SMU Football does not have a bright future

[SMU Football Blog]

I don't know that Graham interviewed the wednesday before the last winner take all game.

I keep spitting out info, so please provide me with the list of programs that schedule nonconference the way SMU has for the last 20 years and are successful. I provided one team one year so the work is already started.

Edit: You are going to be looking a long time. Honestly, there was a team I recall last year that might fit the bill, but their name escapes me at the moment. Let me know if anybody finds it.

[MustangStealth]

I found a site with more than 10 years of non-conference SOS. Our average is 61st. So basically dead center. Some hard years, some easy years. "Make them all easy" is not the answer to building a program.

[SMU Football Blog]

what site is that? If it is the one I am thinking of, it is flawed and I don't think most years anybody here would agree with where it ranks our nonconference schedule.

Just give me some schools that rebuild with tough nonconference schedules. I already gave one. I want people that think we should have tough schedules to back it up with something other than some anecdote.

[MustangStealth]

Fresno St. - Pat Hill took over a losing team in 1997. They played only 1 non-P5 opponent per year leading up to their 11 win season in 2001 when they beat Big 12 champ Colorado along with Wisconsin and Oregon St. if memory serves. True they never played 2 top 5 teams in the same season, but we didn't know how good Baylor would be when we scheduled them. We still had 2 winnable non-conference games.

On the flip side go look at someone like Akron. They play your ideal schedule every year: 1 FCS, 1 low G5, 1 high G5, 1 P5. Where has it gotten them? 13 wins in the last 5 years.

[SMU Football Blog]

I think we knew Baylor was going to be petty good. And we haven't beaten them in forever.

You left Independent Utah State off Fresno State's 2001 Nonconference schedule.

Pat hill consistently scheduled I-AA teams.

[MustangStealth]

Pat hill consistently scheduled I-AA teams.

And so have we. What good has it done us? Has it improved fan support? Has it established consistent improvement? Has it helped us land recruits?

I went and checked. Fresno St. played 8 FCS in 15 years under Pat Hill. SMU has played 7 in the last 15 years.

[MustangStealth]

I question who thought James Madison was a good FCS option.

Take a step back and think about that. You are seriously saying that SMU needs to find easier FCS teams.

SMU needs to find easier FCS teams. Lose the P5. Lose the G5. Stay away from good FCS.

If that is our future, then just shut it down.

[RGV Pony]

Again, JMU was who we could find after Alabama state backed out

[SMU Football Blog]

Pat hill consistently scheduled I-AA teams.

And so have we. What good has it done us? Has it improved fan support? Has it established consistent improvement? Has it helped us land recruits?

Post-SWC, Fresno State has scheduled twice as many I-AA teams as SMU.

We haven't consistently scheduled I-AA teams.

Post-SWC, TCU has scheduled more I-AA teams than us. So has Tulsa; so has Houston.

[PerunasHoof]

At this point I'm not sure anything will make SMU Football Blog happy

[SMU Football Blog]

Again, JMU was who we could find after Alabama state backed out

This is true, but as a general rule, I would avoid top 10 FCS teams as that is what leads to App State over Michigan.

[MustangStealth]

I give up. There is no point in continuing this since we have different goals for SMU football. There is no way we will ever be on the same page.

[MustangStealth]

We haven't consistently scheduled I-AA teams.

8 in 15 years is consistent, but 7 in 15 years isn't. Got it.

[mrydel]

Blog is a good man and I respect his opinion. Trouble I see is that we have waited too long to spend 10 years building this program. We are in a battle just to catch up with our conference mates. We had best make some hay soon, which has to include being competitive with some big boys, or we will be left behind.

Jones was brought in to get us into a BCS conference. He did but the conference collapsed and the level to which he got us could not obtain a higher level. I would say we have 3-4 years to show somebody somewhere we are worthy of something or we shall remain as we are now, or lower from here on out.

[Stallion]

Just build the program the right way under Chad Morris-this scheduling crap is a red-herring. And no SMU wouldn't have gone to substantially more bowls since the DP because our program, recruiting and Model sucked. I doubt there is ANY SMU team that was denied a bowl because of schedule that actually deserved one. Losing to an 0-11 TCU don't deserve a bowl. Losing to Rice-a-roni. Rice deserved to win that game because we couldn't score despite about 6 chances inside the 1 yard line and their WR Jarrett Dilliard decided to play Superman. Just not good enough. No Phil Bennett teams deserved a bowl-zero. This reminds me of those that complain about scheduling NTSU because we might lose. If you lose to NTSU you've got bigger problems than a tough schedule. Without scheduling those P5 programs SMU's actually attendance is below 15,000 per game. No recruit wants to play teams they don't care about with 14,000 in attendance