GrayEagle

I believe that nine is the limit placed by the NCAA. We are allowed a couple of graduate assistants in addition that have not been announced (if they have been filled).

Here is a blurb from Wikipedia... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Weaver

In my opinion the video board needs to be next to the AC. Everyone will be able to see it without having to be a contortionist. Mark has given us the solution. The Alumni Pavillion will be open before the game and they'll serve food and spirits. It should be an excellent place to congregate before the game. I think that being open during the game is overrated anyway. I went to the old deck a few times during the game and the largest crowd that I saw was maybe 50. We can stay in our seats during the game and learn to enjoy it. Maybe gomeangreen.com members could reserve tables in the AP and visit before each game.

You can do all the marketing that you want among alumni and you won't get a lot of interest until we start winning. Either that or change conferences. Preferably both. Until that time what I'd really like to see is the east side FILLED with students. That would help energize the alumni. It might also get many of them hooked so that they will become loyal season ticketholders of the future.

Maybe....maybe not. I have no idea what the SMU administration would do if we were proposed for membership in CUSA. But first, there has to be an opening. At that point SMU might do the math and figure that there is more to gain with increased attendance and less travel cost, especially if the majority seems to be in our favor. Even if it's true that SMU doesn't want us that's not necessarily a death knell. They were supposedly for La Tech at the last admission but that didn't work out. There are four private universities in the conference and if they had voted as a bloc that should have kept UTEP out. So maybe one or more of the privates don't necessarily side with them. I haven't heard anything pro or con about Houston and UTEP being either for or against us. I'm speaking of the administration; never mind what some fans might think. From what I hear the next CUSA expansion will be westward. The next loss will likely be UCF, leaving only two in or east of the Appalachians. East Carolina has good teams and strong attendance so they are a likely candidate for future expansion of the Big East or a tradeoff with the ACC. Why jack up the costs for nine members to satisfy one, two or three members? Lastly, aren't the conference headquarters less than thirty miles from Denton? Wouldn't the largest presence in the #5 media market also help?

Of course he is but he's hurt and just strikes out. We've got a lot more posters that would do worse.

Indeed, he'd be a good one. The problem is that of the dozen or so schools that he listed as having interest, we weren't one of them.

Wow, I don't get that one. West Virginia definitely needs a new OC but HC Stewart is only 58, has won 70% of his games at WV and finished 22nd in the country this past season. Holgorsen is definitely worthy but I'd think that Bill Stewart has another five good seasons left before retiring.

Well, duh. The sportswriters miss another one. Brandin Byrd should have made it as the third running back in place of Spikes who had almost three times the carries but twice the yardage. Other than that, we had virtually no freshmen with enough playing time to qualify that didn't make the team.

Jimmy Burkholder lives in Cibolo which is just north of SA.

I have a few ideas... 1. Improve our facilities. 2. Hire a consultant who knows his way around the NCAA and conferences. 3. Improve our record. How? By hiring a coach who has taken a team from the bottom to the top before. 4. Have an administrator who has worked with the NCAA before and even helped form a conference. 5. Improve revenue by going to the student body for support. 6. Get support from the administration/BOR to commit resources to afford the move to a better conference.

Since the Big West no longer plays football and the WAC is in danger of the same I assume that you mean the Mountain West Conference. The quick answer is that it is a better conference; maybe even better than CUSA. Two of its future teams have played in a BCS bowl compared to zero for CUSA. If either Houston or UTEP also joined our farthest division game would be 726 miles (as a crow flies) to Laramie WY. Only once every four years would you have to go to Fresno, Boise, etc. so travel costs would not be that bad. All of the eastern division would be mountain or central time zone. We could still play the Baylors, K-States, etc. in non-conference games. P.S. Cowtown posed a question about ever playing a Top 20 team in Denton. In 1972 we hosted San Diego State who ended the season at #20 (AP) and I believe was #16 when we played. They were the only Top 20 team to visit Denton that I can recall. Florida State was the most prestigious but they were not a Top 20 team at the Snow Bowl.

I can't argue about the coverage but the tackling improved considerably over the previous year. Downing, McCord and Graham all were in on 40-50 tackles last year. Cook and Ford were out for the year and Cook's a good tackler and Ford is our best at coverage. Let's hope that the new staff will stress tackling fundamentals.

