Baylor at Ford

[Hoop Fan]

The A&M news got me thinking that it sure would be nice to open this year at Ford against Baylor. Tech is going to be tough to say the least. We need a win. Might both the Aggies and the Bears be visiting Ford in 2005? That would help average attendance now wouldnt it?

[ponyboy]

Assuming the A&M deal works out, is that right that we'll be playing the Aggies, Tech, Baylor, Houston, Rice, and TCU in 2005? Only Arkansas and UT are missing from that SWC lineup.

[93Mustang]

That's the way it should be. I really like the strategy of scheduling as many SWC opponents as possible. OSU is a good alternate choice as would be Missouri, Kansas, Kansas St., and/or CU. For attendence requirment purposes, to offset the lower gate of some of our conference opponents and our traditionally weak numbers, we need to bring in big schools with big local alumni groups or fans who will travel ie, OSU and Kansas St. People in the Big 12 like to come to Dallas - lets use that to our advantage.

[PonySnob]

Let's keep on scheduling non-conference opponents that cause the team to go winless every September but as long as their fans come to the game, everything is okay. Why is this a better way to schedule than playing teams that we should beat and would help us gain momentum to start the year instead of having a nice long losing streak? Why won't the administration make a committment to having a program that wins games like TCU does?

[EastStang]

TCU played Arizona, Northwestern and Vanderbilt. None of those teams is any worse than Baylor. I think our alums will respond favorably to playing games against old SWC foes (win or lose). I would rather lose to good teams than say schedule Delaware and lose to them.

[PonySnob]

The point is that the progam is at a sorry state in SMU football history and our non-conference schedule every year causes us to go winless in September. Over in Ft Worth, TCU is doing something right given that they win 9 or 10 games a year, go to bowl games every year and are usually ranked in the top 25. Why can't SMU do the same thing as the Frogs have done so that our program can enjoy some success for a change? Does it do any good to play OSU every year only to get beat by 30 or 40 points? This program has zero positive momentum and something needs to happen so that it can gain some and that is called WINNING!

[king_k]

You have to consider the financial impact of scheduling teams that will have a good draw. Filling the stadium like against Tech two years ago, brings lots of money into the program. SMU is losing money bigtime in olympic sports and any way to get some cash helps. I think the financial ramifications of scheduling play as big a part as the football side of things. The athletic director has to keep the program fiscally sound and football is what does that.

Cupcakes don't make money now! Maybe they would increase football momentum, but when the athletic program is broke and in division III it won't matter much.

[RGV Pony]

Well, if previous info from DMN holds true, compared to the latest, could it be that at some point we have an OOC sched. w/ Baylor, UNT & aTm? That seems like a better bet for us attendance-wise.

[Charleston Pony]

The economics of hosting someone like A$M are challenging. I would expect the Aggie$ to comand a payout of something in the $4-500k area, meaning SMU will have to charge a premium ticket price for that game. I would also expect SMU might have to agree to a two for one, meaning two visits to Kyle Field (and I would not expect a payday anywhere near what the Aggie$ get to come here). I know a lot of programs that attract 80k crowds and a $2 mil + gate are paying anywhere from $250-500k for visitors. We simply don't have equal bargaining power.

Until SMU can sellout at normal ticket rates for games with Louisiana-Monroe, Copeland hasn't much choice but to schedule this way. Ponysnob would like us to schedule I-AA programs and find more wins, but you'd still have to pay a minimum of $100k for those teams and what gate do you think they'd generate?

Games with UNT, TCU & Baylor make sense because we can get home/home series and hopefully we are able to negotiate favorable terms. Games with A$M are great because there is always a chance you pull off a shocking win. I don't look for Fran to be voluntarily playing TCU, so SMU and UNT are their best bets for metroplex visits.

[Mustangs35SMU]

Wait so if we face A&M in 05...we would have a CHANCE! not a big one but a chance to beat 3 Big 12 teams?

[king_k]

In a SMU vs. aTm game I believe that the Aggies would want to control a large share of the tickets rather than a large payout. A game like that could be moved to a larger venue if revenue was a driving factor much like Rice played Texas in Reliant this past year. I still think the economics are highly favorable even as opposed to playing a Baylor or UNT. SMU-aTm might be home and home not 2 for 1 and straightup b/c I thought the whole point was for aTm to come to Dallas for their alumni base. Not coming here once and expecting us to be fodder twice in Aggieland.

[WreckEm16]

I hope you guys get to experience the joy that is beating the Aggies in the only sport they care about.

As long as I live, I will never tire of it.

59-28.

[EastStang]

Do you think their band still uses whistle signals to know when to turn right and left? The stunt we pulled against the Aggies back in the 70's to blow whistles and turn their block "T" into a lopsided "y" was one of my SMU favorite moments.

[Hal]

.... I would expect the Aggie$ to comand a payout of something in the $4-500k area....

What do you base that on? I thought that a bigger school going to play at a smaller school can't command much of a payout. Troy State got a huge payout to get mauled by Maryland a couple of years ago, but offered little to big teams (Mississippi State, I think?) for visiting TSU.

[Stallion]

they can command a higher amount by simply saying NO! SMU would make at least 18,000 X $25 per ticket plus parking, concessions etc. ($450,000 in ticket sales alone) instead of playing a team which would draw our average attendance. Plus with such a small stadium we very likely could televise the game which would be owned by us as the home team and still get a sellout.