Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated writes about SMU

[that's great raplh]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug ... &type=lgns

Does SMU ever have a chance to be a football powerhouse again? Or was the death penalty literally the death of the Mustangs? What can they do to compete with other big-time football schools in the future? --Thomas Bruce, Dallas

Baby steps, Thomas. Forget becoming a "powerhouse" for now. It would be a step up just for SMU to become competitive in a second-tier conference. The Mustangs last rose above .500 in the WAC in 1997, and now they're moving into Conference USA, which lacks a juggernaut like Boise State but on the whole should be comparable. If Phil Bennett can just get them over that .500 hump, though, and into a bowl game -- which they haven't done in 21 years -- then maybe that program could finally build some momentum.

We've seen it time and time again recently: previously forgotten cellar dwellers (such as Memphis, Northern Illinois and Bowling Green) turning themselves into respectable mid-major programs with the right mix of coaching, support and fortunate recruiting. The death penalty (or, more accurately, the gross misbehavior that prompted it) certainly put an end to any hopes of SMU ever returning to its glory days of the '30s and '40s, but it's no longer a valid excuse for why the Mustangs can't at least field a competitive program in the C-USA.

[NavyCrimson]

now if the reporter really had done his homework, he would have said that the administration & the faculty senate had decided at the time of the mustangs' return that they have no plans to field a competitive winning team at that time or up to & including Christ's return to earth!

... furthermore, the administration prefered to operate the school with deficits & that they wanted to instill a losing atmosphere thru out the campus!

[Col. Nathan R. Jessep]

Based on the recent history of NCAA & their sanctions, NO ONE will ever face "DP" again.

Examples:

COLORADO: Prostitution & sexual harassment (NO DP)

OHIO STATE: $$$ & GRADE TAMPERING (NO DP)

BAYLOR: MURDER & ATTEMPTED COACHES COVER-UP (NO DP)


So, in this day & age, what does it take???

[NavyCrimson]

those are great examples Col. Nathan R. Jessep

[JudgeChamber]

BAYLOR: MURDER & ATTEMPTED COACHES COVER-UP (NO DP)

Classy. Just to be clear, the murder was not technically an NCAA violation and should not have had an impact on the penalties, though it did per the committee.

Second, Bliss, may he rot forever, did not cover up the murder, he attempted to cover up the violations. And what he said of PD, however poor the timing and however bad it looked afterward, was true.

Baylor has gotten the stiffest penalty since the SMU DP, for what basically amounts to $30,000 in tuition and fees for two guys that didn't have scholarships, while Alabama outright pays $200,000 to get a RB to come to their school and they get little to nothing. Georgia creates a system to keep their athletes eligible, not to mention the money, and they get nothing. Ohio State - Nothing; Missouri - Nothing.

Those are the cases ya'll should be complaining about.

[ponyte]

The NCAA has too given the death penalty to another sporting program. The NCAA gave Southwest Ohio State School for the Blind's men' tennis program the death penalty recently (or some other never heard of it program). That should keep the rest of the member organizations in line.

[Rayburn]

Considering the wreck made of the SMU football program by the Death Penalty, maybe we should sue the NCAA for selective enforcement.

[ThadFilms]

maybe we should sue the NCAA for selective enforcement.

Now that's a great idea. Give me a petition and I'll sign it.

[jkflamebo]

How do u think smu football would stack up to this day if the DP never hit the hilltop?

[ThadFilms]

Well, you have to look at the Sanctions that the NCAA started hitting us with... let's say, the NCAA didn't come sniffing around after the win over Texas.

Ron Meyer would have stayed on, and the violations would have tapered off. The real problems occured after Meyer left and the boosters went bonkers without having a head coach to tell them to stop. Bringing in Bobby Collins and keeping him in the dark about the payola proved to be a cataclysmic decision.

Had Ron Meyer stayed a little longer, and/or Bobby Collins been kept in the loop... the actions that were put in place to, um, "level the playing field" would have been curtailed. The mounting sanctions were what hurt us in the years after the 82 season and prior to the DP.

If you then step back and look at it... what PRIVATE university stepped in around the same time that sanctions were watering down the team, and became a consistent national powerhouse? You guessed it - Miami.

Would the big twelve exist right now? Maybe. Maybe not. I think the SWC would still be around. If not SMU would be in the Big 12.

I won't say that we would be Miami... but I think we would be a consistent top 25 team, with a few chunks of years that we would be in the top ten and competing for the National Championship.

Sucsess breeds more sucsess.

That's just my two cents... take it or leave it.

-Thaddeus, class of '01 (yup, I've done my research)