OT: Inside SMU's pursuit of the P5

Dec 17, 2008
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I mean should it not be the Power 4 at this point? The Pac-2 is hardly a power conference at this point and no sane individual considers the AAC as a power conference.
Well yea but at that time they were trying to get into the PAC still but of course that all imploded
 

MGSA99

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Jan 15, 2002
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Imagine if we had that fanbase here at Rutgers. We would be contenders every year.
It's not the fan base. It's the billionaires who are using their old alma mater as a proxy for other shortcomings. They bought their way in, hence why they can afford no media money for several years. It's something the ACC said, "You mean we get the Dallas market for basically free? Where do we sign?"
 

jakeknight

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Jan 29, 2009
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If I recall SMU got the death penalty from the NCAA just after the Eric Dickerson era. They had a pretty good program in the old SWC. Point is they had money to burn then and they seemingly have plenty of Green today, not unreasonable to think will could be com a dominant program in the ACC. It appears to be if you have abundant resources, and way less regulation in today's P5 environment and you use the resources well you could build or rebuild a program in a hurry
 

365Poster24Seven

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Oct 13, 2022
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You mean the years not on probation or entirely shut down with the death penalty.
No I meant alumni and fans that actually did something to help the athletic teams to compete by donating money. We complain real good about everything so that’s something.
 

RUSK97

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Dec 28, 2007
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I mean should it not be the Power 4 at this point? The Pac-2 is hardly a power conference at this point and no sane individual considers the AAC as a power conference.
It’s still the PAC12 until next year and they’re undefeated.
 

BeantownKnight

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I mean should it not be the Power 4 at this point? The Pac-2 is hardly a power conference at this point and no sane individual considers the AAC as a power conference.

You are correct. No sane individual considers the AAC a power conference. But, I will say that they do a better job keeping their name out there - for good or ill - than an,y other G5 conference (well, maybe, except for the MWC - who's doing a pretty good job with the PAC12 implosion and the discussions regarding picking up the remaining two schools and/or potentially re-branding themselves). Half of the schools that were in the AAC that one year we were there are now in P5 conferences. So, they're a joke of a conference, yes. But, the teams that have to do their time there are good enough to find nice landing spots in P5 conferences once they leave. Any P5 conferences looking to pick up schools from the Sun Belt, the MWC, or the MAC? Nope.
 
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RUTGERS95

Heisman
Sep 28, 2005
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Clandestine and SMU. Checks out!

Interesting…i know they have big big money alum…but they are at best the 5th most popular program in the DFW area…shows how money trumps most other considerations.
slow down, you must be young. They and Texas were the THE playmakers for years. ncaa changed that landscape. smu is serious, has a plan, has funding, and watch out, they are coming for it

betting man says in 5yrs, smu is a national power
 

Arizona Knight

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slow down, you must be young. They and Texas were the THE playmakers for years. ncaa changed that landscape. smu is serious, has a plan, has funding, and watch out, they are coming for it

betting man says in 5yrs, smu is a national power

I get the money behind SMU and the motivation of being able to brag in many Board Rooms in DFW. That said, every non P2 school is going to face significant headwinds when trying to become a national power moving forward.

Becoming a national power in CFB is very difficult to sustain as new money. Miami was for awhile. Va Tech got there for a cup of coffee. Oregon is trying to build its resume. Nebraska has had a heck of a time staying relevant recently, etc.

It’s a pretty small and exclusive club.
 
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RUTGERS95

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I get the money behind SMU and the motivation of being able to brag in many Board Rooms in DFW. That said, every non P2 school is going to face significant headwinds when trying to become a national power moving forward.

Becoming a national power in CFB is very difficult to sustain as new money. Miami was for awhile. Va Tech got there for a cup of coffee. Oregon is trying to build its resume. Nebraska has had a heck of a time staying relevant recently, etc.

It’s a pretty small and exclusive club.
you are missing some major tangibles here

they bought a team when it was illegal and hard to do, imagine now

SMU will be a power soon, bank on that. wait till you see the NIL rumors that come out of here
 
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Arizona Knight

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you are missing some major tangibles here

they bought a team when it was illegal and hard to do, imagine now

SMU will be a power soon, bank on that. wait till you see the NIL rumors that come out of here

We’re not far off. I’m just saying that Eric Dickerson was bought for what I believe was rumored to be $1,000/month. Even is you consider present value to be something like $5,000/month that would be baby piss compared to NIL today.

They have very deep pockets but so do a lot of schools that play in better stadiums, in front of (much) bigger crowds, in better conferences, with better exposure. It will be tough but not impossible.
 
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RUTGERS95

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We’re not far off. I’m just saying that Eric Dickerson was bought for what I believe was rumored to be $1,000/month. Even is you consider present value to be something like $5,000/month that would be baby piss compared to NIL today.

They have very deep pockets but so do a lot of schools that play in better stadiums, in front of (much) bigger crowds, in better conferences, with better exposure. It will be tough but not impossible.
I hear you but it's not just deep pockets but the will to dig into them. You saw that guy, 'it's couple hundred million, I'm not losing sleep over it'

SMU is going to buy, claw, spend, be strategic and do everything they need to do for success. I envy their resolve and feel utter contempt for our administration and alumni when I see what is about to happen.

