PonyFans.com

gostangs wrote:dont be ridiculous - there is an ocean of room between TCU and NTSU - we are somewhere in the middle, but as far as we are from TCU, we are closer to them then we are to NTSU.

I actually think we are closer to NTSU.

Correct me if I am wrong, but over the past 25 years SMU has defeated 7 BCS teams. Vanderbilt and Arkansas (3 times) in the early years. Kansas when we opened Ford, then WA State and Pitt during the golden era of JJ. Only 1 of these 7 teams had a winning record (1 of the Arky wins) and 2 were against pathetically bad teams (Vandy and WA St).

I do know that NTSU has accomplished something we have not, they have beaten both Baylor and Texas Tech during this time period.

It would be a real shame if we lose the TCU game.

ReedFrawg wrote:I agree with this as well...unless we wound up in the same conference I think TCU had already decided to drop the SMU series.

I know it won't happen, but if SMU did ever get a Big XII invitation, I wonder where TCU would go since they run from any conference SMU is in (WAC, C-USA, Big East, etc.).

DanFreibergerForHeisman wrote:

ReedFrawg wrote:I agree with this as well...unless we wound up in the same conference I think TCU had already decided to drop the SMU series.

I know it won't happen, but if SMU did ever get a Big XII invitation, I wonder where TCU would go since they run from any conference SMU is in (WAC, C-USA, Big East, etc.).

Probably SEC. I am sure they are just waiting for us to call.

(And I am not saying I like this...just my informed opinions.)

Grant Carter wrote:

SMU2007 wrote:

Grant Carter wrote:If everyone but the people you listed consider us the same level as UNT then why were we invited to the AAC and not them?

We were already in c-USA and they were in sunbelt. Nearly all of the cusa teams got invited to join AAC. A very exclusive club.

I am not commenting on the exclusivity of being invited to the American. Can go back further, why were we in cusa and they were not? Clearly someone thinks there is a difference between the two programs besides SMU alums and swc dinosaurs.

We HAD a little more status when the SWC broke up, and we have a connection to the similar castoffs that have moved as a group through WAC and CUSA. We are also in Dallas, not Denton and we have some rich alums that can get a few things done vs UNT.

None of that has any effect on our prestige level in the minds of average football fan or high school athletes.

Go ask some athletes in a typical high school, i.e. not HP.

I like playing UNT. Gives us a chance to put them in their place. Every year that we don't play them, they spout off on how we aren't that good and that they can beat us. Most years, we are better than them, so most years, we can shut them up.

I would think that TCU would want to continue to prove their superiority over us in a similar fashion, but if they no longer want that opportunity, fine. Let them dig their own grave. They will no longer be able to definitively say that they have a better team than ours.

couch 'em wrote:We HAD a little more status when the SWC broke up, and we have a connection to the similar castoffs that have moved as a group through WAC and CUSA. We are also in Dallas, not Denton and we have some rich alums that can get a few things done vs UNT.

None of that has any effect on our prestige level in the minds of average football fan or high school athletes.

Go ask some athletes in a typical high school, i.e. not HP.

So you are narrowing it to average football fan and high school athlete. Previously it was everyone who was not an SMU alum or SWC dinosaur, so you have significantly narrowed the pool of people you are claiming see SMU as equal to UNT compared to the initial sweeping statement.

Oh, and you want to exclude the fact we are in a better city and have alums who can help us because they are not relevant to the discussion at all apparently.

As for high school athletes, the best proxy I have for that is recruiting rankings. Rivals has ranked SMU's recruiting class higher than UNT's 8 of the last 9 years (UNT was 4 spots ahead in 2008) and 10 of the last 12 years (tie in 2004). The gap over the last 5 years 2009-2013 has averaged 31 spots in the rankings, while the gap from 2002-2008 was SMU ranked better by 13 spots, so the trend has been towards SMU pulling away from UNT. How do you explain the disconnect between your statement that high school athletes vies SMU and UNT as equal and the fact that SMU has been improving relative to UNT in recruiting?

to the average fan there is the BCS and every one else. That is the dividing line-that is what younger generations see as their reality. TCU is and will be considered the BCS team of the Dallas Metroplex. If they succeed in perpetuating that perception then they have a real shot at being nationally competitive. Dropping SMU might well underline that distinction.

I agree with what you say Stallion. Call me naive, a sunshiner or an eternal optimist (and really I'm none of those) but I still feel we are in a great position to get invited to one of the big 5 conferences in the next few years. That said, we still have a lot of work to do. IMO, the improvements needed are in our results on the football field and attendance. That is why it is so frustrating that our football staff seems to be content with Hawaii bowls and recruiting diamonds in the rough. As you pointed out in a previous post, the Big XII boys will only begin to take us seriously if we start winning games against them. We all know basketball is well on its way to getting there but I don't have near the same optimism for the football program under this regime.