SMU's Gerald Turner comments on realignment

[Harry]

Turner:
Realignment is the "most frustrating" thing he's ever dealt with in intercollegiate athletics.

They intend to stay with the BIG EAST, though dissapointed by C7 move - thinks they (C7) were encouraged by the media.

He thinks all this is being directed overtly by a few television networks. Logic that decides conferences is not the same.

SMU intends to stay with the BIG EAST.

9 will be together through thick and thin (he put UC and UConn in a different category - seemed to lend credence to the rumors that he's not sure what they'll do).

If the B1G doesn't move again, there will be stability, otherwise there will be trickle down.

Thinks a 16 team conference is unmanagable, 14 is hard enough.

SEC seems happier than the B1G. He thinks there will be a pause, but B1G could move.

SMU and NBE is "on the bubble" - at the mercy of the other conferences.

Went East instead of MWC b/c of better competition, academic programs wanting more visibility in the Northeast, ratings, faculty recruitment.

Everyone's waiting on Jim Delaney.

Does no good to be upset w/ B1G, ESPN, etc..... Just move forward despite frustration.

UC / UConn --> Main targets of ACC if ACC gets raided again by B1G. He thinks the ACC and Swofford are happy at 14 and hope to be left alone.

He could be totally wrong about all this - but it would seem the only conference that might want to get bigger is the B1G.

Constantly working to better SMU's position for the future.

Re-stated that again alot of this is driven by the Networks.

Read more: http://csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=614986&page=2

[Harry]

I'm ok with SMU. Hey they saw an opportunity and they came up short...no crime in that. In fact I admire it in a way. I hope someday North Texas will be positioned to take some chances. SMU leaving left a door open for us.

The main reason I'm happy with SMU is they have us on the schedule for 4 years and I hope longer. That alone tells me they are starting to realize that regional games make sense. We can help each other.

[foutsrouts]

I'm ok with SMU. Hey they saw an opportunity and they came up short...no crime in that. In fact I admire it in a way. I hope someday North Texas will be positioned to take some chances. SMU leaving left a door open for us.

The main reason I'm happy with SMU is they have us on the schedule for 4 years and I hope longer. That alone tells me they are starting to realize that regional games make sense. We can help each other.

MG message board blasphemy!

[untjim1995]

The ACC is in deep trouble. The smoke that is coming from that conference will be a fire very soon. The southern schools will never get in the SEC and their football programs suffer for it, but their in-state rivals won't let them in the conference, even though they play them every year. So, I expect FSU, Clemson, Miami, Ga Tech, Louisville, and Pittsburgh to get named as Big XII members at some point this year. None of those schools would ever make it into the conferences that their in-state rivals play in, but they would play well in the Big XII. The B1G is also very interested in Ga Tech, but the main targets appear to be Virginia or North Carolina. They get Ga Tech and UVa or they get UNC and Duke, who are apparently tied at the hip. If the B1G got Ga Tech and UVa, the SEC probably goes after UNC and Duke. If the B1G got the UNC/Duke combo, the SEC would like to get NC State and VaTech, but those Virginia schools are apparently tied together like the Oklahoma schools are, so they may have to just take the Virginia schools together.

What wouldn't surprise me at all is to see the Catholic 7 waiting to see if/when the ACC implodes from its current status. Then, they go back to UConn, Cincy, Boston College, Syracuse, Wake Forest, and NC State and get a new ACC going. They probably add South Florida and Temple to get 8, add Navy as football-only to get to 9, then add ND as a hoops program to get to 16 in basketball.

That leaves your nBE without UConn and Cincy, which is expected, but it also takes away Navy, USF, and Temple. Where we go from there is beyond me, but I think it would still give the new ACC a seat in the AQ space at least for a while.

[greenjoe]

To quote one of my favorite philosophers, "Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't care."

[H-towngreen]

Basically what Jim said, I've been saying for awhile. The ACC is done. The big 12 is meeting this week and discussing expansion. They will not sit at 10 and be reactive. At least 4 schools will jump the the Big12 with several going to Big10. The SEC will then be forced to break the unspoken rule of brining in more teams from states where they already have a footprint.

