Chrisattsu

Hey when was the last time you were in San Marcos? When I started working at Texas State five years ago I might have agreed with you, but it is a completely different beast now. While it is questionable what impact the name change had on the rest of the world, it changed the perception of the students coming here. The nature of my job has me dealing with incoming freshman during the orientation process through their freshman year. You can tell a difference between the students who were accepted to SWT and those accepted to TXST. The typical Southwest attitude is the, "I couldn't get into UT so I came here". However in the years since the name change, the student's attitudes are "I wanted to come to Texas State". I used to see one UT tshirt per day, now I maybe see one a week. That's not to say things are perfect, we are still far from it. The increase in pride has improved the number of people attending the games, but not to the level that they should. The two playoff appearances since 2005 have helped keep stoke the fire of school pride, but the community is still not entirely involved. We live in a world where dynasties rule the sports media. Cinderellas get their 5 minutes and then they go back to obscurity. We get 2 minutes on the the Austin and San Antonio news stations while Texas get 10. The fact is we are 20 minutes from DKR, we will have to do something EPIC to get the people of the Corridor (and San Marcos) to fill the stadium regularly. Hopefully this FBS move pans out.

I have to agree. With Texas State looking to move up, the people have been speculating on where we might go. While the fans dream about CUSA-West or a new "Southwest Conference" most recognize the realistic conferences are Sunbelt or WAC. It is no secret that the WAC wants a foothold back in the Texas market, as they have offered an open invite to North Texas. Perhaps you will see Texas State or UTSA try to offer themselves to that conference. My real problem with the WAC is the associated travel costs, the late night games, and the fact that there is no instate rival. I think it is bad for business when your two closest opponents are ~500 miles away (either Las Cruses or Ruston). At least with the Belt, North Texas would be closer. You could renew our rivalry with you and it would be a game that people travel to.

I know that the Southland was upset about their lack of television exposure so they developed a "Southland Television Network" Basically, we are on CW / MyTV / whatever channel they have lying around for a the length of the game, then it goes back to regularly scheduled programming. I don't know if it is paying any dividends yet, but it's nice for alumni around the area. It is on in Texarkana Austin Beaumont Dallas Houston Huntsville Longview Lufkin Nac San Marcos San Antonio Waco / Temple Baton Rouge Hammond Lake Charles Natchitoches New Orleans Shreveport Thibodaux Plus PPV on ESPN FullCourt (DirecTV Ch. 721 and Dish Network Ch. 457) In the last year, I have seen 4 Texas State football games on TV, and 2 basketball games. Maybe something like this would work for the Sunbelt

Did you see the guy proposing conference realignments? He suggested that all conferences should be capped at 10 members. The Big XII would drop to 9. Tech and Baylor to the new CUSA and Colorado to MWC. C-USA (9): Arkansas*, Baylor*, Houston, North Texas*, Rice, SMU, TCU*, Texas Tech*, Tulsa Metro^ (9): Central Florida*, East Carolina*, Florida State, Miami (FL)*, Memphis, South Florida, Southern Miss., Tulane, Virginia Tech Sun Belt (10): Alabama-Birmingham, Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee St., Troy, Western Kentucky (2009)

What about UTEP and CUSA? You can't tell me that the Miners wouldn't be better suited back in the WAC or in MWC

Would the Frogs allow it?

I loved listening to his show when I still lived in DFW radio-range. It may have had a formula, but what radio show doesn't? I remember when I first moved to San Marcos, I was surprised to find out that the were simulcasting his show in Austin. Apparently this only lasted for a month because the people in Austin could not relate to him.

I like his argument. If fact, its the same thing I have been pushing for online for the past couple of weeks. All you have to do is brow beat them into signing on to it. Essentially what you would do is leave the Bowls intact. Teams can still accept a bowl bid, to all of the major bowls can do whatever. However, you invite the top 8 / 16 (including all PARTICIPATING Conference Champs) to forgo their traditional bowl in liew of playing for the chance of a national championship. The catch is that they have to run the gauntlet. If they don't go bowls, they are eligible for Homegames through the playoffs determined by SoS / H2H / Record. 2nd and 3rd place teams could receive an at large bid. Those not eligible for the playoffs (either by record or belonging to a non-participatory conference) could still go to the Alamo, Sugar, Sun Bowls, whatever. Conferences like the Pac 10 or Big 10 (who have opposed playoffs in the past), don't have to sign onto it if they don't want to, but they will never be eligible for a NC. Since the NCAA already has a stranglehold on college athletics, it would only be a matter of time before they caved.

