We Need to Prepare a Presentation for the Pac 12 ASAP!!

[NavyCrimson]

Don't blame the fans for not supporting the ball team. Blame the administration for their leadership since the DP. We could have made the same decisions TCU did but we chose a different path - incompetence and poor poor decision making. Or was it intentional? Either way do not blame the fans people don't support mediocre or poor quality products whether it's sports or otherwise. Yeah blaming the fans is nothing more than a cop out.. There is no excuse for SMU to be where they are today after 30 years since the dp but that responsibility lies with turner and the BOT. NOT THE FANS!!!

[SMUstang]

I agree that Pye did about everything he could to kill SMU athletics. But the administrations since then have been supportive and I can’t blame them for our poor attendance, I can understand the fans, and even the students, staying away when we were losing about every game, but now that we are finally winning, what’s the excuse?

[Lebanese4Life]

We have been rejected three times by the Big 12. Once when it was formed, 2nd when TCU was invited, & 3rd when U of H, Cincy, UCF, & BYU were invited. We must now pursue a different/better path b/c clearly the Big 12 does not respect or want us & Commissioner Bowlsby's latest negative statements confirm that. President Turner & Rick Hart should immediately & fervently prepare a persuasive presentation to pursue membership in the PAC 12 for multiple reasons especially while we have an undefeated Top 25 team that is garnering national attention & interest. Membership in the PAC 12 would be in line w/ our elite academic reputation on the Hilltop & will get us into a Power 5 Conference w/ other elite academic schools such as Stanford & Cal Berkley; 2nd, Sonny is a former Head Coach in the Pac 12 so he knows, understands, & can navigate the nuances of the conference & getting into the PAC 12 will allow us to retain him & his staff which are doing an unbelievable job; 3rd, we would provide the PAC 12 a much-needed foothold in Texas which will help all the schools recruit Texas better & improve the talents of their rosters; As a SMU player in 1994, we played UCLA in the Rose Bowl & that was one of the most memorable, coolest trips during my career due to the awesome weather & unique stadiums & traditions of the conference & fans. As a NFL agent, I have been to USC multiple times to scout & recruit, & there is nothing better than watching a game @ the L.A. Coliseum. Finally, we would be able to compete immediately for Championships in the PAC 12 b/c the top dogs such as USC & Oregon run spread offenses similar to ours & have comparable sized & skilled athletes. We would be the only Texas school in the PAC 12 which would set us apart & allow us to forever cease begging our #1 rival TCU for their help in getting into the Big 12 which is clearly adverse to their own interest especially now that we are beating them on a consistent basis. Let's get our big-money donors on board & demand that President Turner & Hart pursue the PAC 12 with transparency & all their might b/c that's the best option for SMU going forward!!! SEC has 16 members, Big 10 & ACC 14 members, Big 12 has 12 members but will likely expand to 14 when they add Memphis & Boise during the next expansion. PAC 12 will feel the heat to expand to keep up with the Joneses so let's PONY UP & be the 1st in line when they do!! It makes too much sense people!!

you lost me at "elite academic reputation"

[Charleston Pony]

Fact: SMU is a small private school with students from all over the country (and world for that matter) and a small percentage of it's students are even interested in sports, so that doesn't lend itself to having a large fan base, which is critically important in today's world. Yes, our administration doesn't seem to have recognized the importance of fielding nationally known athletic programs, but this is one of those chicken vs egg arguments. Ask the guys who played in the Pony Express era and they will tell you how small some of the crowds they played in front of were. Unless we were playing larger public schools who brought half the crowd, SMU did not capture enough of the so called T-shirt fans to fill Texas Stadium for a Top 10 program full of future NFL players. I thought when Ford Stadium was built that it would be a perfect home (size wise) for SMU football as a consistently Top 25 caliber team should be able to attract respectable crowds (in the 25-30k range) no matter who the opponent. I still hope that can be accomplished, but it appears we are going to have to be the "biggest midget" to do so. Hate to say it, but a program like UTSA has the potential to eclipse SMU's success as it continues to mature. I will not rule out the possibility UNT does the same. Bottom line is that size matters in today's college athletics.

