Houston, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP are the main targets for MWC

[lwjr]

I really don't care that much what we do. I think if the Big East added Southern Miss and Tulsa we would have a reasonable western division with

UH (11 wins last year)
SMU (4 straight bowls and JJ's flying circus)
Memphis (rebuilding-great BB)
Tulsa (11 wins this year-about eight 8+ wins seasons in decade)
Southern Miss (didn't they win 11 games last year or was it 10)
Tulane (rebuilding)

I really doubt the MWC is that much more competitive w/o BYU. All these programs have or will be building new or improving football facilities-I think-I forgot if Memphis is or not. Generally East is much better than West. As far as that BCS spot, if its not a mirage, you still have to win out for a real shot-same for MWC. Slight advantage for attendance to Big East for UH and Tulsa. TV revenue will likely be a tad-but only a tad bigger in Big East due to Eastern profile. I'd much rather recruit to a Southern Division than the MWC

I damn sure wouldn't pay 5 to 10 million dollars to join the MWC. This going to be a closer call than some think

But at this point or if Cincy and UConn go, do you believe SMU tells BE since this is not the same conference they agreed to join so they do not have tp pay exit fee?

[JasonB]

Schools that make a move right now have no shot at the big four. The ones that do will hang where they are until they are out for sure.

I don't think we will move until the acc fallout happens.

[Rebel10]

I really don't care that much what we do. I think if the Big East added Southern Miss and Tulsa we would have a reasonable western division with

UH (11 wins last year)
SMU (4 straight bowls and JJ's flying circus)
Memphis (rebuilding-great BB)
Tulsa (11 wins this year-about eight 8+ wins seasons in decade)
Southern Miss (didn't they win 11 games last year or was it 10)
Tulane (rebuilding)

I really doubt the MWC is that much more competitive w/o BYU. All these programs have or will be building new or improving football facilities-I think-I forgot if Memphis is or not. Generally East is much better than West. As far as that BCS spot, if its not a mirage, you still have to win out for a real shot-same for MWC. Slight advantage for attendance to Big East for UH and Tulsa. TV revenue will likely be a tad-but only a tad bigger in Big East due to Eastern profile. I'd much rather recruit to a Southern Division than the MWC

I damn sure wouldn't pay 5 to 10 million dollars to join the MWC. This going to be a closer call than some think

SMU still has to pay the CUSA exit fee and to add 5 to 10 million more for the BE exit fee just to go to the MWC is not worth it.

[SMU1990]

Erosion Definition:
the act or state of eroding; state of being eroded.

Do I really need to list the teams that have eroded from the conference.

1) Depaul
2) Georgetown
3) Louisville
4) Marquette
5) Notre Dame
6) Pittsburgh
7) Providence
8) Rutgers
9) Saint Johns
10) Seton Hall
11) Syracuse
12) Temple

If Connecticut and Cincinnati erode who is left that was in the Big East when we signed up.

USF
Temple

The deal was lost when ND left. After at that point it was over. I would be surprised if the Big East survives especially if UConn and Cincy depart.

I would say it is safe to say we should be able to bail out without paying fees considering we have no TV deal and that a majority of the teams that were part of the league when we signed the deal are gone.

It is my belief the MWC is a better conference for both basketball and football.

[Rebel10]

The teams that left had to pay an exit fee as well. We would probably not be exempt unless we went to court to try to fight the exits fees which would cost is more than it is worth.

[Longtime]

Don't underestimate the value of being connected to the Florida schools, USF and UCF. Those two are emerging powers - really big schools in a recruiting hotbed as fertile as Texas. They may never be quite as popular as UF and FSU, but there's room for more top-tier programs in Florida given its size and abundance of recruiting prospects.

If you can read the tea leaves and determine that Cincinnati, UConn, South Florida and UCF are staying in the Big East for the foreseeable future, standing pat is a good move for SMU. I can't see the MWC getting a significantly better TV deal than what's left of the Big East. Remember, the MWC was desperate to get Boise State back in the fold because it really doesn't have much else to offer the TV networks. What's left of the Big East will also be a better basketball league than the MWC.

Just because going back to the MWC was a good move for Boise State doesn't mean it's a good one for SMU/Houston. The MWC has always been focused on regionalism - it's one of the main reasons this group broke away from the 16-team WAC. Yes, they invited TCU, but my guess is that was more for improving the chances of getting AQ status than for expanding into the the Texas market. In short: They may not want us.

The argument that the MWC is a better stepping stone to a Big Four conference because Utah and TCU did it ignores the fact the Big East was considered a top tier conference until now. You couldn't jump from the Big East to a BCS conference because you were already IN a BCS conference.

The Mountain West is also perceived as severely weakened with the losses of BYU, TCU and Utah. Just look at their performance in the bowls this season. It's not the same MWC that TCU competed in to raise its profile.

[SoCal_Pony]

It is my belief the MWC is a better conference for both basketball and football.

Won't argue that point one way or another. I do agree with Rebel that we have no idea what the BE exit fees would be, but I suspect it would be some amount.

But to my bigger point, strongly suspect MWC would have substantial exit fees as they want to show stability and commitment. Why tie ourselves to this conference when a depleted ACC would be far superior.

