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Honestly, if it had been ND-SMU, what would the attendance have been? I'd like to think more than 66k, but maybe I'm out of my mind. It would have generated a lot of interest (comparatively speaking) with our studnets and alumni and obviously ND travels very well.

Bottom line- we need to strive to be at a place as a program where we can take on a big time team at Jerryworld or the Cotton Bowl every once in awhile. Beating crappy teams OOC won't change people's perceptions of us. We just need to knock off one big time team at some point to get some respect.

ASU spits out almost 11,000 alumni a year. Lots come to this area for jobs. Their current enrollment is more than twice our stadium capacity (73,000).

ND has the Pope's blessing.

We will never come close to drawing that.
Go Devils!!! (ASU MM '08)

That might be something to shoot for someday (like TCU and some of their OOC games at Cowboys Stadium). Right now there's just not any reason one of these P5 schools would want to play us at one of these DFW neutral sites instead of playing a team that would be a better draw at the gate and for TV.

sbsmith wrote:Right now there's just not any reason one of these P5 schools would want to play us at one of these DFW neutral sites instead of playing a team that would be a better draw at the gate and for TV.

Recruiting purposes, and they'll view us as an easy W. You don't want to play 12 powerhouses a season.

East Coast Mustang wrote:

sbsmith wrote:Right now there's just not any reason one of these P5 schools would want to play us at one of these DFW neutral sites instead of playing a team that would be a better draw at the gate and for TV.

Recruiting purposes, and they'll view us as an easy W. You don't want to play 12 powerhouses a season.

That could also be a good reason we get invited into a P5. Every conference needs a doormat or two to help everyone else have a winning season. Baylor held that position for a long time in the big 12. They may soon be ready for an addition to replace that lost doormat.

East Coast Mustang wrote:

sbsmith wrote:Right now there's just not any reason one of these P5 schools would want to play us at one of these DFW neutral sites instead of playing a team that would be a better draw at the gate and for TV.

Recruiting purposes, and they'll view us as an easy W. You don't want to play 12 powerhouses a season.

FCS is for easy wins, you play neutral site games for publicity (because recruits don't care about you coming to their town to play nobodies). Teams don't need us to play games in this region (Bama-Mich, LSU-TCU, Oklahoma-BYU, A&M-Ark, LSU-Oregon, etc.).

#6 ranked TCU versus #24 ranked Oregon State in 2010 drew 46,000. #20 TCU vs #12 LSU this year drew 80,000. I contend that a DFW team is not a huge draw.

smusic 00 wrote:#6 ranked TCU versus #24 ranked Oregon State in 2010 drew 46,000. #20 TCU vs #12 LSU this year drew 80,000. I contend that a DFW team is not a huge draw.

ND has the rep, don't get me wrong. But, honestly, what would their record be if they played our schedule this year? Not much different than ours I'd guess.

ojaipony wrote:

smusic 00 wrote:#6 ranked TCU versus #24 ranked Oregon State in 2010 drew 46,000. #20 TCU vs #12 LSU this year drew 80,000. I contend that a DFW team is not a huge draw.

ND has the rep, don't get me wrong. But, honestly, what would their record be if they played our schedule this year? Not much different than ours I'd guess.

Right, but we don't command the attention of one of the world's largest religions. Maybe if we were Southern Muslim University.

smusic 00 wrote:

ojaipony wrote:

smusic 00 wrote:#6 ranked TCU versus #24 ranked Oregon State in 2010 drew 46,000. #20 TCU vs #12 LSU this year drew 80,000. I contend that a DFW team is not a huge draw.

ND has the rep, don't get me wrong. But, honestly, what would their record be if they played our schedule this year? Not much different than ours I'd guess.

Right, but we don't command the attention of one of the world's largest religions. Maybe if we were Southern Muslim University.

I cant go without a hot dog at the game

Nebraska lost its Texas recruiting base when it went to the Big 10. They might be interested in a game at Jerry's world with SMU.

Also, wouldn't hurt to call BYU & Arkansas to see if they would play at Jerry's world.

Arkansas is going to be playing A&M there every year. They will not do a 2nd one.

West Coast Johnny wrote:Nebraska lost its Texas recruiting base when it went to the Big 10. They might be interested in a game at Jerry's world with SMU.

Also, wouldn't hurt to call BYU & Arkansas to see if they would play at Jerry's world.

All those teams can find more reputable opponents to play at Cowboys Stadium. I don't think people realize that teams don't need to play us to get access to DFW.

Honestly, if it had been ND-SMU, what would the attendance have been? I'd like to think more than 66k, but maybe I'm out of my mind.

Ford was nowhere near full for the A&M game last year. If Ford can't fill an A&M game up with $90 tickets its highly doubtful a game in Arlington would approach 66k at JerryWorld prices.

For reference, Baylor and Texas Tech have been playing at JerryWorld (w/one game at the Cotton Bowl) the last few years and only once (year 1) hit above 52k and that number was highly suspect if you actually saw it on TV.

'09 - 71.9k
'10 - 48.2k (Cotton Bowl)
'11 - 51.6k
'12 - 44.1k

People just don't like going out there to pay bowl like prices for regular season games.

I like the idea of thinking big. Nebraska in Dallas would be a smart move. First, Cornhusker fans are probably the best travelers in the NCAA. They overwhelmed ND Stadium, the first time they played there and they show up in huge numbers at both Big Ten games and bowls. Candidly, I would expand Ford Stadium to accommodate a semi-annual game with them, but would accept Jerry's World until Ford Renovation is complete.

NU would love to regain access to Texas. Alternative Arkansas and Nebr. and you can justify expanding Ford with a preference for a eastern deck to 'raise' excitement and a big time feel. With TCU and/or Baylor on the schedule, we can add one softer game if needed, along with our AAC schedule.

We need to be ensure big crowds and have a coaching staff, who is up to the challenge of energizing the students and fans while pulling a LB and recruiting like crazy. Make Ford a destination and rebuild tradition.