Quote Originally Posted by HoustonCajun View Post
When we played and beat Texas A&M at home in 1996, I remember talking to our AD at the time, Nelson Schexnayder, and saying how awesome it would be to play this kind of schedule and have attendance like this every week. His response was that would require too much work (of course the athletic dept. was way understaffed back then). I think that attitude has prevailed through the years in the athletic department. We do just enough to keep us viable as an FBS school but not enough to take us to a higher level. That, plus a President who never understood the value of having a major athletic program and its impact on the university alumni and standing.

BTW, our 1996 schedule was:

Florida, Texas A&M, S. Miss, LA Tech, Houston, Ark State, UAB, Memphis, VA Tech, N. Illinois and Texas Tech

Today, that would be 5 P4 schools and 6 G6 schools.
It's infuriating to think what this University could have accomplished had it put in the effort and had the foresight. We were so much closer back then to being able to accomplish having a relevant, national football program. Unfortunately, we seem to be at a point where we are destined to be at the lowest tier. Mediocrity and below is acceptable, never mind the lip service they like to give about living up to the championship standard. Actions speak louder than words.