UCONN to Rejoin Big East

[SoCal_Pony]

Red, I will take it a step further.

If your criteria is the 2 most popular sports in a particular country (for America that would be FB & BB) and if you factor in intangible advantages we have, I would argue that absent a brief LB run that SMU itself helped destroy, SMU is probably most inept sports brand in America, possibly the world. Sounds hyperbolic, I realize, but hear me out.

Over the past 30 years, SMU has been ranked a Top 60 national university in America (reputation, but not so academic as to be a hindrance), a Top 60 school worldwide in terms of endowment (financial resources) and probably THE Top location nationwide for FB & BB HS talent.

Yet given these advantages, what exactly has SMU achieved??

for FB:
winning % is 114 out of 119 D1-A schools.
0-56-1 vs. Big12 South, the 1 criteria diehard fans truly care about.

for BB:
2-54 vs ranked teams pre-LB for the Men.
4 NCAA tourney wins total in over 60 years of MenΓÇÖs & WomenΓÇÖs combined participation. IΓÇÖm sure you are aware, every year some 10 to 15 schools accomplish this or more in less than 3 weeks.

IΓÇÖm not a sports fanatic, but I follow it somewhat. I really canΓÇÖt think of anyone as inept as SMU.

For our men....
0-56-1, 2-54 & 1 tourney win in 30 years....who can possibly match that.

I agree with you. But I'm shocked at the notion that we are a top 60 school worldwide in terms of endowment and yet, according to the last Times ranking of world universities, we are in the "350-400" bracket.

Mustangsabu, virtually every top university in the world by endowment resides in America, so yes...SMU is Top 60. Also, many of these schools have enrollments that far exceed SMU, so by a Endowment per student ratio we look even more favorable.

30 years ago, the city of Dallas was ranked #10 in terms of GDP among American cities, today it is #4. During this time, no American city in the Top 25 has advanced as much as Dallas. Rather remarkable when you consider the competition at the very top of the list. Dallas area is also 3rd, behind only NY & Chicago areas, for home of Fortune 500 companies.

So Dallas itself is a booming economic juggernaut. One would think SMU could produce top business, law and engineering schools to support Dallas....think again.

Our undergraduate and graduate business schools as well as our law school are all ranked ~50th.

A school in Waco has a higher ranked law school.
A school in College Station has higher ranked undergraduate & graduate business schools.
UTD has a higher ranked MBA program.
Our engineering school isnΓÇÖt even ranked Top 100, with even UTD, UTA, Coog High and TTech ranked higher.

We do have the highest tuition and highest paid President in the state, so there is that. I will also add that our recent Dean hirings in Law and Business seem uninspiring. So for me, IΓÇÖm not very pleased with my Alma Mater, which of course I love.

ItΓÇÖs easy to blame RGT, but I blame his enablers more.

In short....SMU s*cks

[Digetydog]

I don't understand the service academy love. Playing Navy regularly is enough of a triple option beating - not to mention the knees.

Army does absolutely nothing for me.

I hate the triple option blocking schemes. But

1) The service academies get good tv ratings
2) The service academies travel well as local vets fill up the visitors sides
3) Road trips to the academies are awesome.
4). The academies fill up stadiums for minor bowls.

[WordUpBU]

I don't understand the service academy love. Playing Navy regularly is enough of a triple option beating - not to mention the knees.

Army does absolutely nothing for me.

I hate the triple option blocking schemes. But

1) The service academies get good tv ratings
2) The service academies travel well as local vets fill up the visitors sides
3) Road trips to the academies are awesome.
4). The academies fill up stadiums for minor bowls.

Exactly. On #1 that makes the networkΓÇÖs happy, #2 helps school revenues even after #1 takes place, and #4 helps the league potentially attract better bowls.

One other benefit is much like adding Wichita you can pair Army football with a truly outstanding hoops program in non-FB. If you could grab VCU or Dayton paired with Army football inventory youΓÇÖve arguably upgraded the league compared to having UConn in both sports.

