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2ndandlong wrote:

Topper wrote:

2ndandlong wrote:I disagree. I bet they have a packed house whenever they play Tech, UT, OU, OSU. May not necessarily be their fans, but it will be packed. The t-shirt fans will move on to something else.

Baylor has averaged about 34K over the past few years as a member of the Big 12. I would say that is an indication of what TCU could expect if they fall to .500 and the fair weather crowd dissipates. Maybe a little less since Baylor has has over 5000 more students than TCU.

Waco is not a destination or primary residence for those schools though. You're comparing Waco (pop. 125,000) to Fort Worth (pop. 750,000, 16th largest city in US). Fort Worth has a much greater population of alumni from other Big 12 schools relative to Waco (not to mention all of the Big 12 fans in Dallas/Metroplex that would drive to Fort Worth before they would make the trip down to Waco).

Fort Worth is also much easier to travel to with close proximity to one of the largest, most central airports in the country.

I should tap the breaks on my statement that it will be packed, but I don't think Waco is a good comparison.

TCU didnt draw as well as Baylor during the 70s, 80s or 90s.

SMU2007 wrote:

mustangxc wrote:I don't think you are giving TCU nearly enough credit. I would rank their program third in the Big XII. Only UT and OU have produced better results over the last decade. TCU has beaten Texas Tech when they have played and aside from this season TCU has been better than OSU and much better than Kansas State and Baylor. Kansas had a nice run, but that seems like it was a long time ago. Iowa State is an automatic W every year. Be happy that SMU is where it's at bet don't kid yourselves, TCU is in better shape for the time being.

yea they've beaten texas tech in an isolated game. they aren't playing OU, UT, OSU, Tech in a row. Maybe they win 1 of those 4 in best possible case scenario? That's not a recipe for success. What do you think UT or OU would have done with TCU's schedule over the last decade?

They didn't have UT/OU's money, media exposure, or conference prestige. TCU far outperformed their peers with equal resources. That's the measuring stick.

2ndandlong wrote:I disagree. I bet they have a packed house whenever they play Tech, UT, OU, OSU. May not necessarily be their fans, but it will be packed. The t-shirt fans will move on to something else.

for a while, but that will get old fast. people will get indifferent.

Congratulations from a Frog fan on your well earned invitation to the big east and your victory over us. I do see BCS games for SMU in the future. The fact is that the big east is easy to win. UConn last year was I think 8 - 4 and SMU is easily better then almost all the Big East (if not all) now.

sounds good to me.

The Big East is certainly the easier conference to win and therefore make a BCS game. That said I don't see how it is a foregone conclusion that TCU will get killed in the Big XII. Would they have had the same win-loss records that they were able to pile up against the MWC? No. Yes, they are having a down year after losing a lot of experience and I know they lost to us and Baylor. Will they be able to compete with UT (I realize they down now) and OU on a consistent basis? Very doubtful.

I think they will be able to compete with the rest of the Big XII. They have increased their fan base and made stadium improvements and now the rest of Baylor, Tech, and others can't use the fact they're not in the Big XII or BCS conference against them in recruiting. The draws for recruits to those schools outside of UT and OU is being in the Big XII, playing a lot of games in TX and having good size fan bases and home crowds.

TCU can offer a closer location to recruits that enable friends and family to easily watch their games. Waco is even worse than Ft. Worth and one has to go to chapel and take bible class at Baylor. Despite being in Texas, Lubbock is very far from most of the fertile recruiting grounds in TX and its Lubbock. If TCU can keep up their fan support and fill their stadium what do schools like Kansas St offer besides a college town atmosphere now that TCU doesn't?

I can see TCU being a bottom Big XII in the future and I can also see them being a second tier team ranked in the top 25 nationally. I just don't see that they will definitely be terrible in the Big XII.

Who cares. We have the skillet.

Junior wrote:

whitwiki wrote:

2ndandlong wrote:[quote="Topper"][quote="2ndandlong"]I disagree. I bet they have a packed house whenever they play Tech, UT, OU, OSU. May not necessarily be their fans, but it will be packed. The t-shirt fans will move on to something else.

Baylor has averaged about 34K over the past few years as a member of the Big 12. I would say that is an indication of what TCU could expect if they fall to .500 and the fair weather crowd dissipates. Maybe a little less since Baylor has has over 5000 more students than TCU.

Waco is not a destination or primary residence for those schools though. You're comparing Waco (pop. 125,000) to Fort Worth (pop. 750,000, 16th largest city in US). Fort Worth has a much greater population of alumni from other Big 12 schools relative to Waco (not to mention all of the Big 12 fans in Dallas/Metroplex that would drive to Fort Worth before they would make the trip down to Waco).

Fort Worth is also much easier to travel to with close proximity to one of the largest, most central airports in the country.

I should tap the breaks on my statement that it will be packed, but I don't think Waco is a good comparison.

Baylor still gets a good number of visiting fans.[/quote]
Only because of George's.[/quote]

Meh that place isn't that great.