PonyFans.com

Today's DMN reports on the progress of Connecticut football. You all remember Connecticut as the first team we beat post DP. At the time they were Div II and were to move to Div I the next year (1990).

It took them only fourteen seasons to go from a Div II program to inclusion in the Big East, a BCS conference. They have played with a full complement of 85 scholarship players for only two years, and they were 9-3 last year.

They have built a new football stadium, and last week they signed coach Randy Edsall to a 6 year contract at $900,000 per year.

It's pretty amazing the paths these two programs have taken since we beat them 31-30 in 1989.

Truly amazing. One slight correction, though. They were a Div. 1-AA team, not a Div. II team. They were in the same Division status as schools like Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Southwest Texas State, etc. The divisions are Div. 1-A (like SMU), Div. 1-AA, Div. II and Division III.

Amazing what two national championships in basketball in a decade can do for your football program, inclusion in the BCS. With BCS comes money from television which can go to large stadia and large contracts. Note however, that they were the plaintiffs in the suit against Miami, BC and Va. Tech for leaving the Big East. One of the grounds for the lawsuit was that when they built that stadium they had been assured by Miami that Miami would stay in the Big East and they were afraid that they would lose that money.

Mr. Mustang, there are those that would argue of yet another division: Division 1A (Like LSU), Division 1A(Like SMU), etc. etc.

EastStang wrote:Amazing what two national championships in basketball in a decade can do for your football program

I would agree that success in basketball certainly helps, but programs like Kentucky and Duke have had phenominal success on the hardwood with nowhere near the upward mobility of their football programs.

How about Florida Atlantic with Howard Snellenberger as Coach beating Hawaii and NTSU on the road. Building a football team even after the DP was not near as difficult as SMU 's own administration would have you believe -as long as its created on a solid foundation and a competitive Model. Ask yourself how do schools with little tradition or heritage like Troy, Florida Atlantic, Marshall, UAB, Central Florida, University of South Florida and Fresno St do it and we can't ----even though we are sitting smack dap in the middle of the most fertile Division 1A recruiting hotbeds in the country. Its spelled M-O-D-E-L Most recruits in this class were not born when the DP occurred. The use of the DP as an excuse after 5 years was a BUNCH of BS designed to calm the school's own ineptitude and negligence.

The only relationship the DP has to our current lot in life is that it brought Pye to campus.

PK wrote:The only relationship the DP has to our current lot in life is that it brought Pye to campus.

Yes, but that is a lot of "lot"...he's the one who changed the M-O-D-E-L. Those who believe the death penalty, and in particular the events giving rise to the death penalty, are not the genesis of the subsequent downward spiral are revisionist historians. Without the death penalty, there would have been no Ken Pye and no "Pye model." But by the same token, we would not have enjoyed to prosperity of the early '80s but for those same events....

RGV Pony wrote:Mr. Mustang, there are those that would argue of yet another division: Division 1A (Like LSU), Division 1A(Like SMU), etc. etc.

Perhaps the NCAA should consider a new classification: Division 1 (for schools like LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc.), Division 1-A (like SMU, San Jose State, etc.), Division 1-AA (Sam Houston State, Weber State, etc.), Div. II and Div. III. Just a thought.

MrMustang1965 wrote:

RGV Pony wrote:Mr. Mustang, there are those that would argue of yet another division: Division 1A (Like LSU), Division 1A(Like SMU), etc. etc.

Perhaps the NCAA should consider a new classification: Division 1 (for schools like LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc.), Division 1-A (like SMU, San Jose State, etc.), Division 1-AA (Sam Houston State, Weber State, etc.), Div. II and Div. III. Just a thought.

There already is a Division within D-I, '1965'... it's called "B C S"!!! We just choose to ignore the obvious.

Good point, SWC2010. Good point.