stebo

Selling an idea or product is not always about content or quality of goods - but rather presentation. I do not claim to be the best at it; but what I do know is that a good salesman will listen 80% of the time and only do (at maximum) 20% of the talking. You talk 80% of the time (at a minimum) and listen (at best) 20%. You also have selective listening skills during that 20%. You can't wait for someone to respond to you so that you can ramble for another 30 pages. Are you that lonely? That is why I just choose to skip your posts 95% of the time (as do most)... I DO recognize and realize that you won the spirit award about 20 or so years ago - and I applaud you for that. Mean Rob also won it. But the person that we all know deserves it the most is Harry, and since he has never won it - I kind of look down on that award now. I am just hoping that we can get back to the New Orleans Bowl so that you could actually attend one! I also look forward to the day that you donate to the Mean Green rather then complain about how they spend the rest of our dollars. Sorry Plumm, I can't afford to build you a 45K seat stadium that you won't even come to.

You didn't expect him to actually answer your questions did you? Plumm, your drive theory skills have certainly worn off. You are not convincing in any way and hurt the causes that you cheer on.

Hawaii is currently paying Jones about $800K a year. That is a ton of scratch for a non-auto-bid BCS conference coach (I hate that phrase)... Jones' contract runs up in July. If SMU throws double the salary at him then who knows... maybe he will take it. I think that his QB is graduating and he might want to take advantage of the situation. Things can go sour quickly in the mid major world. I think that Hawaii is going to get pummeled by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The WAC was really down this year. Hawaii's schedule was very easy - and all they had to do was beat a bunch of terrible schools and run the WAC table... not hard to do. Even Boise, who was great just last year got beat up by a non-ranked ECU team in the Hawaii Bowl. They got it close but if you watched the game, ECU was in control from the beginning. The WAC is really bad, and running the table in the WAC was not that tough to do this year. The Belt teams should follow the Boise/Hawaii formula and schedule down to a pansy ass OOC schedule and hope to run the table in the Belt... if a team like Troy were to do that, or FAU... or even NT, we could be the talk of the country, just like Utah, Boise, and Hawaii. Everybody likes an undefeated team that isn't getting enough recognition. If it can happen in the WAC, it can certainly happen in the Belt... in fact our teams have an even better chance of making it happen due to less conference games. Load up with MAC, IAA, and lower level auto-bid competition - run the Belt, and we could have an undefeated team in the top 16, just like the WAC has done TWICE now.

I know why I considered NT to be in the same conference as USM for a few years - it was because we we kinda were. During the late 70's to early 80's was the golden era of Indy football. During that time, NT and USM played regulary. 4 or 5 times over a 6 or 7 year period. That was right before NT was reclassified to the new "IAA" due to stadium size. And when I said that USM had a history of being bad - I merely meant mediocre - and that is by your own fans' admittance. Yes, there were some stellar years in there (I looked it up and 88 was a pretty spectacular year for USM and even got them to the Indy Bowl which they won)... but since then it has been sporadic. Really, CUSA kinda saved your hides - much like the Belt saved ours. USM was struggling financially and with fan support given the rough landscape of being an Indy in the 90's. CUSA came along and everyone kind of laughed at it. Sure it would have solid basketball but the schools that joined had pretty mediocre and start-up football and that was going to be the conference's 2nd sport. Fast forward to present day and in CUSA, football is driving the bus. USM has had success nearly every year thanks to its CUSA home. You have had a few big wins - A win over a 5-7 Illinois team one year, A couple of wins over a 3 and 4 win Okie State team, and a win over a 3-8 Alabama team back in 2000. But North Texas has been able to take advantage of some down programs as well. We beat Texas Tech a couple of times (both times Tech ended up with winning records of 6-5 in 97 and 99, both in Lubbock), Oregon State in 95, Baylor in 2003. Other then that - the majority of our wins have been in conference, against MAC, WAC, Belt, or CUSA teams. Really the state of the programs are very similar but you are ahead of us because you made it through the reclassification era without moving down and we had to start over from scratch after a 13 year death sentence in IAA ball. You have been able to improve your facilities nicely for a mid major; but they aren't spectacular. Your budget is not much higher than ours. You are regarded as a better team nationally and have a better reputation - but really, when you break it down - there isn't THAT much difference between the two schools and the two programs. The Sun Belt has been great for us and CUSA has been great for you guys. I try to never look down upon schools. ULM is an easy target but they play some nasty football in Monroe in that old run down stadium. Their fans are as die hard as they get and they have had to work for every single bit of support that they have. Nothing has been handed to any Belt school, they have all had to fight very hard to stay alive and are very lucky to be in the shape that they are in now. Our conference was a joke when it started - but we knew we would play good basketball. Football definitely was going to be an afterthought. But look at us now... we are ranked ahead of CUSA, a 1st for the Belt (we were ranked over the MAC one year to end the season - but this is the first time we have ended over CUSA). Our budgets are comparable. Our teams are winning OOC games. We are drawing well at home for the most part. Fans that have long endured ridicule are finally finding something to brag about. Sounds a lot like year 6 or 7 of CUSA to me. Same history. Now - will the Belt move it forward? Can we get a better TV deal? Another bowl? I think so. We have done an awful lot in the last few years and the future is looking pretty damn good right now. If we were to get an invite to CUSA we would jump at it in a heartbeat, there is no doubt about it... not because the competition would be better; but because the regional rivalries would bring in more money at the gate in both football and basketball. But I truly believe that the Belt has caught up to CUSA in football talent. Like the other poster stated - I think that you could take all the players from the Belt and CUSA - put them into a hat - pick out the names - and you would get the same results the next year. The talent is very much caught up now. That's just my opinion. FAU spanked Memphis, it was a good old fashioned ass whooping. Troy would have done the same. So would have ULM. ASU did it already this year. And you can't have it both ways - you can't say that Memphis only beat the 6 teams in conference that suck - and then say that the conference is better, lol. Anytime a conference has half of its members that suck (according to your standards) - it has problems. So I think that we really agree - in that the conferences are about the same in talent... you just look down on it and I look at it as a compliment (and PROGRESS).

