How did Texas and Arkansas dominate the SWC in the 60's and early 1970's?

The same way OU and Nebraska dominated the old Big 8.... partial qualifiers, Unlimited scholarships, being shady, and a 100% commitment to football.

Johnny Bear said:

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The year was 1978 and the QB was Mickey Elam - a 5'9" converted running back that was a surprise weapon at QB. UT wasn't prepared for a running QB and the 2 win Bears (coming into that game) destroyed them that day.

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That was probably the best game I intended to listen to but never did. The game was on a Friday afternoon, Thanksgiving weekend. I was at my deer lease to hunt, so after lunch I thought to myself I'd take my portable radio with ear plugs and go sit in my deer stand to listen to the game. So I got my gear together, backpack, chair, and gun and headed of to the stand. I really wasn't quiet getting into the stand, but got in and started settling in, making noise digging my radio out of my backpack. I looked up, and a 10 point buck was staring right at me wondering what all the fuss was. I froze, reached for my rifle, took a bead, and dropped that 10 point deer at 1:30 in the afternoon, shortly after kickoff. By the time I finished field dressing the deer and got him in the back of the pickup, all the excitement of running over Texas was gone. I think I got to listen to the fourth quarter.

HarryMehre said:

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Aliceinbubbleland said:

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Yep. DKR came to our next door neighbor's home around 1960 just to recruit at best a 2* player. Why? Because 2* kid's best friend was a 5* player and the 5* wanted to go to OU. DKR signed both of them because he convinced our neighbor it was best for them at UT.

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I bet that he didn't do that very often, since the Longhorns weren't signing more players than most of the SWC schools.

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But they were, because they had the money to give more scholarships.
There was NO LIMIT on the number of football scholarships you could hand out back then, so they used their resources to keep kids on their bench and off of other school's.

It's true.

Pecos 45 said:

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HarryMehre said:

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Aliceinbubbleland said:

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Yep. DKR came to our next door neighbor's home around 1960 just to recruit at best a 2* player. Why? Because 2* kid's best friend was a 5* player and the 5* wanted to go to OU. DKR signed both of them because he convinced our neighbor it was best for them at UT.

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I bet that he didn't do that very often, since the Longhorns weren't signing more players than most of the SWC schools.

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But they were, because they had the money to give more scholarships.
There was NO LIMIT on the number of football scholarships you could hand out back then, so they used their resources to keep kids on their bench and off of other school's.

It's true.

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No, it's not true. I thought it was too, but it's not true.

Texas gave roughly the same amount of scholarships in the 1960's as about 1/2 the conference schools. Baylor and Rice were giving about 7-12 less than the Longhorns most years. SMU was also giving less than Texas, about 6-9 less a year,

The Aggies, Texas Tech, Arkansas and TCU (for the most part) were giving out the same numbers during the 1960's. Texas was recruiting more highly rated players almost every year and were stockpiling those players on the bench, but it wasn't sheer numbers.

The art of the deal behind those pre-limit scholarship days--my favorite quotation from Royal when asked why he recruited so many blue chip players when he KNEW some of those would never contribute to his own team's success--simply too many players to get meaningful minutes/plays on the field.

Royal said of such, "Well, if he's on MY bench, he can't be tackling MY quarterback."

Priceless candor.

Enrollment figures from 1959.

Arkansas- 6100 (4300 men and 1800 women)
Baylor- 5,203 (3,094 men and 2,109 women)
Rice- 1616 (1225 men and 391 women)
SMU- 5959 (4358 men and 1601 women)
Texas- 17,759 (12,705 men and 5.054 women)
Texas A&M- 6500 (all men)
TCU- 6474 (4339 men and 2135 women)
Texas Tech-8770 (6337 men and 2433 women)** didn't start conference play until 1960.

Stadium size

Arkansas- Razorback 30,000
Baylor- Baylor 50,000
Rice- Rice 70,000
SMU- Cotton Bowl 75,504
Texas- Memorial 65,498
Texas A&M- Kyle Field 42,500
TCU- Amon Carter 46,000
Texas Tech- Jones 28,000