It's ok to admit you are an ACC fan instead of this ridiculous "I follow UConn sports but am realistic" pose. Nobody cares about Chad Scott fluffing Swofford.
Good stuff about SMU. Thanks! SMU and Houston are great gets for the Big East. Many people on this board need to get over the geography and understand that these teams will be power players for the conference. " until very recently SMU would not allow recruits on campus for official visits unless they’d already been accepted in to the school. SMU is VERY tough academically mind you and was and is designed to be a sister institution of Northwestern, but the “Southwestern” name was already in use by a different school at the time of SMU’s founding. I had no idea how academically exceptional SMU was, but it is. It also has multiple billionaires on its board of directors, more than one of whom love sports. With TONS of money and wealthy alumni, Larry Brown bringing unprecedented excitement to the basketball program (season ticket sales have skyrocketed) and a massive renovation coming to the Mustang’s on-campus basketball stadium if college athletic departments were stocks I’d be buying huge quantities of SMU".
Well it would be interesting to know the reasoning behind the two consultants advising SDSU against joining the BE. Seems clear the whatever TV deal the NBE gets will be better than what any other conference outside of the five power conferences gets and the exposure in the NBE has to be better as well.
I will only say there are 5 power conferences if UConn is in the ACC. Otherwise, the ACC is what it is, a pretender.
SMU academics aren't supposed to be that good. I read all over that it is a safety school for rich kids.
Sarcasm? It's no Northwestern, but in a field of dreadful NBE schools it looks pretty darned good. #62 USNews, so not far behind UConn and just ahead of Rutgers. Same as Syracuse. Probably is a safety school if you are applying to Rice and UT Austin. But UConn is certainly a safety school for many as well.
Today, most UConn alumni would not be admitted to either UConn or SMU. Historically, SMU is a heavily southwestern rich kid school. However, SMU is succeeding in expanding its' geographic diversity and raising its' academic standards. The College Board's "College Compare" website indicates SMU's admissions requirements currently fall below Northwestern and Rice, but above UConn and UT and further exceed Baylor, TCU, and Rutgers. Connecticut - SAT: Reading: 550-640, Math: 580-670, Writing: 550-650; ACT 25-29 SMU - SAT: Reading: 580-680, Math: 600-690, Writing: 570-670; ACT 26-31 Northwestern - SAT: Reading: 680-760, Math: 700-780, Writing: 680-770; ACT 31-34
I found the comments regarding SMU's small number of academic programs interesting. It does limit the amount of fudge room for athlete when they can be sheltered into degree programs. Also, as noted, SMU, whether its a great academic institution or a rich kid fallback, does have board members and alumni with cash that they are willing to spend. The other part that caught my attention was regarding Kevin Anderson and Maryland. A dejected, beaten down AD can affect the entire athletic department and doesn't exactly get donors to open their wallets.
How true! I was no dummy, but I would be scared that I might not get in to UConn if I had to apply today. I'm a relic from back in the days when your SAT maxed out at 1600 and there were only 2 sections! (and no calculators!)
Same for me. I wouldn't get in today. Then again, in this era, my HS experience would have been different. The competitive aspect just wasn't there, and we didn't have this crazy GPA inflation. Average was about a 2.5. I don't even know how to compare SAT scores from then.