[UNT90]

I'm ok with SMU. Hey they saw an opportunity and they came up short...no crime in that. In fact I admire it in a way. I hope someday North Texas will be positioned to take some chances. SMU leaving left a door open for us.

The main reason I'm happy with SMU is they have us on the schedule for 4 years and I hope longer. That alone tells me they are starting to realize that regional games make sense. We can help each other.

The chance we should take is the MWC. We should be doing all we.can to get there. A winning season would help A LOT.

We have everything else to offer the MWC, and let them get a market back that they lost when TCU went big time.

That is the chance we should take.

[Aquila_Viridis]

The chance we should take is the MWC. We should be doing all we.can to get there. A winning season would help A LOT.

We have everything else to offer the MWC, and let them get a market back that they lost when TCU went big time.

That is the chance we should take.

Unfortunately I think the University of North Texas dragged their feet too much. There is no opening there. I agree though that if there was one we should take it. We should go a different direction than SMU. If we follow them, we will always be behind because they will only join a conference on the condition that we will never be considered for membership while they are in it.

[DallasGreen]

MG message board blasphemy!

I agree throughly. More rumblings from the leader of the "Evil Empire". Ask RV how many times Southern Money University has tried to buy out that 4 game gig. The ONLY way they ever respect us is that we consistently kick their rear and not whimp out like BB does against UTA

[UNTexas]

I agree throughly. More rumblings from the leader of the "Evil Empire". Ask RV how many times Southern Money University has tried to buy out that 4 game gig. The ONLY way they ever respect us is that we consistently kick their rear and not whimp out like BB does against UTA

Is SMU trying to get out of playing UNT in the upcoming series?

Edited January 25, 2013 by UNTexas

[Mean Green 93-98]

Is SMU trying to get out of playing UNT in the upcoming series?

June Jones has made comments that suggest he is less than thrilled with playing us. . . . Phil Bennett was still the coach when the series was set up, and he was entirely in favor of playing us regularly.

But I've heard nothing about the A.D. actually trying to buy it out.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Mean Green 93-98

[pollock]

I agree throughly. More rumblings from the leader of the "Evil Empire". Ask RV how many times Southern Money University has tried to buy out that 4 game gig. The ONLY way they ever respect us is that we consistently kick their rear and not whimp out like BB does against UTA

4 game gig? I thought that was 10. Did i dream that up?

[UNTLifer]

I thought it was ten too.

[UNTLifer]

Honestly, I really don't give a rat's hind end what SMU does anymore. Sure, I hope the extension is signed, but something tells me Rev. Jones, if he is still around, will bow out a prove they are a bunch of _____ cats!

[CurveItAround]

With 4 TX conference mates (and hopefully soon to be 5), SMU has become much less of a concern for me. I am looking forward to the series, and hope it is extended, but it will not hurt near as much as it would have previously if they do not renew.

[untjim1995]

This article I found explains just how much a fellow Texas school benefitted from finally bring accepted into a conference that mattered to this state's residents. If only we kept trying back in the late 70s, instead of just giving up on the program by sending it down to I-aa purgatory for 12 years.

http://www.lubbockcentennial.com/AJremembers/102608.shtml

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

From the article:

“I remember emotions ran rather high on those rejections,” Hutcheson said. “I know at one time a number
of people cut up credit cards from stores in Dallas because they felt the SMU
people had not been backing Tech’s effort. They tried to apply economic
influence, and sometimes economics does exert pressure.”

SMU was a jerk even then. Life is/was all about them... Interesting the the SWC went from 1922 until 1956 (1960 was first TTU football year) with no additions. $ure doesn't happen in today's world...

.

