NT80

This article never mentions WKU playing 1-A football in the Sunbelt, in fact the only Sunbelt mention is that it's not as good as the MAC in basketball. It does talk about a change to 1-A and move to the MAC in the same sentence, as if that was the only way for it to happen. I'm sick of hearing about WKU's decision and their ~8,000 football fans wanting to be bigtime in the MAC. Let 'em move!

I'm going, and there better be another 5,000 Mean Green fans in Ruston that day too! (BTW, it's a 3pm kickoff and it's their homecoming... )

I believe I read they are trying to get Coach Fry to come to the Troy (ESPN2) game....

Any donation helps, now or in the future. Just reaching here but perhaps the "really doesn't help" part was taken out of context in terms of 5 vs. 10 years? Maybe they want stadium donations within 5 years to fund bonds and anything outside that timeline "really doesn't help" towards the stadium bonds? I can't see Mandy turning down a donation, especially $1000/year. She was very helpful with my donation at that level. You should have went above her to RV to get his clarification/opinion before giving it to another school, just so he'd know about it if nothing else. As for the Stadium Fund, it still seems too much is not being communicated effectively to fans about this. If it is a priority it sure is buried deep within the Athletic website. I would make it the first thing you see when you hit that front page, complete with credit card or paypal options and who to make checks to and where to send them. It should get your attention more than the streaming 3 month old softball and tennis scores do on that site! <_<

Vito didn't mention anything about this in his DRC article. <_<

I think the "UNT" image perception thing is mainly just to some who are close locally to the program. I've seen many in other parts of the country use UNT, or even NTU not knowing. Some still think we're North Texas "State" as you've seen in media. I prefer North Texas, to cover all eras of the school. It's like Notre Dame, you never hear it referred to as UND.

We're not telling! Actually, we don't know ourselves yet. Question about LSU....how will the coaching change to Les Miles affect LSU's play? Sometimes it takes players a while to adjust to new playbooks. At least one game, maybe?

Borrowed from the M&G Board.... .................................................................................................. Subject: FIU and FAU Moving Closer? Can you imagine Florida International playing Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl? What about Howard Schnellenberger going for his second national title with Florida Atlantic in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma? Playing in a BCS bowl game is a farfetched idea now or anytime in the near future, but FIU and FAU move a step closer to that dream as both schools jump from I-AA to the big time this season, giving the NCAA 119 I-A programs. Florida International is located in Miami and is coached by former NFL quarterback Don Strock; Florida Atlantic, located in Boca Raton (60 miles north of FIU) is guided by legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger. Both schools get a quick taste of the big time as FAU opens up at Kansas, before returning home to host Oklahoma State. Meanwhile, FIU starts the season at Kansas State before playing at Texas Tech. "You aren't going to play Division I-A football in South Florida with a second-class schedule," said Schnellenberger, who returns for his fifth season at FAU. "You've gotta grow in a hurry to be up there with the best and that's what our goal is -- to play with the Kansases and Oklahoma States. We went into this non-conference schedule because it's pretty obvious we aren't going to win the national championship this year. The next best thing you can do to be the best is play the teams on paper that are supposed to be better than you are." FIU, which is entering only its fourth season of football, is following the same plan. Strock knows they won't get any better unless his squad plays some of the big boys, too. "Kansas State, Texas Tech this year, then (in the future) South Florida, Kansas, Alabama, Bowling Green, Maryland and on and on and on," said Strock. "That should interest a lot of student athletes and hopefully pay off in the long run." Florida Atlantic has a one-year head start over its neighbor to the south and has already enjoyed some success. The Owls finished 11-3 in just their third season of existence, advancing to the I-AA semifinals and last season defeated Hawaii as well as Sun Belt foes North Texas and Middle Tennessee. "I kind of felt we were Division I-A last year," added Schnellenberger. "We did quite well, finishing 9-3 with virtually a Division I-A schedule. We are the only team to beat North Texas in conference play. The don't count us because we weren't members of the conference yet, but we kind of think it was legitimate." Florida Atlantic will be a member of the Sun Belt this season and is eligible for a bowl game, including the New Orleans Bowl, which goes to the conference champ. FIU started its program in 2002 going 5-6, but struggled the past two seasons, going 2-10 in 2003 and 3-7 in 2004. The Golden Panthers are already a member of the conference in the rest of the sports at the school and will be eligible for the conference title and bowl game in 2006. "I think the decision was kind of made for us with the reshuffling of the ACC and some teams moving," said Strock. "Every sport here at FIU is Division I-A in the Sun Belt, so it was a natural for us to go there. It was quick, no question about it, but if you are not in the screen, you are off the picture." Both schools are following in the footsteps of other schools which have taken the leap from I-AA to I-A in recent years -- Buffalo, South Florida, Connecticut and Troy, some finding more success than others. Connecticut had a losing record its first three seasons in I-A, before going 9-3 in 2003 and last season finished 8-4 and played Toledo in the Motor City Bowl. South Florida, located in Tampa, fielded its first team in 1997, moved to I-A in 2001 and had three consecutive winning seasons before finishing 4-7 last year. FAU and FIU I-AA History Year FAU FIU 2004 9-3 3-7 2003 11-3 2-10 2002 2-9 5-6 2001 4-6 Totals 26-21 10-23 But for every South Florida, there is a Buffalo, which hasn't won more than two games a season since joining Division I-A in 1999. Both FAU and FIU have set aside small goals, but in the first year of Division I, the first step is clearly obvious. "We look forward to competing for the conference title and take a visit to New Orleans," added Schnellenberger. "But we've got to bone up and be ready to go in a hurry." For all the excitement on each campus, there is one area of concern for both -- home attendance. Division I-A rules state that a team must average at least 15,000 once every two years, and FAU and FIU haven't done that yet. Both schools averaged around 10,000 fans last season playing a home schedule full of I-AA schools. FAU has plans for an on-campus stadium in 2007 or 2008, which the athletic department describes as an updated version of the Carrier Dome, seating around 42,000. FIU already has a stadium on campus, seating 17,000, but there are plans to upgrade the current facility to seat 30,000. "Attendance wise, the first year it was a novelty, then the second year it got tougher, third year it got tougher and then the fourth year even tougher," stated Strock. "We have our work cut out for us, but you can't build a program and go backwards." With both teams ready to tackle the life of a Division I-A program, playing state foes Miami, Florida or Florida State could be on the horizon. "If we reach our goal and become a solid contender in Division I-A, there is going to be a time we run into each other," added Schnellenberger.

