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There were five high school studs that came out of Dallas last year - Bracey Wright (signed with Indiana), Ike Diogu (signed with Arizona State), Chris Bosh (signed with Georgia Tech), Deron Williams (signed with Illinois) and Bryan Hopkins (signed with SMU). Three of them played in the NCAA Tournament, and one got to the NIT. Guess which one didn't make the postseason?

My point is not to gripe about SMU not making it past the WAC Tourney. But part of the reason SMU has not been a legitimate bubble team, even in its best seasons the past 15 years, has been its non-conference schedule.
Let's use Dallas' hot recruiting of late to improve our scheduling. Dement should be calling Illinois, Indiana, Georgia Tech and Arizona State RIGHT NOW trying to get games scheduled in the next two seasons and beyond. Surely, those schools would like to make a Dallas appearance and show off their local stars.
I'm guessing that SMU has to make a return trip to San Diego next season. In looking for another game out west, why not play at Arizona State. Then, in 2004-05, Arizona State would come to Dallas during Diogu's junior season. That seems to fit.
Same with the other three schools. Indiana is going to be playing AT North Texas next year, because UNT's coach is a former assistant to Mike Davis. Indiana playing in Denton?! We don't have that type of coaching connection, but we do have marketing potential in inviting Indiana's return to showcase Bracey Wright on TV in front of his hometown in two years. ESPN and FOX would have to eat that up with a sure-thing All-American going home. Heck, while we're at it, let's sandwich dates in Indiana's historic tournament around the Dallas game. That would be three straight years with Indiana on the schedule. It's not like we're a threat to upset anyone on the road anytime soon.
If Illinois doesn't want a home-and-home, then let's recreate the Dallas Morning News Classic or start a new tournament and get them here. We invite a national "name" team (Illinois, Georgia Tech) and then invite two other alleged cream-puffs we both can beat in Friday's first round. Then, if the plan holds, SMU and the "name" team play the feature championship game on Saturday. Or, if the invites get tough, allow ESPN to pick the "name" team, and have SMU pick the two other regional teams to help attendance. Heck, even see if Arizona State and Georgia Tech want to meet on a neutral floor in the first round (my guess is they would if TV told them to.)

That's CREATIVE thinking. That's AGGRESSIVE thinking. That's WORKING TO CHANGE the face on SMU basketball that won't be missed by recruits and fans in the area.

Regardless, SMU's basketball schedules MUST improve. We've done it in football the next few years. How about basketball? With these local high schoolers going out of state, it seems a simple idea to try and schedule their schools for a "homecoming" game while they're in college.
Are Dement and Copeland smart enough, and creative enough, to make it happen?

I thought our non-conference schedule this year was actually pretty good. Of our 10 opponents, 4 we should be scheduling every year (TTech, TCU, Baylor and NTSU), 2 played in the NCAA tournament (Wake, the 2nd seed in the east region, and San Diego) and 2 played in the NIT (TTech and UNLV).

If BHop develops as planned, the game they should be scheduling TODAY is UT versus SMU (Ford versus BHop) 2 seasons from now at the American Airlines Center (assuming TJ doesn't leave early).

A few points to make-

Demented - From a recruiting standpoint, most coaches will try and avoid giving games to away teams that feature local players, as it only helps opposing coaches come in and "steal" players from your back yard. It's common at almost all schools. SMU tried to get a game at GTech or UGA so Lowe & Atkins could play in front of their home states & both schools refused. That's one of the advantages you sell recruits - you can play in front of your friends & family. You don't let other coaches promise that to a kid. It's something only you can offer. In addition, if the visiting team wins, it only encourages other kids not to go to SMU.

As far as the DMN Classic goes, to get teams to commit to those things, you give out guarantees of $40K+ to the teams. Where is SMU going to get that kind of $ right now? Also, if they're going to "buy" games, they're going to go out & get some lower DI teams to boost the win total (ala Rice & Baylor).

SoCal-
Texas doesn't want to schedule SMU. They see that as a lose-lose situation. If they win, everyone says they should have, and if they lose, well then all heck breaks loose in the Longhorn Nation. It's the same reason LSU doesn't schedule La. Tech, IU doesn't schedule Ball St. or Butler anymore, UCLA doesn't schedule Fresno, etc.