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I've become a pretty big fan of the North Texas Football Performance workout charting during the off-season (via Facebook)...was thumbing through today's and came across a couple interesting tid-bits. First...JaMarcus Jarvis is now listed as a safety. I think with the likes of Jimmerson, Pegram, Byrd and Lewis in front of him, this seems like a logical move. Also the last RB to DB switch went off pretty well last season... Second...a few new names...can't confirm these links are for the right players, but given all four are from Texas it seems I made some sound assumptions TE. Cade Carter - http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Cade-Carter-111458 CB. Erick Evans - http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/fQyemFcFFUGZS9sf2x436w/football-fall-10/profile-erick-evans.htm WR. Andy Mensah - http://www.bronchosports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4713 and one I'm really intrigued by... WR. Brady Brown - http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/brown_brady00.html

What do you think about this Notre Dame story? Who would do something like make up a fake internet alias and try to keep it going for so long, even when the doubts and dots were all obviously connected? Let's step up tonight and beat FIU!!!!11!

The way you phrased this makes me think of this: Maybe you meant to say something like, "How Many People Have Been Killed by murderers using Guns Since Newtown?" Or, maybe you meant guns like Megatron that kill on their own... I don't know.

"Republicans accuse Obama of using position as President to lead country" http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/01/republicans-accuse-obama-of-using-position-as-president-to-lead-country.html “President Obama looks down the list of all of the powers that are legally his and he’s like a kid in a candy store,” Rep. Stockman said. “It’s nauseating.” The Texas congressman said that if Mr. Obama persists in executing the office of the Presidency as defined by the Constitution, he could face “impeachment and/or deportation.” CBL

I think that it's fait accompli that Tulsa will leave at some point. The question is when. If Tulsa goes before 2015 they will be the 11th member. If Navy comes aboard in 2015 there is no problem. If Navy opts to remain independent the nBE is at an awkward number. That means the raiders will grab still another CUSA team and they will go willingly regardless of the payout. By that time the BE will lose Cincinnati and UConn meaning that they must take two more CUSA members. If Tulsa goes and especially if Tulsa and Southern Miss go, turn out the lights on CUSA. We'd be better served forming a new, more regional conference. This is really getting old.

What must one do to get on the 'good guy' list? Of the candidates who has.... 1. Won their last two bowl games? (San Diego State and East Carolina) 2. Led in average attendance the last two years? (26,000+) 3. Largely responsible for the New Orleans Bowl new attendance record? (48,000+) 4. Has the longest length of FBS service? (25+ years) 5. Has the best facilities? (OK, they're virtually tied with Arkansas State) 6. Has the best tailgating of all the candidates? (Think Cajun food) Yet, they're behind almost everyone else in the poll. Why? Whatever happened to earning your way? They have the top average attendance mark in the Sun Belt at more than 29,000. Only Arkansas State has come close to that mark at 25,000+. Texas State has been in the FBS one year, Western Kentucky four, and Georgia State 0. Arkansas State is much better than those but still less than Louisiana. They have three drawbacks as I see it. Lafayette is not a larget market but they are light years ahead of Jonesboro and Bowling Green. For the time being Texas State is barely a blip in the Austin market because UT is so dominating. The second drawback is their budget. I don't know whether they can afford CUSA or not but their budget isn't that much smaller than La Tech and that didn't stop them. I'm guessing that the third hindrance is their name. They prefer to be called Louisiana; not ULL, UL-Lafayette, or Louisiana-Lafayette (too long for any marquee). The went through the channels and seemingly had approval until LSU alumni in the legislature amended their bill to have to include another institution because they thought that it gave the university too much prestige. They use Louisiana on their uniforms and in their end zones, etc. while Monroe uses ULM. Officially, they may be Louisiana-Lafayette but in the court of public opinion they can become just Louisiana. If separated from ULM it will even be easier. Anyway, I think that Louisiana is the most deserving candidate although it wouldn't raise my enthusiasm is Tulsa leaves.

