(06-16-2017 10:50 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 09:32 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Umm, the conferences of which they are charter members didn't fall apart. Don't think much planning went into that.

In part because they contributed positively to the conference instead of mooching off everyone else.

Northwestern and Vandy also had one other advantage. They were the only private schools in their conferences.

As much as the athl dept is responsible for the last 50 yrs, the BOT has as much if not more responsibility-does a CEO survive and take no blame when a division collapses, hurting the company as a whole? If the academic rankings had fallen in a similar fashion, would anyone say that it was the various president's faults and the board not act? This is pure and simple a lack of commitment and that is the BOT. How many AD's have been fired? essentially one and it was in typical Rice fashion (see Polk, Bob; Braun, Ben, etc.). When coaches are hired, the BOT and the presidents always at least appear to be involved and attend the announcements, so let's not pretend they are not

As to why our non-ivy, non-tulane peers survived/thrived? The SWC was the only conference with 4 privates and the only one with a commuter school, which from a contribution to the money pie, despite their delusions, is no more than any of the privates. In the ACC, Duke and Wake were the only privates, but the North Carolina connections would have never allowed NC and NC State to abandon, not to mention Duke's LT prowess in bskb. And none of those schools had to deal with a megalomaniac like DeLoss Dodds, who was described as a "noted bully and former Big 12 defacto boss", in an article about Bob Stoops' retirement. Article also described tu as "The Entitled Orange". In the final NCAA shakeout when there will be 4 16 team conferences then all the rest, the EO will not fair as well when Rice, UH, Baylor, ISU and KSU were around to kiss their ring at the cabinet meeting, um err conference meeting.

As for TCU, they made the committment-case closed. Yes Ft Worth, yes a bit bigger, yes area oil money, but 25 yrs ago and for most before, we dominated TCU.

This is death similar to one by basic neglect, a thousand cuts, or drinking lead poisoned water over 50 plus years. You never really know you are dying, but looking back it is pretty clear. Hope Southwestern and Trinity will welcome us into their D3 conference.

As Owl 69 tells it, we were approached by the SEC in the early 90's, I can not believe that the athl admin nixed it on its own. That may be the biggest shame in Rice athletics history.