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How is everyone not up in arms right now at the Cowlishaw piece on the front page of DMN SportsDay?!?!?! Cowlishaw re: SMU to Big XII: "Sounds good at the moment, but small stadium, alumni base make it unrealistic." I am e-mailing Cowlishaw immediately, I encourage everyone else to as well!!!!

We MUST get the word out that it IS realistic for SMU to be in the big 12...

E-mail Cowlishaw at [email protected]

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/column ... -power.ece

Seems like an honest assessment to me

Let's be honest. This is fairly accurate. If we want to be Big 12 we have to expand Ford. However, like I said, if it meant inclusion to the Big 12 the money to expand Ford would be raised in 24 hours. There is still a chance for us in the Big 12 if they want to expand the conference to a full 12 member league. If they decide to stay at 10 I don't see us as much of an option.

Shooting the Messenger? You got many, many people on here that are not inclined to even consider that Ford is inadequate for BCS. They have no urgency until some vague date in the future when we fill the stadium. They could be right but its not a recipe for establishing inclusion in a BCS Conference. Also, a top candidate for inclusion would already have been working on an actual plan to fill seats. SMU has no marketing department.

Alumni base would seem to be the major argument. An example is when TTech comes we fill up the stadium but mostly with TTech fans. We need the major portion of the stadium to be SMU fans.

Example No. 1. BCS is apparently not the goal because BCS facilities is a major yardstick for inclusion as Cowlishaw points out. First you decide on a Goal then you implement a Plan. I know what TCU's stated goal has been for a Decade-they have perfectly implemented a Plan that got them there and will have a BCS quality facility.

Point is...there is no attendance because there is no interest in SMU UCF....

We play big 12 schedule we sell 45k every game in dallas with all local alums...

the attendence issue is so stupid....

Okay, you guys go on being rational and talking amongst yourselves. But you are forgetting, none of this is rational!!! Go out, make some noise, tell everyone how great SMU is and where our trend line is going and get on board. Houston is doing it, and that's a glorified commuter school. Baylor does it because they know they have to to save their [deleted].

You all need to show a little fire.

I know I just e-mailed Cowlishaw. But ya;ll just keep sitting on here talking. It's cool. we can forever enjoy SMU vs. UCF unless we get out and make some noise!

At least that will bring some amusement to Cowlishaw for a few minutes.

We should be emphasizing Exhibit 1-A: The TCU game at Ford last year on national tv. We filled the place with mostly SMU fans. I was honestly shocked and thrilled. Lets not dwell on the Tech or OSU games from Bennetts last years, those were pitiful days. Lets be honest, Utep and Marshall are never gonna draw flies for us. Yes, we are spoiled, fair weather fans as a whole but how much can you really blame people for not being capitivated by a couple 7 win seasons and lower tier bowls? Cmon, anyone expecting an attendance spike for this year and this schedule is crazy. We need a regional Big 12 schedule. We need to emphasize positives and try to buy, borrow and beg our way in.

i don't subscribe to DMN...can anyoneone summarize his statements about SMU? I'm happy to email him.

NickSMU17 wrote:Point is...there is no attendance because there is no interest in SMU UCF....

We play big 12 schedule we sell 45k every game in dallas with all local alums...

the attendence issue is so stupid....

No, it's a measuring stick.

Any school will say 'let us in and we will sell tickets' - Memphis cried that at the SEC for now 5 full decades, and now they are trying the same argument to the Big XII and Big East. What the SEC, Big XII and Big East hear: Let us in and your members will buy our tix, and the the conferences already know that. I'm quick to point out South Carolina was winless in Lou Holtz's first year, and they averaged more people per game than the National Champs that year, Florida State. That's a major reason they got an SEC invite - they are coming no matter what the score is.
But you can relax, Houston ain't that great, either, and historically we know they've been awful, too. TCU is maxed out, that's why they can come down on attendance on the new stadium. We are surrounded by no-shows tix-wise.

Having this argument in 2 places at once...facebook and here...

I agree attendance plays into this...but Dallas is the schools best weapon...there arent lots of alum from UCF, Marshall, Ect. here...thats a fact...

Proportionally to the size of our U and alumni base they draw isnt terrible..