It's not just Bennett on TCU...

[The PonyGrad]

From the Tulsa World
November 7, 2003
From Article by Jamie Tramel

Long-range prediction: Texas Christian, which is unbeaten in football this season, is considering a move to the Mountain West Conference rather than staying in a reconfigured Conference USA with TU, SMU and Rice.

Tulsa, SMU and Rice officials are reportedly irked by what they perceive to be a TCU superiority complex, and TU president Dr. Bob Lawless made comments Wednesday indicating that TCU's overall athletic department is not superior to the athletic departments of Rice, SMU and Tulsa, citing examples like Rice's national championship baseball team and TU's nationally prominent basketball program.

On Thursday, Lawless added fuel to the fire.

Wrote Lawless in an e-mail to the Tulsa World, "In terms of conference membership with regard to TCU, I do not know which conference will have TCU as a member in the 2005 year, but I am totally confident that if TCU is a member of Conference USA, Tulsa will defeat TCU in football in the fall of 2005. However, if TCU elects to flee from this conference, there will be no opportunity to demonstrate this result." :p

[GoRedGoBlue]

Looks like CUSA teams are going to lock TCU out of TEXAS-OK-LA area games to prevent them from having recruiting opportunities.

So that means TCU will have to play more LONG road trip non-conference games and more WHO CARES games at home (or go with the ULa schools).

[Pigskin Frog]

Those WHO CARES games at home are the reason TCU doesn't like the new C-USA West in the first place!

[NavyCrimson]

i think pigskin is afraid of what smu will become in the next 3 yrs like the 60's thru the 80's vs. his purple goo.

[Stallion]

If TCU goes to the MWC it will show once again that this program is being run by academicians who have no clue how to run a Division 1A program. The decision to tie SMU's fortunes to Rice and Tulsa will prove to be one of the fatal mistakes in the demise of SMU football.

[Water Pony]

Let's not flatter ourselves. It is hard to imagine that the Frogs actually considered us in this pending decision. Their recent success is a moment in time that provides no assurance they or any similar program can sustain these results every year. For us, MWC is not an option. We haven't earned it. However, CUSA is a positive and our future needs our attention.

This is not sour grapes. If TCU's decides to go, they may regret it. A move like this for them should be a "no brainer" and an obvious upgrade. Long term the difference between MWC and Conf. USA will not be so easy to measure, despite some appeal for MWC schools like BYU, Utah, Air Force, Colorado State, etc.

On the other hand, the trade-offs include the reality that half or more of all men's and women's competitions in all sports will require be a much longer and more expensive commute.

Will recruiting be enhanced? For Texas HS players it will be neutral at best, perhaps even less, since the families and friends of student-athletes for FB and all other sports are less likely see them on the road. As others have commented, late MT and PT games may lessen TV appeal locally. TV money will be renegotiated in any case. Who will benefits is less obvious, but there certainly will not be a dramatic difference.

Again, no sour grapes. I just don't see the big lift. Incremental at the most. I like Houston, Tulsa, Memphis, Birmingham, Orlando, etc. as alternatives. Also, it will be easier for most SMU alumni to get to away games unless you live in Denver or Utah.

Taken long term, this is not a "no brainer" but an educated guess for them. I wish them well, but we have much farther to go and now we need to focus on our own work ahead. Too bad their ego is getting in the way, especially since success is often transitory and BCS for the MWC is not going to happen. If anything, the Big East may lose their automate inclusion. BCS is too smart to divide the pie further. It may even be generous by adding an extra bowl and permitting MWC, Conf. USA, etc. champs a spot, but the golden rule will prevail. For now, beat Louisana Tech. They may follow us to CUSA soon.

<small>[ 11-07-2003, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: Water Pony ]</small>

[Diehard Pony]

Originally posted by Pigskin Frog:
Those WHO CARES games at home are the reason TCU doesn't like the new C-USA West in the first place!

If the move is made, TCU will continue to have "who cares" games with teams whose fans are hundreds of miles further away than Dallas, Houston, or Tulsa.

[NavyCrimson]

"For us, MWC is not an option. We haven't earned it."

i don't think there is anything to earn.

c-usa will get better plain & simple with or without the purple goo.

[Buddha]

Originally posted by Stallion:
.... The decision to tie SMU's fortunes to Rice and Tulsa will prove to be one of the fatal mistakes in the demise of SMU football.

On the contrary, the fact that we fused ourselves at the hip to Tulsa and Rice might be the only reason we're in C-USA in the first place. Rice brings a national-champion baseball team. Tulsa brings a men's hoops team that has enjoyed serious postseason success in recent years, the best basketball arena around and a football team that has turned the corner. We bring .... a kick-butt women's swim team and some top-notch soccer and very good throwers in track. Attaching ourselves to the Owls and Golden Hurricane was not a mistake, it was vital to the improvement and growth of our athletic department.

[EastStang]

Remember our attendance at the Boise State game and the Fresno game, mark my words the Frogs will start seeing those numbers more and more often if they move to the MWC especially if they have a bad year. But they are hoping that by joining the MWC it will be the next BCS conference. They are beginning to act like the coed who kept jumping from bed to bed and suddenly discovered she had a bad reputation. They walked away from the WAC, next CUSA. If the MWC is not the heaven that they thought it would be, where do they go, the MAC? The SBC? 1-AA? Independent?

[Charleston Pony]

Those of you who bash the MWC haven't been following that conference. Their fans come out to support those teams on average by about 5-10,000 more per team than the WAC schools do. Last night's game between two 5-4 teams (CSU & UNM) drew a packed house of 37,133. TCU has earned a spot in that conference by showing they can bring 30,000 of their own loyal fans out to watch CUSA schools that don't travel any better than the MWC group will.

I do agree with those who struggle to find where the major advantage for TCU might be. While they might complain about how SMU, Rice and Tulsa will lower the level of competition in the CUSA-west, another way to look at it is that TCU would have a better shot at playing in the championship game every year and that's the kind of game that helps you gain national attention (just ask Marshall).

At any rate, I don't see this as a big deal for SMU because we are in a better situation with or without them. Keeping TCU on the non-conference schedule makes it even better. We've spent entirely TOO MUCH time talking about what the froggies will do. We need to worry about improving our own program because that's all that really matters. The rest will take care of itself.

[Frog81]

Originally posted by Diehard Pony:

Originally posted by Pigskin Frog:
[b] Those WHO CARES games at home are the reason TCU doesn't like the new C-USA West in the first place!

If the move is made, TCU will continue to have "who cares" games with teams whose fans are hundreds of miles further away than Dallas, Houston, or Tulsa. [/b]

As opposed to "who cares" games against SMU, who can't even bring fans from across the Metroplex?

[Diehard Pony]

Originally posted by Frog81:

As opposed to "who cares" games against SMU, who can't even bring fans from across the Metroplex? [/QB]

I witnessed how many TCU fans were in the stands for a home game when they were 0-10. Can you say 5K...being generous. When you win, you travel. When you lose consistently, traveling becomes a thing of the past, and home crowds disappear as well.

My statement stands. A movement to the MWC will produce "who cares" games against teams many hundreds of miles farther away than Tulsa, Dallas and Houston.

<small>[ 11-08-2003, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: Diehard Pony ]</small>

[bhop]

Rice, SMU, and Tulsa freezing TCU out of games in Dallas, Houston, and Tulsa if they go to the MWC. . .I like it! I like it BIG TIME! (to quote the movie Donnie Brasco)