2020 Schedule Released

[mrydel]

There is no longer an east and west. We play who we play and best two play for the championship. Isn’t that right?

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

There is no longer an east and west. We play who we play and best two play for the championship. Isn’t that right?

Yes. One true champion.

[skyscraper]

Correct. No divisions in the 11 team setup.
It's the top 2 teams in the title game.

[SoCal_Pony]

This is the BEST home schedule we've had, maybe ever, at Ford Stadium.
There's only one warm up game, which is fine for the first home game of the season. The rest are legit.
Anyone whining about this home schedule is clueless.

This is the BEST home schedule post-DP and it’s not even close.

Not simply due to the opponents, which are good, but more so because of the home team.

A&M is a great environment....until the curb stomping begins.

[ponyboy]

Are we a legit Top 25 team next year?

[White Helmet]

Are we a legit Top 25 team next year?

No. Top 25 teams dont end the season the way we did...

[ALEX LIFESON]

Uhhhh yeah....I'll take this BEST CASE prediction RIGHT NOW!

SMU Football Schedule 2020 Prediction, Best Case Scenario
10-2: The Mustangs get out to 3-0 without a problem, and then they split the nasty home games against TCU and Memphis before getting hot in the second half of the year. They beat both Cincinnati and Navy, take out Temple, and win shootout after shootout to take the West and go off to the American Athletic Conference championship.

SMU Football Schedule 2020 Prediction, Worst Case Scenario
5-7: There isn’t any luck against the better teams. The Mustangs lose to TCU and Memphis, and drop the date at Tulane. To make things worse, they lose the home date to Cincinnati to put the pressure on in November. The D doesn’t hold up against Temple or Houston on the way to a losing season.

https://collegefootballnews.com/2020/02 ... breakdown-

analysis

Yikes, while we pray for the best case......the worst case is real. This program is still capable of laying massive turds....FAU.

[leopold]

Serious question. I'm curious what a good schedule is. Obviously there's not going to be one that pleases everyone. And it's tough to get a home and home with Ohio State. What would a perfect hypothetical schedule look like?

Good question.
Keeping in mind that the conference dictates your conference games, including quality of opponent, we need a schedule that includes teams that
1) People at SMU and in DFW recognize and care about
2) Provide a chance for conference and national meaning
3) Create and sustain rivalries
4) Help create exposure on a regional and national level
5) Gives our team an honest chance to win

Pretty much every game on the schedule does these things; even the Texas State Rent-a-win is fine with me. Only SFA is a mistake in my mind - we have no business playing FCS teams - but at least that fulfills #5.
Honestly, if somehow had managed to replace SFA with a reasonable P5 or respectable G5 team, like a Baylor, Maryland or La Tech, then it couldn't reasonably expect to get any better.

For reference, Cincinnati's got Austin Peay, Western Michigan at home and is then away at Miami (Ohio) and Nebraska.

Memphis has Arkansas State and UT-Martin at home and Purdue and UTSA away.

There's a consistent, albeit not absolute, pattern for AAC scheduling, one that we fit right up alongside.

One P5 team
Two G5 teams
One FCC team

I think 8 out of the 11 AAC schools have this exact schedule this year. It's not a horrible approach, TBH, but I wish we'd all stay away from the FCS schools, and we'd better damn sure win those games.

[Stallion]

If you don't want to play top competition in September then don't [deleted] about not playing them in December-and realize once those rivalries are gone you'll probably never get them back because of the economics of conference TV, season ticket, ticket licenses and miscellaneous income value of P5 home games

[Charleston Pony]

What people don't understand about our home games with FCS/Southland Conference schools is that those games are often necessary to fill out a balanced home/road schedule of 6 games each. I personally like playing both TCU and UNT as local rivalry games and like them alternating as home/road games every year.

That leaves 2 non-conference games and if we could schedule two additional P5 teams on a home/home basis so we could have one more home game and one road game vs P5 opponents every year, that would be great...but more often than not, especially if you want to play someone that draws 50k plus regardless of their opponent, you may have to give 2 for 1 or even take a solo road game, especially if you want to play one of the big boys of college football (I remember TCU going to Clemson knowing there would be no return game).

I'd love to see SMU get home/home deals with schools like Arkansas, Mississippi,r Missouri, Kansas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Okie State, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, etc... but home/road scheduling balance can be a challenge. It's much easier to get a Texas State, Arkansas State, La Tech or Rice to give home/home deals in consecutive years where you have a better chance of balancing your schedule.

And the bottom line in this argument is whether you would rather struggle for 6 wins and bowl eligibility with a David vs Goliath schedule or have a schedule that includes TCU, UNT, another road game vs a top P5 team and a home game with another Southland opponent that won't require a home/home series.

[leopold]

https://collegefootballnews.com/2020/02 ... n-analysis

Notice how the 4 hardest opponents are all at home - and 5 out of the top 6. Can't ask for more than that from the schedule makers.

[leopold]

It's much easier to get a Texas State, Arkansas State, La Tech or Rice to give home/home deals in consecutive years where you have a better chance of balancing your schedule.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This.

Rice, UTEP, and Texas State, Arky State, etc. provide plenty of opportunities for wins against FBS programs. Hell, now that UConn is out of the conference I'd be doing what I can to play them, 'cause they're gonna stink and I think there's benefits to playing a team from the NE.
BUT STAY AWAY FROM THE FCS SCHOOLS.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

if you want to play someone that draws 50k plus regardless of their opponent, you may have to give 2 for 1 or even take a solo road game, especially if you want to play one of the big boys of college football

[ALEX LIFESON]

if you want to play someone that draws 50k plus regardless of their opponent, you may have to give 2 for 1 or even take a solo road game, especially if you want to play one of the big boys of college football

But we are still hoisting that moral vict'ry trophy! Lol

[leopold]

Rather lose at Michigan than to James Madison.