It has been my understanding that UTEP wanted a presence in DFW and Houston to reach more alumni,and that UTSA was an added bonus. While UNT is not SMU,nor Rice the University of Houston,neither is The University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at Austin.

Wow, I think that's great that Miss South Carolina 2007 has been able to find a job.

If we end up in a conference with New Mexico State we have truely failed. With that said there is nothing to support NMSU as the next best program for CUSA.

I am perfectly ok with WKU. This decision should be about who can bring the most "prestige" to the conference. Of the teams listed in this poll only WKU has a chance to make anyone pay any attention. I'm talking on a regional and national level. When WKU goes several rounds deep in the NCAA tournament people notice them...even if only because, to them, they're an oddity. Every time WKU makes the tournament one of the CBS guys will rattle off their resume to the national tv audience. Even if the people tuned in to see Duke, they'll get a good dose of the pedigree of their opponent WKU. For the most part football fans are ROCK STUPID outside of their knowledge that Alabama, Texas, OU, and the like are good (or they're assumed to be year in and year out). Likewise, to their knowledge, any team with a CUSA patch is superior to a team with a Sun Belt patch. People who know me ask me all the time "aren't you guys going to CUSA next year?" When I engage them in conversation about the movement of teams between conferences their response is, without fail, "I didn't even know about that." What they do know, because they're from Texas, is that Texas State has been for as long as they can remember a 1AA team. They're a catch 22. Outside of the southwest nobody knows or cares about them...so adding them isn't such a "shot" to the league's prestige. Inside of Texas though, where we hope to see the bump in interest, everyone knows they've played "small time" football this whole time...they look like a desperation add. And they don't get that national recognition bump by being in the NCAA tournament like WKU. And, regardless of who we add, if we BEAT them we will be just fine. Our fanbase is long dormant and just looking for a reason to get interested. I am absolutely sure of this because we averaged ugly numbers (like 15,000 or so) until after the bowl run. We have actually maintained or increased this number through eight absolutely abysmal, horrible, unmistakably rancid years. The stadium is in place. The coaches (salary wise) are in place. 10-2 against, as some of you like to call it, Sun Belt 2.0 will still lead to big time crowds. We're in DFW folks. DFW will support anything/anyone that wins because it's fashionable, not because they have a clue about what's going on.

wat We were a powerhouse back in the 80s and early 90s.

"For Tulsa, a move to the Big East -- completely in self defense -- makes the best of a bad situation." Self defense? Really!? In what way are they defending themselves?

Good find CBL. Here's Brady's rivals profile. Some really nice offers, but it looks like he got hit with the injury bug. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Brady-Brown-73677

-They'd beat us right now. Because we're injured and their coach, between his naps and bingo, would outcoach Benford. -Moody's renovations can't come soon enough. This place is a dump. The Pit isn't perfect but it's waaaaay better than this. -No team, unless you're 10 points better than the ponies, can beat them and the refs. -Apparently there is an official douchebag uniform. And they're all wearing it. Total attendance from outside of Highland Park? Me, my daughter and the parents of the hired help (black basketball players). -Their game against Memphis on Feb 6th is advertised as a "white out" game. From looking around the crowd could come nude...mission accomplished. And before anyone askes the obvious question...it's college basketball, within 10 miles of my house, and NT is on the road this week.

Interesting...when the nation's strictest gun legislation was enacted in Washington DC, the murder rate skyrocketed and did not come down until the Supreme Court ruled the ban unconstitutional. Source is an ex-Washington prosecutor....info is in the 1-17-13 issue of the Wall Street Journal. Also...here is a thought...it will not be the Republicans that squash stricter gun regulations in Congress...it will be the Dems. The last time the Dems pushed gun control through Congress, they darn near were swept out of office in the next general election. Reid knows this and he probvably will not want to see it happen again. Another thing to "hide and watch"...Question...will Obama try to use provisions of his massive Obamacare act to enforce stricter gun regulations? All in the guise of "public health issues". Think not...think again. Just something to ponder and watch for in coming months as O gets pushback on legislation from not only the R's bur the Dems as well. Many many Dems own handguns, high powered rifles, are NRA members, hunt, have CHL's, etc., etc. Many people would be very surprised to learn that gun ownership and 2nd Amendment issues are not strictly a R and/or conservative issue. Should be interesting for folks who watch this sort of thing closely.

plus 1

Benford could beat them (I think).

