITYRR:
SMU's Bennett: Ignore Frogs if they jump
03:32 PM CST on Wednesday, November 5, 2003

By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News


UNIVERSITY PARK - SMU football coach Phil Bennett said Wednesday he no longer wants to play rival TCU if the Horned Frogs leave Conference USA for the Mountain West Conference.

Bennett made the comments after Wednesday's celebration at SMU's Hughes-Trigg Student Center, when SMU formally announced its intentions to leave the Western Athletic Conference for C-USA.

SMU is obligated to play TCU each year through 2005. The series picks up again in 2007 and runs through 2010, according to future non-conference schedules listed in TCU's media guide. The Dallas Morning News reported Monday that TCU is weighing an anticipated offer from the Mountain West, according to a high-ranking TCU official.

"I've been a TCU fan," said Bennett, an assistant coach at TCU in 1997. "If they choose to leave [C-USA], I wouldn't want to play them again – in any sport, obviously in football."

The statement came as a surprise to SMU athletic director Jim Copeland, who would said he would like TCU to remain in C-USA.

SMU president Gerald Turner has had conversations with TCU officials this week encouraging TCU to stay in C-USA.

TCU officials were not immediately available for comment.

Dump Bennett, and keep playin tcu.

[KnuckleStang]

All good points, Greenwich (hey, we're practically neighbors), but given the # of responses to this topic already on the Frog board, regardless of their content, you can bet GP'll use this statement to fire his team up. He wants to run up the score, not come out flat. They'd much rather "dump" us than us "dump" them.

Bennett is positively salivating at the prospect of TCU running to the MWC, from a recruiting standpoint. If they don't want to play in our regional conference, to hell with them, he says, we'll take away another of their local games. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

<small>[ 11-05-2003, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: KnuckleStang ]</small>

[PK]

Originally posted by Hoop Fan:
so for recruiting purposes the best move we can make is to freeze them out in the Rockies.

Exactly how does not playing TCU hurt their recruiting? They already play all their home games in the DFW area...right? It might make sense if they were from out of state and wanted a presence in Texas and the DFW area. I'm not sure what Bennett was trying to say, but I don't agree with him on that at all. And all of you who say you don't care are in denial...we wouldn't be spending this much time talking about the Frogs if we didn't care. We have at least 80 years of history here that needs to be continued. I for one am tired of all the greedy SOB's running around saying screw tradition and history. That is part of what's called quality of life. The reason we hated the WAC is that there was on history or tradition there to make the experience a quality one. It also gets back to who ya gonna rag at the office about a game if no one from the other schools even live in the area. The folks at TCU will soon miss that if they run off to the MWC.

[Charleston Pony]

I love it! This is what a true rivalry is all about. If I didn't know better, I'd swear these two programs have been playing each other for something like 80 years and the series is almost dead even over that span.

I don't blame TCU for being upset that they made a huge investment and SMU, Rice and Tulsa just come waltzing in a couple of years later bringing very little to the football table...at least today. We all know these things run in cycles and SMU will be back. Anyone with half a brain at TCU knows that.

This might inspire TCU to beat us by 70 pts when we play them this year, but if they do leave CUSA for the MWC, it might actually work to SMU's recruiting advantage. As for another local game that would be well attended, I would be willing to bet that UNT would be more than willing to take TCU's spot on our calendar.

[SoCal_Pony]

Originally posted by Charleston Pony:
I would be willing to bet that UNT would be more than willing to take TCU's spot on our calendar.

And I bet NTSU would gladly welcome TCU to Denton.

Baylor and Tech will not want to schedule us every year.

Beggars can't be choosers; we should continue the TCU rivalry because it is in our best interest to do so.

[Hoop Fan]

I would not do anything rash, but I would definitely consider the strategy of not playing them. If UNT got invited to replace Houston, maybe part of the deal is that they don't schedule TCU either. Bennett is probably just trying to give TCU a little extra reason to stay. Its an emotional reaction, but good to see a little attitude on the Hilltop.

[NavyCrimson]

hey guys - be thankful for what happened...quit trying to reason what just happened...i'm so thankful!!!!!!!!!!

face it - we have no place to go & now the door is cracked!!!!!!!!! THANK GOD FOR THAT, TOO!!!!!

u guys are acting as if we had choices...well - do u want us to turn the invite down & stay in the wac??? well - do ya?

THERE ARE NO CONFERENCES WE CAN GO TO???!!! UNDERSTAND THAT - BEGGERS CAN'T BE CHOOSEY & that's us but that's changing folks!

this whole bcs-bs thing is up in the air & if it teeters or falls, we're in a great position to build c-usa into a powerful conference b/c we'll all be comparable in that sense vying for the top 10...

we have to & we will because there is NO LITTLE 12 OR SEC IN OUR FUTURE UNLESS THERE IS A MASSIVE SHIFT IN DIVISION 1A or we go undefeated for the next 5-10 years!
& still there is no real chance - just look at byu & their attendance figures - 65K & they'll be winning again soon.

so in a nut shell - forget your negative reasoning abilities & let's all be thankful!!!!

[EastStang]

Bennett gives us the ability to swosh a sword around TCU's head, but the upper level guys can say that he doesn't speak for them. You want TCU to understand that there may (the operative word) be consequences that they don't expect. The feds call that plausible deniability. As far as us bring Rice along or vice-versa to CUSA. CUSA probably wanted to put the best programs that made regional sense together and Rice certainly fit the bill. They certainly help CUSA baseball (which now has a national contract). My understanding is that TCU is more interested in moving to the BCS and has this unrealistic belief that the MWC is the next BCS league. I think they will have some heavy lobbying to do to get Houston to join them and even to have the MWC invite them. State athletic budgets are certainly a matter of great debate right now in Texas. Stallion - Temple is a state school not a private one, but then again so is Slippery Rock and Texas State. However, they are in a major market and have an outstanding hoops program, and CUSA does have some east coast schools that would probably be happy to travel to Philly. And from my prejudiced view point, Philly is only three hours away from here. I could drive to see the Ponies in Philly and get beat up by drunken Philly fans. BTW for you Cowboys fans, if you ever get the chance to go to Philly for an Eagles/Cowboys game, it is pretty wild what those folks are like up there.