Finally, a realistic OCC schedule

[sbsmith]

But sure, let's just load up our schedule with teams that will beat us easily by 30 every game, and we can be the whipping boys of college football instead of Savannah State. I'm just saying we could dial it back a bit.

We are dialing it back a bit, no one should be scared of our upcoming OOC schedules. It's just TCU, Baylor and UNT (4th spot likely gets filled with 1-AA team). Personally I'd like to see us keep playing A&M and Tech but A&M already has a yearly DFW game with Arkansas and Tech has TCU every other year so it's not very likely they'll be coming to play at Ford anymore.

[AusTxPony]

Stallion wrote:
I really don't understand fans that want SMU to remain in CUSA like conferences forever.
There is NO fan with that mentality on this board. Is that what we call a "strawman" (Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack). Can't we just stop with stupid put-down remarks.

[ponyfanman]

Well boys, this will only put less people in the stands, guaranteed! My friends that root for P5 schools will only come with me to SMU vs. TTU, BU, TCU for obvious reasons. Make it less interesting, then we get less interesting. As if we could get any less interesting.

[Bergermeister]

I expect SMU will buy out 2 scheduled OCC games next year.

That would be good.

[ponyinNC]

Houston is 4-0 right now playing a crap OOC and is already 1-0 in AAC play.

I'd take that over 1-4 with demoralizing losses against Tech, TAMU and TCU.

Give me wins. Wins over any team - I don't care. It is called momentum - we don't need to be scheduling so tough - we aren't even competitive in those games.

Get to 10 wins consistently - by any means necessary. Cupcake OOC and then take care of business in conference. Then you can start scheduling tougher when you are ready to actually compete.

[sbsmith]

Houston is 4-0 right now playing a crap OOC and is already 1-0 in AAC play.

I'd take that over 1-4 with demoralizing losses against Tech, TAMU and TCU.

Give me wins. Wins over any team - I don't care. It is called momentum - we don't need to be scheduling so tough - we aren't even competitive in those games.

Get to 10 wins consistently - by any means necessary. Cupcake OOC and then take care of business in conference. Then you can start scheduling tougher when you are ready to actually compete.

What's your idea of a Cupcake OOC? Remember that a lot of these bad/mediocre teams some are obsessed with playing might not be that bad when it's time to play them (honestly we'd lose to a lot of them right now). We get a real staff and real talent in here then we won't have to be scared of playing good teams.

[PK]

Houston is 4-0 right now playing a crap OOC and is already 1-0 in AAC play.

I'd take that over 1-4 with demoralizing losses against Tech, TAMU and TCU.

Give me wins. Wins over any team - I don't care. It is called momentum - we don't need to be scheduling so tough - we aren't even competitive in those games.

Get to 10 wins consistently - by any means necessary. Cupcake OOC and then take care of business in conference. Then you can start scheduling tougher when you are ready to actually compete.

I understand what you are saying, but you are missing an important part of the equation...butts in the stands. That is an important part of getting a P5 invite too. With the teams we we play in conference, that east side of the stadium is going to remain very nearly empty. Even the casual fans...no especially the casual fans we are trying to lure to our games want to see games with other teams that they know something about or have at least heard about. Rutgers is a perfect example. We know about Rutgers because we are hard core SMU football fans and we study up on our opponents. The casual fan not so much and you know how empty the east side of the stadium looked for that game.

[PlanoPony]

Take the $$$ from A&M and let them out. Hopefully it's a lot. Replace them with an FCS school that's close by so they'll bring fans too- SHSU, SFA, whoever. Texas State is FBS but they could work too

Yeah there's no way A&M is coming here next year, and unfortunately I don't think the buyout is as sizable as we'd like. That makes the decision to buyout of Baylor last year instead of A&M even more baffling. Maybe I'm missing something there.

[East Coast Mustang]

Take the $$$ from A&M and let them out. Hopefully it's a lot. Replace them with an FCS school that's close by so they'll bring fans too- SHSU, SFA, whoever. Texas State is FBS but they could work too

Yeah there's no way A&M is coming here next year, and unfortunately I don't think the buyout is as sizable as we'd like. That makes the decision to buyout of Baylor last year instead of A&M even more baffling. Maybe I'm missing something there.

I think BU wanted out as well, because they wanted another home game. So our buyout of BU was probably a LOT less than the game in College Station

Regardless, I'm excited because I believe we're scheduled to open up their new stadium next season. And Seastrunk will be gone.

[LHS81]

Take the $$$ from A&M and let them out. Hopefully it's a lot. Replace them with an FCS school that's close by so they'll bring fans too- SHSU, SFA, whoever. Texas State is FBS but they could work too

Yeah there's no way A&M is coming here next year, and unfortunately I don't think the buyout is as sizable as we'd like. That makes the decision to buyout of Baylor last year instead of A&M even more baffling. Maybe I'm missing something there.

I think BU wanted out as well, because they wanted another home game. So our buyout of BU was probably a LOT less than the game in College Station

Regardless, I'm excited because I believe we're scheduled to open up their new stadium next season. And Seastrunk will be gone.

Perhaps, Art Briles will be gone as well. . . Maybe 100 miles to the south of Waco

[MustangStealth]

I found a photo of coach and AD having a scheduling discussion.

[East Coast Mustang]

I'm not sure what ya'll are up in arms about. Like was said earlier, these things are scheduled 5-6 years out. If we suddenly start winning 10+ games in consecutive seasons we could always replace the FCS team on our schedule with another marquee opponent if we wanted.

For now, Baylor, TCU, and UNT are all good matchups for us that will fill the stands at Ford and generate interest in the DFW area. This is good.

[Big Hoss]

Wins lead to more interest in the program, which leads to butts in seats, which leads to better recruiting, which leads to a better football team, which leads to the ability to beat tougher OOC schools.

It all starts with consistently winning. Period.

[skurtn]

At the end of the day, it seems folks have 2 viewpoints about this:
1. Schedule harder teams to get more fans and exposure.
2. Schedule easier teams to get more wins.

I'm in camp #2 because I believe that if we get more wins over an extended period of time, the fans and recruits will come.

[sbsmith]

At the end of the day, it seems folks have 2 viewpoints about this:
1. Schedule harder teams to get more fans and exposure.
2. Schedule easier teams to get more wins.

I'm in camp #2 because I believe that if we get more wins over an extended period of time, the fans and recruits will come.

#1 should be "Get a staff that can recruit (see SMU Basketball), schedule & beat harder teams to get more fans and exposure".