My alma mater (SMU) is going to get spanked today by Texas A&M of the "big boy" Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Aggies will view and use this game as filler before going into the meat of its tough Western Division schedule. Meanwhile, the Mustangs in the newly named conference, the American Athletic Conference (AAC), does not change the fact that the inclusion of former Conference USA teams signals how weak this conference is. Accordingly, the AAC has lost its "major" designation as a bowl championship series conference. Now, why did SMU join this conference? It seems to me that 1) the Mustangs took this offer just to be "relevant" again. The irony is that metroplex rival TCU was able to parlay its success since the late 1990s by returning to playing familiar opponents in the shell of a conference Big 12. By the way, it has come to the point where conference realignment lessens rivalries between schools and leaves their fan bases longing for yesteryear. Interestingly former Southwest Conference schools Arkansas, Baylor, SMU, TAMU, TCU and Texas Tech have all tried to revisit those glory days in their former conference by scheduling home and home series. That is a good thing... The Mustangs will go into College Station for their beating lol and get paid for their appearance before the 12th Man. In the final analysis, D1 football is about the billions generated annually. So, 2) the Mustangs brain trust saw dollar signs that being in a then major conference could do for its brand that took a hit when it received the "death penalty" in 1987 for repeated recruiting violations. Not all money is good money though. They may be on regional TV when they play teams in the Southwest; however, what they gain in playing East coast schools in their stadiums is dubious at best. In summary, there is a big difference between conferences, which explains why there can be a disparity between two D1 teams that are at different stages of development with different missions. SMU is trying to gain credibility by being competitive. TAMU is competing for a national title and reloading every year to do so in the SEC, which will predictably play out on the field.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 05:02:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015