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Was anyone else bothered by the way the WAC coaches ranked SMU in their predictions for the upcoming season? I know I was.

OK, TCU gets a lot of hype, and deservedly so. They have a strong team, and a superior running back in LaDanian Tomlinson (although their efforts to push him as a Heisman candidate are laughable. He's not even the best running back -- Maryland's Lamont Jordan is -- but that's another topic of argument.) On paper, at least, TCU is the class of the conference.

But We beat Fresno State last year, and they lost their best player (that QB - forget his name). We also thumped Rice (it's always a good game between us and the Owls) and Hawaii, which had a great year last year, has lost a TON of talent — including the two horses on their offensive line and their best defensive player (some linebacker .... again, I forget names.)

However, I suggest to all PonyFans that this slight by the coaches puts us in GREAT position. Maybe the coaches in the WAC are taking us lightly because we have so many young players in critical positions. Whatever their thinking, fine. We are not going to win games because we're playing in a beautiful new building. We're going to win games because we have a lot of talent and athletic ability, more so than at any time in the last dozen years. In Coach Cavan's first year, nobody expected much, and we surprised a lot of people. This year, we're gonna do it again.

Right on, ClassOf81. As a Mustang living in Fort Worth, I am sick and tired of hearing that the Frogs are better than some NFL teams, and that Tomlinson is the best running back since .... Eric Dickerson? Someone actually made that comparison, and I argued that Tomlinson wouldn't even make the teams that had Dickerson, Craig James, etc. He's good, but he doesn't walk on water, and I think TCU is living on hype. I'm not saying they don't have talent, but we probably are going to be the toughest game on their schedule, just because of the rivalry. They play NOBODY this year, and therefore people out here think TCU should be playing with teams like Nebraska and Florida State on New Year's Day. That would be a bloodbath.

I don't know if I agree with ClassOf81. There are a lot of people up here who think Jordan is the best running back in the nation. But I've seen a lot of his games (my wife is a proud Terrapin, having graduated from Maryland in 1993), and I've also seen Tomlinson on TV (the 406-yard game against UTEP and TCU's bowl game.) Jordan is a nice back. He's stronger than Tomlinson, but I don't think he has the balance, the ability to change direction or certainly the breakaway speed Tomlinson has. We (SMU) may be facing the Doak Walker Award (nation's best RB) winner Nov. 25.

[This message has been edited by PonyFanMan (edited 07-24-2000).]

Class of 81, Fresno State's QB last season was Billy Volek. The Bulldogs will miss him, especially considering he was a four-year starter. And have you seen their schedule? At Ohio State and at UCLA to open - ouch.

One of the linemen at Hawaii was Adrian Klemm, now of NFL fame. One of the linebackers was Mr. 178 Tackles Last Season(although Hawaii is known to have more homers on its stat sheets than Major League Baseball), Jeff Ulbrich.

Red and Blue dudes, I don't have a take on the WAC beyond what I read; but I do know that LaMont Jordan is not the best running back in the nation.

He might not even be the best back on the East Coast - pound for pound, Florida State's Travis Minor is more athletic, and Miami's James Jackson is just as big but faster.

As far as LaDanian, he might put up Heisman numbers, but don't worry, there's no way he's winning the trophy - Chris Weinke is etching his name on it right now.

[This message has been edited by ChrisFowler (edited 07-26-2000).]

Good to see Minor and James getting their due. When they came out of high school, there were some who thought Major Applewhite would never become a decent college QB, because 90% of what he did in high school was turn around and hand the ball to Minor. Applewhite's turned out to be a solid college QB, but Minor is a real star in waiting. It's just amazing it's taken him this long.

[This message has been edited by MustangMan (edited 07-26-2000).]