The sheer excitement of a full house!

[PerunasHoof]

...and if you go through that exercise by starting with the 1998 TCU Football Wikipedia page you will find that from the very start, in similar conferences and against similar opponents that TCU started out with a substantially larger fanbase than SMU even if you compare to SMU with June Jones' first bowl season in 2009.(In fact both TCU in 1997 and SMU 2008 were 1-11). Take out the big games against Big 12 schools and compare the conferences games and other games against teams with small local fanbases - focusing on games where TCU home base provides the attendance. Despite 4 bowl games since that point, SMU still has come nowhere close to where TCU was in 1998 in those significant games. So that puts us far behind where the TCU Franchione/Patterson program started in 1998 under similar circumstances

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_TCU_ ... tball_team

We also played at the Cotton Bowl too and the program was in shambles. Let's see what happens if/when we have 10+ win seasons and can beat Tech/TCU/Baylor occasionally. I'd like to hope we could fill our stadium then, otherwise what are we all doing here?

[ReedFrawg]

the average Dallasite does not know where to park...

I could not agree more. I have been to several games at Ford and parking is always a huge pain the arse.

[couch 'em]

Our attendance means nothing for conferences. We could sell out Ford every time, or just 10k. The extra 23,000 people are nothing. our value is in location.

[PerunasHoof]

the average Dallasite does not know where to park...

I could not agree more. I have been to several games at Ford and parking is always a huge pain the arse.

It doesn't help that the people of HP put up those stupid yard signs every 10 feet telling you not to park in front of their houses. But on campus parking is only $30 and save for AA Center, we are pretty much the only sports option in Dallas that actually has mass transit.

[Stallion]

the average Dallasite does not know where to park...

I could not agree more. I have been to several games at Ford and parking is always a huge pain the arse.

The average DFW resident doesn't know where SMU is located

[Pony Boss]

the average Dallasite does not know where to park...

I could not agree more. I have been to several games at Ford and parking is always a huge pain the arse.

The average DFW resident doesn't know where SMU is located

That is such an insurmountable hurdle especially since we have no way to find SMU on a mobile phone gps app bc SMU is protective of its location...

[PonySnob]

the average Dallasite does not know where to park...

I could not agree more. I have been to several games at Ford and parking is always a huge pain the arse.

The average DFW resident doesn't know where SMU is located

And doesn't really care about Tulane, ECU, UCF, USF, Tulsa, Cincinnati, Houston, MEMPHIS, etc, etc

[mrydel]

It is a problem. If I am a casual fan and want to take in an SMU game I need to know where it is, where to park and what to do when I get there. If I am a casual Cowboy fan for instance I just need to drive to the Death Star and park.

I am not there so I do not know how much if any information goes out to potential fans outlining procedure, but if it is not being done you will not get the people we need to fill the stands. Once people know what to do, such as the Dart parking and shuttle or walk, it really is a pretty convenient situation. They just need to know.

[StallionsModelT]

So the average DFW resident has never driven down either side of 75 and seen the giant "SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIV." sign from the exit? Interesting analysis. I'd like a little backup to the ridiculous claim that the majority of DFW residents don't know where SMU is located.

Also, attendance might not even be a top ten bullet point on the list of important realignment factors.

TV Market
Academic Reputation
Name Recognition/Brand Recognition
Endowment
Fundraising Ability
Athletic Budget
Recruiting Location (i.e. schools that want a game in Dallas every other year)
Political Connections/Influence
Facilities
Stadium Capacity (SMU could easily be converted to a 40K plus capacity stadium w/ horseshoe)
Attendance

As for trying to compare attendance numbers from the late 70's and early 80's when SMU was playing in a stadium 20 miles from campus in an environment where college football was 1/1000000th the visibility and promotion that it enjoys now is beyond stupid. Next we'll hear how awful our fans were for not packing Ford against Tulsa in a year where our coach publicly recruited for Arizona State in a huge "bowl eligibility" matchup. The reality is people were already sick of Jones and the idea of going 6-6 and another meaningless, treadmill-running bowl game wasn't going to get anyone excited. Nor should it.

[Pony Boss]

Could not have said it better ^

[smusportspage]

the average Dallasite does not know where to park...

I could not agree more. I have been to several games at Ford and parking is always a huge pain the arse.

I have had the same problem at TCU many times.

[Rebel10]

the average Dallasite does not know where to park...

I could not agree more. I have been to several games at Ford and parking is always a huge pain the arse.

I have had the same problem at TCU many times.

Okay, that still does not make the situation better.

[RyanSMU98]

http://www.smumustangs.com/gameday/

This link should be the first thing you see when you go to smumustangs.com leading up to home games, as well as plastered all over social media. Might also be a good idea when you put the parking map up to list the prices and what the color coding means for those who are new to the experience. I've never had an issue parking; get there with plenty of time, pay your $20 (someone said $30 - did it go up this year?) and go. There's also an issue if you click on Ford Stadium from the Football page, there is a link to an interactive campus map for mobile devices that is broken; everything else seems to be pretty decent. We just need to make it as easy as humanly possible for people to find out whatever they think they need to know from the website, and then blast that info out to the known universe using every medium you can think of.

[mrydel]

That is exactly my point and I admit again that not being in Dallas I do not know if this is being done or not. Hope it is.

[skyscraper]

If people want to come, they will find a way.
People will only start coming when we win a lot. Period.