One word describes the past couple of weeks on the hilltop.

[Glenn Sosbee]

SMUGLY

Being a Pony fan has never been easy. It's getting more and more difficult by the day.

The only problem is, I will never give up on them, even though I probably should have a long time ago.

I'm losing hope.

[sbsmith]

We'll be fine but it's going to take awhile. There's a lot of bad football ahead of us maybe even some bad basketball too if this appeal doesn't go our way.

[StallionsModelT]

Don't worry. Enough of our cohorts have given up for you.

[SMU_Alumni11]

It's the first year my goodness. Last year they might as well not even play but let's calm down and any win get this year will be a blessing and let's just judge next year on getting to a 6-6 record and in '17 being like 8-4.

[03Mustang]

I was hopeful of a miracle but honestly you had to expect this.

We'll get there. Next year will be a big step up.

[SMUstangs22]

Guys... no appeal and expect a mediocre year next year. Buckle down. The cupboard wasnt empty, it was stolen (and given to footballdads ego/lack of intelligence)

[SMUstang07]

Battered pony syndrome is becoming real for me. It's hard and I've only been a fan for ~10 years.

[SoCal_Pony]

I was hopeful of a miracle but honestly you had to expect this.

We'll get there. Next year will be a big step up.

I really don't think so. You are expecting too much from true freshmen and some RSs. We are getting bullied on the line, that doesn't change with 18, 19 or 20-year olds.

Big Improvement will be in 2017.

[03Mustang]

I don't mean we're going to be in the playoff next year...I meant we will be much more competitive and have a great shot at a minor bowl with 6-7 wins.

Agreed that it will be 2017 before we are anything close to "good", much less championship caliber (AAC or otherwise).

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

I've been part of the SMU family for 20 years now. That is long enough that I've seen plenty of bad things in football and men's bball. . .but not quite long enough that I can also harken back to the halcyon days of the Pony Express, etc.

I came to the Hilltop right as the SWC was going bye-bye. So I've seen the WAC, Conf-USA, and now the AAC. But I never had a chance to see the "traditional" rivalries except for TCU and the occasional non-conference beatdowns from Tech, Baylor, and A&M. Other than a few times against TCU and Rice, I have never seen a truly competitive game against one of our "traditional" rivals; they've been pretty depressing. I've also never seen the Ponies play Texas.

The point is. . .the last couple weeks have sucked, but I have seen much suckier times on the Hilltop. We've experienced recent setbacks in football and men's bball, but the overall trajectory of SMU athletics is so much better now than it has been at any other time since I've been here. I remember NCAA probation in 2000 (or around there) for football under Caven. I remember NCAA probation for bball under Doh. And I remember plenty of football seasons where we started 1-5, or even 0-6. The difference this time around is that I actually have hope and some degree of confidence that the school is committed to athletics and that better times are really in our future.

SMU may go 1-11 in football this season. And SMU may elect not to appeal the NCAA sanctions. Even if both of those things occur, I still think that we are headed the right way.

Just my two cents.

[footballdad]

Guys... no appeal and expect a mediocre year next year. Buckle down. The cupboard wasnt empty, it was stolen (and given to footballdads ego/lack of intelligence)

Ka**a

[Charleston Pony]

those of us who have been around long enough and experienced the highs and lows of SMU football are a pretty patient lot, but if Chad Morris can't get this thing turned around, I'm not sure that anyone can/will. Have to remember it will take 3-4 years for Morris to get his team on the field. Let's just hope he's here 4 years from now because I think we will all be pleased when the entire roster is his. We still have some quitters/losers on this roster and the "culture" will be hard to change...and that includes building more support from our students and alumni who quit long before our teams did (if they ever supported their school's team to begin with)

[mrydel]

I cannot imagine anyone coming in and working harder and providing better results than Morris has to date. Especially with what he had with which to work.

I agree that if he cannot get us back to respectability no one can. And by that I mean competitive with all levels and off the bottom 10 and bottom 25 lists for good.

[Charleston Pony]

my definition of turning this program around is for SMU to be a contender every year for AAC titles and to win our share of non-conference games against P-5 opponents, including our long time former SWC mates

[bobcat68]

Since a good chunk of my change went to put my kids through school at SMU I have become a big fan. I was lucky enough to play for 2 great college coaches, Grant Teaff at Baylor and Jim Wacker at Texas State. I transferred to Texas State as Wacker arrived. The first year was not good. He had to get rid of the dead wood. It took him 3 years to build the program into a national champion. The majority of the starters on the championship teams were his guys. You will see a vastly different team on the field next year and by year 3 they'll be competing for a conference championship and a bigger bowl. Chad Morris gets it. College football is all about recruiting then developing those players. He recruits players that belong at this level. Don't feel so bad, I get watch the train wreck at Texas State that is Dennis Franchione.