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A&M and Arkansas fans
Posted on 10/21/20 at 1:46 pm
Posted on 10/21/20 at 1:46 pm
I just watched "Pony Excess" in full for the first time, wondering what y'all's thoughts on it were.
At the end it says that a big reason the SWC collapsed was bc of all the programs on probation, but that sounds dubious: UT, Ark and Aggie probably didn't want to play five games a year in TX in front of empty stadiums against the smaller schools and conferences were starting to pool their tv money.
At the end it says that a big reason the SWC collapsed was bc of all the programs on probation, but that sounds dubious: UT, Ark and Aggie probably didn't want to play five games a year in TX in front of empty stadiums against the smaller schools and conferences were starting to pool their tv money.
10
Posted on 10/21/20 at 1:49 pm to Mithridates6
It was probably the match that lit the fuse.
Gave schools like A&M the “out” to find greener pastures. There was a time when a one-state (plus one other school) conference could work, but that was crumbling well before the breakup.
I think of college football as being in 3-4 “ages”.
Before WWII, small schools could compete because things like alumni populations and media money were not suffocating them.
After WWII, the enrollments and alumni populations of state schools exploded. Small schools were screwed, especially when there were no scholarship limits. Big schools could hog the talent. Miami was the big exception. (Notre Dame and USC to some degree, but they had a lot of equity in place.)
After 1974, scholly limits prevented schools like Texas from monopolizing talent. Other schools now had a better chance to build a good program.
After the TV market opened up in the late 80’s, the role of media money meant that schools with both big alumni populations and any brand equity were going to have a built in advantage over programs without a significant “casual fan” interest.
Gave schools like A&M the “out” to find greener pastures. There was a time when a one-state (plus one other school) conference could work, but that was crumbling well before the breakup.
I think of college football as being in 3-4 “ages”.
Before WWII, small schools could compete because things like alumni populations and media money were not suffocating them.
After WWII, the enrollments and alumni populations of state schools exploded. Small schools were screwed, especially when there were no scholarship limits. Big schools could hog the talent. Miami was the big exception. (Notre Dame and USC to some degree, but they had a lot of equity in place.)
After 1974, scholly limits prevented schools like Texas from monopolizing talent. Other schools now had a better chance to build a good program.
After the TV market opened up in the late 80’s, the role of media money meant that schools with both big alumni populations and any brand equity were going to have a built in advantage over programs without a significant “casual fan” interest.
This post was edited on 10/21/20 at 3:21 pm
Posted on 10/21/20 at 2:14 pm to Ag Zwin
Houston with Andre Ware played no games on TV the year he won the Heisman due to probation. Damn shame
Posted on 10/21/20 at 2:15 pm to Mithridates6
Lots of reasons to leave for Arkansas. Getting screwed over by refs year after year was painful. Even rules like no ref who resided in AR could officiate our games when TX refs called them all.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 2:33 pm to Mithridates6
My favorite part was the recruit calling Holtz to tell him he was going to SMU...
Holtz: what do you mean you’re going to SMU?!?! You haven’t even taken a visit there.
Recruit: well coach, I think I’m gonna like it.
Holtz: what do you mean you’re going to SMU?!?! You haven’t even taken a visit there.
Recruit: well coach, I think I’m gonna like it.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 2:37 pm to Buster Womb
Well y'all are getting screwed just as badly in the SEC, so 
Posted on 10/21/20 at 2:49 pm to Mithridates6
SWC was already on its death bed by then. That whole situation just sped things up a bit. Too many small schools in too insulated a geography to survive as a major conference. Same problems the Big 12 is facing today.
A&M & Arky were already eyeing the SEC, UT was eyeing the Pac. The conference was going to die one way or another.
A&M & Arky were already eyeing the SEC, UT was eyeing the Pac. The conference was going to die one way or another.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 2:55 pm to Mithridates6
Ark. Was the only school in the SWC that didn't go on probation, but at least we didnt buy Eric Dickerson a Trans Am that he drove to a different school. Right aggy's?
Posted on 10/21/20 at 2:58 pm to swinetime
when I was at A&M we were SWC. I was happy with that because I was raised in TX and it was a comfort of "the way it was" but it was evident to a dumb Jobu93 that the talent in conference was lacking.
The SWC was dying before I got there in 89, and it was sealed after Arkansas left.
The SWC was dying before I got there in 89, and it was sealed after Arkansas left.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 3:12 pm to Mithridates6
quote:
Well y'all are getting screwed just as badly in the SEC, so
Not like it was in the SWC.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 3:22 pm to Mithridates6
The probations were certainly part of it. As others have noted, there was also a desire to get away from all the small schools. Other big conferences were mostly large state schools, while the SWC had Rice, Houston, TCU, SMU, Baylor and I guess you would include Texas Tech. The funny thing is that many of those are considered respectable in modern times, but they seemed like unneeded appendages back then.
Arkansas started the fall by leaving for the SEC, but we were just getting out before we got left behind. UT had begun discussions to create a new "super conference", which originally included Arkansas, but later plans left us out, so we left for the SEC.
Arkansas started the fall by leaving for the SEC, but we were just getting out before we got left behind. UT had begun discussions to create a new "super conference", which originally included Arkansas, but later plans left us out, so we left for the SEC.
This post was edited on 10/21/20 at 3:39 pm
Posted on 10/21/20 at 3:24 pm to redeye
Yada yada yada, Texas was left standing when the music stopped.
Good times.
Good times.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 3:29 pm to Mithridates6
The CFA losing the TV rights case in the 80s killed the SWC.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 4:05 pm to CGSC Lobotomy
100%
Posted on 10/21/20 at 4:25 pm to Buster Womb
quote:The rule that alums of a school couldn't call games involving that school when Arkansas letterman Ron Underwood made a bullshite interference call to preserve a late Arkansas drive against A&M in 1989.
Lots of reasons to leave for Arkansas. Getting screwed over by refs year after year was painful. Even rules like no ref who resided in AR could officiate our games when TX refs called them all.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 4:30 pm to Mithridates6
quote:Yes, I think that's a dubious claim. It was all about money, and the probations didn't really factor into that. Up until the mid-80s, SWC schools used to split the gate, so when A&M went to Rice and brought 30,000 of the 35,000 fans in attendance, A&M got the half the gate, and when Rice went to Kyle field and brought 2,000 of the 60,000 in attendance, they got half the gate. It was stuff like that which got the big boys thinking that they were too many freeloaders just along for the ride, so, when television rights were taken away from the NCAA, the idea of sharing those with schools that brought so little to the table made the idea of looking for greener pastures inevitable.
At the end it says that a big reason the SWC collapsed was bc of all the programs on probation, but that sounds dubious: UT, Ark and Aggie probably didn't want to play five games a year in TX in front of empty stadiums against the smaller schools and conferences were starting to pool their tv money.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 7:09 pm to Mithridates6
We were cheated
Thats my thoughts on it
Thats my thoughts on it
Posted on 10/21/20 at 7:12 pm to Mithridates6
quote:
I just watched "Pony Excess
I used to work with a former coach who was on that staff. Good guy, jokingly says he knew when the coaches were walking to practice and the players were driving that something was about to go bad
Posted on 10/21/20 at 7:34 pm to twk
The SWC with Baylor, SMU, TCU, and Rice would be like having 4 Vandys but not as smart and not as good at baseball. Despite the Cryptkeeper at rice for a while post SWC.
Posted on 10/21/20 at 7:45 pm to Mr Sausage
Iirc TCU got hit with almost as severe sanctions as SMU, but they didn't get nearly the same return on cheating as the latter did
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