Big 12 makes deal

[bubba pony]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... l-espn-fox
"It's safe to project the overall per-school revenue increasing to nearly $50 million starting in 2025-26"

"A source said that the league is expected to agree to a grant of rights with its 12 members for the length of the deal"

Kenneth Pye put SMU on a path to always be one conference step behind TCU. Lets face the facts that SMU will never get in the Big 12. We are going to enlarge a half empty stadium to lure who? The Pac 12? Hope I'm wrong but I don't see it.

[Charleston Pony]

SMU is going to need to have several wealthy, loyal & passionate supporters to have any hope of continuing to compete with our former SWC mates in the Big XII

[AusTxPony]

I would hope the money being spent by BMDs, that Turner, Hart and Andrew Luck??? know something. We will almost have to buy our way into P5, thanks to the Big 12 snub over the years. Would have been great if we had spent money on a good coach starting in the Cavan-Bennet era, but that is water under the bridge. We are trying now and good luck (pun?) to us...

[Charleston Pony]

The Pye Penalty was worse than the death penalty

[mtrout]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34910144/big-12-nears-six-year-228b-tv-extension-deal-espn-fox
"It's safe to project the overall per-school revenue increasing to nearly $50 million starting in 2025-26"

"A source said that the league is expected to agree to a grant of rights with its 12 members for the length of the deal"

Kenneth Pye put SMU on a path to always be one conference step behind TCU. Lets face the facts that SMU will never get in the Big 12. We are going to enlarge a half empty stadium to lure who? The Pac 12? Hope I'm wrong but I don't see it.

Now two steps behind TCU and one step behind Houston.

[Hoofbeat83]

Yes, the administration of our university has really let the sports fans (and donors) down over the years. We are in this position because of it. Very, very disappointing.

[Charleston Pony]

Kenneth Pye had no appreciation of the relationship sports success has to fund raising

[mustangxc]

What does Andrew Luck have to do with SMU? Did I miss something?

[mtrout]

Oliver Luck was special consultant to the AD at one point in the recent past (and possibly still is?)

[gostangs]

Oliver Luck was special consultant to the AD at one point in the recent past (and possibly still is?)

still is- has been on this behind the scenes on retainer.

[mustangxc]

I remember hearing that, but Andrew has no affiliation right?

[horsemanx]

I remember hearing that, but Andrew has no affiliation right?

He is Oliver's son.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

We are going to enlarge a half empty stadium to lure who? The Pac 12? Hope I'm wrong but I don't see it.

Because one day we'll be like this? Or how about half this? Just give it a few more years!

https://youtu.be/SdmBJoMtLjw

[ponyboy]

This deal says nothing about SMU getting into the B12 or not - and less about us getting another P5 invite. But I do want to respond to the tone that Bubba set in the initial post.

Do we truly have any peers in the P5? Any private schools with a big out of state student population - and small enrollments to begin with? Any schools who have strongly tended towards insularity and country-club elitism? Any schools with nominal religious affiliation (i.e. “Methodist” or “Christian” in the name of the school)? Any schools who are clearly conservative, including a presidential library for a former Republican?

I realize it’s a bit of a chicken or egg situation, meaning that we’d have a larger fan base if we were already P5. But, again, who are our peer schools? We seem to have been custom-made for never-again-P5 status.

Not saying it’s over - we could still get in. I’d give it about a 1 in 4 chance. But just wondering if we are being reasonable.

Worst case: I want a conference with the very best of the have-nots. The future AAC is absolutely unacceptable.

[Dukie]

Do we truly have any peers in the P5? Any private schools with a big out of state student population - and small enrollments to begin with? Any schools who have strongly tended towards insularity and country-club elitism? Any schools with nominal religious affiliation (i.e. “Methodist” or “Christian” in the name of the school)? Any schools who are clearly conservative, including a presidential library for a former Republican?

I realize it’s a bit of a chicken or egg situation, meaning that we’d have a larger fan base if we were already P5. But, again, who are our peer schools? We seem to have been custom-made for never-again-P5 status.

Not saying it’s over - we could still get in. I’d give it about a 1 in 4 chance. But just wondering if we are being reasonable.

Worst case: I want a conference with the very best of the have-nots. The future AAC is absolutely unacceptable.

TCU and Baylor are obviously fairly similar in most ways and there's that "C" in TCU, and BYU has a far more problematic religious tie than Methodism but they'll be P5 next year. Wake is significantly smaller. Duke and Vandy and Northwestern and Stanford all have student bodies drawn from far and wide. None of these schools are driving the P5 bus but they all have seats on board, at least for the foreseeable future. SMU hasn't been left behind because of religion or conservatism--even if I grant your argument that the SMU of today is particularly conservative, which I don't--but because of deemphasizing athletics.

SMU has drawbacks and difficulties, but happily for SMU, no other G5 seeking promotion can offer the PAC or the ACC (maybe someday) access to the Texas recruiting market and easy travel because DFW Airport. Rice would be somewhat similar, but Rice is both tiny even compared to SMU, and also not trying to be P5.