BIG EXPANSION NEWS ON RIVALS

[Water Pony]

some of you do not remember that smu was sound asleep as the sw conference fell apart...ken pye "trusted" the ut folks that apparently assured him they would not leave smu behind or go anywhere... i know orsini is awake and at the table,but i fear turner is just about as asleep as pye...remember he came here after ,it is said,demonstrating a less than enthusiastic attitude at old miss,where he was chancellor...remember smu did not put up a dime of jones' salary...that came from boosters...if i were a baylor fan i would urge every baptist preacher in texas to extort their flock in today's sermon....

Turner is on board. His enthusiasm is reflected in his support for Orsini, Circle of Champions and attentiveness to influentical alums Your fear is missplaced.

[NickSMU17]

some of you do not remember that smu was sound asleep as the sw conference fell apart...ken pye "trusted" the ut folks that apparently assured him they would not leave smu behind or go anywhere... i know orsini is awake and at the table,but i fear turner is just about as asleep as pye...remember he came here after ,it is said,demonstrating a less than enthusiastic attitude at old miss,where he was chancellor...remember smu did not put up a dime of jones' salary...that came from boosters...if i were a baylor fan i would urge every baptist preacher in texas to extort their flock in today's sermon....

Turner is on board. His enthusiasm is reflected in his support for Orsini, Circle of Champions and attentiveness to influentical alums Your fear is missplaced.

Agree...Turner is aware of the effects of SMU not getting into a better place....millions of booster $'s are gone if we end up with Rice, tulana, Tulsa, UNT, UTA,

I am positive they are giving a huge effort....not sure it will be good enough, but they know whats at stake...

[couch 'em]

Turner is on board. His enthusiasm is reflected in his support for Orsini, Circle of Champions and attentiveness to influentical alums Your fear is missplaced.

Turner doesn't care about anything but doing what his bosses, the Board of Trustees, tell him to do. If he cared about winning football or REALLY cared about the affect of football on the university he wouldn't have spent 10 years not trying to win, not changing academic standards, and putting up with Copeland.

This is not a knock against him, he's just doing his job, but let's not give undue credit.

[gostangs]

but the board of trustees cares - believe me.

[PonyKai]

Turner is on board. His enthusiasm is reflected in his support for Orsini, Circle of Champions and attentiveness to influentical alums Your fear is missplaced.

Turner doesn't care about anything but doing what his bosses, the Board of Trustees, tell him to do. If he cared about winning football or REALLY cared about the affect of football on the university he wouldn't have spent 10 years not trying to win, not changing academic standards, and putting up with Copeland.

This is not a knock against him, he's just doing his job, but let's not give undue credit.

It might not hurt to at least discuss the possibility that it's in Turner's best interest to see SMU better itself in realignment, from a completely selfish point of view. If he were able to secure SMU a place at the big boys table, regardless of how much credit he is actually due, he will secure his legacy as one of, if not the most accomplished president in the University's history. A huge jump in the endowment, rising academic rankings, improving the academic rankings of entering classes, the school of education, engineering school, securing a presidential library on campus, taking SMU back to its first bowl game in 25 years. Who doesn't want to be revered 50 years after they kick the bucket. It's beneficial to us, it's beneficial to him; he wants it.

He will always have those who dislike his policies or ways he treats certain elements of the University, but results to speak for themselves. Under Turner's guidance, especially compared to his predecessor, SMU has made great strides forward in multiple areas. Athletics would make it come full circle.

