Time to schedule a big time football team once a year!

[Dutch]

i'm with you. start small. get some wins. then get better recruits. then get better wins and better bowls then better recruits.

this whole "be a part of the team that turns things around" only works once, maybe twice.

[redpony]

[Were Ohio St and Notre Dame ever really "rivals"?]

Yes- As a very young child I remember going to South Bend to watch SMU-ND games. They were rivals especially because of the religious differences of the schools. SMU played Ohio State a couple of times winning once and losing once. The Ohio State games did wonders for the reputation of SMU as well as creating potential recruiting opportunities.
IMHO it would be much better to play out of state, nationally ranked teams as opposed to playing Texas or A&M.

GO PONIES!!!!

[CalallenStang]

am i the only one who doesnt like the idea of us playing bigger teams? we arent hawaii or anywhere near that good. i would like to schedule an easy team so we can get to 6 wins. i would rather go to a bowl game at the end of the year than to be able to say "well, we played Texas. we lost 55-0, but we played them"

That's exactly why we should play a game in which we will be the favorite, and another game against a team at a similar level to us(Baylor, Duke, etc). The TCU game will give us the third "winnable" game...though we will be underdogs, and playing one game a year against Texas Tech, etc. will give us a remote chance of pulling off an upset (but will allow us to at least keep our name out there as well).

[SMU 86]

I say let's get as easy a schedule as possible then play in a bowl game and then start to schedule more high profile teams.

[SMU21TCU10]

I say let's get as easy a schedule as possible then play in a bowl game and then start to schedule more high profile teams.

I have to agree. Scheduling 3 BCS teams in a season means 3 L's right now. Making it that much harder for us to make a bowl.

[smu diamond m]

The easy part of the schedule is called conference... c'mon our CUSA foes are all beatable, we just haven't been doing it lately

[EastStang]

I agree one cupcake, one BCS challenge game, and two games against the likes of TCU, Navy, Baylor, Vandy, Duke, Wake, Northwestern. If we do travel out of state for BCS, I of course nominate Rutgers, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Maryland and UVA as my choices, but that's selfish, they're within driving distance.

[CalallenStang]

I agree one cupcake, one BCS challenge game, and two games against the likes of TCU, Navy, Baylor, Vandy, Duke, Wake, Northwestern. If we do travel out of state for BCS, I of course nominate Rutgers, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Maryland and UVA as my choices, but that's selfish, they're within driving distance.

UVA would be awesome. "Battle of the Rotundas: Jefferson's vs. Dallas Hall"

[Big Hoss]

I say let's get as easy a schedule as possible then play in a bowl game and then start to schedule more high profile teams.

I have to agree. Scheduling 3 BCS teams in a season means 3 L's right now. Making it that much harder for us to make a bowl.

It also makes it harder to build your team's confidence when you consistently start out 0-4 or 1-3. Let's play at least 3 winnable OOC games before we start chanting "bring on LSU".

Beyond that, how HUGE would it be if we actually beat A&M in at least one of the games that we play them in 2011 & 2012? From where we are now, that is a monstrous leap. For that matter, it would be huge for us to beat Tech any 1 of the next 3 seasons we currently have them schedule for?

Think of the expression: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." We have to start somewhere before getting creamed by the likes of Ohio State.

[friarwolf]

If Jones delivers as we hope he does, I doubt we'll ever see that home and home against the aggies and tech will stop scheduling us as well. As we get better, none of our former "friends" from the SWC days will have anything to do with us..................

I would love to see us schedule some of the weaker sisters from the SEC in the coming years................

[ShorePony]

I think we could get Stanford to do a home and home. UCLA would host us at the Rose Bowl, but wouldn't come to Ford. We gave the Bruins a scare in 1994 or 1995 back when they were pretty decent.

[FWMustangGirl]

I think we could get Stanford to do a home and home. UCLA would host us at the Rose Bowl, but wouldn't come to Ford. We gave the Bruins a scare in 1994 or 1995 back when they were pretty decent.

I think it was 93 or 94. In any case, it was the same year we gave Wisconsin a scare.

Edit: I was thinking of North Carolina. Those light blue teams are all the same in my mind.

[huskerpony]

There is no reason not to have a Top 25 team on the schedule.