What is that Rick? Is it a doll? A big plastic football guy? I have never seen a FatHead, lol...

There were definitely more FAU fans then Cinci fans. I have a copy of that bowl game and there were MAYBE 300 Cinci fans there. They didn't even travel their full band. I don't know the actual attendance for this year but it looked fine on TV. The camera pans did a great job of making it look full. The Memphis side was very filled in, easily 8K there. Maybe the actual attendance was 15K? I don't know - but what could have been a disaster was averted by smart scheduling in choosing Memphis. I don't care what place they were in CUSA - they brought a GREAT crowd and saved the day. FAU pulled off the game and the bowl is starting to develop the way it is supposed to - to showcase Sun Belt football as a legitimate IA conference. We have won the last two straight with convincing vistories and CUSA might want to send a better team unless they don't mind getting embarrased on National TV each year.

The only thing that I think that the Belt has gotten better at is talent. CUSA has us beat in TV, bowls, name recognition - heck - you name it... but I think that the best of the Belt can beat the best of CUSA now. I couldn't say that before - but the heavy hitters have moved on the the replacements are mediocre at best. I think that Troy, FAU, and even ULM (given a home field advantage) could tee it up with anyone in CUSA and win. I also think that on the average, we are a better group - talent wise. We have three bottom dwellars, UL, FIU, and NT. I have confidence that NT and FIU will pull out of it - and UL was winning up until this year. I just feel great that we were able to shake off Idaho, USU, and NMSU - those teams were always pulling the conference down. CUSA added Tulsa, Rice, UTEP, and SMU - all great names... but bad to mediocre ball. Tulsa is probably the best of that group but they have a history of getting really bad really fast. Same with UTEP- right now they are doing fine, but "We Take Em Points" was the joke of college football until 2000. Guess who one of the the coaches that helped turn them around and got them to that 2000 Human bowl game? Gary Nord... the Offensive Coordinator at FAU now. Coincidentally, Nord was Schnelly's OC at OU during his one year stay in 95. FAU and FIU have so much damn money that they will get better. They are doing it with smoke and mirrors but so did UCF and USF. Both gave the appearance of being big time well before they were even close to being big time. FIU has struggled; but they are actually building already. FAU will build, I guarantee it. Schnelly will make sure of it. Troy is really freaking good - scary good. WKY will be just as good. We are on our way back. WKY - There is a reason those guys are so cocky. USA - well, that is a different story - but by then we will need a newbie to beat up on - that is YEARS away. And you are right, USM and the MVC is what I was thinking of - but it never came to fruition - but the point is, we were all level not long ago and it won't be hard to level up with them again.. we're almost there already.

Out of all of the conference mates, UL is the one that I absolutely want to stay alligned with. When it comes to Univ Presidents holding us back, we TOTALLY understand.

