MeanGreen61

WW applaudes WKU, USA and the Muts Pogue: Time for SBC to validate itself at NCAAs By GREG POGUE pogue@dnj.com More than just Western Kentucky and South Alabama played into the Sun Belt Conference getting multiple entries into the NCAA men's basketball tournament that tips off today. Granted, WKU won the conference tourney for the league's automatic bid, while South Alabama got the at-large invitation for its body of work. But another common denominator factoring into the league getting two teams into the Big Dance for the first time since 1994 was a team that is not participating in postseason play. And that's MTSU. After South Alabama lost to MTSU on its home court in the Sun Belt tourney semifinal, the impact on the Jaguars' RPI (Ratings Percentage Index, an important factor in NCAA tourney at-large selections) was negligible. It dropped from the mid-30s to the mid-40s, keeping South Alabama alive. Conversely, when WKU beat MTSU in the title game, the Hilltoppers' RPI improved around 10 spots, making South Alabama's season sweep of WKU even more beneficial. "We are very fortunate the league had three coaches step up and significantly improve their non-conference schedules," Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters says of the multiple bids, "and that was the coaches at South Alabama (Ronnie Arrow), Western Kentucky (Darrin Horn) and Middle Tennessee (Kermit Davis)." Waters noted that usually when an event happens like regular-season champion South Alabama losing to MTSU in the semifinals, that losing team would go into RPI free fall and slip from the NCAA tourney radar. "That didn't happen this year," Waters says, "and that's because MTSU did everything right." And that was reflected in MTSU's non-conference strength of schedule that remained as the best in the country the last two months of the season. Now that the Sun Belt has two teams in for the first time in 14 seasons, it's time to boot another barrier, and that's win a game. The last Sun Belt victory in the NCAA men's tourney came in 1995 when Western Kentucky beat Michigan. "It is a big step forward," Waters says of two tourney entries. "But it's not a final step." Ironically on Friday, the Sun Belt Conference faces teams from a pair of fellow mid-major conferences that, quite frankly, have more national respect and are accustomed to multiple bids. South Alabama plays Butler of the Summitt Conference, while Western Kentucky plays Drake from the Missouri Valley Conference. "What we have to do now is take this opportunity and validate the trust that's been given to us (by the tourney selection committee)," Waters says.

Hawaii sez June Jones owes them $400,008.00 http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbc...mplate=UHsports

Not only recognition, but a lot of extra $Benjamins$ for Belt members with 2 first round wins !

Off the Belt board. This guy seems to like the Belt ! Wonder of all wonders ! http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney0...&id=3300831 AND Rick Pitino's upset picks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka6qv7_MwKU

Pretty good info. Scroll down to Basketball Funding (Item 5). With the increase from 06 to 07 seems that each unit should be about $190,000 this year. http://www1.ncaa.org/finance/revenue_distribution_plan

The defense allowed 355 yards of total offense during the scrimmage, including 287 through the air on 25-of-45 passing with zero interceptions. At times the secondary made mental mistakes that allowed several big plays down the field reminiscent of last season’s performance. http://louisiana.scout.com/2/738469.html

We're loaded they ain't. http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...S/80318008/1006

Useless rant.

DAILY ADVERTISER ARTICLE http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../803160356/1006

They must be fairly good at finding nuts since they also beat Sun belt champ Florida Atlantic in their house.

Tell that to Alabama.

