Serious Question

[smubrooks]

I like pie!

[Bergermeister]

We have no options. WE HAVE NO OPTIONS

Houston, SMU, Rice: our best days were behind us. period.

Oh, woe is me.

[redpony]

Veritas Liberat Vos.

[mrydel]

We have no options. WE HAVE NO OPTIONS

Houston, SMU, Rice: our best days were behind us. period.

Am I wrong? I want to be wrong.

Get married.

[GRGB]

OK - So with the conference mix up going on... There is a possibility we come out ahead, but also a big possibility we come out behind.

If the top 5 leagues enter 16 team conferences and STOP there... I think we have a place in top 80 teams...

If 4 major conferences survive, 64 - SMU is out.

So the possibility of SMU getting in the SEC is tiny. The possibility of SMU in B12 is almost equally as small. Will SMU continue to fun a athletic program at a 10 Million dollar defeciet PER YEAR?

Does SMU drop the football program? I doubt it... but all SMU fans would have to accept the reality that we will NEVER be big time again. Never win a national title. Never rejoin old rivals. DEFEATED forever.

Or do we go independent?

What is SMU's move if Big East has fallen apart and we dont get that coveted invite to a top teir conference?

It'll be 4 x 16 with leftovers

A few years ago it was believed to be Pac Big SEC ACC, but if the B12 sticks around, then it may shift to PAC BiG SEC B12 and ACC /BeAST leftovers

The opportunity for SMU is from SEC if Vandy wants another private, PAC12 if they expand to 14 or 16 and need to match the BiG and cannot pick off the Big12 (where else will they expand), or the Big12 (need 6: UL, Pitt, FSU, Clemson, +2).

[SMUfrat]

OK - So with the conference mix up going on... There is a possibility we come out ahead, but also a big possibility we come out behind.

If the top 5 leagues enter 16 team conferences and STOP there... I think we have a place in top 80 teams...

If 4 major conferences survive, 64 - SMU is out.

So the possibility of SMU getting in the SEC is tiny. The possibility of SMU in B12 is almost equally as small. Will SMU continue to fun a athletic program at a 10 Million dollar defeciet PER YEAR?

Does SMU drop the football program? I doubt it... but all SMU fans would have to accept the reality that we will NEVER be big time again. Never win a national title. Never rejoin old rivals. DEFEATED forever.

Or do we go independent?

What is SMU's move if Big East has fallen apart and we dont get that coveted invite to a top teir conference?

It'll be 4 x 16 with leftovers

A few years ago it was believed to be Pac Big SEC ACC, but if the B12 sticks around, then it may shift to PAC BiG SEC B12 and ACC /BeAST leftovers

The opportunity for SMU is from SEC if Vandy wants another private, PAC12 if they expand to 14 or 16 and need to match the BiG and cannot pick off the Big12 (where else will they expand), or the Big12 (need 6: UL, Pitt, FSU, Clemson, +2).

You are exactly correct. Those situations may be in the very long term. If Vandy wants another private school... Its us or Duke. What if Northwestern wants another private? Duke? It would sure help us if those private schools would like a private match up. Otherwise, we are out of options really.

[SMUfrat]

Maybe a 20 memeber SEC would allow SMU in. Vandy is the East's private while SMU is the West's.

This unfortunately doesnt seem very probable.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

"We have no options. WE HAVE NO OPTIONS

Houston, SMU, Rice: our best days were behind us. period.

Am I wrong? I want to be wrong."

Yes, you are wrong. Take a step back and breath my friend. There are ALWAYS options. Remember, panic is not a strategy.

What you have to fundamentally understand about this whole process is that SMU has not been, is not, and will not be, a driver of realignment. We, along with about 80 other D-1A athletic programs are purely in a reactive mode. THERE WILL BE OPTIONS, but what those options are will not become clear until the drivers of realignment make their moves. In this go-around, the Big-10 is the driver. They have made their initial move. Now the ACC must: (1) shore up its existing membership; and (2) make a counter-move. We have to wait to see how those steps go for the ACC. Then and only then will we have a better sense of how the dominoes are going to fall. If the ACC holds together, this round of realignment may prove minor. If the ACC collapses then all bets are off. But from chaos comes opportunity.

3 years ago, the idea of TCU joining the Big-12 was laughable. And yet here we are.

