New CUSA Shockers

[Stallion]

can't believe all the Frog haters haven't posted that Tulane upset TCU on a last minute score after an embarrassing 99 yard TD drive to end the Frogs' 6 game bowl string. Also, Tulsa upset UTEP on the strength of Dallasite Braelin Davis' record setting 5th KO returned for a TD.

[HorsePower]

Or Ashlan Davis. Impressive, nonetheless (except for his Slime Time Sanders wannabe strut on the way into the end zone).

I would have commented earlier about the undoing of Frog Nation, but I fell asleep after an extra dose of Thanksgiving leftovers. However .... HAHAHAHAHA! I know, they beat us and they finished with a better record than we did. Congrats for that, I suppose. But remember that move to the MWC because they were too good for C-USA? Oops.

And now we don't have to hear any more of those annoying ESPN Radio commercials about the Frogs "Do you know how good Gary Patterson and his Frog football team are?" Answer: not very. ".... bowl games -- six and counting." But not counting PAST six.

[SMUguy]

Kind of surprised Louisville put a 70-7 whipping on Cincinnati, too. Louisville's good, but that was impressive.

[PerunaPunch]

Regarding the ESPN commercial: I like our froggie neighbors, but I guess it's a good thing that their string of bowl berths ended at 6. It gets a bit dicey when they have to count higher than the digits on one hand.

[Sam I Am]

What a difference a year can make! I actually feel kind of sad for the Froggies. Maybe the MWC will help their budget receipts if Utah keeps winning (but their coach is bound to be hired away). Do you think that Boise State, Fresno and some other strong team will be invited to join the MWC some day? The realignments are not finished by any means.

[Corso]

If I'm a stud local player looking at SMU and TCU, I see that TCU shut out the Ponies in September. I also see good (or better) educations at both schools available to me. Beyond that, I see a chance to live in Dallas, and I see a team that won three more games this year, as opposed to a team that has slid out of that "every year another bowl" group that it somehow squirmed into for a few years. I see a team on the rise that will play in a conference that's regional enough so that even the road games are within driving distance, versus a sliding program that's joining a conference where the road games will be played just this side of Neptune (or is it Pluto?), sometimes late enough that the games won't even be in the paper the next day.

If I'm that player, I consider both schools with great respect and careful thought. If I'm that player, I'm then calling Coach Bennett and committing to play for the Ponies.

[BUS]

Do 18 year old's think that clearly? I sure hope so:-)

I love the thought of C-USA and hope that it plays out as I think it will.

Go MUSTANGS - BEAT OSU tonight.

[Water Pony]

In answer to Sam I Am, you could make a great case for MWC picking up Boise State and Fresno State bringing them to eleven. In that situation, CUSA was smart to have taken UTEP which adds strength and attendance.

Everything I have heard suggests that MWC may not want to dilute the revenue beyond nine teams and there is little excitement so far about a Championship game. So, those two pickups makes sense as quality teams and programs, but I don't see the momentum at this time. If they do add them, do you need a twelth for the Championship game? Both Louisana Tech and Hawaii are geograhically undesirable. So who.

My sense is most conferences need to catch their breath for a couple of years before we go through musically chairs again. In any case, I have always felt TCU's hubris will cost them long term. The benefits won't be know for years, but it is hard to make a case that this will serve their players, students, parents or fans.

[davish75]

Why did the MWC invite TCU?

[Water Pony]

The argument given was that MWC might be able to crash the BCS party and become an automatic qualifer (if the conference could produce consistent winners who are top 15, etc.) TCU had a good six year run and appeared to strengthen the conference's FB membership.

The problem for all parties is that there is no assurance that TCU would be able to sustain nine to ten win seasons, whether in MWC or not. Without this type of performance, the deal looks bad for everyone. Hubris is the only word that comes to mind.

Lastly, many (including me) say the Big East doesn't deserve an automatic bid either with the departure of VA Tech, Miami and BC to the ACC. The addition of Louisville helps (Cincinnati and So. FL do not), but it doesn't change the fact that BE is not Big Ten, SEC, Big XII, Pac 10 or ACC caliber and shouldn't be given an automatic bid. It looks like a four loss Pittsburgh gets to go to BCS Fiesta for God sake.

Therefore, the MWC will never qualify (and the reason to pick TCU is even weaker). For that matter, the BE should be displaced, leaving only five automatic qualifying conferences.

This permits greater flexibility to assure the second best BCS conference teams with great results (such as Texas and Cal this year) into the bowls, while still supporting multiple non-BCS over-achievers such as Utah, Boise State and Louisville in 2004.

Or, we get a play-off (opposed by College Presidents)

[The PonyGrad]

A nine team conference has the advantage of 4 home and 4 away games but in the case of TCU that is 4 long trips while half of the MWC teams will be penalized with one long trip (with the possible benefit of help in recruiting TX.

If TCU is a regular top 25 then I can see the benefit to the MWC though not to TCU.

But, TCU may well be heading down especially with the tough travel.

[MustangStealth]

For that matter, the BE should be displaced, leaving only five automatic qualifying conferences.

If they want to use automatic bids, the best way to do it would be to say the top 6 conference champions, regardless of which conference they are from. That leaves the two at-large spots as they are. This year, it would mean Pac 10, Big 12, SEC, MWC, WAC, and CUSA champs get the auto bids over ACC, Big East, Big 10, MAC, and Sun Belt. Then Cal and Texas could have the at large spots and Miami and Pittsburgh would be left whining but with weaker cases than Texas.

[EastStang]

The BE stays BCS for the forseeable future. They get to count Louisville's season while in CUSA as a top 12 finish next year according to BCS rules. And they also need the 8 votes of the BE teams at Division 1-A meetings to keep away from the dreaded playoff system. Otherwise, the other teams from the WAC, MAC, SBC, CUSA and MWC will gang up on them and force a playoff. They know that the BE is their only way of sustaining that advantage until the attendance rules start killing off 1-A programs. If 12 or so get lopped off the list, then they can screw over the Big East teams, and that will happen some day.