Off the Muts board. Without looking at dates and match ups and who is losing what etc, let's predict who wins what. UAB goes to FAU - FAU wins UTEP goes to ULL - ULL wins Memphis hosts ASU - TOUGH, but Memphis (VERY CLOSE GAME) Rice hosts UNT - TOUGH again, GIVE ME NORTH TEXAS! Southern Miss hosts ULL - Southern Miss ASU hosts Southern Miss - Give me the indians baby - ASU Tulane hosts ULM - UL-Monroe Tulsa goes to UNT - Tulsa Seriously, looking at these games, we could potentially go 8-0 against CUSA this year. The only good team we play from CUSA is Southern Miss, and they're going to be rebuilding. ULL likely won't get outta USM with a W, but its possible. ASU is a ROCK at home, so they will battle hard with USM. ASU will at least split with Memphis/USM. UL-Monroe going to Tulane will be a good one. UL-Monroe has the potential if they're reloaded by the time they go. UAB and FAU will probably be closer than expected because UAB will want to make a statement and they have some decent athletes. North Texas is the wild card. They go to Rice and host Tulsa. The best we can hope for a split, but if they can get their defense in order and cut down on the turnovers they could potentially beat Tulsa. Expect Tulsa vs. UNT to reach the 100's in combined scores. UTEP going to ULL won't be as tough as it looks. UTEP's coach is actually on the hot seat after being a 1 hit wonder, and ULL just had a shake up its offensive staff (Blake Anderson is gone, thank god). The cajuns get them at home and this is a make or break year for Bustle. Expect a battle and expect the cajuns to win! I'm looking forward to having the SBC be better than CUSA on the field for the 3rd straight year. THREAD http://middletennessee.rivals.com/showmsg....142&style=2

Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson was asked about the timetable for the theoretical on-campus stadium of the future. "There is no timetable," he said. Of course there isn't. Because there is no plan for an on-campus stadium. It's just a nice thing to tell your supporters so they don't get too mad. Never mind that it's a lie. The whole on-campus stadium debate has been a succession of lies. Stadium feasibility ? That never mattered http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/...never-mattered/

DNJ article http://dnj.midsouthnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...NEWS01/80314041

UNT will open the 2008 season with a tough series of games, including road showdowns with Kansas State and LSU in its first four games of the season before coming back for what appears to be a favorable schedule at the opening of Sun Belt Conference play. "We are excited about it,” Dodge said of the Mean Green’s schedule, which was unveiled Thursday. “We are starting with a nonconference schedule that is very challenging and similar to what we had last year. We are going to look at it as a great opportunity.” “It’s nice to open with two home conference games,” Dodge said. “There is a four-week swing where we have Rice and then two home games where we will be able to get our fans locked into us. That is the best part of our schedule right there.” ARTICLE http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...4.5148bf24.html

Duplicating from the WAC board. Who will be the Sun Belt's most improved team in 2008 ? Florida Atlantic 6-1 conf. 8-5 overall Troy 6-1 conf. 8-4 overall ULM 4-3 conf. 6-6 overall Muts 4-3 conf 5-7 overall Arkansas State 3-4 conf. 5-7 overall ULL 3-4 conf 3-9 overall North Texas 1-6 conf 2-10 overall Florida International 1-6 conf 1-11 overall Also How do you rank the Belt teams for 2008 (best to worst)

A30 at Texas, 1 p.m. S6 vs. UAB, 4 p.m. S13 at Michigan State, Noon S20 at Minnesota, Noon S30 (Tue) at Middle Tennessee 7:30 p.m.(ESPN2) O7 (Tue.) vs. Troy, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) O18 at Western Kentucky, 5 p.m. O25 UL-Monre N8 vs. North Texas, 4 p.m. N15 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, 4 p.m. N22 at Arkansas State, 7 p.m. N 29 vs FIU (at Dolphin Stadium) 7 p.m. Palm Beach Post http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content...otball_sch.html

