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SMU 18,630........ for a 92nd National rank.

Thank you TCU, Baylor and UTEP. Now just for kicks would SMU have broken 10,000 if you replaced those teams with Sam Houston St, Texas State and Arkansas St.

I guess we are about to find out.

yeah, because after going 3 -1 you have a good shot at a bowl all year long - and your own fans start coming because they have hope and they want to see a winner.

Stallion wrote:Thank you TCU, Baylor and UTEP. Now just for kicks would SMU have broken 10,000 if you replaced those teams with Sam Houston St, Texas State and Arkansas St.

Outside of UTEP, did playing in a "regional conference" like CUSA really help our attendance very much?

never thought it would.

Katrina cetainly didn't help for the Tulane game, otherwise I think we would have had a better turnout for that one. Regional will help once people get the feel of it. Meanwhile winning and better marketing is still the real answers to the attendance problem.

PonySnob wrote:

Stallion wrote:Thank you TCU, Baylor and UTEP. Now just for kicks would SMU have broken 10,000 if you replaced those teams with Sam Houston St, Texas State and Arkansas St.

Outside of UTEP, did playing in a "regional conference" like CUSA really help our attendance very much?

The regional conference helps in allowing more of us to attend away games if we so desire. It was staying up past my bedtime (which is very early at my age) to make it to kickoff that bothered me. At least I was able to check the score each time I got up to use the bathroom.

winning....cures....cancer

JasonB wrote:winning....cures....cancer

History shows that with SMU fans, winning merely puts it into remission. But thats ok if you have cancer.

[quote="PK"]Katrina cetainly didn't help for the Tulane game, otherwise I think we would have had a better turnout for that one. Regional will help once people get the feel of it. Meanwhile winning and better marketing is still the real answers to the attendance problem.[/quote]

I have to disagree. Tulane hasnt drawn well for any sport, at home or on the road, for the last 2 decades. Hurricane, or no hurricane. Take a look back at what their teams have drawn here in the past, for football and basketball, and you'll see what I mean. The year their football team went undefeated, they played us at the Cotton Bowl, and the game drew 17,000 and small change. Less than what we allegedly averaged this year, for the best team they will ever have. They are a terrible draw in New Orleans, and their fans dont travel.

Univ. of Houston isnt much different, even when they are doing well.

Part of the problem with the Tulane Game was our own hurricane, Rita. The predictions was that it was going to hit Dallas right around game time. It was windy, but didn't come east of Terrell. I think the threat kept some of our fans at home. Maybe not a lot, but with SMU every one counts. We really do have some "fair weather fans" - literally. It was also a week after we got pummeled by A&M, which I'm sure didn't help.

I also think that the lack of fans effected the performance of our guys. They sure were flat that game.

I think he might have meant Hurricane Rita. I know I almost cancelled my flight to Dallas to see the game because of it, and I'm a diehard. I imagine most casual fans chose to spend that Saturday preparing or waiting. Remember this was the same few days that the entire city of Houston was on the highway, running out of gas, and stuck in traffic. Even on gameday, without the hurricane directly overhead, it looked very stormy, and I'm sure that didn't help attendance.

But no, Tulane wouldn't have brought a ton of fans without the hurricane.

No I meant Katrina. I didn't mean to imply that Tulane would have brought a Texas Tech size crowd, but they would have brought more than the few hundred or so that showed up. You are correct though that Rita probably had a negative impact on attendance too.

Are we still playing North Texas next year?

Are our out of conference games really Sam Houston St, Texas State and Arkansas St.?

If someone has next year's schedule with dates etc..., please forward.