Nothing new, but three good things about the FB program:

[UConn/SMU]

1) Ford Stadium. Five years old, and still beautiful. I've been to Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, North Texas, TCU, Army, Illinois, Tulane, Houston, LSU, Boston College, UCF, and UConn (before their new stadium opened in 2003). I don't think any of them compares to Ford Stadium. It is clean, comfortable, and the seating is very close to the field.

2) The switch to C-USA. Okay, so it's not a BCS conference. So what? Playing Houston, Rice, Tulane, Memphis, etc. will be a lot of fun. It's a Southern, 1-A conference made up of schools with relatively similar athletic potential. The divisional races will be very competitive. And every once in while, some team from C-USA will capture lightning-in-a-bottle (see Utah) and shock the world.

3) The trend on the field, which is undoubtedly up. I believe we bottomed-out in 2003. The wins in 2004 were encouraging and helped get us off the floor. Now, with recruiting rated at about #70 in the nation, we can gain some momentum. A .500 record this year may be out of reach. I don't think that will be true next year. If we can get to 6-5 in 2006, I will be extremely happy.

What we need is a signature win. That is something that UConn has done very well recently. In their first year of 1-A football (2002), they played at Iowa State and embarrassed the Cyclones. In 2004, playing in their first bowl, they trashed Toledo. Some wins grab the attention of the media and the fans. I think if we beat either TCU or Baylor this year, it will raise some eyebrows and convince a lot of people that we can play solid football.

At this point, I don't think it is being unrealistic to be optimistic.

[Hal]

1) Ford Stadium. Five years old, and still beautiful. I've been to Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, North Texas, TCU, Army, Illinois, Tulane, Houston, LSU, Boston College, UCF, and UConn (before their new stadium opened in 2003). I don't think any of them compares to Ford Stadium. It is clean, comfortable, and the seating is very close to the field.

I agree. I've been to most of the college stadiums in Texas, plus OU, OSU, Arkansas, Tulsa, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Clemson, Wake Forest and NCState. Those stadiums, obviously are bigger. But UNC is the only one that's even close to being as nice a venue.

2) The switch to C-USA. Okay, so it's not a BCS conference. So what? Playing Houston, Rice, Tulane, Memphis, etc. will be a lot of fun. It's a Southern, 1-A conference made up of schools with relatively similar athletic potential. The divisional races will be very competitive. And every once in while, some team from C-USA will capture lightning-in-a-bottle (see Utah) and shock the world.

Enormous upgrade.

3) The trend on the field, which is undoubtedly up. I believe we bottomed-out in 2003. The wins in 2004 were encouraging and helped get us off the floor. Now, with recruiting rated at about #70 in the nation, we can gain some momentum. A .500 record this year may be out of reach. I don't think that will be true next year. If we can get to 6-5 in 2006, I will be extremely happy.

Ditto.

What we need is a signature win. That is something that UConn has done very well recently. In their first year of 1-A football (2002), they played at Iowa State and embarrassed the Cyclones. In 2004, playing in their first bowl, they trashed Toledo. Some wins grab the attention of the media and the fans. I think if we beat either TCU or Baylor this year, it will raise some eyebrows and convince a lot of people that we can play solid football.

At this point, I don't think it is being unrealistic to be optimistic.

You're right. The growth process is a long one, but the rewards for PonyFans will be so sweet!

GO MUSTANGS!

[ThadFilms]

I've been everywhere from the Big House to the Bayou, and I gotta' say the only other stadium that I've been too that I like (almost) as much as ours is the one in Boulder. Gorgeus. Of course they have the mountains, which is nice... come to think of it Air Force ain't that bad either. But I'll still take Ford... it doesn't have the benefit of mountains, or U-Dub's view of Puget Sound- and it's still one of the finest places to relax and watch a football game anywhere around.

As for a signature win? I don't think Baylor or TCU will qualify. In fact I think wil beat 'em both. Hey, we've got them at home. I think a W over the Aggies would be a pretty darn sweet signature win. (Not counting on it, but hoping like hell.)

[Ponymon]

It has the office towers on Central Expressway and, thus, the prospect for a decent job once a player has graduated!

[BUS]

Another good thing - This years recruiting class with ALMOST enough BIG MEN.

I actually like the way the DT's set up for next year and with the red-shirts hitting the field - we WILL be better.

[HixsontoLeVias]

1). Ford: Nice place, no doubt...new, clean,,,but, REAL empty, and compared to most, if not ALL of the other colleges referenced here, Ford is small, not a true D-1 facility. But, for SMU in the C-USA, with our 7500 - 15,000 fans, Ford is GREAT!!

2). C-USA: Southern, close by, decent fball / bball....regional rivals....C-USA is a GOOD thing....let's see if we can compete....

3). Trends..good?? Not sure I understand this one, maybe I need to re-read the post ...most trends / directions I see are pretty pitiful.

Long Live Kieth Bobo.

[Charleston Pony]

I absolutely love Ford Stadium. Although small by I-A standards, it's perfect for SMU. There are plenty of "mid-majors" who would love to have a facility as nice as Ford. Now, if we could only fill it more than once each season! I really think a competitive SMU football program draws 20,000 consistently and that can look like a pretty decent crowd at Ford.

The one positive I see in the football program is that we are finally reaching the point where we can line up a 2-deep OL and DL that isn't loaded with Freshman players. Been doing that for too many years and unless they are real studs, most 18-19 yr old big uglies aren't going to fare well against 21-22 yr olds. Although progress seems to be coming at a snail's pace, I think we are moving in the right direction. No question that CUSA will be a better fit than the WAC, but I will always be thankful the WAC would have us when nobody else wanted SMU.

As for that signature win...until we beat a top 25 program or win a nationally televised game, I don't see any headline grabbers in the near future. I agree that beating the purple menace would be a turning point, but I'm not about to predict that will happen in 2005...not after last year's humiliation.

[Water Pony]

Amen, CP and UConn/SMU

[UConn/SMU]

1). Ford: Nice place, no doubt...new, clean,,,but, REAL empty, and compared to most, if not ALL of the other colleges referenced here, Ford is small, not a true D-1 facility. But, for SMU in the C-USA, with our 7500 - 15,000 fans, Ford is GREAT!!

I disagree about the 7,500 - 15,000 fans. I think we average about 17,000 per game. We can get about 30,000 against some BCS teams in September. But then we can also get about 10,000 against some West Coast teams in November.

[UConn/SMU]

I really think a competitive SMU football program draws 20,000 consistently and that can look like a pretty decent crowd at Ford.

I think a competitive SMU team (consistently competing for the C-USA West title) will draw an average of 25,000. I think we're at 16,000 or 17,000 right now, and the wins have been scarce lately. If we continue to schedule some Big 12 teams & TCU, and stay competitive for a bowl into November, we will do *very* well.

[Charleston Pony]

when I envision drawing "20,000 consistently", I'm talking about drawing 20,000 for a game with Rice, or Tulane, or ECU...games where we won't see a lot of visitors. Games with TCU, Baylor or UTEP would likley see 25,000 or more so yes, we might average more than 20,000...but I'm not ready to say we will average any 25,000 unless/until SMU is competing for championships year after year and attending football games becomes the "in thing" for the SMU community to do.

[UConn/SMU]

20,000 for teams like Tulane, Rice, & UTEP would be very good. Then, if we can get 30,000 for teams like Baylor, TCU, & Texas Tech, we'll be in good shape.

Averaging 23,000-25,000 isn't in the top half of 1-A, but it will easily guarantee that the program will survive.