[SMUstang]

You can blame the administration if you want to. But the truth is we don't have 32,000 fans in a school that has 12,000 enrollees, most of which don't care much about sports. We depend on the community. And like it or not, the community was embarrassed and still today is embarrassed by the death penalty. Generally, the majority of SMU alumni care more about womens Rowing, Soccer, LaCrosse and Polo than they do about football and basketball. In my time, the time of Forrest Gregg, John LaGrone, Don Meredith, Mike Ford, Jerry LeVias, Chuck Hixon, etc. we had pride in our program. We didn't win as much as we do today. We didn't have the facilities that we have today, but that didn't seem to matter. Blame others if you want, that is what this generation does.

Quote from CSNBBS:" Props to App State...as they are now a true football power program that has FANS that show up on game day....even on a Wed night....as they drew an overflow crowd of 31,061 to their 30,000 seat stadium for their Wed night game vs Coastal Carolina.

I think the AAC should have gone after BEST PROGRAMS...something the Big 12 just did...as its actual fans that will power the interest...not a location that may have zero or little interest in the local team"

[Charleston Pony]

You can blame the administration if you want to. But the truth is we don't have 32,000 fans in a school that has 12,000 enrollees, most of which don't care much about sports. We depend on the community. And like it or not, the community was embarrassed and still today is embarrassed by the death penalty. Generally, the majority of SMU alumni care more about womens Rowing, Soccer, and Polo than they do about football and basketball. In my time, the time of Forrest Gregg, John LaGrone, Don Meredith, Mike Ford, Jerry LeVias, Chuck Hixon, etc. we had pride in our program. We didn't win as much as we do today. We didn't have the facilities that we have today, but that didn't seem to matter. Blame others if you want, that is what this generation does.

You have to go back before the Dallas Cowboys came to town to find a time when Dallas supported SMU. Go way back to the Doak Walker days and competing for National Championships and yes, SMU was THE GAME in Dallas. Once the Cowboys started making the playoffs, support for SMU football really suffered. The other issue SMU has is that it is an expensive private school situated in Camelot that the average Joe just doesn't identify with. The typical t-shirt fan in Dallas follows the Whorns as the flagship school in Texas. That's the reality that we just have to overcome as best we can.

[PonyTime]

We have been rejected three times by the Big 12. Once when it was formed, 2nd when TCU was invited, & 3rd when U of H, Cincy, UCF, & BYU were invited. We must now pursue a different/better path b/c clearly the Big 12 does not respect or want us & Commissioner Bowlsby's latest negative statements confirm that. President Turner & Rick Hart should immediately & fervently prepare a persuasive presentation to pursue membership in the PAC 12 for multiple reasons especially while we have an undefeated Top 25 team that is garnering national attention & interest. Membership in the PAC 12 would be in line w/ our elite academic reputation on the Hilltop & will get us into a Power 5 Conference w/ other elite academic schools such as Stanford & Cal Berkley; 2nd, Sonny is a former Head Coach in the Pac 12 so he knows, understands, & can navigate the nuances of the conference & getting into the PAC 12 will allow us to retain him & his staff which are doing an unbelievable job; 3rd, we would provide the PAC 12 a much-needed foothold in Texas which will help all the schools recruit Texas better & improve the talents of their rosters; As a SMU player in 1994, we played UCLA in the Rose Bowl & that was one of the most memorable, coolest trips during my career due to the awesome weather & unique stadiums & traditions of the conference & fans. As a NFL agent, I have been to USC multiple times to scout & recruit, & there is nothing better than watching a game @ the L.A. Coliseum. Finally, we would be able to compete immediately for Championships in the PAC 12 b/c the top dogs such as USC & Oregon run spread offenses similar to ours & have comparable sized & skilled athletes. We would be the only Texas school in the PAC 12 which would set us apart & allow us to forever cease begging our #1 rival TCU for their help in getting into the Big 12 which is clearly adverse to their own interest especially now that we are beating them on a consistent basis. Let's get our big-money donors on board & demand that President Turner & Hart pursue the PAC 12 with transparency & all their might b/c that's the best option for SMU going forward!!! SEC has 16 members, Big 10 & ACC 14 members, Big 12 has 12 members but will likely expand to 14 when they add Memphis & Boise during the next expansion. PAC 12 will feel the heat to expand to keep up with the Joneses so let's PONY UP & be the 1st in line when they do!! It makes too much sense people!!

That was a great game @UCLA. Should have picked up the W. As I recall, Womack (or was it J. Smith) that was caught from behind inside the 10 as he ran out of gas on a long run - which led to 0 points due to a missed Crossland FG.

That game - or perhaps the A&M one led to my quote on my sig.

