Embrace the East

[Water Pony]

SMU needs to be all in with the East. FB, BB, non-revenue sports, marketing, and better/upgraded facilities (Moody, Indoor Practice Field, Westcott, new Natatorium, etc.) With a strong academic image, aka Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Notre Dame, etc., SMU will be more national in it brand, both in the classroom and on the field, court and pool.

Dallas will be a great destination for BE teams, East and West. SMU should be one of the strongest faces in the conference in everything we do. What are your suggestions for "embracing the East"? I say add Men's and Women's Lacrosse. How about hosting expanding Ford and hosting BE championships on a regular basis, along with A&M or another big school, like Arkansas? The Hilltop needs to be a magnetic for the BE, "the belt buckle of the conference", host extraordinaire!

[ponyinNC]

win football games, get ranked, go into the New Big East with a chip on out shoulder.

Lacrosse seems like a no-brainer...wouldn't we be one of the only Texas based schools with a D1 team? And we are surrounded by privates and other HS that are starting to embrace the sport to recruit from.

[hoopmanx]

win football games, get ranked, go into the New Big East with a chip on out shoulder.

Lacrosse seems like a no-brainer...wouldn't we be one of the only Texas based schools with a D1 team? And we are surrounded by privates and other HS that are starting to embrace the sport to recruit from.

Umm, we could be great in lacrosse, but that takes a commitment. Any admin w/in the club program currently moves on. Have to make a profile hire, and recruit the NE, not privates surrounding Dallas. There is maybe 1 or 2 kids per year in DFW, good enough to play D1 lax. Don't get me wrong, their will be more eventually, cause the sport is a wildfire, but in terms of immediate results, you have to gear towards areas that are legit hotbeds

[ponyinNC]

win football games, get ranked, go into the New Big East with a chip on out shoulder.

Lacrosse seems like a no-brainer...wouldn't we be one of the only Texas based schools with a D1 team? And we are surrounded by privates and other HS that are starting to embrace the sport to recruit from.

Umm, we could be great in lacrosse, but that takes a commitment. Any admin w/in the club program currently moves on. Have to make a profile hire, and recruit the NE, not privates surrounding Dallas. There is maybe 1 or 2 kids per year in DFW, good enough to play D1 lax. Don't get me wrong, their will be more eventually, cause the sport is a wildfire, but in terms of immediate results, you have to gear towards areas that are legit hotbeds

i see your point, and agree. but to catch on in the right area at the right time would be huge.

[redpony]

Need major upgrades in swimming and LAX. Also need to upgrade our coaches in bball, and both soccer programs or we will be totally embarrassed in those sports. Success starts with good coaches and recruiters.

GO PONIES!!!

[jtoutloud]

win football games, get ranked, go into the New Big East with a chip on out shoulder.

Lacrosse seems like a no-brainer...wouldn't we be one of the only Texas based schools with a D1 team? And we are surrounded by privates and other HS that are starting to embrace the sport to recruit from.

A buddy of mine who won 2 national chapmionships at Princeton Lacrosse coaches around DFW and was saying that it is cacthing on big time in the suburb schools "Southlake, Allen, Plano, etc.." and that there will be many D-1 LAX players in the next few years. SMU should have first pick.

Also, SMU needs to update their rowing facilities. They are pretty bad. I understand that there is a push to get facilities set up on the Trinity in the next couple of years as Dallas makes its push to host the Summer Olympics. Currently SMU Rowing is on White Rock and it is too windy to be a serious venue.

[Hoss]

In PP's video interview, it sounded like Orsini has no plans to add any sports anytime soon. The BE money has to be spent first on facilities upgrades (track, swimming, soccer), creation of a marketing department and providing it with an ample budget and bolstering the infrastructure in behind-the-scenes departments that are grossly under-funded.

[gostangs]

There is enough talent in DFW alone to field a D-1 team in lacrosse for SMU - HP by itself sends 3-4 kids a year to D-1 lacrosse - as does ESD, St Marks and Jesuit - with Coppell and others coming on quickly. The outlying suburb programs are behind but will get there eventually. That doesn't even count the guys coming out of Houston. Denver is the other middle of the country team and they are very competitive nationally with way less talent near them.

This is a no brainer from fit and personnel - but costs is a tough one. It would be a FANTASTIC fit with our new conference and the direction of the school in academics.

[SMUer]

not to mention that we already have a club team that's pretty darn good

[SMU89]

SMU needs to be all in with the East. FB, BB, non-revenue sports, marketing, and better/upgraded facilities (Moody, Indoor Practice Field, Westcott, new Natatorium, etc.) With a strong academic image, aka Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Notre Dame, etc., SMU will be more national in it brand, both in the classroom and on the field, court and pool.

Dallas will be a great destination for BE teams, East and West. SMU should be one of the strongest faces in the conference in everything we do. What are your suggestions for "embracing the East"? I say add Men's and Women's Lacrosse. How about hosting expanding Ford and hosting BE championships on a regular basis, along with A&M or another big school, like Arkansas? The Hilltop needs to be a magnetic for the BE, "the belt buckle of the conference", host extraordinaire!

Bull Riding

[The PonyGrad]

First make sure that what you do now you do well. Then look to expansion.

I like the thread title though... nice dig to "embrace CUSA" proponents.

[SMU 86]

I hope we add a track team first.