Let's see....pay CUSA exit fees + some sort of nBE exit fees + additional MWC exit fees all to get to where we most likely want to be (from a realistic standpoint) an ACC left-over conference. That is called a Ponzi scheme.

Makes no sense whatsoever until the big dogs have barked. If you can convince me that B10, SEC and B12 are done expanding, then I listen to MVC, until then, no way. I hope UH and us are united on this front.

[Kynd Tulsa Phan]

whatever happens, it will change in 4-6 months

WAC 16 Buddy!!!

[Statler]

Don't see spending all the money updating BB facilities and paying for LB and his assistants to go play out West where nobody sees it.

Remember..it's all about the TV markets.

[lwjr]

Don't see spending all the money updating BB facilities and paying for LB and his assistants to go play out West where nobody sees it.

Remember..it's all about the TV markets.

Good point. To be continued.............

[Charleston Pony]

Don't see spending all the money updating BB facilities and paying for LB and his assistants to go play out West where nobody sees it.

Remember..it's all about the TV markets.

spot on...and don't forget SMU raised it's profile out west as a member of the WAC. I think I read where behind Texas, we have more students from CA then any other state. Moving eastward is the right move to raise the profile of SMU

[Water Pony]

We need to play long ball. We didn't create the most recent dilemma and there is not much we can initiate by ourselves at this point.

Guiding principles for SMU include:
- Concentrate our schedule and conference alignment in the Central and Eastern Time Zones to maximize media exposure
- Make Ford Stadium a destination for conference and OCC opponents by increasing attendance and ensuring fans and, especially, the students are in their seats before kick-off.
- Raise our BB brand, which requires playing major programs in ET and CT.
- Be patient, while ACC, PAC12, SEC, Big12 and Big10 complete their raids.
- Move toward a better situation, when there is certainty and it is a promotion to a Power Conference (no lateral moves).
- Our goal should be Power Conference invitation, using Stanford, N'western and Vanderbilt, as our models. Great academics in a large market.

In summary, we can not be guessing at this point, so max our move to BE now with an eye making us the most attractive option for a Power Conference in the future. We need to earn the next move.

[PonySnob]

We need to play long ball. We didn't create the most recent dilemma and there is not much we can initiate by ourselves at this point.

Guiding principles for SMU include:
- Concentrate our schedule and conference alignment in the Central and Eastern Time Zones to maximize media exposure
- Make Ford Stadium a destination for conference and OCC opponents by increasing attendance and ensuring fans and, especially, the students are in their seats before kick-off.
- Raise our BB brand, which requires playing major programs in ET and CT.
- Be patient, while ACC, PAC12, SEC, Big12 and Big10 complete their raids.
- Move toward a better situation, when there is certainty and it is a promotion to a Power Conference (no lateral moves).
- Our goal should be Power Conference invitation, using Stanford, N'western and Vanderbilt, as our models. Great academics in a large market.

In summary, we can not be guessing at this point, so max our move to BE now with an eye making us the most attractive option for a Power Conference in the future. We need to earn the next move.

We'll need to be doing better than 6-6/7-5 on the football field.......

[WordUpBU]

We need to play long ball. We didn't create the most recent dilemma and there is not much we can initiate by ourselves at this point.

Guiding principles for SMU include:
- Concentrate our schedule and conference alignment in the Central and Eastern Time Zones to maximize media exposure
- Make Ford Stadium a destination for conference and OCC opponents by increasing attendance and ensuring fans and, especially, the students are in their seats before kick-off.
- Raise our BB brand, which requires playing major programs in ET and CT.
- Be patient, while ACC, PAC12, SEC, Big12 and Big10 complete their raids.
- Move toward a better situation, when there is certainty and it is a promotion to a Power Conference (no lateral moves).
- Our goal should be Power Conference invitation, using Stanford, N'western and Vanderbilt, as our models. Great academics in a large market.

In summary, we can not be guessing at this point, so max our move to BE now with an eye making us the most attractive option for a Power Conference in the future. We need to earn the next move.

1- SMU needs to play at most one big time non-con per year and rack up the wins. You want to be Boise, not the ECU program who wins a lot but never cracks the bcs.
2- Hoops would favor going west. SDSU, UNLV, UNM, USU, and others have better historical RPI than most of the NBE. Yeah Memphis and Temple boost them but Tulane, ECU, and UCF aren't strong.
3- ACC getting picked apart the most likely way SMU moves up. The PAC is not happening. They will stay at 12 or take Bevo/Boomer.
4- TCU/Utah/UL need to be your model. The others were grandfathered in. Win big and MAKE them notice you and upgrade facilities & staff across the board.

[SMUstang]

If the MWC is able to land all 4 of these schools, it will be far superior to what's left of the Big East. It could be a mute point anyway if the 7 basketball schools vote to mercifully kill BE football. But think of it, travel would be significantly less than the nBE 10. SMU could be playing 7 games within their division, 2 games with the other division, and 3 non conference games. The furthest road trip within the division would be Laramie which would be much better than Storrs. Let's face it, the nBE is not going to be the next power conference. The MWC has a chance to be that conference.

And for basketball and the Olympic sports, travel matters. We really won't be losing much by not playing Tulane, Memphis, UCF, ECU, Temple and UConn.

The SWC, WAC, and nBe are dead or almost dead.