Greenrex

Good question/statement. I cannot imagine a world of college athletics without a very close and vital connection to high schools. At the same time it appears that big money is permanently vital to big successful college athletic programs. While we are not known for our collective generosity, the solution may well lie in changing that tradition but, can we do it? I wish I knew the answer.

The Athletic Dec 5, 2023 By the numbers … Day 1 of the winter transfer portal window was record-smashing. To break it all down, I phoned a friend in The Athletic’s portal guru, Max Olson, to share some of the numbers. The total number of portal entries yesterday from FBS, FCS and Division II players was 1,127, a 44 percent increase from a year ago (780). The total number from Division I was 1,049. In FBS, 532 scholarship players entered, a 16 percent increase from last year’s Day 1 total (456). Power 5 transfers made up 57 percent, and 43 percent were from Group of 5 programs. Also in FBS, 28 scholarship quarterbacks entered the portal yesterday. The most crowded position in the portal among FBS scholarship players was wide receiver with 63 Day 1 entries. Next in line were the defensive backs (54), offensive linemen (41), linebackers (34), defensive linemen (33), running backs (32) and tight ends (14). Five special teams players entered on Monday. By team (FBS-only), South Carolina had the most Day 1 entries with 15. NC State, Vanderbilt and Western Michigan had 14 followed by Cincinnati with 13; ECU, Georgia State, Kent State and North Texas with 11; Iowa State and Purdue with 10; and Kansas State and Michigan State with nine.

I'll bet my paycheck that we'll never know.

67-59 GT Wins

I don't know about y'all but I most certainly have never seen these two in a room at the same time.

Thanks to all for the updates. It is appreciated!

Okay. I deleted it. Sorry. I never did have a very effective filter...just usually try to humor without harm but, I do sincerely apologize to those who are offended. No hard feelings, I hope.

That is not outside the realm of possibility especially if that is what it takes to move up the ranking ladder. It seems there has never been more "official" interest in North Texas' success in that regard. Let us hope.

Leave the sticker and sign it, "The Sign Stealers".

It may have more to do with the scheduling gods of ESPN.

This is a portion of an article from today's (Friday Oct 27 2023) The Pulse/The Athletic The strangest undefeated team in college football There are weird stories, and then there is the tale of the 2023 James Madison football team. The Dukes are undefeated and arguably the most impressive Group of 5 team (a college football term similar to “mid-major”). They’re also not allowed to win anything of substance. Some quick background: James Madison entered FBS last year after nearly 20 years as an FCS powerhouse. From 2004 to 2021, the Dukes made 13 playoff appearances, winning two national title games. The move up made sense. Due to an NCAA rule, they are not allowed to play in any postseason game as part of their transition to FBS (more on this in a bit). It hasn’t slowed them down. They went 8-3 in their first FBS season last year and sit 7-0 right now, ranked No. 25. Virginia legislators are making noise about fighting the NCAA over it. I turned to The Athletic’s senior college football writer Chris Vannini to help me make sense of JMU: This team feels like such a unique occurrence. What's the most interesting part to you? Chris: JMU has gone on this 15-3 start in FBS while breaking in new quarterbacks both years. This year, Jordan McCloud transferred in from Arizona and leads the Sun Belt in pass efficiency. JMU hasn’t missed a step while making such a big jump, despite major change at a key position. Is the NCAA rule banning JMU from competing in postseason play as unfair as it looks from here? Chris: The rule itself, no. It’s been around for two decades, and people know the rule. Many schools have faced this same problem. Georgia Southern went 8-0 in conference play in its second transition year in 2014 and didn’t get a bowl game. Say JMU goes undefeated. They won't be under actual Playoff consideration, right? Chris: Right. For New Year’s Six games, the CFP only considers teams deemed eligible by the NCAA. This also means JMU won’t be in next week’s initial CFP rankings, even if they’re top-25 in the polls. And, wait, why are they good? As Max Olson writes, a nasty defense has propelled the Dukes thus far.

The secret to successfully getting students to vote in favor of a new or increased fee is vote-counter selection.

Just a wee little reference to UNT Mandel’s Upset Special No. 22 Tulane (-10.5) at Rice, 4 p.m. (ESPN2) This is a big opportunity for Mike Bloomgren’s Owls, 4-3 and aiming for their first winning season since 2014. Tulane is 6-1 but by no means on the same level as last year’s Cotton Bowl squad. It took the Green Wave all four quarters last week to put away 3-4 North Texas. JT Daniels earns his biggest win since leading Georgia in the 2020 Peach Bowl. Rice 26, Tulane 24 The pick: Rice +10.5

Rex Winn here. You got me by a few years, Jack. I'm only 80 1/2.

UConn for me.

I grew up in Kilgore one night.

I was born in Montague County.

This is such good news. Mike Aresco is the best commissioner in the business. Air Force Academy AAC membership is on my docket.

Tulane52/NT13 Lard make me wronger'n shit.

A partial quote from an article by Ted Nguyen in today's The Athletic Plus: Behind the AI magic that lets Amazon’s Prime Vision show the NFL like never before "Find any activity that even remotely involves technology, and you’ll also find someone fretting about artificial intelligence. AI is going to make our lives so much better … or take over the world. Those are worries for outside this newsletter. AI is, however, creeping onto our football broadcasts. And as Ted Nguyen writes today, the results are … eerie. There’s a great opening story about Sam Schwartzstein, a former offensive lineman and one of the brains behind Amazon Prime’s Defensive Alert AI system. He thought it was buggy at first, before realizing it was highlighting blitzers even he hadn’t yet recognized. And no one really knows how the system identified that blitzer, either. The AI, like any other machine learning tech, is ingesting data, in this case thousands of plays and copious tracking data, and learning how to predict future plays based on it. Simple concept, but the possibilities are wild, even in football. The viewer sees an in-depth look at what the quarterback is processing — correctly or incorrectly. It’s an intense watch, which I think is the point. Playing quarterback is hard. My brain goes straight to: Who could this AI beat? Especially after more weeks of learning? Once AI learns how to call plays, I bet it could take an average Big Ten defense and hold Iowa to under 25 points." Paywalled (I think) https://theathletic.com/4969578/2023/10/18/thursday-night-football-amazon-prime-vision/

On the positive side for Rauschenberg, the scenery is vastly improved plus, he gets a better education.

In a kind gesture from ESPNU, camera operators have been honoring Crowd-Avoidance Shots. Glad they understand our fans don't really travel well...from Ft. Worth, Dallas, the dorms.

I was hoping it would take Temple a little longer to ferret out that one weak spot: Defense.