First of all - we are only comparing the Belt to CUSA - not to the entire football landscape. Why? Because that is the conference that passed us by when we badly wanted in. So - has the Belt passed CUSA by? That depends at how you look at it. I would say in terms of talent - yes. I would say that FAU, Troy, and maybe even ULM could beat pretty much any team in CUSA this year given a home field advantage. The bottom of the Belt is bad but I do not see a huge disparity between UNT and SMU, we will both get better. But the entire conference used to be that bad. There were years when only one team was bowl eligible and we had to cross our fingers that they won the conference. I went into the game last night, not worried about the outcome (I knew that FAU would win) - but about the attendance. As far as CUSA, they are on the decline. They have been picked off and the teams that are left are kind of like the new WAC teams, cellar dwellars that never seem to get above water. The Florida schools just have so much damn money that it is scary how good they could get. And yes, you can buy a good football team in this age - more than ever. USM officials are complete morons forr letting Bower go. With RV's ties to USM, if this had happened a year ago - we would be welcoming him as our new coach. People forget how bad USM was for so long. They also forget that we used to be conference mates together. Back to the CUSA/Sun Belt comparisons - Finally - if you don't believe me (about the talent) - just look at the rankings. The Belt is ranked over CUSA. If our provisional member of WKY was counted this year then we would be ranked even higher over them. I do not see the trend going back. FAU is not losing anyone - they have the majority of their team coming back. Troy is always going to be good. ULM is finally competitive, they have now been bowl eligible for two seasons. MTSU had so many problems this year that it is a miracle they won as many as they did - they will come back strong. ASU is a solid program with a great coach and they will be better as always. Western has a great plan and will be the next Troy, they are scary good for being a IA provisional member. NT is going to get better... as soon as we stop giving up all the points we will win, we scored enough to win every game this year except the two money games. ULL and FIU are question marks in my head - but FIU has the money factor on their side. Guess who has the highest athletic budget in the Belt? That would be FIU. ULL has made another commitment to Ricky Bustle... I have no idea why. Maybe they cannot afford to buy him out of his contract, maybe they really believe that he can win there. All that I know is that the Cajuns are a GREAT conference mate and I am proud to be in the Sun Belt with them. There is so much infighting within CUSA - nobody really likes each other. Nobody really wants to be there.... they just don't have any other options at the moment. I think thatthe majority of the Belt is oroud of what we have built and wants to see this thing through. A couple of our younger fans don't understand our affection for the Belt; but I don't expect them to... they were not around when the Big West dissolved and left us as an orphan.

That has got to be against some sort of NCAA recruiting rules. Also, do you really want him reading some of the jackasses around here?

All and All, FAU is pretty damned impressive. They are representing the Belt well. ESPN is doing a great job of making their fan base look respectable as well. I really am not embarrassed by the turnout like I thought I would be. Thank GOD that we have Memphis as the opponent, they brought a good bunch of fans.

tied for 3rd but own the tie breakers and are the most geographically sensitive team for the bowl. We get a mutually agreed upon pick from CUSA after their first and second place teams. We have had everywhere from their first place team (Cinci) all the way to this Memphis team (tied for 3rd). We have had a second place CUSA team, and another true third place CUSA team... it just depends on who will travel the most. In other words, if a team like East Carolina or UCF was the 3rd place team and the next pick - the bowl would pass them over for the fourth place team because they would travel more. But since our game picks towards the end, if the conference race is tight - then we could get anyone between 1 and 4. Like the year that we got Cinci - the champions... (and beat them) - the conference wasn't decided but the Liberty Bowl wanted to choose - so they chose someone else, then the next bowl guessed that the second place team would be someone else as well... well, Cinci ended up winning the conference and going to their third place bowl - even though they were the co-champs with TCU (but they really weren't the co-champs because TCU had beat them head to head)... So - a long winded answer, but I hope it all makes sense.. the bowl does things differently, they do things that make economic sense. They also only give out a guarantee of $325,000 per team - but they let the schools sell 5100 tickets for that payout allowing the schools to make the rest of the 750K payout on their own. Other bowls promise $750K and then make the school guarantee anywhere between 8000 and 12000 ticket sales - and then when they don't sell them, the school has to eat the cost, thus reducing their payout - and then the schools usually get even less then the $325K that the NO Bowl guarantees. It is a no BS bowl and I like the way it is set up.

