In 1996, Miami was 4-1 when ECU beat them in the OB.
In 1999, Miami was 2-1 when ECU beat them in Raleigh.

Should-woulda-coulda as it relates to 1983. If the two Pirate receivers learned to run routs where they would NOT bump into each other... but that's another story.

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What's lost on my fellow Pirate brethen is this:

1) ECU, for at least 4 years now, has been recruiting at the I-AA level, and that trend is likely to continue. Where is she going to get the athletes she enjoyed in the mid-90s? ACC prospects will just as soon go to prep school and wait for the opportunity to play BCS ball than go to ECU, and any atheletes that miss out on the ACC will try to get into a Big East school (as long as the NBE maintains its BCS status).

So where is she going to get the athletes? If JT (or whoever the coach is) has to travel to the ends of the earth to find players, that's going to drain the school's athletic budget, and last I checked, Pirate Club donations are down.

So again, where is she going to get the athletes to "return to I-A prominence"?


2) I can see the following schools voting against ECU's inclusion into the Big East -- assuming it ever gets to an actual vote (10-25% chance): Louisville, Cincinnati, Syracuse, UConn, Rutgers -- all for basketball sanctity reasons.


3) Truth hurts, but ECU football -- recruiting at the I-AA level -- belongs in I-AA.

The Big East basketball money made UC's choice smart. From a football standpoint over the long haul its a wash. I think we determined that SMU and West Virginia had about the same football tradition in terms of acomplishments. Both a great distance ahead of UL.

Yes TopCoog, SMU is "light years" ahead of Louisville. Both have the same number of Bowl appearances and we will have 1 more than them this season when we go to a bowl. What tradition are you speaking of? I dont see any national titles for SMU. Sorry not impressed.

You also said SMU and WVU are equal? WVU has 23 bowl appearances compared to SMU's 11. Seems to me WVU is ahead of SMU there.

Problem is Card that SMU has multi top 10 apperances....not so Cards. Keep in mind also that since the 90's every 6-5 team in America goes to a bowl, in past years you had to actually be good to go. You can't compare SMU and Louisville in football..../its a dog that won't hunt. You have to be realistic and not so emotional when looking at these things. One of our posters did put up a comparason of SMU and West Virginia....they were almost identical.

Quote:You can't compare SMU and Louisville in football....

Agreed. Louisville is currently light years ahead and it looks to stay that way in the foreseeable future.

TopCoog Wrote:SMU has multi top 10 apperances.... Keep in mind also that since the 90's every 6-5 team in America goes to a bowl

Lets see SMU has multiple finishes in the Top 10. Nice to know that they got something for all of the cheating they did. Notice they have done squat since they were slapped with death penalty for cheating. I know the cheating had nothing to do with the Mustangs on the field performance...wink, wink.
As for every team going to a bowl game in the 90's with a 6-5 record, you need to check your facts.
SMU has finished with a winning record once since 1990. In 1997 they finished 6-5 and they stayed home. Memphis finished 6-5 in 1992, 1993 and 1994. They stayed home all 3 years. East Carolina was 8-3 in 1996 and stayed home as did Southern Miss with the same record.
So obviously it takes more than a 6-5 record to get you into a bowl game "every 6-5 team" doesn't make a bowl. As I pointed out, some with better records get left at home.
CJ

rodtheman Wrote:Not everyone associated with ECU has any desire to go to the Big East. Why go to a Yankee, Snowbelt conference that is definitely on the decline. Makes no sense at all.

Either make CUSA better, and hopefully find a way to make things more compact, or get a leading position in joining the SEC at a later date.

Although down now, all the new CUSA schools have excellent upside potential. And ECU will be back in Football.

And CUSA Texas is desirable?

More like you fell into the Grand Canyon! :D

TopCoog Wrote:The Big East basketball money made UC's choice smart. From a football standpoint over the long haul its a wash. I think we determined that SMU and West Virginia had about the same football tradition in terms of acomplishments. Both a great distance ahead of UL.

Who the hell is we? You and you alone came up with that crap!!!!!

TopCoog Wrote:Problem is Card that SMU has multi top 10 apperances....not so Cards. Keep in mind also that since the 90's every 6-5 team in America goes to a bowl, in past years you had to actually be good to go. You can't compare SMU and Louisville in football..../its a dog that won't hunt. You have to be realistic and not so emotional when looking at these things. One of our posters did put up a comparason of SMU and West Virginia....they were almost identical.