Yes. Additional stations would also help sell NT sports to other areas around the region.

Well, he got the school name right so that's a good start for him. What's up with Kobie Baker? Didn't JJ get him some interviews with other programs and now he leaves for personal interests?

The t-shirts they handed out at the logo unveiling seemed to have the correct green in the logo, but they were on grey or white background shirts. RV mentioned that day that the green in the staff golf shirt logos was too bright because the embroidered threads had a shine vs ink; he'd try to straighten it out for the next order. Green is a difficult color to match because of inks vs. threads vs. fabrics.

It's all media hype. The newspapers and ESPN all tell us how great UT and A$M are and how hard it is for freshman to get in, blah, blah, blah. Kids believe it if they see it on TV. When I applied to colleges I always had a fondness for NT since I lived in Denton my 9th and 10th grade HS years. But, I wanted to start in Engineering and NTSU didn't have that major back then. I was accepted to UT, A$M, Tech, and UTA. In those days, no one wanted to be a riddiculed "Aggie", it was un-cool and had too few girls. Texas was too big, even in 1976. Tech was too far away in dusty ole West Texas. So, even though I started at UTA, I was still a fan of and followed NT sports during the Fry and Blakeley years. I hated UTA, mainly because it had NO campus life and poor athletics. It's Engineering Dept was mainly foreigners and I quickly found myself longing to be back in Denton and NT. I changed to Business and transferred my Soph year. I enjoyed the real campus life at NT, met my wife there, followed NT sports, and started my career thru the Co-op program there. Happily ever after.

I bet this is the "North Texas" we see on the helmets this fall, stacked minus the logo. Eventually maybe the logo would be added in. It's not the Flying Worm but it could be worse. <_

I was glad to see Phillips passing stats were good, then I was very glad to see Payne would be attending UNT also. Nice guy or not, the 1-AA comment deserved emails; they need to learn to proof read details like that. I bet if they labeled UT 1-AA they'd get some mail!

Thanks for the info/update. It's frustrating waiting for any official news about the Campaign. I have heard of some who would donate but are put off thinking nothing is happening. It's all about communication with the fanbase.

Is the Stadium Fund "officially" opened now for the public phase? The last I heard or saw was the Stadium promo video that has since vanished and some talk of waiting until some large private $$ had been given to kick off the real Campaign. What's the real deal??

People WANTING to give money should be handled differently than that.

Yes, thanks for the info. That logo is acceptable and much better than the UNT one. I'm glad they still plan to have a center court eventually.

It will be interesting to see if both make the Doak Walker list too. <_

This will be a 10:30 Eastern time kickoff on ESPN2, 7:30am West Coast! ................................................................................................................... Kansas State at Marshall Game Time Set 6/16/2005 ESPN, Inc., announced today that the Kansas State at Marshall football game scheduled for Saturday, September 10, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium will be played at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) to accommodate a national television broadcast by ESPN2. The contest will mark the first time that a team from the Big 12 Conference will visit Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium. In the only meeting between the two schools to date, the Thundering Herd defeated the then sixth-ranked Wildcats, 27-20, on September 20, 2003 in Manhattan, Kansas. Marshall’s win that day, broadcast nationally by Fox Sports Net, was the Thundering Herd’s first win ever over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press Poll’s Top 10. The Thundering Herd will make at least four national television appearances this season. In addition to the Kansas State game, Marshall’s November 8 meeting with Conference USA rival Southern Miss will also be televised by ESPN2. College Sports Television is scheduled to carry the Thundering Herd’s games at UAB (Oct. 15) and UTEP (Oct. 22).

Nice graphic of Field Turf product; along with Marshall installation story..... Marshall Field Turf article

1:10 pm...no TV yet, so BE THERE! (also note their gametime at Marshall...9:30 am!) Kansas State 2005 schedule

Most, if not all of those stadiums, have better sight lines and have had their tracks removed.

"We are moving away from the hunter green – which looks black on television and the web – and embracing our roots with a brighter kelly green (PMS 356) and white as our official colors." I believe Marshall University uses Kelly Green also. Marshall uniform photos

Yes, they were going to make $100,000 worth of renovations to the Liberty Christian field but that deal and sponsor fell apart at the last minute. They did make some changes to the field which BTW will be changed again after their season to become the UNT Softball stadium. As for the new baseball stadium, last word was construction was pushed to later this year after more fundraising and is to open next summer. But, I'll believe that when I see ground broken, or even survey flags go up. <_<