[VideoEagle]

This article I found explains just how much a fellow Texas school benefitted from finally bring accepted into a conference that mattered to this state's residents. If only we kept trying back in the late 70s, instead of just giving up on the program by sending it down to I-aa purgatory for 12 years.

http://www.lubbockcentennial.com/AJremembers/102608.shtml

It's not like the NCAA gave NT any option. The way the IAA rules were created we would have needed to have played all of our home games at Texas Stadium at least one year BEFORE the rules came out. No one knew that. There was no option NOT to go to 1AA.

[untjim1995]

It's not like the NCAA gave NT any option. The way the IAA rules were created we would have needed to have played all of our home games at Texas Stadium at least one year BEFORE the rules came out. No one knew that. There was no option NOT to go to 1AA.

OK, fair enough...but you don't just flounder at that level for more than a decade and lose generations of fans because it cost too much. I think we all can agree that the intrinsic cost of staying at 1-aa for so long has cost waaaaayyyyy more than it would've to put those extra bleachers on Fouts (or heaven forbid, actually fund a new stadium that was appropriate for a university in Texas of our size) and put forward a campaign to get attendance back up to a place to be 1-a again. What happened in 1994, at the very least, should've happened in 1984. Never should we have played that long in the SLC. Absolute joke that haunts us still today in so many fans and media members eyes.

Edited February 1, 2013 by untjim1995

[VideoEagle]

OK, fair enough...but you don't just flounder at that level for more than a decade and lose generations of fans because it cost too much. I think we all can agree that the intrinsic cost of staying at 1-aa for so long has cost waaaaayyyyy more than it would've to put those extra bleachers on Fouts (or heaven forbid, actually fund a new stadium that was appropriate for a university in Texas of our size) and put forward a campaign to get attendance back up to a place to be 1-a again. What happened in 1994, at the very least, should've happened in 1984. NEver should we ahve played that long in the SLC. Absolute joke that haunts us still today in so many fans and media members eyes.

That is all true. I think the rules made it easier to move up in 1994 than the rules in 1984, but it would have been possible if the adminstration had actually wanted NT to do so.

[Rudy]

June Jones has made comments that suggest he is less than thrilled with playing us. . . . Phil Bennett was still the coach when the series was set up, and he was entirely in favor of playing us regularly.

But I've heard nothing about the A.D. actually trying to buy it out.

June is still eating crow and trying to save face since Arizona State backed out of hiring him...publicly.

[UNTLifer]

No he's not. Pastor Jones is too busy with his inner-city ministry to worry about us.

[GrandGreen]

A couple of thoughts:

NT could have fought the downgrade to 1aa but did not even try as far as I know. In fact, I think the Administration at the time was for more interested in saving money than protecting athletics.

SMU finds themselves in the exact situation as NT, they joined a conference as a big step up and it immediately eroded to something less. They are still much better off than if they stayed in CUSA but won't get the lift they envisioned. The weakened BE is still much better than CUSA.

[SilverEagle]

That is all true. I think the rules made it easier to move up in 1994 than the rules in 1984, but it would have been possible if the adminstration had actually wanted NT to do so.

1. How much would it have cost to have filed an injunction against the NCAA enjoining them from downgrading the football program to 1-AA. We could have claimed that the new rules were discriminatory and arbitrary. We could have sited many schools that benefited from conference affiliation which we had been denied. We could have delayed the hearing for years until such time as we got some big monied alums to come up with the funds to either build a new stadium, Or we could have delayed them long enough to move all our home games to Texas Stadium to get our numbers up. We could have then dropped the suit.

2. When I was a participant in the focus group that the athletic department sponsored in late 1990, one of the questions that Dr. Lane asked the group was "If North Texas started playing division 1 football again, would all of you pay higher ticket prices to attend the games?".

Now, If (as some of you on this board seem to be implying) there has been a significant number of North Texas alumni who would come forward and financially support a D-1 program if only the administration would get on board, then why was that focus group asked such a question? Because if monied alumni have been contacting the administration, for years or even decades, about their desire to help take North Texas to the next level, then Dr. Lane should have already known the answer to the question.

[Arkstfan]

Cincinnati did sue, and while the case was pending they met I-A standards in 1982 and made the whole thing moot.