[EastStang]

We know the Copeland years were tread water years, but he left on good terms and he does have a lot of good will in ACC and ND circles. Orsini is a ND grad, and has some juice as well. Turner is well positioned in the NCAA and well respected in University circles. Add in some of our other alums, our history and who knows what will happen. This means that if a full court press is needed and ears to the ground, I suspect that Turner, Orsini, and others are involved. Whether that will be enough to put the last 25 years behind us remains to be seen. There are lots of possibilities and we are in one of the two best recruiting states in the Country for football. And that gives us some desirability. We are in a major Metro area. For TV that means something. And we still get more juice in the Dallas media than our Ft. Worth counterpart. Also TCU and Baylor have the misfortune of being viewed as more religious (fundamentalist) than us. That is okay with the Mormons in Utah and at BYU, but bad when you start talking to KU and KSU. Lastly, part of my suspicion on the Baylor thing is that by forcing Baylor down the throat of the PAC-10, you might see the PAC-10 walk which may be more of what these guys want. I suspect that some would prefer to keep the Big XII together than see it blown up even if they lose three schools. So, we can't really take anything as reality at this point. Only sit back and hope that our folks have their fingers on the right pulse and are pitching the right people about the benefits of having SMU over other choices.

[East Coast Mustang]

This probably goes without saying, but our success on the field will be vital this year as well...winning either the Tech or TCU nationally televised ESPN games would be awesome, as would playing for the CUSA championship. Winning drums up interest and followers (see Boise State). But I just think that UH has a HUGE advantage over us right now, because they have so many more alums and a wider fan base, and they represent the Houston market, whereas TCU could be seen as satisfying the DFW market already. Put another way, if the MWC or new Big 12 has one spot left, it's probably going to UH over us because you already have TCU in the DFW region, and no one in the Houston area.

[Mexmustang]

There are a number of insteresting facts and opinions brought to the top of the discussion:

First, while it may seem like Nebraska is the key to the Big 12's future, it is the Big Ten which is really driving things. It doesn't appear that the Big 10 is ready to take Nebraska or anyone else until they give ND one more try. They don't appear willing to make a decision in the next two weeks.

Second, the Big Ten is not that sold on Nebraska, both academics and revenue. They look more like another mouth to feed rather than a net contributor.

Third, the Pac 10 is the desperate conference. As is, its TV dollars will never exceed other major conferences because they are three hours behind the the East Coast TV market and their current conference distributions (I have seen but not certain) are currently less than the Big Ten, the ACC, The SEC and the Big 12.

California is broke and their state universities are under tremendous pressure to cut budgets. Their high schools may actually have to cancel most sports programs until the state budeget is fixed.

UT only plays 17 sports, the minimum permitted for a major school, Standford plays over 30. Even Stanford is feeling the budget pinch and is having to reduce expenditures.

Fourth, the Big 12 has yet to become the agressor, probably because its members are the least united. No one cares about Co or MO leaving, but Nebraska would lead to major change. Again, is Nebraska truely in charge of its destiny?

Finally, politics will have a great deal to do with what happens. Will Texas politicians standby and watch game revenues export to California? Will they stand pat and watch Baylor left behind? Given Tech and OSU''s academic standings will Stanford and Cal allow their conference standards to fall?
Just how much pull does Tech really have? Tech is now only the fifth largest school in Texas, behind, UT, A&M, North Texas and Texas State!

If it comes down to greed and politics , no one can predict the outcome.

[SMUstang]

We had an unexpectedly good season last year. That is what counts. Next season will be too late. But don't worry, I don't think the MWC will have only one opening left. We are in a favorable position to Fresno. And TCU alone couldn't carry the D/FW TV market for the Mtn Network. But TCU and SMU probably could.

[WSGJ]

We had an unexpectedly good season last year. That is what counts. Next season will be too late. But don't worry, I don't think the MWC will have only one opening left. We are in a favorable position to Fresno. And TCU alone couldn't carry the D/FW TV market for the Mtn Network. But TCU and SMU probably could.

That has got to be the best case scenario. As good of a season that TCU had last year, there still wasn't enough of a demand on the local cable companies to feel it necessary to add the Mtn Network. Would adding SMU to the conference definitely provide the demand necessary? I don't think that would be a given. If SMU were a consistent top 25 team I think it would be possible.