Man, this move to CUSA is getting less exciting by the week. It seems if it wasn't for bad luck, lil ole UNT wouldn't have no luck at all.

OU got a commitment from DT Mathew Romar, 6-3, 275, Port Arthur Memorial. He shows several offers, including UNT. If Walker committed to OU, that's two potentially good DL they have picked up. Damn! http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Matthew-Romar-128343;_ylt=As2_wiFSn8XeZKYDIf9dW3pIPZB4?colleges=show#college_choices

Lsu Losing to an opponent on their home floor? Sorry about your winning records gamecocks and tigers. It must suck to be that bad. South Carolina is a D1 school still right? Question no info.

I will laugh when they come up with some east coast school that no one thought of.

FIU's coach is pretty young. Benford may get confused and try to sub him in to the game.

Surely you understand that LSU wasn't the HEAVY favorite to win their division in the SEC, compete at a national level for the 1st time in their histoy, and have an Nba lottery pick in theor starting lineup, right?

I am not sure who I would invite from the above list. several have appeal for differing reasons, and all bring their own disadvantages (sometimes only political like ULL which LaTech will oppose). What i would do if I were Bankowsky though, is place phone calls to UNCC and ODU, the Big east and maybe even the MAC and sun belt telling them that those two are C-USAs most beloved and esteemed members and that C-USA would do anything for them.... for example wave entry and exit fees if they should happen to never play a game in C-USA or decide to leave after only a year. Even at the time the move to bring those two along seemed like a desperate and badly calculated try to make ECU happy, and predictably did not do enough to keep them. And now it looks like a real hindrance to developping the conference, because it makes things more complicated geographically and waters down the product, particularly UNCC (ODU is at least a Basketball help and a bit ahead football wise of UNCC).

First choice - Louisiana . Slam dunk, and it's not even close. The Cajuns are established long term in 1A unlike every other viable candidate. The Cajuns have by far the best fan support. The Cajuns have a media market that places them as one of the top teams followed. The residents of the 500K Acadiana region, even many who also follow LSU, identify themselves as Cajuns. I'm shocked that Louisiana has not been selected before any, or all, of the current CUSA additions. Arkansas State would be my next selection. This may be a hard sell with several CUSA members because of limited market but Arkansas State has been making strides in recent seasons forging an identity. If this school had chosen Arkies (a goofy regional nickname ala Hoosiers, Jayhawks, Sooners, Tarheels, Vols, Cajuns, Buckeyes) instead of Red Wolves when they were forced to replace Indians, they would have received a lot more statewide following and could have avoided the whole 'small town / no market' tag. Huge opportunity missed. NMSU, no way. If UTEP doesn't want them then there is absolutely no reason to consider them. If UTEP were to leave CUSA then NMSU is even more geographically undesirable. Texas State - I really like this school as a potential rivalry but also think there are too many schools in CUSA that would oppose their admission, at least at this time. The non-Texas CUSA schools are wary of too many Texas schools being added, and UTSA has been campaigning to distance themselves from what was very recently referred to as their 'Texas Twin'. I would love to see North Texas sign a long term home-and-home contract with this school. Each school should allow free entrance for visiting students. Instant rivalry. WKY just finished their best football season, and it will likely forever remain their best ever, yet they garnered very little interest outside the Bowling Green community. It would always be a challenge to sell tickets for this game.

Because very few posters here have ever been to ULL to see what they have to offer. For me it's TxSt or ULL. Rick

Yes plz

And,after being up 21-7 to start the game, SMU loses 74-70

To hell with preseason standings!!!

Kicking out odu or uncc didn't sound bad to me.