[Pony ^]

UConn athletics operated at a $41 million deficit last year. They may owe $12 million in exit fees, another $2.5 mil for entry fee. They'll turn down an annual $7 mil from the AAC for about $5 mil from BE. And they have no home for football

[DFW HOYA]

UConn athletics operated at a $41 million deficit last year. They may owe $12 million in exit fees, another $2.5 mil for entry fee. They'll turn down an annual $7 mil from the AAC for about $5 mil from BE. And they have no home for football

The new ESPN contract would cut off UConn's regional broadcasts in Connecticut via SNY in favor of streaming and OTT. That was the breaking point.

[PonySnob]

Add Rice - small, private academics-first school, beatable in all sports but not an anonymous cupcake school, based in fertile recruiting area and has a long history with SMU. To me, Rice should be on the non-conference football and basketball schedules now.

Fans really seem to want to see SMU VS Rice:
2012 @ Rice - 21K
2011 @ SMU - 14.5K
2010 @ Rice - 15K
2009 @ SMU - 18.3K
2008 @ Rice - 23.2K
2007 @ SMU - 13.9K
2006 @ Rice - 12.9K
2005 @ SMU - 15.2k
2004 @ Rice 15.4K
2003 @ SMU - 11.9K
2002 @ Rice - 10.8K

There looks to be some much better attended games back in the 1950ΓÇÖs and earlier but even in 1981 & 82, not been 30K attended an SMU vs Rice game.


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[Nacho]

smu vs rice in Houston is like a picnic in the land time forgot

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

The American is dead if we add Rice. We might as well be the Sun Belt at that point.

[TidePony]

Rice is No Bueno

[horsemanx]

SMU fans wanting to play Rice are as stuck in the past as the UConn fans wanting to be in the Big East.

[Charleston Pony]

SMU fans wanting to play Rice are as stuck in the past as the UConn fans wanting to be in the Big East.

Agree. Rice is history as a conference mate, much like too many other former SWC mates

[redpony]

we already added little tulsa, which does nothing for the conference. I don't think we want to add another loser.

[PonyPride]

AAC statement on Connecticut:

American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco has issued the following statement regarding todayΓÇÖs announcement by the University of Connecticut.

ΓÇ£The University of Connecticut has announced its withdrawal from the American Athletic Conference. We wish UConn well. We will next address the exit procedure mandated by our conference bylaws. Our conference will continue to move forward in pursuit of its national goals in football, menΓÇÖs and womenΓÇÖs basketball, and Olympic sports.ΓÇ¥

[Digetydog]

SMU fans wanting to play Rice are as stuck in the past as the UConn fans wanting to be in the Big East.

They are a decent OOC fit.

[mtrout]

Mustangsabu, virtually every top university in the world by endowment resides in America, so yes...SMU is Top 60. Also, many of these schools have enrollments that far exceed SMU, so by a Endowment per student ratio we look even more favorable.

30 years ago, the city of Dallas was ranked #10 in terms of GDP among American cities, today it is #4. During this time, no American city in the Top 25 has advanced as much as Dallas. Rather remarkable when you consider the competition at the very top of the list. Dallas area is also 3rd, behind only NY & Chicago areas, for home of Fortune 500 companies.

So Dallas itself is a booming economic juggernaut. One would think SMU could produce top business, law and engineering schools to support Dallas....think again.

Our undergraduate and graduate business schools as well as our law school are all ranked ~50th.

A school in Waco has a higher ranked law school.
A school in College Station has higher ranked undergraduate & graduate business schools.
UTD has a higher ranked MBA program.
Our engineering school isnΓÇÖt even ranked Top 100, with even UTD, UTA, Coog High and TTech ranked higher.

We do have the highest tuition and highest paid President in the state, so there is that. I will also add that our recent Dean hirings in Law and Business seem uninspiring. So for me, IΓÇÖm not very pleased with my Alma Mater, which of course I love.

ItΓÇÖs easy to blame RGT, but I blame his enablers more.

In short....SMU s*cks

Sad. Don't forget that our directors cup standing for all athletics has gone from #15 to our current ranking of #160 through this time period.