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Good stuff.

BillgoCU wrote:I'm not as thrilled about the California schools, but I welcome SMU. Clemson has recruiting ties to Texas, and I'm glad to make those stronger. I think SMU is a good fit for the ACC and look forward to welcoming fans to Death Valley in the future. Also, I visited the Dallas area for the Cotton Bowl in 2018 and enjoyed my time there. I'll be happy to travel back.

You'll find Clemson fans are very welcoming people. We pull like crazy for our team during the game, but are very friendly before and after, always welcoming others to tailgate with us, and enjoy talking sports on all fronts. And sarcasm and intentional misspelling are staples of our message boards. "Pigs or it didn't happen" (for "pics" for example)

I remember at MSG when the ponies were playing Clemson in the NIT semifinals. I met a few Clemson fans, and they all seemed nice and friendly, wished SMU well for the final (which we unfortunately lost to Minnesota).

SMU has traveling in our future. However, Dallas is a mid-point for the left and right coast teams. Dallas might host some very interesting games.

Wow! Just wow! I am feeling a little melancholy, so bare with me. I was a frosh when we went to the 1983 Cotton Bowl. I remember thinking how great it was to go to such a great university AND have such great great athletics teams to watch. That frozen game against Pitt will forever be in my memory. I was never so cold and had so much fun. Little did I realize that it would all come crashing down in just a few short years. None of us realized it would take more than 30 years to become relevant again, but here we are.

I am so appreciative of our big boosters, especially David Miller, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Let’s also give appreciation for the leadership and hard work done by President Turner and Director Hart. I know they are often maligned on this board, but they played a big part in bringing us to a P5(4) conference.

Today I am celebrating with a sense of calm satisfaction. We all know that our former SWC mates, Baylor and TCU, have probably prevented SMU from getting a seat at the Big 12 table. It is also true that the Big 12 doesn’t really need SMU for the Dallas or Texas market. I think it is a wonderful turn of events that we have ended up in a better conference with better academic schools. I hope that we can regain our national competitiveness in football and basketball (as well as the rest of the Olympic sports), but for now I am going to enjoy the moment.

As a last thought, I won’t be joining the vocal crowd that is gleefully razzing TCU and Baylor (although I am thinking it to myself). We are peer schools and it is good fun to play and beat a rival. TCU v SMU is good for college football in the metroplex. I hope that TCU figures that out and gets off their high horse to continue a great tradition. SMU more than paid for our transgressions, although some of it was self induced, so let’s enjoy the new day and forget battered Mustang syndrome. I am going to try.

Great day Mustangs and Pony Up!

Very cool! Old poster here, but wanted to stop by and wish everyone a sincere congratulations. Very exciting to see where this takes SMU.

I'm sincerely happy for the entire SMU family.

I wish some of the Pfans we've lost could have been here to see the day.

Cheers!

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Hopefully we are able to grow the size of the Mustang Band as part of our commitment. They are a great group now, but would be even better if we could make it bigger.

Looking back to the early 80’s, ΓÇ£The best dressed band in the landΓÇ¥ marched onto the field in Austin and put on a show.

https://youtu.be/P4JpUw1GGb0?si=MKwNWR1zWDDwO8CL

This recruiting video online from a couple years ago that was pretty well put together. Maybe now that we are playing in the spotlight, it will help attract more interest? Not sure if we have limitations that would make this difficult, but it would certainly enhance the overall experience. An additional 10-20 members would make a big difference in sound both live in person and on TV.

https://youtu.be/6_D-pmu4FOk?si=Le7FxV-45Xhf--ZP

The first portion of this video gets me fired up on gameday…

Mustang Band is fielding 30 freshman this fall, which is a BIG number and improvement. The idea is to get back to the 96 and a doll, with 96 wind players, plus the twirler, and a sizeable drum line - so the total approaching 120-125. New conference and increased donations to Diamond M Club can make this a reality.

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SmooBoy wrote:Mustang Band is fielding 30 freshman this fall, which is a BIG number and improvement. The idea is to get back to the 96 and a doll, with 96 wind players, plus the twirler, and a sizeable drum line - so the total approaching 120-125. New conference and increased donations to Diamond M Club can make this a reality.

give Give GIVE

Thanks for the lay of the land.

I will get on there and make a donation today. Seeing all of the clips from the 80’s on YouTube gives me great pride and really fired up about what is ahead.

Now that we will be on national TV pretty much weekly, I think it is an investment worth making. Especially when we are already about half a Billion in

I am very happy to hear that things are already in motion…

Nice summary of why the ACC is a good move for SMU

Why SMU thinks the ACC move is the first step to a return to glory

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... turn-glory

SEASPony wrote:Nice summary of why the ACC is a good move for SMU

Why SMU thinks the ACC move is the first step to a return to glory

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... turn-glory

That is pretty good.

My advice to SMU on trying to have the best possible OOC scheduling is to try to play as many former SWC foes as possible.For football, going to Fayetteville is not going to help SMU in any way, so I would want to see if the Hawgs would play twice in, say, the Cotton Bowl and get half the tickets. They need to play in DFW for their recruiting. And SMU playing in that classic stadium can help reignite all the past glory in living color memories.

I would make Baylor a priority to play over TCU for being seen outside DFW, but the Iron Skillet is important CFB history that should be maintained if possible. And I'd take Rice over Houston because you get to play in Houston against an elite school that is less likely to have the same talent level. Texas plays OU in the Cotton Bowl, but A&M could use a game in Big D.

I think the non-SWC school in TX I'd want to play fairly often is UTSA, to play in San Antonio.

SMU playing a whole lot of former SWC and TX in OOC and then playing a bunch of EST old ACC schools can have the best of both worlds and come out a big winner.

A&M and Arkansas currently do their thing at Jerry World, and both get their DFW/Texas exposure there.

A&M would probably be open to renewal, but my hope is Baylor will re-sign a series.

The Sand Aggies (Texas Tech) would also be an option

I would prefer baylor and the sand aggies. Nothing like enjoying beating a b12 team.

I’ve always wanted a neon Diamond M like over the band hall doors.

Any neon sign shop can make a neon Diamond M for you. It will likely cost a bit more than the original one I designed in 1964 and had made for $10! (And that included the transformer and wires.) PM me and I’ll send you a pattern if you get serious about making one.