Best program in Texas? Baylor. As for SMU ...

[newshound]

It's pretty obvious who has the best men's and women's basketball programs in the state right now: Baylor. In fact, it's not even close, on the women's side in particular.

How did they do it? They brought in two excellent coaches, perhaps the best women's coach in the country, and they committed to winning. The Baylor women are a prohibitive favorite to win the national title. Now, we all hear whispers about Scott Drew's recruiting techniques, but the man has a top 15 program in WACO. Been to Waco?

SMU has no excuse whatsoever to be in the shape it's in basketball-wise. We have the best practice facility in America and are getting ready to put $40 million into an already great arena. We are in the 7th-largest market in the country, one that is home to an elite NBA franchise and elite high school basketball.

The new men's coach -- and some could argue it's about time for a new women's coach -- should be able to build a Top 25 (in everything we do) program by recruiting the Dallas area alone. At most, pulling kids out of Houston and the Beaumont Golden Triangle to supplement Dallas should be all he needs.

But, let's look at the demographic breakdown of the student body: There are a ton of kids from California, Florida, the Chicago area and the East Coast. Those should be recruiting hot pockets for SMU basketball -- and all sports. And, again, those areas should supplement Dallas.

I feel bad for Matt, but he never created any consistency within the program, constantly rolling over the roster and the staff. For reasons we may never know, his style just didn't work here. I had hoped to see some of his Roy Williams roots come out and that never happened. And, truth be told, he was given at least two years longer to do than most coaches would have been.

It's not about the salary for the next coach, it's about finding a winner. A program builder. Someone who can do it in a self-contained system, who doesn't have to rely to his athletic or university administration. Find a winner. There are all kinds of guys out there who know how to do it. You are either a winner or you're not. John Shumate, Mike Dement and Jimmy Tubbs were not winners -- look at their career records. Dave Bliss, crazy as he is/was, was a winner (and he played a real schedule).

I hope this search has a happy ending. We are headed to the Big East, we have the campus and the facility. But, support stinks -- and has for a long time. This next coach needs to breathe some life into the program and, most of all, win! We will all be watching.

[LA_Mustang]

Just FYI - we're the 5th largest market in the country.

[CalallenStang]

Dave Bliss was a cheater

[Digetydog]

Dave Bliss was a cheater

And willing to cover up a murder.

[CalallenStang]

Dave Bliss was a cheater

And willing to cover up a murder.

That's not winner behavior

[ponyinNC]

as with most things in life, it comes down to money. We are in such a hole that I think we will have to overspend to get the right guy, much like we did with JJ.

We need a gamechanger for this position. plain and simple.

[newshound]

We far, far overspent (2 times, at least) for football and I could argue that we did not get the right guy. We got a better guy. Basketball needs more than a better guy. And, an excellent coach can change the culture and the results in a season-and-a-half.

[StangEsq]

4th largest market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_U ... ical_Areas