Montana State announcing SMU added to 2013 schedule

[ponyboy]

I am not in favor of dropping Baylor and I agree that we're not getting nearly the level of talent we should, diamond in the rough talent evaluation or no. I am in favor of recognizing that this team has been pretty damned salty over the last seven games and, as Berger points out, did win three of its last four bowl games under June Jones after suffering one of the deepest bowl droughts in NCAA history.

[WordUpBU]

How far in advance did Baylor back out of the game a couple of years ago?

What game are you talking about? The 2011 game where we were FORCED to drop one due to the Big 12 losing teams? I imagine that would have been discussed in fall 2010 when it became known that we'd have to drop a game due to the Big 12 adding a league game.

The 2011 SMU game wasn't a voluntary choice. Realignment forced us to make a change due to the extra league game and we simply bumped the roadie at SMU game to the end of the series but will still play it unless I am mistaken. Most schools would take the road game away as you have to be a jerk to someone in that scenario. So drop TCU at home, drop FCS at home, or drop the road game and lose a home date? Pretty easy call for a money mindful AD.

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Pretty defensive response, you did not seem to have any trouble understanding which game I was talking about. Which other game could I possibly have been talking about?

I was just asking how far in advance it happened since you had referenced the late notice in this case.
It seems like you do not know how far in advance it was discussed, you just imagine it was discussed in fall 2010. For all I know the announcement was made in the fall of 2010, much earlier than this is being announced, I just don't remember. It was an honest question.

Also, while you say it was not a voluntary choice, you contradict yourself in the rest of that paragraph by laying out the other games that could have been dropped. That sure sounded like a choice the way you described it. An easy choice maybe, but still a choice. Incidentally, I would not say Baylor was being a jerk in that scenario, but it is your school so if you want to call it that be my guest.

1- There have been other games tossed around on message boards in recent years that have been bogus. For instance Frogs have claimed we dodged them which wasn't the case and they were saying us when it was clearly Tech. Just verifying which one here as it changes the conversation.

2- Found a link. BU-SMU 2011 was cancelled in September 2010. So negotiations likely took place in mid-august or so after the Big 12 finally decided to stay at ten and not immediately expand as there was some discussion about adding two then which if I had to guess probably took us out to early august with all the rescheduling and exit fee issues. Remember that CU was temporarily threatening to stay 1 year longer than NU which would have potentially allowed us to stick at 8 games for 2011.
SMU Cancel Link 2010: http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/baylor/103594764.html
CU limbo: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/ne ... id=5494158
3- It was a voluntary choice among the 3 in that of the 3 we didn't want to drop in the first place we could pick which one. That isn't the same as dropping a 7 month notice on your opponent.

I have nothing against SMU and frankly like SMU. Sorry if I come off otherwise.

[sbsmith]

My opinion is that if SMU was backing out it should have done so a year ago. With that said it's a brutal slate and I understand why they want out. The only GIMMES in league play are Memphis and maybe UConn, USF, or Temple. Everyone else is going to be tough.

There will be no "GIMMES" next season, not even Montana State.

[East Coast Mustang]

I get what ya'll are saying, and I'm p.o.'ed were dropping the Baylor game too, but on the other hand we already have a top-5 team (A&M) and a top-20 team (TCU) on the schedule for next year OOC, and Tech is certainly no pushover either- they'll be favored over us. Even back when TCU was making a name for themselves a few years ago they weren't playing all BCS teams OOC, and they certainly weren't playing two top 20 teams OOC that I could tell. Keep in mind, there aren't any pushovers (besides maybe Memphis or Temple) in conference play next year either. Hell, we thought Rice and Tulane would be pushovers last year.

I'd prefer we drop the A&M game rather than the Baylor game, though, just because we have a better chance of being competitive with Baylor, and it's a home game. Do we have confirmation that it's Baylor, and not A&M, being dropped?

Yeah, I'd love to be in the Big 12 playing all of these teams in conference next season, but the reality is, if we WERE in the Big 12 we'd be able to recruit a lot better (at least, I hope so) and be more competitive. As it stands, we have a chance to make a statement week 1 against Tech. Pony Up

[bubba pony]

Our future looks bleak

Good gawd, man, get a grip. We're 3-1 in bowl games in the last 4 years and you're in armageddon mode. C'mon.

I should clarify; our future conference affiliation looks bleak. Partly because we can't win a marquee game. Avoiding BCS schools sends the wrong message to the conferences we aspire to join.
The bowls we attended are clearly an improvement after a long drought. The first Hawaii bowl was euphoric, but after 3 years we're barely right back at the Hawaii bowl. Would have hoped for more progress to entice BCS conferences to consider SMU. Regretfully I fear that ship has sailed.

[PonySnob]

Our future looks bleak

Good gawd, man, get a grip. We're 3-1 in bowl games in the last 4 years and you're in armageddon mode. C'mon.

Man, no kidding. So funny to see the Bifs and Buffys get their izods turned around on here.

Realize we won five out of our last seven by margins of 30, 31, 28, 8, and 33 points. Read that again: 30, 31, 28, 8, and 33 point wins in five of our last seven games.

Thanks goodness for Memphis and Southern Miss!! We still lost to Tulane and had bad cases of butthurt after playing Baylor, A&M, Central Florida, and Rice..................

[East Coast Mustang]

Our future looks bleak

Good gawd, man, get a grip. We're 3-1 in bowl games in the last 4 years and you're in armageddon mode. C'mon.

