re: Wetzel: SEC should add TCU as 14th team

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The reason why these teams can't sustain is that they don't have access to the same resources as the big boys.

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And TCU -- a small private school -- does? If that were the key to success, Vandy would be competing for the SEC title every year. Or at least Baylor would be better than 18-102 in its Big 12-2-1 tenure.

Fresno State's time has come and gone. Boise State's is soon passing. TCU's will pass as well, and we'll all be talking about the next surprising mid-major.

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Uh... Not sure what Vandy has to do with the "resources" argument, but I CAN tell you that 95% of the $143mil+ cost for TCU's current stadium renovation was covered by TEN individual alumni donors.

If you think TCU's success will be ephemeral - You are going to be disappointed.

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If you think TCU's success will be ephemeral - You are going to be disappointed.

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I'm glad they're doing well and being in an AQ conference helps the DFW economy (where I live).

Fort Worth is not short on families with megabucks (Kimbell Art Museum, Bass Performance Hall). But it's one thing to pay for renovating an aging stadium, it's another thing to keep the newly-renovated stadium filled with fans supporting a winning team.

Too many times these mid-major teams rise, then fall just as quickly. Joining an AQ won't change that.

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MWC to Big East is an easy one to approve of since it is an AQ conference.

WAC to C-USA to MWC doesn't sit as well with me, in part because, IIRC, C-USA was better than the MWC at the time they jumped.

Granted, I'm prejudiced in that I was at USM at the time TCU was in C-USA and they talked a LOT of shite for a program that didn't win a single league title the whole time they were there.

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SWC breaks up.

TCU joins the super-WAC. All of the teams TCU joined the WAC to be associated with plus more split off and form the MWC (BYU, Utah, CSU, NM, Air Force, Wyoming, SDSU.

TCU then joined CUSA.

The Big East got raided by the ACC, and then the Big East raided CUSA and took the best teams they had except for TCU (Louisville, Cincinatti, USF). CUSA then added complete crap: Marshall, Tulsa, Rice, SMU, and UTEP.

TCU was approached by the MWC (made of the members of the super-WAC that left TCU for dead) and they accepted, since they had no commitment to most of CUSA. TCU joined the MWC.

The MWC lost two of its big 3 (Utah and BYU) after last season. TCU was offered a spot at the big boys table of the BCS, and yet again they were joining ome of the teams that left them in the dust previously--this time those raided from CUSA in 2004.


TCU has never left a conference that didn't get cut down massively, and I doubt they would unless it was to be included in those with a shot at the BCS, which they now have. TCU would never leave the SEC if they were in it, assuming the SEC didn't get destroyed by someone somehow raiding it and then get repopulated with CUSA parts.



As far as not winning a single league title in CUSA--being the only team to break into the top 10 of the BCS standings in the history of conference USA, and to do it multiple times tends to go to your head. Congrats on y'all ruining what would have been the first BCS buster season in 2003 with the season-ending win in Hattiesburg against us. That was one of the most depressing feelings I've ever had after that game, but I'm sure it made memories for a lifetime for many of y'all as you took down your goalposts.

Houston would be a much better team for his argument. They have had flashes of success-only to get knocked back down

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We're not Hawaii--don't worry.

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Hawai'i would probably still be doing well except June Jones got poached by your rival SMU. (Don't worry, gimmick offenses don't work for extended periods of time.)

Unless Gary Patterson intends to stick around forever like Frank Beamer at VT (and only because Beamer is a VT alum has he stayed as long as he has), once he gets a better deal from a bigger program he'll be gone. Then TCU heads back to mediocrity.

Nay! We don't need another team out of Texas and they do not add any value to the conference.

Long time lurker, 1st time poster...

That said, TCU is a no-go. I've lived in Ft. Worth, and there is no way they fit in with the SEC. They simply do not have the fan support either from a large alumni base or local populace to support a big-time program long term. Sure, there are big lawyers and O&G execs to write big checks, but what big school doesn't have those? It would have been more telling if many people made smaller donations to re-build their stadium rather than 10. Unless those same donors pay people to sit in that stadium and cheer for the frogs, the visiting team from the SEC will have more fans.

I liked the people from TCU, but they're nowhere near the support and passion of even the big 12 "south" schools, much less the SEC. The school is a good one, but it's no Vanderbilt or Rice, so it's not like the SEC presidents will get to rub elbows with academic elites by including them.

Ft. Worth is Dallas Cowboys country. If TCU is undefeated, they may finally tune in to watch the bowl game... IF Dallas is already eliminated from playoff consideration. If the cowboys are in the hunt (which they won't be this year), TCU is an afterthought in D/FW.

TCU can't even fill out their stadium. They are a small, private school that wouldn't fit into the culture.


As I've said before, if you're going to make an investment, UH makes perfect sense. It has a large student body (larger than LSU), is one of only 3 Tier One public universities in Texas, and are working on building a new stadium.

Many of their athletic facilities are already better than those at LSU. It's the flagship university of the third largest city in the state...it's a true diamond in the rough. Would be a first rate program in a matter of years.

I could echo my fellow TCU grads above but I will stop short. TCU is not a flash in the pan by far.

Hell, anyone know who LSU lost its first bowl game to?

I do.

And before someone brings in the stadium is too small argument, TCU's stadium will be larger than or within 5k seats of several SEC schools after the expansion.

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chalmetteowl

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You are one of the same people that was bitching the Frogs didnt belong in the Rose bowl and were certain that they were going to get stomped right?