If You Could Make a New Conference...

[abezontar]

I know many of these scenarios are unlikely, but we've all thought about it. If SMU were to improve over the next few years, what's the most realistic way you would create a new conference for SMU.

Lets be honest, Conference USA is good for us now, but if we were to get better the competition is really not that fun to watch. In a perfect world...

Tulane : New Orleans (market) / Academics
Rice: Houston (market) / Academics
SMU: Dallas (market) / Academics
Memphis – market / Basketball
Temple – Philadelphia (market) / Basketball
Notre Dame – Football / Basketball
UTAH – Football / Basketball
Boise St. – Football / Basketball

Let's Hear It...

Why would Boise or Utah or Notre Dame get involved with this?

You are better off thinking SMU to the SEC to open up the Dallas media market if you want to go with pipedreams.

As long as we are talking pipe dreams, I say we abolish professional football, tear up the interstates, make cars as difficult to drive as possible, shut down the interwebs, cable, and satellite. TV That way, SMU will become essentially the only option for a football fan in Dallas. I bet we could fill the Cotton Bowl again like in the old days.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

sure it'll never happen...but i like your idea of an all private school conference
but would like to see BYU included....also you could throw in the service academies

[RednBlue11]

sure it'll never happen...but i like your idea of an all private school conference
but would like to see BYU included....also you could throw in the service academies

like the ivy league perhaps? what would we call it?

my hs belonged to the Independent School League (ISL) with all private hs only.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

Oh and of course TCU should be in the
Private School Conference since TCU kicks major tail in
college football and finishes in the Top 20 in the country!

[East Coast Mustang]

East
Florida
Florida State
LSU
Michigan
Ohio State
Notre Dame

West
SMU
Texas
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
UCLA
USC


How's that?

[Charleston Pony]

assuming the BCS cconferences remain as they are...and then assuming a 16 team playoff system is devised...and further assuming that any group with 12 members gets an "automatic bid"...and assuming that smaller schools like SMU and the 2nd tier state schools would like to form more regional conferences...

My New SWC:

SMU
TCU
UNT
Tulsa
UTEP
NMSU

Houston
Rice
Yulane
La Tech
La-Lafayette
Ark St

We would actually have a chance to compete with this grouping, rather than the pipe dream of going head to head year in and year out with the goliaths of college athletics.

[jtstang]

That's ridiculous. The biggest benefit to joining a hypothetical new conference would be another opportunity to blackball NTSU and you want to just throw that away?

[ALEX LIFESON]

assuming the BCS cconferences remain as they are...and then assuming a 16 team playoff system is devised...and further assuming that any group with 12 members gets an "automatic bid"...and assuming that smaller schools like SMU and the 2nd tier state schools would like to form more regional conferences...

My New SWC:

SMU
TCU
UNT
Tulsa
UTEP
NMSU

Houston
Rice
Yulane
La Tech
La-Lafayette
Ark St

We would actually have a chance to compete with this grouping, rather than the pipe dream of going head to head year in and year out with the goliaths of college athletics.

I'm sure SMU fans would be pumped to be in a conference with NMSU, Ark. St, NTSU, and La La??? Orsini has goals SMU to move up in the future, not move in the slums.

[Blvd_Stang]

Ok well everyone is obsessed with pipe euphemisms...So put this in your pipe and smoke it. The most realistic legit future conference in my eyes:

(This is assuming June Jones brings us to the glory land)

All Academic Conference - with a few added teams for legitimacy

SMU
Notre Dame
TCU
Rice
BYU
Tulane
Memphis
Temple
Boise St.

(No Teams coming from major BCS conferences)

[PonySnob]

I know many of these scenarios are unlikely, but we've all thought about it. If SMU were to improve over the next few years, what's the most realistic way you would create a new conference for SMU.

Lets be honest, Conference USA is good for us now, but if we were to get better the competition is really not that fun to watch. In a perfect world...

Tulane : New Orleans (market) / Academics
Rice: Houston (market) / Academics
SMU: Dallas (market) / Academics
Memphis – market / Basketball
Temple – Philadelphia (market) / Basketball
Notre Dame – Football / Basketball
UTAH – Football / Basketball
Boise St. – Football / Basketball

Let's Hear It...

Great...another conference that add svery little to SMU's home games attendance....except for the one game every other year in football and the yearly home game with Memphis (and who knows what they will be like with coach Cal gone).

[PonySnob]

[ Orsini has goals SMU to move up in the future, not move in the slums.

Well so far, neither football or men's basketball has performed any better with his hires than they did with the coaches brought in by Copeland. Hopefully this will be the year we start to see progress....................

[Water Pony]

USNA
USMA
USAFA
SMU
Tulane
TCU
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Wake Forest
Notre Dame

[MrMustang1965]

USNA
USMA
USAFA
SMU
Tulane
TCU
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Wake Forest
Notre Dame

I like this!

[Stallion]

I'm not surprised you would like that idea-you are clueless. You want to fade away into oblivion because that's what you are suggesting. A private school conference is one of the stupiest ideas I've heard. Its economic suicide. None of those rational schools would draw flies and the schools that would are not interested. The remaining private schools would not be able to even attract a national TV contract and bowls would run like hell from having to invite private schools to their bowls. Do any of you have a clue. You know I'm not naive enough to suggest that SMU would be invited to join a conference where SMU might actually reach its potential but at least TCU has goals to reach the highest levels possible. The goal I thought was to be Top 25 in every sport. The SMU I grew up with apparently died with the death penalty because some of you are perfectly happy with mediocre results in a lower level Division 1A conference. And that's your highest goal for the program. Sad.

[Charleston Pony]

assuming the BCS cconferences remain as they are...and then assuming a 16 team playoff system is devised...and further assuming that any group with 12 members gets an "automatic bid"...and assuming that smaller schools like SMU and the 2nd tier state schools would like to form more regional conferences...

My New SWC:

SMU
TCU
UNT
Tulsa
UTEP
NMSU

Houston
Rice
Yulane
La Tech
La-Lafayette
Ark St

We would actually have a chance to compete with this grouping, rather than the pipe dream of going head to head year in and year out with the goliaths of college athletics.

I'm sure SMU fans would be pumped to be in a conference with NMSU, Ark. St, NTSU, and La La??? Orsini has goals SMU to move up in the future, not move in the slums.

I think we would all RATHER move back in with the big boys, but we'd better figure out a way to lure Dallas area sports fans with no connection to SMU because with our tiny fan base, we aren't going to be invited any time soon. TCU has had great success in football and now baseball but until they can pack ACS every Saturday (with their own fans), they will still be snubbed by our big state school counterparts who have made it clear they don't want to carry the rest of us (like they did for years in the old SWC)