[couch 'em]

That is only plausible if SEC.wants to go on the offensive in Texas. They will soon own east texas & Houston thanks to the Aggies and their success. Adding a school in Dallas makes it simpler to play a ton of games, dominate the DFW media, and push UT down to #2 in the two top markets.

[SMUfrat]

"We have no options. WE HAVE NO OPTIONS

Houston, SMU, Rice: our best days were behind us. period.

Am I wrong? I want to be wrong."

Yes, you are wrong. Take a step back and breath my friend. There are ALWAYS options. Remember, panic is not a strategy.

What you have to fundamentally understand about this whole process is that SMU has not been, is not, and will not be, a driver of realignment. We, along with about 80 other D-1A athletic programs are purely in a reactive mode. THERE WILL BE OPTIONS, but what those options are will not become clear until the drivers of realignment make their moves. In this go-around, the Big-10 is the driver. They have made their initial move. Now the ACC must: (1) shore up its existing membership; and (2) make a counter-move. We have to wait to see how those steps go for the ACC. Then and only then will we have a better sense of how the dominoes are going to fall. If the ACC holds together, this round of realignment may prove minor. If the ACC collapses then all bets are off. But from chaos comes opportunity.

3 years ago, the idea of TCU joining the Big-12 was laughable. And yet here we are.

You are right. I am nervous about our future however. We need to be smart. I have no idea how we grow from here.

[East Coast Mustang]

No one in the SEC is going to care what Vandy wants. They're just along for the ride.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

SMUfrat, I understand being nervous about our future. I was nervous about our future when the NCAA gave us the DP and the program shut down for two years. Think about that. . .there was literally no SMU football for two years. I was nervous about our future when the SWC broke up and SMU and the other small frys weren't given a ticket on the Big-12 train. I was nervous about our future when the WAC-16 blew up overnight and we weren't given a ticket on the MWC train. Since then we've shuttled around the WAC, C-USA, and now (maybe) the Big East. But despite all those traumas, SMU's athletic programs today are stronger than they have been since 1986. SMU as an institution is vastly stronger than its ever been. That tells you something. It hasn't been pretty, but SMU athletics has always survived. We will survive this realignment. And if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on SMU to end up in a pretty good place when this is all said and done (which may be years from now).

[sbsmith]

You are right. I am nervous about our future however. We need to be smart. I have no idea how we grow from here.

The only way we can grow is to win big, we're not moving up unless we prove we can be something other than a mouth to feed. We'll find out soon (like before Christmas) how smart the people running SMU Athletics are.

[ojaipony]

"We have no options. WE HAVE NO OPTIONS

Houston, SMU, Rice: our best days were behind us. period.

Am I wrong? I want to be wrong."

Yes, you are wrong. Take a step back and breath my friend. There are ALWAYS options. Remember, panic is not a strategy.

What you have to fundamentally understand about this whole process is that SMU has not been, is not, and will not be, a driver of realignment. We, along with about 80 other D-1A athletic programs are purely in a reactive mode. THERE WILL BE OPTIONS, but what those options are will not become clear until the drivers of realignment make their moves. In this go-around, the Big-10 is the driver. They have made their initial move. Now the ACC must: (1) shore up its existing membership; and (2) make a counter-move. We have to wait to see how those steps go for the ACC. Then and only then will we have a better sense of how the dominoes are going to fall. If the ACC holds together, this round of realignment may prove minor. If the ACC collapses then all bets are off. But from chaos comes opportunity.

3 years ago, the idea of TCU joining the Big-12 was laughable. And yet here we are.

Very good post. Sums up my thoughts as well.

[East Coast Mustang]

SMUfrat, I understand being nervous about our future. I was nervous about our future when the NCAA gave us the DP and the program shut down for two years. Think about that. . .there was literally no SMU football for two years. I was nervous about our future when the SWC broke up and SMU and the other small frys weren't given a ticket on the Big-12 train. I was nervous about our future when the WAC-16 blew up overnight and we weren't given a ticket on the MWC train. Since then we've shuttled around the WAC, C-USA, and now (maybe) the Big East. But despite all those traumas, SMU's athletic programs today are stronger than they have been since 1986. SMU as an institution is vastly stronger than its ever been. That tells you something. It hasn't been pretty, but SMU athletics has always survived. We will survive this realignment. And if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on SMU to end up in a pretty good place when this is all said and done (which may be years from now).

Very well said. A little historical perspective is necessary before raising the white flag.