We have fans that think we are in year 4 of 6yr rebuild while football world is moving much faster. We have fans that are ok with mediocrity, make excuses, etc etc. That won't happen at SMU, they are in it to win it. LeMay would be proud
 

MADHAT1

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Apr 1, 2003
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I'm sure SMU made sure it has the boosters to go the full distance to make up for the $8-9 Mil it will lose by leaving the AAC and is willing to forgo revenue sharing so the ACC accepts them.
Those boosters will give what it takes to make SMU a ACC powerhouse
and go back to the days before the NCAA destroyed their powerful football program with the death penalty that was put on it.

I believe this move to the ACC will awaken the SMU booster to give the big bucks like back in their glory days.
 

Arizona Knight

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I hear you but it's not just deep pockets but the will to dig into them. You saw that guy, 'it's couple hundred million, I'm not losing sleep over it'

SMU is going to buy, claw, spend, be strategic and do everything they need to do for success. I envy their resolve and feel utter contempt for our administration and alumni when I see what is about to happen.

We have fans that think we are in year 4 of 6yr rebuild while football world is moving much faster. We have fans that are ok with mediocrity, make excuses, etc etc. That won't happen at SMU, they are in it to win it. LeMay would be proud

No argument here.
 
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Dec 17, 2008
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I'm sure SMU made sure it has the boosters to go the full distance to make up for the $8-9 Mil it will lose by leaving the AAC and is willing to forgo revenue sharing so the ACC accepts them.
Those boosters will give what it takes to make SMU a ACC powerhouse
and go back to the days before the NCAA destroyed their powerful football program with the death penalty that was put on it.

I believe this move to the ACC will awaken the SMU booster to give the big bucks like back in their glory days.
They won’t lose 8-9 million. They will still get what they would’ve from the AAC but they won’t get the tier 1 rights (most lucrative) from the ACC. They will still get CFP money, NCAA money and ACCN money.
 
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Sep 29, 2006
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I partied in Dallas once. These guys saw my Rutgers shirt and were like hey Jersey have a few drinks with us. They were fun af. Bought me drink after drink. Missed my meeting the next day. They were fun and cool.
Agree Dallas is fun and they def were cool that I was from this area of the country. This was back in 2003 so maybe with all the transplants isnt as intriguing. That highland park area is a different animal though in terms of super old money Dallas.
 

MTOleBlue

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The thing about having the "5th biggest fan base in DFW" or whatever you wanna call it is ... people love winners. SMU winning in the ACC is going to go a lot further than everyone not named Texas or TAMU.
 
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Arizona Knight

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The thing about having the "5th biggest fan base in DFW" or whatever you wanna call it is ... people love winners. SMU winning in the ACC is going to go a lot further than everyone not named Texas or TAMU.

That’s a long climb. That’s all I’m saying. Look at USC. They are loaded and motivated and doing quite well but not dominating recruiting. Schools like Missouri and Arkansas have access to Walmart money. Auburn is loaded. Oklahoma is still Oklahoma. LSU. Michigan. Florida State. Florida. Penn State.

What if Stanford decides to play NIL? They could make SMU look like a Halfway house if they cared.

What factories are laying down for SMU?
 

mdk02

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Aug 18, 2011
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That’s a long climb. That’s all I’m saying. Look at USC. They are loaded and motivated and doing quite well but not dominating recruiting. Schools like Missouri and Arkansas have access to Walmart money. Auburn is loaded. Oklahoma is still Oklahoma. LSU. Michigan. Florida State. Florida. Penn State.
What if Stanford decides to play NIL? They couldhave make SMU look like a Halfway house if w gthey cared.

What factories are laying down for SMU?

Do the Walton's have any interest in football? @southerngentleman ? How much leeway will Stanford give in academics? SMU doesn't have those problems.
 

Arizona Knight

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Do the Walton's have any interest in football? @southerngentleman ? How much leeway will Stanford give in academics? SMU doesn't have those problems.

I’ll defer to southern gentleman but my understanding is yes.
 

ecojew

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Feb 1, 2006
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If I recall SMU got the death penalty from the NCAA just after the Eric Dickerson era. They had a pretty good program in the old SWC. Point is they had money to burn then and they seemingly have plenty of Green today, not unreasonable to think will could be com a dominant program in the ACC. It appears to be if you have abundant resources, and way less regulation in today's P5 environment and you use the resources well you could build or rebuild a program in a hurry
They were never a dominant force in the AAC, though they had a few good seasons. So to expect that they would become a dominant force in the ACC, which, despite the fact that most RU fans including myself, don't like, has teams that are much better than SMU.

Also, RU has a much larger, more established, and better traveling fan base than SMU. Even in their glory days, they didn't draw very well and, IIRC, were first university that began advertising to sell more tix.
 

Hondo77

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Nov 18, 2001
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It's not the fan base. It's the billionaires who are using their old alma mater as a proxy for other shortcomings. They bought their way in, hence why they can afford no media money for several years. It's something the ACC said, "You mean we get the Dallas market for basically free? Where do we sign?"
We need more billionaires with shortcomings.
 

JerseyNoles

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Jul 28, 2021
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Good for them
I wish our donors would step up like this
Also wish we had some billionaire fans who weren't afraid to spend money

I'd love to see them rise to the top again (not at the expense of Rutgers or FSU though)
 
Oct 17, 2007
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As much as I can't stand UConn I'm kind of surprised they were not the choice, given the sway bball holds in the ACC. Is BC still vetoing them? Is the ACC just wowed by the $$?

Assuming FSU and Clemson to SEC at some point and possibly UNC and a friend (Duke/UVA) to B1G, is the ACC plan just to raid the AAC?