5:00 minutes into the game and 14 points already scored - 7-7 all tied up. FAU looks pumped up though. Can't tell if they have any fans there, but the Memphis side looks kinda full. More filled in than I thought it would be, that is for sure. Come on Owls - win this damn game.

If you guys only had ONE CLUE as to what happens behind locker rooms doors, you wouldn't be arguing with any of us. I have said my peace. I was off by one - we have two college coaches, but now only one. I am sure that most of these guys will eventually grow into their spots. But when an inexperienced DC is getting his ass handed to him game after game and he won't even let BL do his job - it is EGO, not inexperience.

What we have going on here is a clash of the egos. Mendoza thinks that his system will work - BL has been frustrated since week 1 that he was given very little say as to how his players would even line up. I am not going to go into specifics but when you have a team - your director is in charge of letting the mid managers handle their individual teams. Once that trust is broken, it is tough to regain. What Dodge did not see - and is his mistake, is that Mendoza is a liability and BL was an asset. If BL was going to go back into coaching with an all high school coachs' staff - youw ould have at least thought that they would be looking to him for advice rather then treating him as a work out advisor. I have been very pro-Dodge, if you look back through my posts over the last year - you will not find one nehative post about him, the players, or the system. In fact, I went into the season expecting us to win 2 games and that is what we won. What makes me mad is that Mendoza is a crybaby. He does not have the respect of the players. When you take away the one tru college coach on the team that treats the players as MEN, not BOYS - you are going to have problems. These guys are not in high school anymore and need to be treated differently then the 15 and 16 year olds that 99% of this staff is used to. This resignation makes me sick to my stomach. The resignation should have been from RM, not BL.

I don't know if anyone else noticed but the MUTS are playing #2 Memphis right now on National TV. Its called the Sun Belt Classic - I am not sure is for a company named Sun Belt or for our conference - anyone know?

Boy, the WAC has sure fallen on some hard times. Yes, there are bright spots such as Boise and Hawaii's football success - but their basketball has just been downright awful. So awful that ESPN did a whole article on it: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/stor...&id=3154126

I accept his reasoning and think that it is very sincere. North Texas was not my first choice - when I was 18 and wanted to get away from hom, NT seemed to close to my hometown of Trophy Club. After I went to SE Okie St for a semester, I realized that NT was just the right fit and that it had everything that I was looking for in a university. He has a valid arguement - he has extremely good grades and he has to know that football will end with college, no grandeur hopes of professional playing time for this guy... so he looks at schools in a way that he would "choose" the actual school if he couldn't play football anymore. If he can get a full scholarship to one of his dream schools - then he will have made the right decision. But then again, if he doesn't get any other offers - will we even offer him a scholarship now? I would think not - the kid might have just sent himself to SFA and he doesn't even know it. I would guess that he has been talking to someone already and already has an informal offer from some school.

I am with Rick. I would donate to a stadium fund but not through Mandy. She is on a rewards bonus for the amount that she brings in and I would never want to directly (or indirectly) put money into her pocket. Awhile back (Air Force game in CO), I heard a plan that I would be down for. The plan was to round up 3,000 "founders" that would be willing to commit to $5K each. This $5K per person could be divided up into 5 or 10 years. If the person wanted to pay it in 5 years, it would be about $83/month. If they wanted to pay it out in 10 years it would be $41.50 a month. These 3K people would automatically be given season tickets for those 10 years or if they did the 5 year plan they would get Mean Green Club membership and season tickets for those 5 years. That way, the money out of pocket would be comparable to buying season tickets each year and having a Mean Green membership. These 3K people pledging $5K bucks would generate $15 Million bucks. I still think that this plan will be put out to the public in the 20% phase. From what I understand- the athletic dept will try to raise 80% of the funds through the top 20% of private donors and then go to the other 80% of the donors with affordable plans like this. Break it down - if you are a guy that has Mean Green Club Membership at the $500 level and you have 2 season tickets then you spend about $750 bucks a year already. What if you could pledge the same amount plus an extra $250 bucks - have it paid out over the year in equal monthly installments and you would get your Mean Green Club/season tickets included with your 5 year pledge. Would you do it? That would generate $15 million and take care of the final phase of the fund raising campaign. I will do it - but it will have to be through anyone else but Mandy