You can take all of SMU top ten finish's and toss them in the trash. Good God man, they got the death penalty for cheating for Christ sakes. What have they done since the NCAA put the screws to them? I'll tell you, not a damn thing. There a reason that the old SWC is now de-funked, it's because it made the SEC look like childs play. You take away SMU blatant cheating, and you also take away all there top ten finish's.

Hey Coog, at lest here in Louisville, when we get are's, it will be without cheating

TopCoog Wrote:Problem is Card that SMU has multi top 10 apperances....not so Cards. Keep in mind also that since the 90's every 6-5 team in America goes to a bowl, in past years you had to actually be good to go. You can't compare SMU and Louisville in football..../its a dog that won't hunt. You have to be realistic and not so emotional when looking at these things. One of our posters did put up a comparason of SMU and West Virginia....they were almost identical.

Save that pesky little death penalty that places an * by any accomplishment you try to saddle them with. WVU is worlds beyond SMU and so is Louisville.

You live in a dream world L-Yeas. I'm sure many UL fans don't claim you. Once again....top ten finish?

TopCoog Wrote:You live in a dream world L-Yeas. I'm sure many UL fans don't claim you. Once again....top ten finish?

You are the one living in a fantasy Coog. Wake up. Anyone who tries to claim SMU is Louisville’s equal is on crack much less touting them as superior and to take it to WVU is completely off the rocker. You’re a fool and a bitter one at that. I think most fans on this board respect my opinion, the same can't be said for you and I'm sure my fellow card fans "claim me". Why don't you start a poll and find out?

Top ten Finish????

TopCoog Wrote:Top ten Finish????

You and your top ten finishes. Who cares if someone finished top 10 back in the day and how does that legitimize them in the here and now?

It proves they can do it bearcat. Give us something to go by. Top twen is the standard and when it was doesn't matter. You have either done it or you have not. It has been 20 years since SMU was in the top five, its been never for you. Thats the point.

TopCoog Wrote:It proves they can do it bearcat. Give us something to go by. Top twen is the standard and when it was doesn't matter. You have either done it or you have not. It has been 20 years since SMU was in the top five, its been never for you. Thats the point.

No...the only thing it proves is that they did it at one point. If you asked someone to name the top programs of the past 20 years...how many do you think are named before SMU...50? 75? 100?

How about the top up-and-coming programs...who many teams would be named before SMU?

This is the same tired argument that ECU fans give when they bring up their record of ther past 15 years (why 15? Because it includes the '91 Peach Bowl season...but that has been so long ago that no one cares and it doesn't mean anything in the current climate).

UC's back-to-back NCAA Bball championships in the 60's haven't done a damn thing for them right now. Hell, the Final Four in 1992 is long enough ago that no one playing on the Bearcat squad right now was older than 10 years old when it happened...past is the past, nothing more.

The point to all this is a CUSA fan wants to hold up what SMU did nearly a quarter of a century ago has reason to believe that the CUSA conference improved when Louisville left and SMU joined. If SMU was the all to end all for CUSA, TCU would not have been forced to take their chances with the MWC.
As for comparing SMU to the traditon of WVU, thats almost laughable.
As yet the poster has not addressed how the cheating at SMU tainted anything and everything that Eric Dickerson, Craig James and other Mustangs accomplished.
CJ

How about never Jim....SMU has been down for 20 years but the people on this board, including your team, have never been up to that level. Is that a hard concept for you to grasp? You are dissing a school that has acomplishments that you have NEVER had...then or now. Its just crappola at the highest level.
I like Louisville, always have and I don't say anything unless it is in response to these arrogant little termites who root for your team that think they are Michigan. Louisville is a fine program but it has a long long way to go and the jury is far from in.

TopCoog Wrote:It proves they can do it bearcat. Give us something to go by. Top twen is the standard and when it was doesn't matter. You have either done it or you have not. It has been 20 years since SMU was in the top five, its been never for you. Thats the point.

It proves they used to could do it. Top ten back in the day may be your standard but most of us look at how competitive teams are now. Louisville is in much better shape today than SMU and it would take a fool to say different.