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Question for Arkansas and Texas A&M fans
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:19 am
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:19 am
Did you like the Southwest Conference or not?
18
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:21 am to accnodefense
The vast majority will be too young.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:22 am to accnodefense
ty;da
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:25 am to Latarian
It was cool in a way because it was basically the Texas conference.
People forget that it was salty for a number of years. A&M, Texas, Arkansas, TCU all have national championships. The league often had more ranked teams than the Big 12 of today.
People forget that it was salty for a number of years. A&M, Texas, Arkansas, TCU all have national championships. The league often had more ranked teams than the Big 12 of today.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:26 am to John Maplethorpe
quote:
The league often had more ranked teams than the Big 12 of today.
and the most ncaa infractions.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:28 am to accnodefense
I am too young but from everything I have ever heard, all the fans of Texas teams loved it because it was like their own private little conference.
Cities like Dallas have people from A&M, Texas, Baylor, TCU, SMU all working together in one building. These teams all played against each other all the time, giving folks a lot to talk about
From everything I have ever heard from Arkansas fans, we were viewed as outsiders, which is ok with Arkansans generally. Since we were competitive despite being the only team outside Texas it grew a lot of rivalries with those teams
ETA: If you ever spend time in a city like Dallas you will notice that Texas is its own little world with regards to sports. They really don't care about what happens outside its borders. I think that is why the SWC was so successful in Texas, it gave those people exactly what they wanted
Cities like Dallas have people from A&M, Texas, Baylor, TCU, SMU all working together in one building. These teams all played against each other all the time, giving folks a lot to talk about
From everything I have ever heard from Arkansas fans, we were viewed as outsiders, which is ok with Arkansans generally. Since we were competitive despite being the only team outside Texas it grew a lot of rivalries with those teams
ETA: If you ever spend time in a city like Dallas you will notice that Texas is its own little world with regards to sports. They really don't care about what happens outside its borders. I think that is why the SWC was so successful in Texas, it gave those people exactly what they wanted
This post was edited on 12/15/12 at 10:32 am
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:29 am to Latarian
I think I was in the 8th grade when it ended. It was football, so yeah I liked it, but I like the sec even more. Looking back, who would give a shite about watching Rice, SMU (to young to remember ore death penalty), TCU, and Baylor. The only good thing was you usually had a few neighbors or co-workers that supported other teams, so you always had something to talk shite about.
It was going downhill fast. The final eight SWC champions lost in their bowl games.
It was going downhill fast. The final eight SWC champions lost in their bowl games.
This post was edited on 12/15/12 at 10:32 am
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:30 am to LSU GrandDad
quote:
and the most ncaa infractions
I'm talking about even before the cheating got really bad. And I still firmly believe that the SWC wasn't any worse than the Big 8 or SEC in cheating( except SMU).
The only difference was everybody started turning everybody in and the Dallas Newspapers ate this shite up like candy and their was a scandal involving the governor(SMU grad)
The cheating wasn't any worse, just got more press.
This post was edited on 12/15/12 at 10:32 am
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:31 am to accnodefense
It was a dull Conference, outside of Texas. The SEC has finally accepted the Pigs & Roosters into the Conference. TAMU seems to have made a smooth transition, probably should have been here years ago. Mizzou fans seem to be in limbo. Half of them think they should be in the Big 10, the other half seem confused by the tree poisoning, teabaggers in the League. 
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:39 am to accnodefense
I'm old enough to remember. For Arkansas fans it was frustrating at times. We were the only team outside of Texas and it was a really crooked league. We hated UT with a passion.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 10:49 am to TheOtherWhiteMeat
My freshman year at A&M was the first year of the Big 12. I think you'd tend to see more Old Ags ('95 or earlier) miss the SWC more than they miss the Big 12.
A lot of our traditions in the Corps were based on the SWC. Such as:
-The "Aggie Band Song" is a mockery of the Rice Alma Mater.
-The mockeries of "The old Baylor Line" and "Texas Fight"
-"Spurring the Ponies" (freshman had to attach bottle caps totaling their class year spray painted their class color onto a coat hanger and affixed to their low quarter shoes making their "fish spurs" that week)
-Aggie Bonfire
A lot of our traditions in the Corps were based on the SWC. Such as:
-The "Aggie Band Song" is a mockery of the Rice Alma Mater.