http://www.cusa-fans.com/articles/cusa-foo...iew_121017.html C-USA Sports Fans CUSA Fans Home C-USA Sports Blog Conference USA Apparel Columnists Site Map Contact 2007 New Orleans Bowl Preview R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Memphis (7-5, CUSA) v. Florida Atlantic (7-5, Sun Belt) December 21, 2007 @ 8 PM (EST) - ESPN2 - Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans, LA Howard Schnellenberger is certainly no stranger to building a program into a winner. The Paul “Bear” Bryant disciple received a unique opportunity in 1999 when he was named the first head coach of the Florida Atlantic University football program. Schnellenberger, who led a near death Miami Hurricanes’ program to the 1983 national title and also turned around struggling Louisville from 1985 to 1994, has built the Owls into legitimate Division I-A (FBS) competitor. After experiencing some success in the program’s first six seasons, FAU (7-5, 6-1) broke through this season to capture its initial conference crown by winning at Troy in the final game of the year. The Owls’ lone loss in Sun Belt play was a 33-30 triple overtime decision at home to UL-Monroe (who later shocked then nation with a win at Alabama). They were prepared for the league slate by a very difficult out of conference schedule. Schnellenberger’s squad dropped games at Oklahoma State (42-6), at Kentucky (42-17), and at Florida (59-20) while also losing to South Florida at home (35-23). Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Rusty Smith leads the Owls’ offensive attack that yields 30 points and 413 yards per contest. Smith, who went 23-of-34 for 291 yards and a couple scores in the win over Troy, has completed just over 57 percent of his 447 attempts. The sophomore has thrown for 3,352 yards and 27 touchdowns (compared to only eight interceptions). Smith’s top target is redshirt sophomore wideout Cortez Gent. Gent has accumulated over 1,000 yards receiving and nine touchdowns on 61 catches. He caught eight balls for 155 yards against Troy and has 5 games with 100+ receiving yards on the season. Memphis (7-5, 6-2) started slowly, but the Tigers have won five of their last six since suffering the tragic death of Taylor Bradford. Former Clemson coach Tommy West is in his seventh season in Graceland and he has led the program to four bowl games in the past five years. Check out our CUSA Fans Team Fan Shop for Memphis apparel & merchandise, and DFN Sports sites features FAU hats & gear. The Tigers can also light up the scoreboard. Senior quarterback Martin Hankins has passed for nearly 3,000 yards and is connecting on 61 percent of his attempts. Hankins, who has only played ten games, has 22 touchdown passes and 12 picks. Hankins has the luxury of throwing to a host of talented, tall wide receivers. Duke Calhoun (6’4) and Carlos Singleton (6’8) lead a group of five Memphis receivers with at least 30 receptions. Calhoun has a team-high 58 catches for 850 yards and five scores while Singleton has 47 for 704 and ten touchdowns. Both teams have what amount to adequate at best rushing attacks. Memphis’ Joseph Doss and FAU’s Charles Pierre lead their clubs with just over 700 yards each. Both teams have given up a ton of yards and points defensively, but seem to rely fairly heavily on forcing turnovers. The Owls have 33 takeaways while only committing 14. The Tigers have taken it away 25 times while only giving it up 16. Of FAU’s 33 turnovers, an eye-opening 19 of them have been interceptions. Keep an eye on the match-up between the Owls’ secondary and the Tigers’ talented receiving corps. Both teams struggle to get off the field on third downs, as they allow opponents to convert at least 45 percent of their attempts. The Owls will win the turnover battle and get more stops. Thus, they will pick up their first bowl win in the program’s first ever trip to the postseason at the FBS level. Florida Atlantic 38 - Memphis 34 Article by Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum - CUSA Fans Director of Content

Well, I am going to say this the most polite way possible - this young man is going to fill a HUGE need for the Mean Green next year. He is an incredible Special Teams threat, with kick/punt returning being a extra specialty... I googled him and every article that I found was about how he was named special teams player of the week and returned yet another kick for a TD. We really need a good returner and he has been really great at that in JUCO. Now - if we could just find a kicker, I would feel better. "Veteran kick return specialist Kylee Hill (5-10, 191 of Bristow) leads the conference with three kickoff returns for 129 yards and one touchdown."

