SMU Baseball Hypothetical Questions

[gostangs]

Our student body and our alumni would be 10x more interested in lacrosse. Much more interesting sport, matches up exactly with our demographic and our geography, and we already have a D1 facility.

If we add any sport, which is doubtful, it would be men's and women's lacrosse.

[PerunasHoof]

Our student body and our alumni would be 10x more interested in lacrosse. Much more interesting sport, matches up exactly with our demographic and our geography, and we already have a D1 facility.

If we add any sport, which is doubtful, it would be men's and women's lacrosse.

I'll caveat this with I don't think we add any sports, but I really don't think it would lacrosse if we did. Yes, we have lots of kids from the NE. But I just checked and there are no schools around us that have the sport. What conference would we play in? I can't imagine the travel costs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_l ... s_Lacrosse

Baseball/Softball make the most sense as the AAC already fields 9/8 teams respectively. However, we don't have anywhere to put a field and the costs would be substantial. I think we're stuck with the current level of sports.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Baseball/Softball make the most sense as the AAC already fields 9/8 teams respectively. However, we don't have anywhere to put a field and the costs would be substantial. I think we're stuck with the current level of sports.

Fields - since baseball and softball fields are totally different.

I agree we can't even afford the sports we have. No way we add anything.

[One Trick Pony]

Baseball/Softball make the most sense as the AAC already fields 9/8 teams respectively. However, we don't have anywhere to put a field and the costs would be substantial. I think we're stuck with the current level of sports.

Fields - since baseball and softball fields are totally different.

I agree we can't even afford the sports we have. No way we add anything.

Beer Pong!

[mrydel]

Baseball/Softball make the most sense as the AAC already fields 9/8 teams respectively. However, we don't have anywhere to put a field and the costs would be substantial. I think we're stuck with the current level of sports.

Fields - since baseball and softball fields are totally different.

I agree we can't even afford the sports we have. No way we add anything.

Beer Pong!

That could have men and women on the same teams to help satisfy Title IX......and those participating.

[One Trick Pony]

[quote="PerunasHoof"]Baseball/Softball make the most sense as the AAC already fields 9/8 teams respectively. However, we don't have anywhere to put a field and the costs would be substantial. I think we're stuck with the current level of sports.

Fields - since baseball and softball fields are totally different.

I agree we can't even afford the sports we have. No way we add anything.

Beer Pong!

That could have men and women on the same teams to help satisfy Title IX......and those participating.[/quote]
Haha

https://youtu.be/ZuxXkAYlaxY

[SoCal_Pony]

I assume that additional land acquisition would be part of any baseball/softball equation (before you even consider stadium construction) so somebody would have to lay down well north of $100 mil to get those sports added. SMU needs to focus on "revenue" sports along with Olympic/Country Club sports

So it takes well north of $100 mil to field a college baseball team but let's use aluminum bats to keep costs down? Gottcha.

[horsemanx]

SMU has the minimum sports required and are thanking god equestrian still counts as an ncaa sport.

That would be interesting to see what SMU would do to replace the 15 women's sports if equestrian is dropped by the NCAA.

It would be kind of a shame to lose equestrian since they are the only team we have that is consistently in the top 10.

[Junior]

To compete with UT, A&M, Rice, Baylor, TCU, TT, OK, LSU,, UH and other schools recruiting in Texas (with tuitions lower than ours), you'd have to have scholarships. At least 15 preferably 20. So, figure $50,000 per player. $750,000-$1 Million per year for scholarships for men add a similar number for women gets you to $1.5-2.0 Million. Then, you need coaching staffs add another $1-2 Million/year. Then you need to travel and have equipment. We're in the AAC which has schools all over the country.
ECU, Temple, USF, UCF, Wichita, Memphis, Cincinnati, UConn. All adds up. Say another $1 Million. I figure $75-100 Million needed to endow baseball/softball.

Most baseball scholarships are not full rides. They do a lot of fractional schollies. A buddy from OU had multiple scholarships while there. He’s smart as eff, but he said there were only a handful of full rides on the team.

[PoconoPony]

I have a question. Can someone tell me why college baseball still uses aluminum bats? Seems so little league.

If you do not follow baseball there is a huge shortage of ash which is the ideal wood for baseball bats. There are few reserves of ash in the US or Canada and most of those are secured for professional baseball. Hence, the cost and availability are prohibitive for non-pro teams particularly when you figure the number of broken bats in a season. Major League Baseball allows most woods; however, most have considerable negatives such as knots, hardness, weight, durability, density and compaction. There are some maple varieties being used in the Majors based on Canadian reserves and you can identify most as they are normally fully painted mostly black. These are the bats you normally see being totally splinter shattered in a game with chunks littered through out the infield. Maple shatters and splinters unlike ash which will normally crack/split and stay intact. Hence, wood is not a viable option based on wood availability and cost.

It should be noted that most bats today are no longer aluminum as various certification standards have been instituted that limits and reduces velocity of the speed of the ball off the bat for obvious safety concerns. Metallurgical issues with aluminum became a concern to meet standards. Today most non-professional leagues use a velocity restricted standard of bat constructed of various high tech compositions. These bats somewhat simulate the properties of ash and meet the velocity standards and have a wood impact sound. Yes, they are terribly expensive ranging form $450 to $600 per bat, but they will last an entire season or more and most are warrantied for life with full unquestioned replacement. They are also light weight and can be scientifically balanced for optimum swing control unlike wood in which every bat is slightly different based on density distribution. As a result, five or six bats different sized bats will accommodate and last a team an entire season. As a result, the composition bat is the most used bat today for all levels of non-professional baseball although there are several college Div. III leagues that mandate wood for safety issues.

[MustangFan]

Ask Sonny if TCU's track team helped TCU football (other than Kolby Listenbee suing them). If so, add men's track and women lacrosse (AAC sponsored in 2019). 12 scholarships each. You need 0 new facilities.

Helps football, Title IX compliant, relatively cheap compared to other options, increases our AAC sports footprint.

Someone wrote on here that the reason we don't host track meets is because SMU's track is not a size that is acceptable to the NCAA. I have no idea how much it would cost to replace the track, but it sure doesn't seem like SMU is interested in adding cost in athletics.

[HarvCrimYaleBlue]

It would be kind of a shame to lose equestrian since they are the only team we have that is consistently in the top 10.

Is that tongue/cheek? You know there are only 16 D1 teams...and I think maybe only 22 total.

[mtrout]

We dominate the United Conference. No mercy.

BIG-12 CONFERENCE CONF OVERALL
Oklahoma State 4-0 8-3
Baylor 2-2 5-6
TCU 0-4 7-7

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CONF OVERALL
Georgia 5-1 9-1
Auburn 4-2 9-3
Texas A&M 3-3 9-5
South Carolina 0-6 4-8

UNITED CONF OVERALL
SMU 5-0 8-4
UT-Martin 3-2 7-5
South Dakota State 1-4 4-6
Fresno State 3-2 3-9
Delaware State 0-5 1-8

[longbuzzer]

Interesting piece of info above about a shortage of wood for bats. I didn't know we had a tight ash supply.

[smusportspage]

Yes, thanks PoconoPony! Very interesting. Wish they at least could make a composite bat that does not ping.