-The mockeries of "The old Baylor Line" and "Texas Fight"
-"Spurring the Ponies" (freshman had to attach bottle caps totaling their class year spray painted their class color onto a coat hanger and affixed to their low quarter shoes making their "fish spurs" that week)
-Aggie Bonfire
This post was edited on 12/15/12 at 10:51 am
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:02 am to accnodefense
SWC 4 LYFE!!!!
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:03 am to WestCoastAg
I actually have this shirt, living in Dallas I always get a lot of comments from old SWC'ers
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:04 am to Latarian
Not really...A&M, texas, and teams that are/should be in non-BCS conferences. No thanks
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:21 am to accnodefense
Yes I loved it. The hate flowed like no other. Sadly the hate that made it so great is what tore it apart in the end.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:22 am to CGSC Lobotomy
quote:
I think you'd tend to see more Old Ags ('95 or earlier) miss the SWC more than they miss the Big 12.
Yep. '79 here. I'd miss it if I was a student who had the same experiences my contemporaries did. It was great being able to go to all the games cheaply. Save TT and Arkansas, all destinations were 2 hours away or closer. And when you went home on the weekends you'd run into fans of every school wherever you lived in Texas, so there was plenty of good, mostly friendly, trash talking.
An obvious weakness of the SWC was that the majority of players were Texans (Ark. I'd guess was 50/50 Ark/TX). Big state, but not big enough to fill out all the rosters with quality players. So there was generally only 1 very good team, sometimes 2.
I don't miss it. That collection couldn't be competitive now. It made more sense when the final destination was the Cotton Bowl, with less concern over national rankings.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:25 am to accnodefense
I was in back in the 70's & no I didn't like it. They made up rules to promote Texas and other instate school wins, such as no ref's could be from AR in an AR game. Wasn't a problem if the ref was from TX tho. I always thought we hould have been in the SEC.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:39 am to texasaggie08
Things changed and the SWC wasn't built for the new world of college athletics. But in it's time, it was a great conference, with great rivalries, and great tradition. It was like the original SEC in many ways. The historic ties between the schools made every game special in some way. Unfortunately, there were too many Sewanees and Tulanes and not enough UFs, UGAs, etc and no where to go to really expand for survival.
As pro football creeped in to Texas, the private schools, particularly those in the major cities, lost a huge portion of their fanbase rather quickly. This combined with the coming of the tv age resulted in even more disparity within the small conference. DFW, for instance, is not large enough to support 7-8 college teams (UTx, OU, A&M, Tech, SMU, TCU, Baylor, Arky) as well as being a major pro hub.
This led to a 60s era when the small schools became non-competitive. After decades of futility, many began to cheat in the mid to late 70s. It was already a doomed conference at that point but no one yet realized it. As tv exploded in the 80s, the market was too small to share and it led to a decision to let those on tv keep the revenue. This was a result of poor leadership and lack of cohesion. This unequal plan (same as the Big 8) became the forerunner to problems as it only created more disparity and hard feelings. It's really the same attributes that crushed the original Big 12.
I miss it. I miss playing Rice or TCU or Baylor. Most younger folks here won't understand but growing up in the 70s it was just an important part of Texas culture. It won't come back and you have to move on. But yeah, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
As pro football creeped in to Texas, the private schools, particularly those in the major cities, lost a huge portion of their fanbase rather quickly. This combined with the coming of the tv age resulted in even more disparity within the small conference. DFW, for instance, is not large enough to support 7-8 college teams (UTx, OU, A&M, Tech, SMU, TCU, Baylor, Arky) as well as being a major pro hub.
This led to a 60s era when the small schools became non-competitive. After decades of futility, many began to cheat in the mid to late 70s. It was already a doomed conference at that point but no one yet realized it. As tv exploded in the 80s, the market was too small to share and it led to a decision to let those on tv keep the revenue. This was a result of poor leadership and lack of cohesion. This unequal plan (same as the Big 8) became the forerunner to problems as it only created more disparity and hard feelings. It's really the same attributes that crushed the original Big 12.
I miss it. I miss playing Rice or TCU or Baylor. Most younger folks here won't understand but growing up in the 70s it was just an important part of Texas culture. It won't come back and you have to move on. But yeah, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:43 am to tmc94
It was all right back in the day you could smack talk everyone in Texas.
Its no where near as cool as the SEC, too insular.
Its no where near as cool as the SEC, too insular.
Posted on 12/15/12 at 11:43 am to LSU GrandDad
quote:
and the most ncaa infractions
And the SEC can throw rocks at the old SWC in that respect?
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