March 13, 2008 Spring practice notes After missing the first couple of sessions of spring football practice attending to other sports like basketball and softball, I was able to make it out Thursday and pick up a few random notes. Some of this might have been repeated elsewhere the last few days, but I will run through everything I noticed just in case someone missed a note or two since spring started. UNT’s starting linebackers at this point appear to be Craig Robertson, converted safety Steve Warren and Tobe Nwigwe, who is in the middle. A.J. Penson and Bron Hager are with the second team at outside linebacker with Colt Mahan in the middle. Marquis Sykes and Ryan Davenport are working with UNT’s defensive ends and could end up being key players for the Mean Green. UNT is likely to start Eddrick Gilmore and JUCO transfer Alonzo Horton at the ends. Of the rest of UNT’s players, Sykes appears to be the most physically ready to step in if either starter is hurt or needs a break – at least based on watching a few minutes of one practice. Dodge said after practice he has been impressed with Davenport, who is starting alongside Gilmore at this point. Kail Krider is now working with UNT’s defensive tackles, a group led by Joseph Miller. Outside of Miller, UNT looks really small and shorthanded for a Division I team. Miller and Jonathan Stewart are the starters. UNT could get some help at tackle if Draylen Ross returns to the team. Ross isn’t practicing, but he was on hand to watch workouts on Thursday. Ross is one of four defensive tackles listed at 270 pounds or more and is one of two that is not with the team at this point. Isaac Thomas is out for the spring after suffering a blood clot in his leg. UNT’s starters at defensive back at this point appear to be: Latif Nurudeen and Antoine Bush at the corners and Kartey Agbottah and Navy transfer Greg Garden at safety. I would expect that to change with the development of corner Adryan Adams in spring practice and the arrival of several other JUCO transfers in the fall. UNT has several offensive linemen out at this point, including tackle Matt Menard, who ran in shorts and a T-shirt at practice. Menard should be back after spring break next week, but for now Bryan Glass, J.J. Johnson, Matt Tomlinson, Esteban Santiago and Victor Gill are seeing time with the first team. There were also some interesting spectators at practice. Former UNT tight end and graduate assistant Beau Davidson was on hand. He is now the offensive line coach at Trinity Valley Community College, the same school from which UNT recruited former offensive lineman Lonnie Chambers. Davidson could end up being a good contact in the future for UNT. Southlake Carroll head coach Hal Wasson was also in attendance. On the injury front, Arthur Stubblefield had an MRI on his knee Thursday and could end up having surgery over the summer. Dodge singled out wide receivers Marcus King, Sam Roberson and walkon Alex Lott and defensive ends Davenport, Sykes and Kyle Russo as players who have fared well in the first few days of spring. Post your thoughts or questions on the blog. Posted by Brett Vito at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

UCF continues to study why the stadium bounces. Students call the stadium "The Tramboline" and "Bounce House" ORLANDO SENTINENTAL ARTICLE http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/coll...0,3928991.story

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/svea...al-wp-1280w.jpg

Agree.

Thanks for the update !

Inquiring, curious out of towners would like to know !

Here's a great site. COLLEGE SPORTS LINKS http://sports.mariah95.com/

Interest post by SpaceRaider on the Muts board. interesting site, Information in the database is from the most recent 990 tax statements filed by the conferences as tax-exempt organizations. All of the most recent data came from 2006, except for the Mid-American Conference (2004) and the Western Athletic Conference (2007). The revenue split is puzzling to me.....anyone have any possible answers ? Sun Belt data: Conference SUN BELT Income Tournament revenue $1,479,388 Membership dues/assessments $1,013,000 BCS payout $960,000 New Orleans Bowl $325,000 TV and radio $140,670 License/royalties $48,001 Expenses Payments to members $1,468,256 Salaries $837,068 New Orleans Bowl ticket guarantee $325,000 New Orleans Bowl team payout $238,590 Hurricane Katrina expenses $164,990 Promotions $162,810 Officiating $137,075 Programs to improve opportunities $122,282 Occupancy $72,777 Revenuesplit Middle Tennessee State $271,621 Louisiana-Lafayette $212,971 Western Kentucky $164,790 Arkansas-Little Rock $135,455 Troy $116,621 Florida International $116,511 New Mexico State $101,553 Denver $89,514 North Texas $82,121 South Alabama $64,882 New Orleans $61,844 Arkansas State $50,373 Total $1,468,256 Average $122,355 CommissionerComp Wright Waters Compensation $230,046 Total $230,046 LINK http://b2.caspio.com/dp.asp