I really didn't want to say anything... Rick and I are good friends and I know that this is just as important to him as it is for all of us. We need a unified chant so freaking badly that it is silly. It is just that you won't hear me chanting that one - because we are not the Mean Green Eagles. That was a Helwig attempt to appease both sides (fans of the "Mean Green" and older fans that prefer "Eagles") - the thing is, we aren't the Eagles anymore. We haven't been since 2001. Chanting Mean Green Eagles makes me think of Helwig headaches... and there is an extra syllable in there. It sounded great and I am 100% on board with trying to make this happen. At the NO Bowl against Memphis, I was truly pissed off that we didn't have something simple like the T-I-G-E-R-S... but lets do it with just the school name and our team name. I am tired of explaining the double mascot thing to people. North! Texas! Mean! Green! Fight! Fight! Fight! While we are at it, can we please change out the U-N-T ... EAGLES!!!! to simply North! Texas! Mean! Green! - North Texas Mean Green, Fight! Fight! Fight! - in the fight song as well. It has the correct amount of syllables and sounds much better. Plus it would go perfect with our new unified chant. Thoughts? Or am I just pissing peeps off with this?

Guys, I love the chant - but my generation hates the Eagle. They just don't like to scream it because it is not our team name. Why not just make the chant "NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"? RV and company have worked tirelessly to correct every website, newspaper, fan, and sports writer... and I really doubt that you will ever hear that chant come from the cheer squad. Plus, it gets rid of that extra syllable and flows much better. Thoughts?

Should lock in our second bowl that we have been negotiating... http://www.beltboard.com/?p=210 It was bound to happen eventually. Just a shame it happened this year. There are 64 spots available for teams to go to bowl games. Going into the season all 64 are covered by either the BCS agreement or a primary contract with a team or conference. Each bowl may have two primary contracts so if the team or conference contracted with doesn’t have the needed 7-5 or better record, they may go at 6-6. Additionally a few bowls have secondary contracts. The conference or team is assured a bid if there is an opening and the team is 7-5 or better. Of the 64 spots, 63 were filled by the BCS agreement or primary contracts. The only bowl that came up short was the Texas Bowl when the Big 12 ended up short a team with the surprising selection of Kansas for a BCS bowl. The Texas Bowl though had a secondary contract with the Mountain West and it just so happened that the Mountain West had 7-5 TCU without a place to go. The contract kicked in and the Horned Frogs became #64, that is they became the last team to join the bowl fraternity leaving Troy sitting at home at 8-4. It wasn’t a quality issue, after all Sun Belt fans will have several games of interest. Starting with the New Orleans Bowl. The game is always of interest because of the Sun Belt host team but fans of Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee will be especially interested, because while they both lost frustrating games to FAU, they both defeated FAU’s opponent, CUSA member Memphis. Nine days later ULM fans will pay special attention to the Independence Bowl just down I-20 in Shreveport because the SEC representative will be a team they beat, Alabama. The next game of interest happens the next day in Arizona where Oklahoma State, the team Troy beat on television will represent the Big 12. Right now there are folks feeling like the Sun Belt got a raw deal. It’s not that unusual, in fact it is very common. 2001 some team in the WAC called Boise State couldn’t make a bowl at 8-4. In 2002 Northern Illinois out of the MAC beat Wake Forest finished 8-4 and stayed home because they lost their shot at the conference title by losing at home in their final game. In 2003 wins over Maryland, Alabama, and Iowa State earned Northern Illinois a 10-2 record and the opportunity to sit at home and watch the bowls. Many bowls today exist because other leagues had this same trouble earlier in their existence. No it wasn’t about quality or what someone did or didn’t (well it was about not winning the most important game of the season) it was about money and contracts. Most bowl games, that is basically the ones other than the BCS and those taking the top picks from the six traditional power conferences depend on financial support from the participating conferences to survive. To get into one of the existing games either the Sun Belt has to out-bid the current occupant or the bowl committee must be frustrated with one those tied to it by contract. The Sun Belt won’t win a bidding war and the other requires good luck. Instead the Sun Belt is going to have to work with one of the number of cities toying with the idea of creating a new bowl. The NCAA has historically looked favorably on proposals for new bowl games when one of two things happen. A conference is without a bowl tie for its champion or a deserving team is left in the cold. For about half the current bowls you can flip back in time and see the situation that caused its creation, that is a conference needing a tie or a team with a nice record left at home. Once the Sun Belt finds its dance partner the case will be made easily. Finding the right city is the hard part because it means finding a good geographic fit in a city that isn’t in a state with a Confederate flag as part of the state flag, has a nice stadium preferably a smaller stadium in a community that really wants to grow and sell the event as an addition to the community. Once that part is done the Sun Belt’s case is easy to make, seven seasons in the books and four bowl eligible teams left at home while two others only secured bids due to a lack of available teams.

Yep, we have both been behind a couple of IAA conferences for awhile now. That will shake itself out during the playoffs/bowls. I guess that I see the glass hafl full... not empty, but hey, what do I know..