My priority list would be: DT - Cantly and Abbe got precious little playing time last year and they are the most experienced DTs returning. White is the only other squadman returning. Need a couple of JUCOs here immediately. If Anyiam is ever to play for us he needs to be moved to tackle. LB - The loss of Robertson will be hard to replace and if we can get a quality JC player then I'd go there. Phillips is solid but the others are mostly unknown. Herron could be good as could Prior. I expected more from Johnson; maybe he'll have a better senior year. In addition to the quality JUCO I think that a couple of HS players are needed. WR - Carey, Stradford and Bynes should do well and Taylor and Lewis aren't far behind but we need at least three freshmen. Chancellor is an outstanding returner and may be a good receiver as well. Stradford and Lewis are seniors. RB - This is Dunbar's senior season so a quality replacement is a must. If Hamilton gets a redshirt we won't panic. Byrd is a little different in style but is a comer. We need the best high schooler available this year. QB - We've seen what can happen. We need two quarterbacks since both possible starters for the coming year have missed considerable playing time. OL - When you lose three starters you must replace them. We do have five experienced linemen who have started more than once and five more, including two redshirts, who have a lot of potential. So, it's not time to panic merely time to replace. DB - This year looks good but there are five seniors-to-be in the group. JUCOs would be a waste here but five or six high school players would be great. DE - We have plenty of quantity and decent quality but if an outstanding JUCO is available we could use a speed rusher with some size. TE - We need a U-back; one who is a good blocker, receiver and can play on the line or in the backfield with equal ability.

Yes, the Mustangs got what they deserved but some of the instigators got off light; especially Ron Meyer, Chris James and Eric Dickerson. Bobby Collins took the fall for Meyer. SMU's president and AD had to go. That was a given. Nine boosters may have been the heaviest contributors but there were more that received no punishment. The real losers were the students. Except for those that were players, they had nothing to do with the scandal. Still, they paid for it for most of twenty years. I pray that it never happens to us.

This is a panic situation. Cantly and Abbe supposedly have some potential but Cantly had two tackles last year and Abbe one. We have two prospects from the JUCO ranks...Wright and Thompson. Kyle White returns but he is an unknown. Anyiam is the only other defensive lineman large enough to play DT. We need the six mentioned above and some good coaching to get us through this crisis.

Washington left the team. White returns but saw limited or no action last year. He was not credited with a tackle.

Not only that U of New Orleans is now Division III. Another omission....San Diego State

Troy Phillips is reporting that Jason Stamm of InsideHilltopperSports.com has confirmed that Bowen interviewed in Bloomington on Thursday. It was speculated that it was for a position coach that paid more than we could pay a coordinator. Eric Capper had told the WKU student newspaper that we did not have a signed contract with Bowen. Of course, no hirings are official until announced.

Could he possibly be a defensive backs coach since that's what he played in college? Other than Nelson and an iffy DC we have no defensive coaches whereas we have an abundance of offensive coaches.

I prefer this to the sportswriters choices. Picking an Offensive Player of the Year or MVP simply because the player's team won or tied for the lead is ridiculous.

It will likely affect us in some form; we just don't know how. Since the move has killed the WAC La Tech or NMSU could become a part of the SBC again. If no one is willing to leave CUSA it's possible that we get an invite. If UTEP, Houston, or SMU opt for the MWC that would leave an opening there. There could even be two openings if two of the above three accepted. Although a longer shot, it's also possible that UTSA or Texas State could be accepted into the SBC. And, if you really want to get into fantasy the remnants of the WAC could be absorbed into the SBC making it a 16 team conference. Sooner or later I believe that we become affected by the addition of Hawaii to the MWC.

Right on. With a weaker schedule the Belt won five less games. Scoring and Total Defense were weaker in 2010. The positive is Total Defense improved with the largest improvement coming from WKU. Attendance was pretty much flat thanks to ULM getting to count Arkansas as a home game. We should show a lot of improvement next year but it's hard to predict the others although I see WKU getting better and the Muts and Troy falling a little. In other words the league should reach near parity.

YAAAA.....HOOOOO!!!!

A playoff system, as occurs in EVERY other sport (and even in football below the FBS level) is the fair way to decide a championship. Everyone of the 120 FBS teams has a chance to vie for the national championship. Each conference champion receives a slot with the remaining going to a selection committee. Or, for the time being, I wouldn't mind the AQ champion and runner-up of each conference to get 12 of the slots and the non-AQ get the other four (the MWC, CUSA, SBC and MAC champions). You could hold the playoffs at existing bowl sites although the logistics of doing that might be difficult. There could also be perhaps another dozen or so bowls for the best of the rest. It could provide even more revenue than in the current bowl system and be far more fair and equitable. It's not primarily about attendance it's about who is the best.