We used to knock off Arkansas every once in awhile, Kansas, etc. We went down to a last second field goal with Missouri when I was in school as well. You don't get better without challenging yourself. (Not that I'm suggesting we load the schedule with USC, Oklahoma, and LSU--but having one mid- to upper- level BCS opponent in your non-conference schedule should be a part of any respectable schedule.) We traditionally have done this anyway.

Besides, schedules are set several years out, and if we don't have any top teams on the schedule yet, we need to get them on there now so that they are there after some improvement has occurred.

If you are trying to get a really big name school to come to town though, there are several easy ways to do it. The best way is to accept 3 year, 2-away/1-home deal. Most schools (outside the Big 10 and Big East) look to schedule 2 mid-majors that they think they can get guaranteed wins off of that won't kill their strength of schedule, but you have to make it financially to their benefit--that also gets us on TV too, so it's to our benefit as well.

[hawaiisashimi_smu]

There is no reason not to have a Top 25 team on the schedule.

We used to knock off Arkansas every once in awhile, Kansas, etc. We went down to a last second field goal with Missouri when I was in school as well. You don't get better without challenging yourself. (Not that I'm suggesting we load the schedule with USC, Oklahoma, and LSU--but having one mid- to upper- level BCS opponent in your non-conference schedule should be a part of any respectable schedule.) We traditionally have done this anyway.

Besides, schedules are set several years out, and if we don't have any top teams on the schedule yet, we need to get them on there now so that they are there after some improvement has occurred.

If you are trying to get a really big name school to come to town though, there are several easy ways to do it. The best way is to accept 3 year, 2-away/1-home deal. Most schools (outside the Big 10 and Big East) look to schedule 2 mid-majors that they think they can get guaranteed wins off of that won't kill their strength of schedule, but you have to make it financially to their benefit--that also gets us on TV too, so it's to our benefit as well.

Bingo! Schedule 4, 5, 6 years in advance now or the BCS teams will not schedule SMU when they get better and are no longer a creampuff win. We only need one game a year. The game will probably be on national TV and will be great exposure for recruiting. It also gives the players incentive to get better physically and mentally for the season. A big time road game before 80,000 fans, shown live on national TV will prepare SMU for the C-USA championship run. These type of games will hone the team for those close conference road games so they can win it late in the 4th quarter.

Plus that, teams like U$C and ND pays big bucks to the visiting teams. Its a big money game for SMU.

[J.T.supporta]

There is no reason not to have a Top 25 team on the schedule.

We used to knock off Arkansas every once in awhile, Kansas, etc. We went down to a last second field goal with Missouri when I was in school as well. You don't get better without challenging yourself. (Not that I'm suggesting we load the schedule with USC, Oklahoma, and LSU--but having one mid- to upper- level BCS opponent in your non-conference schedule should be a part of any respectable schedule.) We traditionally have done this anyway.

Besides, schedules are set several years out, and if we don't have any top teams on the schedule yet, we need to get them on there now so that they are there after some improvement has occurred.

If you are trying to get a really big name school to come to town though, there are several easy ways to do it. The best way is to accept 3 year, 2-away/1-home deal. Most schools (outside the Big 10 and Big East) look to schedule 2 mid-majors that they think they can get guaranteed wins off of that won't kill their strength of schedule, but you have to make it financially to their benefit--that also gets us on TV too, so it's to our benefit as well.

Bingo! Schedule 4, 5, 6 years in advance now or the BCS teams will not schedule SMU when they get better and are no longer a creampuff win. We only need one game a year. The game will probably be on national TV and will be great exposure for recruiting. It also gives the players incentive to get better physically and mentally for the season. A big time road game before 80,000 fans, shown live on national TV will prepare SMU for the C-USA championship run. These type of games will hone the team for those close conference road games so they can win it late in the 4th quarter.

Plus that, teams like U$C and ND pays big bucks to the visiting teams. Its a big money game for SMU. 8)

BCS teams WILL schedule us no matter what, thats not the problem. its all about finding the best suitors and the best $$$ for a home and home. thats why Missouri games should be good in years to come.

theres alot of CUSA teams that play OC SEC teams. i wouldnt mind playing the SEC for a few years over the Big XII