SMU Favored by 9

[Stallion]

With Houston and SMU both losing last week, I'm not sensing anything like 30,000. Homecoming last year 15,000 and change. If this had been the showdown expected earlier in the year then I could see it. Looks like right now they are selling seats on the 50 yard line. I think optimistically 25,000 would be goal unless there is some kind of promotion I haven't heard about.

[squire]

Some of you are missing the point. Navy is a scheduling mistake. But not because they are tough.
We need to schedule, and beat good teams, not cupcakes. Cupcakes do not teach you how to play 4 quarter games.
Navy should not be on our schedule because they are a bad match up, you get very little value from beating them, they do nothing for attendance, they do not help recruiting in any way, and they cut block.
On the other hand, playing Navy may help in preparing for a team like Nevada, who has a strong running game.

[Oliver]

get navy off the schedule! there is absolutely no reason to play them. guaranteed loss.

Same with TCU. We could use a break from both schools for a couple of years to get better.

I have to vehemently disagree. Its good for both schools to play each other every year, especially us, as it was probably the only game people outside of Dallas had any interest in watching this year. More importantly though, what about tradition? I think our rivalry with TCU is very special, and as we continue to improve, it could become not only the best non AQ rivalry game out there, but one of the best annual rivalry games period.

The SMU-TCU game was the first time i have felt real electricity in Ford stadium as a student, and I can't wait 'til we kick their asses in the coming years!

[Oliver]

actually, it looks like my sarcasm detector was broken..

[PonyKai]

Navy should not be on our schedule because they are a bad match up, you get very little value from beating them, they do nothing for attendance, they do not help recruiting in any way, and they cut block.

Lost me as soon as you said you get little value from beating them, and they do nothing for attendance. They bring more active Middies on each road trip than about half of our conference teams bring total fans to Dallas.

[Pony in SA]

Finished watching tape of entire game. Number 1 reason you don't schedule Navy is because of injuries. Their blocking scheme increases significantly chances of our DL getting hurt and we do not have the depth and probably won't have the depth some others do. We do not have high school all americans on the depth chart at 3rd and 4th spots we can plug in like UT. If Thompson, Hunt, etc. had blown knee from this game we would be screwed for rest of the year.

Do not play SHSU, SFA or other patsies I agree. But we should scheduled some other Div. 1 team that does not increase chance of major injuries to our guys.

[friarwolf]

Replace them with Ole Miss...................

[Pony in SA]

Ole Miss game on the road years ago was one of the best SMU road trips I have been on. Great game where we threw long pass to Jack Brewer to inside Ole Miss 10 yard line but ran out of time to score from there. Cavan then ran Brewer and DE Riley off to Minnesota where I believe Riley lead Big 10 in sacks one year, General would know for sure.

I'm all for scheduling Ole Miss, plus the pre-game at the Grove is amazing.

[stc9]

I care about not playing Navy. Even were SMU to beat Navy, it would provide no greater recognition. Navy is not BCS, and it is not ranked. It is a team that utilizes an offense we are incapable of stopping.

My 2 cents: Keep Navy on the schedule. 1) They have name recognition. 2) Everybody knows that they play every game tough, so it is always a quality win. 3) The staff is pursuing players from outside Texas. They need to see at least a couple of names they know on the schedule. 4) We have made no progress as a program if the only teams we play are FCS Teams - Why would a bowl selection committee want to display that team?

The talking heads on ESPN were reporting that Sumlin and Leach are on the short list to replace Brewster at Minnesota.

[mrydel]

They need a TCU game type of promotion. Rivals members can see the list of recruits coming in this week for the game, both committed and offered. A good, loud, energetic crowd would be nice. Then we need to win.

[Harry0569]

With Houston and SMU both losing last week, I'm not sensing anything like 30,000. Homecoming last year 15,000 and change. If this had been the showdown expected earlier in the year then I could see it. Looks like right now they are selling seats on the 50 yard line. I think optimistically 25,000 would be goal unless there is some kind of promotion I haven't heard about.

I think 25k sounds about right. To me, that sounds like a fairly good turnout, and I know of a lot of young alumni coming in for the game, which hopefully is the start of lifelong fans.

[NickSMU17]

With Houston and SMU both losing last week, I'm not sensing anything like 30,000. Homecoming last year 15,000 and change. If this had been the showdown expected earlier in the year then I could see it. Looks like right now they are selling seats on the 50 yard line. I think optimistically 25,000 would be goal unless there is some kind of promotion I haven't heard about.

Biggest bus brigade of year....I think 30 is capable but I see the weather is supposed to be crappy this weekend so we will see...

Most of my friends are in....

[Samurai Stang]

My 2 cents: Keep Navy on the schedule. 1) They have name recognition. 2) Everybody knows that they play every game tough, so it is always a quality win. 3) The staff is pursuing players from outside Texas. They need to see at least a couple of names they know on the schedule. 4) We have made no progress as a program if the only teams we play are FCS Teams - Why would a bowl selection committee want to display that team?

SMU should play strong opponents that are recognized as having much power, or weaker known opponents that can be easily triumphed over, but still possess name recognition.

You argument falls short in that Navy is not the only FBS option when scheduling non-conference opponents. Victory against Navy is not as prestigious as you believe. Given SMU's consistent inability to triumph over Navy, the quality of such a hypothetical win is unimportant. Such future contests represent a certain yet unnecessary defeat.

[Harry0569]

With Houston and SMU both losing last week, I'm not sensing anything like 30,000. Homecoming last year 15,000 and change. If this had been the showdown expected earlier in the year then I could see it. Looks like right now they are selling seats on the 50 yard line. I think optimistically 25,000 would be goal unless there is some kind of promotion I haven't heard about.

Biggest bus brigade of year....I think 30 is capable but I see the weather is supposed to be crappy this weekend so we will see...

Most of my friends are in....

30 percent chance of rain Friday and Saturday. If my flight gets delayed Friday, I'm gonna be pissed. On another note, we have a lot of big time recruits coming in Saturday..let's hope they get to the game on time.

[RE Tycoon]

I think 30k is a pipe dream. To get close to capacity, we still rely heavily on visiting fans. Had UH not stumbled this year, then I believe this game could have been a special atmosphere. I just don't think UH is going to show Saturday. If it rains, SMU fickle crowd may not show either.