The SMU Mustangs have canceled their 2013 home game vs. the Baylor Bears, SMU athletics director Rick Hart announced Wednesday evening.
SMU was scheduled to host Baylor at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas on Sept. 14, 2013. Instead, the Mustangs will now host the Montana State Bobcats, an FCS team, on Sept. 7.
“While this is a rivalry that both schools value, we decided it would be best if we did not play this season,” said SMU A.D. Rick Hart. “This was not an easy decision and was made only after careful deliberation. With three Big 12 games and one SEC matchup on our nonconference schedule and an upgraded conference schedule as we join the BIG EAST, we felt we needed to bring some balance to our 2013 schedule. This decision does not, however, impact our long-term agreement. We will play at Baylor in 2014 when they open their new stadium and have them scheduled for annual games for numerous years.”
The game against Baylor was canceled, as Hart indicates, to lessen the difficulty of SMU’s 2013 non-conference schedule. The Mustangs are also slated to host Texas Tech and travel to Texas A&M and TCU.
SMU will also be playing their first season in the Big East in 2013. The Mustangs host UCF, Connecticut, Rutgers, and Temple and travel to Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, and USF.
News of the possible cancellation of the Baylor game broke yesterday when Montana State announced that they had canceled a game at North Dakota State in order to play SMU. Montana State will net $200,000 after receiving $300,000 from SMU and paying NDSU $100,000 to buy out the contract.
SMU and Baylor have a long-term agreement to play on a home-and-home basis through at least the 2019 season. It’s not clear if the canceled 2013 game will be added to the end of the contract or bought out completely.
Baylor is now left with a hole in their 2013 schedule. Open dates include Aug. 31, Sept. 14, Sept. 28, and Nov. 2. Syracuse and Western Kentucky could have openings as each has yet to announce their final non-conference game. Old Dominion is also searching for an additional FBS game.
In addition, Army, Fresno State, San Diego State, and San Jose State each play at Hawaii in 2013 and could conceivably add a 13th game. Failing any of those options, Baylor could schedule an FCS team and still have it count towards bowl eligibility.
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I think the game should not be canceled. Playing Baylor is only going to make them a better team.
Montana State? A sign of weakness.
that is true i wish they still play baylor
Savannah St. was not available…..
i would watch that game every year
Smu was cowardly for doing that. Play a mans game and you eill be a man. Freakn ridiculous.
I agree. I think this reflects very poorly on June Jones. Disappointed to see a former NFL head coach being so cowardly. Hope SMU has a losing season. Let’s revisit this post the first week in December. :-)
SMU and schools like it should be begging these schools to come to their stadium. Any chance they get they need to take advantage of it.
BYU should jump on this opportunity to pick up a home game against Baylor on the mutually available date of 11/2/13. BYU should then dump Idaho State from its schedule (let’s be honesty, who really wants to watch Idaho State play in Provo in November?). Then BYU would improve it’s late season schedule while also giving it a bye before playing at Notre Dame. Can ESPN work some magic to make the BYU v. Baylor game at Provo on 11/2 happen?
I don’t see it happening. BYU and Texas both have their own TV network. BYU likes the fact that this Idaho State game will likely not be picked up by ESPN and they can put it on their Network. Must be nice to be BYU or Texas, when you are not on NBC, ABC and ESPN you can just show the game on YOUR OWN NETWORK, wow.
#BIGTIMEFOOTBALL.
SMU should have continued playing as many Big 12 schools as possible to hopefully get an invite down the road. AD Rick Hart just traded a home crowd of 30,000 and possible national TV game for 10,000 and no TV. It looks bad and is embarrassing.
Baylor’s other two non-conference opponents are Buffalo and Louisiana-Monroe.
Some options:
Syracuse still needs a 12th game.
San Diego State and San Jose State could schedule a 13th game since they play at Hawaii.
All three schools have open dates on September 14th.
Would love to see another game with Baylor,while they did own us the last we played,it was SJS who ruined Baylor’s national championship hopes in 1980 when the Spartans pulled a 30-22 upset at Waco. But will the Bears agree to travel to SJS?
A game with byu for Baylor would be very good for both programs. I think adding byu and Louisville as the 11th and 12th members would only strengthen the conference even more.
syracuse has filled there hole in the schedule according to our scheduling guy
SMU is scared to play Baylor. Look at the rest of their schedule. The best team they play is probably Texas A&M.C’mon man.
Nebraska should cancel their eighth home game to play at Baylor, even though it won’t happen. Unfortunately, there’s just no way to get FCS teams off of big boy schedules.
I agree, Derek. Nebraska has an open date on Sept. 28 and should drop the South Dakota State game on Sept. 21. Just switch the open dates on Nebraska’s schedule. Nebraska can afford it to go to Waco on the 28th. Baylor can come to Nebraska in 2014 to replace McNeese State in 2014.
But it will never happen as you said.
I don’t blame SMU at all. Their non-conference schedule is crazy tough while their new conference schedule with the Big East looks pretty optimistic. The idea that they could go 7-1 or 6-2 in conference but still have their season ruined because they potentially go 0-4 at the start of the season is not comforting. Especially when every school in the Big East will be scratching and clawing for that last AQ ticket to a major bowl. Montana State is a respectable FCS school but should still be a solid win for SMU, if they can steal a win over maybe Texas Tech or TCU then things look very good for SMU come bowl season.
but @nativepotato those teams wont be any good this year.
SMU weasled out of a game with Baylor that would have filled Ford Stadium and been on national TV. You can’t run a first-class program by this type of action. It’ll affect recruiting down the line. Bonehead move by the SMU AD.
Better to play a weaker opponent and go to a bowl than sit home. If you want to see weak non conference schedules, check out the SEC.