++ LaLa (on both accounts)

I looked at this list, and started to think - If Texas left the Union, the United States would try to put a fight. Now, pretending that we do have this so called right, and the US let us go. They would likely be similar to a spiteful ex-girlfriend who breaks your shit, and doesn't give you back your favorite tshirt. A vindictive United States could impose trade embargoes, making it difficult for Texas to sell products back to the United States. If this occurred, you could see many of the above listed corporations (and industries) leave Texas so they can continue to support the American economy. DAMN, I have too much time on my hands.

False again.. http://www.snopes.com/history/american/texasflag.asp You can also look up the Texas and the US flagcodes if you like.

I actually like that "Son-of-worm" logo. I have seen a few people around her wearing UNT gear with that logo.

We'll be rivals again in a couple of years. The Bobcats played Baylor in 04 Aggies in 2005 Kentucky 06 Baylor 07 SMUt 08 and we will play TCU in 09 Lamar appears to be coming on strong. They are getting their new stadium, athletic donations are coming in, and the rumors that I am starting to hear indicate that they want to move to FBS shortly after starting their program. There is one poster in the conference realignment world who has speculated that you could see a "Southland-Four" moving up right around the same time-- Texas State, UTSA, Lamar, and Sam Houston. Sam Houston has not mentioned moving up just yet, but you can bet they will attempt to follow if Texas State and Lamar move up.

I saw on WFAA that the new stadium vote succeeded. WAY TO GO! CONGRATS! I Know y'all have been pushing for this for some time.

I knew about tortillas at Texas A&I (now A&M-Kingsville) back in the day, and then again at Tech. Were they ever part of the UNT gameday experience, if so what significance do they hold?

What about PVA&M or Texas Southern? I know the people in San Marcos are excited about this game because it should be a pretty easy win, and we also get to see the 'Ocean of Soul'. There is no reason for you guys to play a D2 school. It is hard enough for Texas State to justify it. I was under the impression that FCS (IAA) games counted towards the Six-wins that you needed for bowl eligibility.

I was at the Texas State / SMU game yesterday, and we ended up having to get more Tickets from SMU because we sold out 4 or 5 sections. Teams from the Southland are more likely to travel to Fouts than some of your conference opponents in Florida.

If I remember correctly, Tech has 3 FCS teams on their schedule this year.

and lose by 21? jk

Being that I am a Tarleton alum, I was excited when I first read this thread. I thought North Texas might have scheduled Tarleton for an early season basketball game (as we are known to do). On to the topic at hand, Tarleton would not beat North Texas. We would hang close early, but ultimately the scholarship difference would spell doom (36 vs. 85). Tarleton has been consistently ranked in the Top-25 of Division II for the last decade, and we are considered to be on the shortlist for Southland Conference expansion. We blew out our last opponent (Southeastern Oklahoma) 51-10. They are from the weak half of the conference, so it is not surprising. Ask anyone who follows D2 and FCS (IAA) will tell you that there is a very small gap between the D2 elites and FCS schools. At this point, any of the LSC big three (Tarleton, Abilene Christian, West Texas A&M) could be favored to win almost any game in the Southland Conference. We compete with these schools for the same kinds of players, and bring in the same IA transfers. Coach McElroy (from UNT) seems to love transfers. We are a transfer heavy team with players from- Arkansas, Clemson, NM State, Arizona State, SMU, Texas, Tulane, U Buffalo, Georgia Tech, TCU, Oklahoma, and UNT (Robert Payne) Our offense is pretty well balanced and scores and average of 40 - 50 points per game. You should consider Tarleton as much of (or more of) a threat than Texas State or any other school in the Southland. Again, I guarantee that Tarleton would not blow you out by 21. I am fairly confident that we would not win, but we would give you a good scare during the first half.

If you want to stay North Texas go with Rahr Brewery. I had their beer a couple of weeks ago when I was in Fort Worth. It was pretty good. If you want a taste of the Texas Hill Country let me suggest the Real Ale Company from Blanco, Texas. They make one of my favorite beers (the Coffee Porter) http://realalebrewing.com/beer_styles.php

I have to agree that I think fandom should be linked to the University or the program rather than a coach. You never know how long a coach is going to be around, unless it is someone who has committed their life to the institution like JoePa. What is this T-shirt tradeup? We have something at Texas State where you can bring in a T-shirt from another school and get a free TXST shirt. Is it something like that?

There are LSU billboards in San Antonio. I have seen UTA, UT-PB, and Midwestern State all along that stretch from Georgetown to Hillsboro.

Would you be willing to add a couple of D2 scrub teams in Tarleton and A&M-Commerce? Or would egos prevent that from happening?

Not to my taste, but to each their own. http://txstatebobcats.cstv.com/ot/bobcat-club-staff.html