"On Jan. 8, Aresco told ESPN that if his league lost San Diego State, it would remain at 10 football members -- Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, SMU, South Florida, Temple, UCF and UConn -- for this fall. In 2014, East Carolina and Tulane will join the Big East to replace Louisville and Rutgers, who are leaving for the ACC and Big Ten, respectively. Aresco said it was "unlikely" ECU or Tulane would join the Big East in 2013. ECU, which was originally sought as a football-only member, is now expected to become an all sports member in 2014. Navy is scheduled to join in 2015 as a football-only member, giving the Big East 11 football members. Tulsa is being targeted to become the Big East's 12th member in 2014, sources told ESPN." http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8850122/san-diego-state-reinstated-mountain-west-conference-member Do you think there is anything CUSA can do to keep Tulsa? If Navy decommits, do you think CUSA can hang on to Tulsa and even lure back ECU and Tulane?

K State did land a JUCO TE from Kansas last month but he was rather low-rated for a Kansas State recruit. http://247sports.com/Player/Dayton-Valentine-27367

Well, if we lose Southern Miss as well then maybe we should consider hooking up with UTEP in an expanded Mountain West. I wouldn't be happy being the easternmost but I know that Thompson has stated at least once that he'd like to be in Texas. The DFW market is our only valuable chip. It would work much better with a couple of winning seasons.

Your players are clearly gutless immature jerks with fat heads and no heart. How is a first year coach supposed to handle that?

So his teams get hot at the end of the season? I can handle that

Well, one thing I agreed with in the linked article was the comment that "wherever they end up, they need to start winning". Sounds like somebody I know.

Ease up, JJ's teams will always throw down the frustrating conference loss, but they will also always play their best basketball at conference tournament time. Don't be surprised to see a mini run in your conference tournament and major runs after year 2.

Man, just trying to figure out the meaning of the sentences being constructed has made me think the whole thing is not worth following. I'm having problems understanding this: "a total of 12 football members with 11 overall, with Hawaii being the lone football only member". Does this mean: "12 members total, 11 all sports, and Hawaii only for football"? I do think the whole Big East thing either means that (1.) some people have finally figured out how to read a map, which is a good thing, or (2.) it really took some people a long time to learn how to read a map, which is a bad thing.

Yep. The reporters words not mine. I simply provided some info about NSMU for those not so inclined. Would not be my choice as stated previously. Reality is that there are no adds that will move the needle for everyone, or even anyone.

CUSA is not adding MTSU & FAU until 2014.

Bad spot? They are in the exact same confernce they were in with 3 other Texas teams. Everyone know the MWC wanted Boise, BYU, SDU, UTEP in that order.

This guy seems to think NMSU might be next up. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fau-owls/sfl-fau-not-jumping-to-cusa-for-13-yet-20130116,0,7646687.story That would be a little out of left field, but would provide olys the ability to kill two birds with one stone when travelling to El Paso. Las Cruces is a decent sized metro area and NMSU is pretty respected academically and nationally ranked (#189 USNWR), 18,000 students, $150mm endowment, $150mm in research grants, establishes presence in new state, and already has a rivalry with UTEP. Not sure if it will happen, but I guess nothing surprises at this point. When MTSU and FAU were added the rumor at the time was WKU and NMSU were next in line. Maybe there was something to the rumors.

And just where does UTEP go now? Mountain West is filling up daily. There are California schools on the radar that would go before them. Big East won't want them. Big XII, SEC, ACC, or PAC 12 in their dreams. WAC is dead. MAC is not an option. I know its rumored they were a shoe in but that was prior to Boise & San Diego staying. If Tulsa goes, Western Kentucky is my vote.

That just about sizes it up. GMG!

That's awesome.

That's a mighty big leap to take from reading that article.

Another disgraceful move by this Administration. "W.H. Releases Letters from Little Kids Pleading for Gun Control" http://m.weeklystandard.com/blogs/wh-releases-letters-little-kids-pleading-gun-control_696099.html Rick

Seriously?

My answer is that I hope one is in the near future for recruiting purposes. What I want to say is, "Really? Football is an outdoor sport and a little weather is good for everyone."

Only if he has a buddy that sells mattresses and gives UNT a sizeable donation with some strings attached that are "discovered" after the firing takes place.