Big East targets SMU and Central Florida for football expans

[ericdickerson4life]

don't want to end up like baylor.

Unable to drink and dance?

[ericdickerson4life]

from kate:

"The report floats the idea that SMU would serve as a travel partner for TCU, which is scheduled to join the Big East next season but has also been speculated on as a potential Big 12 target. I'm not sure that I see TCU being so willing to bring rival SMU along. TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte himself told me a couple of weeks ago that he didn't believe regionalism would bring stability to conferences, needing to grow footprints instead."

Yep footprint is what a conference needs. Stretch that baby out. I say the BE should target Boise. Hear that Boise market is hot.

[ericdickerson4life]

Why would TCU bring so much stroke? Because they won't come if we do? It's not like the B12 has extended an offer. They would have already if TCU was that high on there list. Plus it would cost TCU $5 million to bail. Nothing too astronomical but also not something to sneeze at. Plus, if regionalism won't bring stability, then why even want to get into the B12? That's all about regional match-ups. I hope we go to the same conference as them, and stick to them like...forever.

[PoconoPony]

I personally think the BE is a bad conference for SMU and the travel costs and non-existant rivalries for all sports is a bad thing. For selfish reasons, it would be great to see the Mustangs come to my area of the country where I am within short driving distances of WV, Rutgers,Villanova, Temple, Navy, UConn. The encouraging news is that we have finally lifted the SMU profile ( thanks to football; basketball is on notice to get it together this season as it is killing us) and we are starting to slowly dig out of the black hole.

[EastStang]

You know its interesting the UCF and SMU are mentioned. Both have very good mens soccer programs. The BE is very much interested in soccer. Look at last year's NCAA tournament and see how many invites the BE got. UConn, ND, St. Johns all have very good soccer programs. When they look at how a school might fit in, they don't just look at hoops and football, but also other sports. UH doesn't have soccer, but baseball. While half of the BE is into baseball, it is not considered a major sport to the conference as in the Big XII it is. Our history in other sports is probably not a detriment to an invite, but obviously our gridiron performance is still the thing that will drive this bus.

[RGV Pony]

Travel costs would be offset by mo $

[Dutch]

from kate:

"The report floats the idea that SMU would serve as a travel partner for TCU, which is scheduled to join the Big East next season but has also been speculated on as a potential Big 12 target. I'm not sure that I see TCU being so willing to bring rival SMU along. TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte himself told me a couple of weeks ago that he didn't believe regionalism would bring stability to conferences, needing to grow footprints instead."

yes, they need footprints to grow TV markets, but honestly can you say that TCU or SMU either bring the DFW market alone? not really, but combined the BE would have some negotiating power.

[Nacho]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... from-brink

what a bozo.
no history. how about the final four?

[NickSMU17]

It would be the best rivalry game in the big east....

Add to the fact the big east has a lot of small private academic based schools that are very good in most of the sports we have always been good at, swimming, tennis, soccer, ect. Shti...add Lacrosse women and men,

We will br bringing in 20mil a year we can handle excess travel costs...

Moody would be rocking with ND< and other big east schools in that place....

[mrydel]

Travel costs would be offset by mo $

Not mine.

[Dutch]

gawd, hearing those number like $20MM mean so much. there are a few of us that work very hard every year to raise about $2.4MM for the Mustang Club through the Morgan Campaign. if we had BCS money to offset that, we could redirect the morgan camp $ to improving in other ways. heck, CoC may not be a 'forever' thing, and we need to realize that.

[smupony94]

CoC is not forever and very few people that will step up to replace them

[San Antonio Mustang]

Operating from the proposition that we need either a playoff or presence in a BCS conference in order to attract a great recruits and have the depth to compete at the highest level. this is great news. I am impressed with it coming from Boston and the tone of the article. The writer offers it as fact and not his speculation. I see the behind the scenes work of SO, Turner, and some of our more powerful supporters. To answer the travel partner question raised above. TCU doesn't need us as a travel partner it is the other schools non football sports who can get in two games for the price of one airplane trip. I don't think TCU is any more afraid of competing with us than we are them. The way I see it, it is only a matter of time before SMU gets into a BCS conference and TCU knows it. The only way they can have a conference advantage over us is if they get into the Big UT. Otherwise, they can compete with us better if we are both in the same conference. In that case they can offer easier academics, small town atmosphere, and a longer tradition of wining. If we stay where we are we can offer south Texas kids and their families a game a year in Houston and LA kids a game every other year in New Orleans and Southern Mississippi. My point is, our joining the Big East does not disadvantage TCU and it does advantage the other Big East schools and us.

[ColoStang]

The idea that adding to a footprint rather then regionalizing a conference will create long-term stability is idiocracy.

[Dutch]

Operating from the proposition that we need either a playoff or presence in a BCS conference in order to attract a great recruits and have the depth to compete at the highest level. this is great news. I am impressed with it coming from Boston and the tone of the article. The writer offers it as fact and not his speculation. I see the behind the scenes work of SO, Turner, and some of our more powerful supporters. To answer the travel partner question raised above. TCU doesn't need us as a travel partner it is the other schools non football sports who can get in two games for the price of one airplane trip. I don't think TCU is any more afraid of competing with us than we are them. The way I see it, it is only a matter of time before SMU gets into a BCS conference and TCU knows it. The only way they can have a conference advantage over us is if they get into the Big UT. Otherwise, they can compete with us better if we are both in the same conference. In that case they can offer easier academics, small town atmosphere, and a longer tradition of wining. If we stay where we are we can offer south Texas kids and their families a game a year in Houston and LA kids a game every other year in New Orleans and Southern Mississippi. My point is, our joining the Big East does not disadvantage TCU and it does advantage the other Big East schools and us.

joining the BE disadvantages us?