(08-17-2014 04:28 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  Ok before all you ECU, UConn, Houston, Cincinnati et. al. pull an SNL Jim Belushi....



Hear me out.

I was thinking about this possible scenario today. Let's say that inclusion into the P5 comes to a legal battle. Naturally, we'd have to defend ourselves from criticism as to why we don't belong with the tOSU's, Florida's, Stanfords of the world. So we begin to match criteria.

On The Field Performance? - WVU annihilated Clemson in the Orange Bowl under the banner of this (for all intents and purposes) conference. Louisville won their Sugar Bowl, UCF beat the defending Sugar Bowl champs, beat the Big 12 champs and won the Fiesta Bowl against all odds. UConn AGAIN won the Mens AND Women's NCAA tournament, and they weren't even the favorites to win the conference. This is a no brainer. We can play the best we can be the best.

Academia? - UConn, SMU, Tulane, Navy, Tulsa are literally some of the best universities in the nation. A degree from there will open up doors no other university could. Easily equals of the Purdue's, the Duke's, the Vanderbilt's of the world.

Money? - Not that this should be a point of contention but really, it is. Again Tulane, SMU, Tulsa, Navy bring the dollar bills in more than one way, and all have shown the ability to invest in their on the field product.

Attendance? - Ok. No one in this conference is pushing 80-100k in the stands. But then again, who outside of the typical candidates do? If that is a requirement of P5 then Duke, Wake Forest, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, Purdue, and all the usual candidates are out. That's more an argument for an inclusion rather than exclusion.

My Point - Why are Tulane and SMU the most important members?

Pedigree - Some will point to our conference and say, "Oh who among you have the qualities of the Blue Bloods, where can you point and be proud of your history that can stand on the toes of THE [insert overly arrogant university here]"

Tulane has the same number of SEC championships as Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, aTm, and Vanderbilt COMBINED

SMU has won 11 Southwest Conference Championships in a conference that contained 7 other current P5 teams.

While we can all pound our chest and state that we deserve, I think, legally, with SMU and Tulane in our ranks, we can point to them as our "Ace in the Hole". With these universities amongst us, there is no argument the P5 can make that we can't match.

Someone tell me why i'm wrong.

Valuable members, yes. Glad to have them. But....Tulane has been horrible lately except for last year and their fans have been terrible. ECU had more fans at UAB than the Superdome the last few times we played there. Hopefully the new stadium will bring some fans back consistently.

SMU has been decent lately but hardly the most valuable. The have a huge endowment so I guess they have the cash but I'm not sure they will ever get over the death penalty. Their fans still don't pack the place. Basketball definitely better with Larry Brown but will it last? Not sure about them. The jury is still out.