We haven't played many Pac teams since - @Washington State once?

[PonyTime]

You can blame the administration if you want to. But the truth is we don't have 32,000 fans in a school that has 12,000 enrollees, most of which don't care much about sports. We depend on the community. And like it or not, the community was embarrassed and still today is embarrassed by the death penalty. Generally, the majority of SMU alumni care more about womens Rowing, Soccer, and Polo than they do about football and basketball. In my time, the time of Forrest Gregg, John LaGrone, Don Meredith, Mike Ford, Jerry LeVias, Chuck Hixon, etc. we had pride in our program. We didn't win as much as we do today. We didn't have the facilities that we have today, but that didn't seem to matter. Blame others if you want, that is what this generation does.

We didn't fill stadiums when we had Dickerson, James, and a top 10 program. So I doubt that we will now, or in future. Many have said TCU is the blueprint - TCU's attendance in the MWC when they were top 20 every year was not all that impressive. They were drawing mid-20s with a top 25 TCU squad when they had teams like Utah, UNLV, UCDavis coming into town.

Watch what happens with TCU's attendance when they don't have UT and OU on the schedule. In fact, we will be their top attendance game for this year (we outdrew their Texas home game).

[redpony]

and all of the above doesn't equate to adding the denton community school to our conference or watering it down with second level schools.

Plus, I will disagree that the admin that replaced Pye has been highly supportive of our athletics programs. RGT has been here over 20 yrs and did little to promote our sports programs and that is why we are on the outside looking in.

[Charleston Pony]

and all of the above doesn't equate to adding the denton community school to our conference or watering it down with second level schools.

Plus, I will disagree that the admin that replaced Pye has been highly supportive of our athletics programs. RGT has been here over 20 yrs and did little to promote our sports programs and that is why we are on the outside looking in.

RGT's "big thing" to support SMU football was The Boulevard, an idea he borrowed from the The Grove and his time at Ole Miss. Like Ole Miss, "occasionally" having a competitive football teams is O.K., I suppose. Folks will come out for the party and keep writing checks to the school.

[SMUstang]

I know it is fashionable around here to bash Turner and Hart. But RGT at least was instrumental in building Ford, renovating Moody, building the IPF, the tennis center, and the stands for the soccer field, etc. You have to give him credit for being a great fund raiser.

[Water Pony]

I know it is fashionable around here to bash Turner and Hart. But RGT at least was instrumental in building Ford, renovating Moody, building the IPF, the tennis center, and the stands for the soccer field, etc. You have to give him credit for being a great fund raiser.

And, of course, our new, highly competitive Aquatics Center and Natatorium, which was decades late.

;-D

[Charleston Pony]

Can't really debate fund raising for athletics related projects. Just imagine where SMU might be with P5 money all these years

[DC-Pony]

I think how the optics of the game environment convey on the TV broadcast matter a lot more these days than the total number of fans. Ideally if you have 80k+ in a stadium for the pan out shots on TV cutting back in from a commercial, that’s terrific. But, short of that, if you can have a solid crowd in view of most of the game footage, I think that plays fine.

The money comes from the TV contracts far more than from the turn styles. (An aside: And this trend is increasing as people continue to have better TV viewing set-ups at home; younger generation doesn’t take in live events like previous ones; and who knows what lasting impact the pandemic has upon gathering in large crowds (too soon to tell for long-term impact)). And the TV contracts come to the best conferences. Teams get into the best conferences by winning and bringing eyes to TV. We can’t overcome our enrollment size, but we can change the optics of our game environment.

So with any stadium enhancements, switch the press box to the visitor side of the stadium so the audience at home sees the more impressive facility size of the “home” side of the stadium, and sees more people on that side. A bunch of other stadiums do this. We currently see the pitiful “visitor” side with little to no fans and a smaller stature of the stadium in view.

Keep winning at a high level. Keep marketing. And switch the camera view.

P.S. Political views will have nothing to do with us getting into the PAC12, the ACC, or any other conference. Reminder: we’re not a state school.

[SMUstang]

I don't think it would be feasible to move the press box and suites to the visitors side of the stadium. But I do think something like that should be done. The sight of an almost empty Ford Stadium on TV is detrimental to our program. Showing the world that we have little or no fan support. Very few, if any, other programs present such an image to the TV audience. We are one of the few G5 private schools that even gets on TV regularly. Rice and Tulane would look equally bad if they were even on TV. I don't know what, but something should be done.