PonyFans.com

interesting article - or a should say - a slug fest brewing on the C-USA board on entrance requirements for athletes:

http://www.killerfrogs.com/cusa/index.p ... 3a9c355aea

its tough being loved!

Getting into College
By Mike Huguenin and Alan Schmadtke
Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted January 16, 2005

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Here is our gauge on how the 119 Division I-A universities rate -- on a four-level scale -- at getting football players into school. Ratings were determined through interviews with about two dozen coaches, conference officials, recruiting coordinators and academic coordinators. Important to note: Schools are measured only against schools in their conference. In other words, don't compare a Big Ten school with a Pac-10 school.

Atlantic Coast -- 12 schools
Buckle down: Duke, Wake Forest

Semi-tough: Boston College, Georgia Tech

Semi-easy: Florida State, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia

All in: Clemson, NC State, Virginia Tech

Big East -- 8 schools
Buckle down: None

Semi-tough: Syracuse

Semi-easy: Connecticut, Pittsburgh, USF

All in: Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers, West Virginia

Big Ten -- 11 schools
Buckle down: Northwestern

Semi-tough: Illinois, Michigan, Penn State

Semi-easy: Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin

All in: Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State

Big 12 -- 12 schools
Buckle down: None

Semi-tough: Missouri

Semi-easy: Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Texas, Texas A&M

All in: Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech

Conference USA -- 12 schools
Buckle down: Rice, SMU

Semi-tough: Tulane

Semi-easy: Houston, Tulsa, UCF

All in: East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, UAB, UTEP, Southern Miss

Mid-American -- 12 schools
Buckle down: Buffalo, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio U.

Semi-tough: Ball State

Semi-easy: Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan

All in: Akron, Bowling Green, Toledo

Mountain West -- 9 schools
Buckle down: Air Force

Semi-tough: Utah

Semi-easy: BYU, New Mexico, TCU, Wyoming

All in: Colorado State, San Diego State, UNLV

Pacific 10 -- 10 schools
Buckle down: Stanford

Semi-tough: UCLA

Semi-easy: Arizona, California, Oregon, USC, Washington

All in: Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington State

Southeastern -- 12 schools
Buckle down: Vanderbilt

Semi-tough: Georgia

Semi-easy: Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss

All in: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee

Sun Belt -- 8 schools
Buckle down: None

Semi-tough: UL-Lafayette, UL-Monroe

Semi-easy: FAU, FIU

All in: Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Troy

Western Athletic -- 9 schools
Buckle down: None

Semi-tough: None

Semi-easy: Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada

All in: Boise State, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State

Independents -- 4 schools
Buckle down: Army, Navy

Semi-tough: Notre Dame

Semi-easy: None

All in: Temple

Interesting that the WAC has no buckle downs or semi-toughs.

Note that TCU and Tulsa are semi-easy. That tells a huge story right there. SMU, Rice =buckle down.

But pay attention to the note at the top:

Here is our gauge on how the 119 Division I-A universities rate -- on a four-level scale -- at getting football players into school. Ratings were determined through interviews with about two dozen coaches, conference officials, recruiting coordinators and academic coordinators. Important to note: Schools are measured only against schools in their conference. In other words, don't compare a Big Ten school with a Pac-10 school.

Typical - most of the UH guys think they are referring to the student body in general - not football specifically. Reading issues I guess.

Anyway - I would be interested in knowing if we are harder then Tulane regarding our athlete admits - I always assumed so due to the left over Pye stuff, but they claim they are even more so. It should be all of our goals to get ourselves off the top of this list.

Those players visiting Tulane see the Quarter, eyes become blurry from Hurricanes, & commit. At least that's a reason

What is the reason for even visiting Tulsa???

Don't know how accurate this report might be, but it tells you all you need to know about SMU's "commitment" to fielding championship programs in football and bball. There are some top notch schools that have according to these rankings have relaxed their admissions standards for athletes who can give them a "return on their investment". Do we really think we are "better" than Tulane and Tulsa??? Or TCU for that matter?

I'd like to see SMU adjust it's academic requirements for athletes. We should be in line with similar academic institutions such as: 1) Syracuse, 2) BYU, 3) Tulane, and 4) Baylor.

If we are more restrictive than those four schools, we are needlessly strangling our athletic program. And we're wasting our time in 1-A football.

I wouldn't mind if our ranking for the admittance of athletes was the worst in the country i.e. everybody and his dog could attend if they could help us win championships. Nobody ever remembers how you won your championships, only that you won.

Could not agree more - if we are in lets play to win. If not lets get out. There is no in-between, and there is not one school that limits itself who can win consistantly, as even the supposedly high and mighty Notre Dame is finding out.