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I suppose it could come down to whether the NCAA approves a football championship game for leagues with 10 or more schools, but as this article suggests...is there a possibility the Big XII presidents would do Baylor a favor and vote them out of the conference after this latest debacle?

<A HREF="http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/6555853" TARGET=_blank>http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/6555853</A>

If Baylor was available, would it be possible to get SMU, TCU, Rice & Houston back together with the Bears and add 4 more schools to have a 9 member SWC II? Candidates would include UTEP, NMSU, UNT, Tulsa, Tulane, La Tech. For that matter, if the NCAA approves a championship game for leagues of 10 or more, just add 5 and form 2 divisions.

SWC West: UTEP, NMSU, TCU, SMU, Tulsa

SWC South: Baylor, Houston, Rice, Tulane, La Tech

That gives you 3 privates and 2 public universities in each division. Would also leave open the possibility of expansion that could someday see UNT in our division. Would this be such a horrible thing, given all the other options that are being discussed?

I don't think so...

I am not so sure if our fine and prestigeous schools (TCU & SMU) would want to be associated with Baylor. Trust me, there is more that is going to be discovered and a stiff penalty by the NCAA...

Just for thought.

CP, I like the idea, even without Baylor. Or TCU, to a lesser extent. The more I think about C-USA, without Cincy and Louisville, et al, it looks more and more like another weak conference with everybody ridiculously spread out, which is what I've always thought SMU needs to get away from.

People will make the case that this SWC would also be a weak conference. PRESENTLY. But at least we wouldn't be trying to act all excited about playing some team from Florida, or West Virginia, or wherever, and I think our attendance and interest would have to improve. There's something to be said for beating a school that you actually know alumni from, personally. It's called regional rivalry.

BCS affiliation is simply not going to happen for us, and it never will in it's present form. These schools have invested too much money to let that happen. In the meantime, until they make a playoff or something, all us "have-nots" need to quit "crying (~ Craig James' word, not mine)" and find a reason we still want to play football.

S-M-U spells SMU!!!

[This message has been edited by KnuckleStang (edited 08-09-2003).]

I still favor the SWC II. If the BE takes 4 teams from C-USA which could well happen, C-USA would essentially fold. I could see the BE taking UC, ECU, UL, and USF giving them 10 fb teams and 5 bb teams. They could even grab 2 or 3 bb only schools.

If all this happens, that would open the door for a 9 or 10 team SWC II which I see including Houston, La Tech, Memphis, Rice, SMU, USM, TCU, Tulane, and Tulsa. Plus possibly UTEP.

This would leave the MWC and the WAC and the SBC and the MAC in tact in some form.

All very possible and doable.

I have no connection to SMU, TCU, etc, but I would definitely follow a new SWC. Local teams would generate more local interest - I think it would be good for all teams involved.

My picks:

East

UH
Rice
LaTech
LA-Lafayette
Tulane
Baylor

West

SMU
TCU
UNT
UNM
NMSU
UTEP

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And when I die
You can bury me
In Lubbock, Texas,
In my jeans.

-Mac Davis

Thanks for your post and your sentiments about a SWC II.

I think that there are enough strong mid-major programs around that it would not be prudent to water down the revenue sharing by adding more than 9 teams. Also with 9 teams, all teams get to play each other every year. To me that is preferable to a two division arrangement which includes teams that are new to Div. 1A. For the most part, the schools I have selected have been playing Div. 1A football for decades. They have national reputations. And the conference would immediately command respect.

I LOVE THIS IDEA... Nothing else would revive SMU's Rice and UH's programs more. UNT would be a great asset too. I like this idea and the funniest thing is it COULD actualy happen. I'm sure UNT would love to leave the sunbelt and SMU, Rice, and UH would love to team back up to make there own conference. If this happened it might be considered a weak conference BUT if you beat each other eough you get more wins that = more recruits = national recognition...

i can't believe you guys are even talking baylor out of the little 12.....with the exception of football, they have been very, very competitive in conference sports - even to the point of being a winner in most of their other sports.....

baylor's problem as been 'management' plain & simple...if they get the right coach in there, they'll be more than competitive....

by saying they'll never compete is like saying smu & tcu can & will never be able to compete in the little 12, too! that would be a death blow to all the privates...hey - let's just say stanford can't compete in the pac-10 & northwestern in the big 10...foolish!!!!!!!!!

kicking baylor out is like saying everyone of those big 12 schools are squeaky clean & pure as snow...i would be willing to bet that each one of the coaches from the other conference schools know as sure as shoot-n that this same incident could even happen to them at anytime or maybe be occuring right now....what's the old say - walking in another man's shoes ...

on a side note (thanx): isn't baylor considerably bigger student-wise than both smu & tcu?

[This message has been edited by Navy&Crimson (edited 08-12-2003).]

What's a site note?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by RonaldRaygun:
<B>I LOVE THIS IDEA... Nothing else would revive SMU's Rice and UH's programs more. UNT would be a great asset too. I like this idea and the funniest thing is it COULD actualy happen. I'm sure UNT would love to leave the sunbelt and SMU, Rice, and UH would love to team back up to make there own conference. If this happened it might be considered a weak conference BUT if you beat each other eough you get more wins that = more recruits = national recognition...</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Totally Agree! and Also if you beat each other you get to go a whole year knowning you beat that team and thats how rivalarys form getting the fans more into it! God I hope that happens! I would love to see Ford Staduim packed with fans! So many fans we could hear over the speakers TONIGHTS GAME IS ATTENDEANCE IS A SELL OUT!

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Let That Pony Pride Ride!
Get Ready...Mustangs Never Die!!
GO LOBOS!! THE 66 YEAR WAIT IS OVER!!

Regionality, yes. However, I would at a minimum require some academic equality as well. Since this proposed conference would feature at least as many private schools as public schools, there ought to be some standards that the schools agree all schools must meet. That would separate the wheat from the chaff. If you want to join this conference your players have to meet the following minimum qualifications (which could be more stringent than NCAA qualifications). This way, Rice, SMU, TCU, Tulsa, Tulane will be on an equal plane with their conference opponents. If La. Tech, UNT, UH, UTEP, want to recruit partial qualifiers (as currently defined) great, go play in the SunBelt. Conference. The funny thing is that all these schools would probably benefit from such a rule.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by WreckEm16:
<B>I have no connection to SMU, TCU, etc, but I would definitely follow a new SWC. Local teams would generate more local interest - I think it would be good for all teams involved.

My picks:

East

UH
Rice
LaTech
LA-Lafayette
Tulane
Baylor

West

SMU
TCU
UNT
UNM
NMSU
UTEP

</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ugh - no television appeal; maybe 2 bowls, both minimum payouts; way too watered down for a minimal revenue league - 9 at most if you want to stick that close together. That league has the disadvantage of being too regional, without the travel cost savings (n mex state is a long ways away). A lot of the schools have nothing in common except proximity - they are within 150 miles and don't play much against each other so why would they want to be in a league with each other.

Let the sun belt be the sun belt and let the ewac/c-usa form a texas-florida league.


[This message has been edited by BenW (edited 08-13-2003).]