I should clarify; our future conference affiliation looks bleak. Partly because we can't win a marquee game. Avoiding BCS schools sends the wrong message to the conferences we aspire to join.
The bowls we attended are clearly an improvement after a long drought. The first Hawaii bowl was euphoric, but after 3 years we're barely right back at the Hawaii bowl. Would have hoped for more progress to entice BCS conferences to consider SMU. Regretfully I fear that ship has sailed.

I don't disagree but it could be a lot worse. I think JJ's time at SMU has run its course, but if he hadn't come here, there's a good chance we'd be in CUSA next season along with these institutions:

East Division

East Carolina
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Marshall
Middle Tennessee State
Southern Mississippi
UAB

West Division

Louisiana Tech
North Texas
Rice
Tulane
Tulsa
UTEP
Texas at San Antonio

Also, while I'm not crazy about dropping Baylor, I don't know that we're sending the message that we're "avoiding"BCS schools- we still play Tech, A&M who will be ranked top 5, and TCU who will be top 20.

[Grant Carter]

I have nothing against SMU and frankly like SMU. Sorry if I come off otherwise.

No worries and thank you for researching. I agree that what Baylor did is a lot better than what SMU seems to have done.

[Dukie]

Does anyone have any idea what Hart is actually doing? If anything? Is he visible at least around campus, since he isn't in the media?

And, like clockwork, the honeymoon starts to fade. Is there a fanbase with a greater propensity for whine and cheese than SMU? Unbelievable.

Ah, buzz off. See ReedFrawg's post about Del Conte's visibility at TCU. No one complained about Orsini on this score, because he was clearly engaged and active. And my view on the invisibility of Hart is informed by what I see Duke's AD, whom we lured away from Notre Dame, doing both around campus and in the media. It's even more of a concern for Hart given the odd circumstances in which Turner forced out his very active predecessor.

[WordUpBU]

I'd prefer we drop the A&M game rather than the Baylor game, though, just because we have a better chance of being competitive with Baylor, and it's a home game. Do we have confirmation that it's Baylor, and not A&M, being dropped?

No. However 1660espn.com has a podcast with BU AD Ian McCaw and he was directly asked about it and he was unable to comment beyond the fact there were discussions. Nobody really knows if it's just BU that you are talking to or if you are kicking all 4 tires around to see what you can do. It didn't sound good though.

[lwjr]

Does anyone have any idea what Hart is actually doing? If anything? Is he visible at least around campus, since he isn't in the media?

And, like clockwork, the honeymoon starts to fade. Is there a fanbase with a greater propensity for whine and cheese than SMU? Unbelievable.

Yes, check out the LSU and Alabama boards or any of the big schools. Even the Governor of Alabama was questioning Saban after the A&M loss. I don't believe SMU fans have anything on those fans, they are truly nuts.

[East Coast Mustang]

I'd prefer we drop the A&M game rather than the Baylor game, though, just because we have a better chance of being competitive with Baylor, and it's a home game. Do we have confirmation that it's Baylor, and not A&M, being dropped?

No. However 1660espn.com has a podcast with BU AD Ian McCaw and he was directly asked about it and he was unable to comment beyond the fact there were discussions. Nobody really knows if it's just BU that you are talking to or if you are kicking all 4 tires around to see what you can do. It didn't sound good though.

Gotcha. I hope we keep you guys around. If those future FB schedules sites are to be believed, we're supposed to play you guys for another couple seasons. I hope that's still the case.

[WordUpBU]

I'd prefer we drop the A&M game rather than the Baylor game, though, just because we have a better chance of being competitive with Baylor, and it's a home game. Do we have confirmation that it's Baylor, and not A&M, being dropped?

No. However 1660espn.com has a podcast with BU AD Ian McCaw and he was directly asked about it and he was unable to comment beyond the fact there were discussions. Nobody really knows if it's just BU that you are talking to or if you are kicking all 4 tires around to see what you can do. It didn't sound good though.

Gotcha. I hope we keep you guys around. If those future FB schedules sites are to be believed, we're supposed to play you guys for another couple seasons. I hope that's still the case.

Last I saw I think we do H&H until 2019. Probably better for you to drop the roadie at Kyle Field and keep the home games against BU & TT. BU & TT likely will travel well enough to either fill or come close to filling Ford if 2005 and 2007 are any indication. Unless there is some crazy buyout at A&M that is what I would do.

4 BE Home games + 3 Noncon home games > 4 + 2.

[East Coast Mustang]

Last I saw I think we do H&H until 2019. Probably better for you to drop the roadie at Kyle Field and keep the home games against BU & TT. BU & TT likely will travel well enough to either fill or come close to filling Ford if 2005 and 2007 are any indication. Unless there is some crazy buyout at A&M that is what I would do.

4 BE Home games + 3 Noncon home games > 4 + 2.

Yeah, unless the A&M buyout is just insanely more expensive (or they're paying us good $$ to go down there), it seems to make more sense. You get an extra home game, plus Baylor will sell a LOT more tickets than Montana State. I'm not sure how that works- if we get a cut of A&M's gate receipts then it probably makes sense for us to keep that one on that schedule.

[Longtime]

Just stop with the whole "we could be more competitive with Baylor" notion. Did anyone SEE last year's game? Baylor is light years ahead of us athletically. Art Briles has been stockpiling speed in recruiting and he's made Baylor a home for players who've gotten in trouble at other big programs. We'll be lucky to stay on the field with them.

This is a smart business decision. It made no sense to play four athletically superior programs in non-conference and risk getting completely demoralized and banged up before conference play. We're still playing Texas Tech, Texas A&M and TCU, so we're not dodging anybody. It's stupid to even say that.

Even if the program were where it should be under June, it would be insane to play a non-conference schedule that doesn't give you at least one breather. This is a good move.