It's another NFL city. The fans in that town follow the Houston Texans.

And before the Texans they followed the Houston Oilers. Rice, Houston, SMU, and TCU all had big fan followings in the 1950s and 1960s. That's when the big Rice Stadium was built.

But the NFL expanded in 1960 adding the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers. Over time since 1960 Rice, Houston, SMU, and TCU fans migrated away from college football to NFL football in those two cities.

The Dallas Cowboys fill a huge stadium today, and SMU struggles to get a crowd at all. Same for Rice and the Houston Texans.

We are dealing with this already in the ACC with Miami, Georgia Tech, and Pittsburgh. We were dealing with it with Maryland.

Louisville works because there is no NFL team. West Virginia has no NFL team. There is no NFL team in Connecticut or NBA team. Avoiding NFL cities helps get bigger crowds for football.

In response to this post by chuckd4vt

Posted: 06/13/2017 at 5:28PM

So, you guys still wanna add Rice to the ACC? LOL! -- chuckd4vt 06/13/2017 08:02AM

No -- Wolfman 06/15/2017 10:22AM

Only me...under the right circumstances...and only in fun -- daveinop 06/13/2017 2:30PM

Think it still takes some actual fan support to recruit well. -- chuckd4vt 06/13/2017 2:55PM

It's another NFL city. The fans in that town follow the Houston Texans. -- HOO86 06/13/2017 5:28PM

Don't discount my humor, but note Miami did it with no fans -- daveinop 06/13/2017 5:44PM

Key word is DID. Different era. -- chuckd4vt 06/13/2017 5:49PM

Definitely, most unlikely. ** -- daveinop 06/13/2017 5:55PM

Re: So, you guys still wanna add Rice to the ACC? LOL! -- SoCloseHokie 06/13/2017 08:44AM

It's another NFL city. The fans in that town follow the Houston Texans.

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