Chrisattsu

To be fair, Many of the folks in San Marcos consider this to be a fluff piece on Larry Teis. to quote some of our fans- Then again others have said, We have had fans calling for Dr. Teis' removal for the past few years, but if you what has happened since he took over you see the following good things-- 1. A million dollar donation to the department 2. $100K donation for season tickets 3. Work starting on the new BB/SB complex in three weeks 4. Increase in Athletic fees/revenue 5. Campaign to move up to FBS in full swing 6. Brand new defensive coaches (our achilles heel last year), which goes back to hiring Wright, which goes back to Teis. 7. Competent hire in our Basketball coach three years ago 8. New scoreboards in the football, Basketball, and now Baseball and Softball complexes http://www.bobcatfans.com/forums/viewtopic...asc&start=0 Overall, I do not think Texas State has any problems with North Texas. We face many of the same problems you do, one of which is apathetic fans and alumni (although that is changing).

Yeah, but to be fair many programs build on the backs of their students- Texas Tech- $2.7M (my friend at Tech said that students get into the stadium for free when they show their id) Boise- $2.4M Michigan State- $3.0M UCLA- $2.3M Cal- $1.9M Houston- $3.5M North Carolina- $2.4 Florida- $2.4

Just do what Texas State did. Get a student body president who is all for it. Then get him to use his student body connections to wander around campus with laptops "encouraging" people to vote. Problem solved. If you catch the "against" people off guard, they will not have time to prepare and the only mis-information being presented will come from you.

Exactly, What benefit is it from NM to move the game to San Antonio. Sure their fans get a 'destination' weekend early in the season, but how much of their alumni base is there?

Don't Forget UT-Dallas, SE Oklahoma, UT-Arlington, and Midwestern State in Wichita Falls (if you really want to travel)

For the first time in a long time, it looks like they are putting together some kind of promotion down here at Texas State. To the best of my knowledge we have never had an alumnus do something like this. First- Jerry Fields, Distinguished Alum and Houston business man, donated $100,000 to purchase season tickets for any recent graduate (School year 05-06, 06-07, 07-08) who wants them. Now- Mr. Fields is volunteering his vacation house in Aijic, Mexico (Just south of Guadalajara) to the alumni using his tickets. "Young alumni who attend the football games will also automatically have an opportunity to win a week-long vacation for six to Ajijic, Mexico, courtesy of the Fields. Airfare and the use of a three bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom home and transportation to and from the airport in Ajijic are included in the prize, valued at nearly $7,000. " http://www.bobcatfans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15126 To be fair, I agree with Dub820's statement about refunding student tuition. Those same thoughts ring true here in San Marcos.

What if you lose? So, just for the record, is it better to get blownout by a "known team" than play a close game with a FCS team? North Texas since 2004 vs. 79-10 against Oklahoma 56-7 against Texas 54-7 against K-State 56-3 against LSU 65-0 against Texas Rice lost 16-14 against Nichols State, and App State beat Michigan by a last second Field Goal. Yes, an FCS upset might be bad, but they can serve as a rallying-point for the team to refocus. These scores listed above are demoralizing. As I stated above, these FCS games (and D2's at FCS games) are heavily weighted in favor of the home team. If you really want to secure a win, bring in a bottom tier team like Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern, or Northern Colorado. At least with the SWAC teams, you know that Half-time will be AWESOME.

First, Don't schedule a D2. There is no point for any FBS team to schedule a D2, especially with the number of FCS teams around. Second, I really hate it when people treat FCS as if it were equal to D2. They are not the same thing. While FCS may be perceived as a step below in the pecking order during football season, they are peers when it comes to everything else. Now on to your questions-- Scheduling a 'lesser' team? From what I have seen, Tarleton schedules a lesser D2 school (and they have scheduled NAIA teams) for their first home game of the season every year. Fans and alumni are starved for football, and they want to get new students excited about the team from the git-go. It may be an Blowout win, but it is a WIN none-the-less. Texas State and the other Southland teams play a D2 team early every season for the same reason. Big XII teams do the same thing with FCS or lower-tier FBS teams. This happens at every level of play and for the same reason. People like to see a winning product. It reminds me of an old Coach-ism, "Be the Hammer". You can be a nail and walk away with your money in a bodybag game, or you can be the hammer and host a lesser team. What if you lose? Someone has to lose, and upsets occur every year. However, the odds are stacked in the favor of the host team. Aside from a few FCS fans, how many people remember that Nicholls State beat Rice last year? Texas State lost to Abilene Christian (D2) last year and all hell broke loose. Is it deflating? Yes, but nobody cares once you start winning games. Will it affect recruiting? Not really. Everyone expects you to have a tune-up game. Now, you might have a problem if you changed all of your money games from FCS games, but changing one won't hurt.

We are pretty excited to have Bleil on staff this year. Our defensive staff was young and inexperienced last fall. We tried to play some "Desert Swarm" defense and got torched in the secondary more times than not. Bleil seems old school. If that tightens up our defense, I will be grateful.

I don't know how many of you like metal wall art / rustic decor / lamps & things, but I recently purchased a couple pieces of Tarleton metal work from the JC Jones Company out of Hamilton. While their website does not show any UNT stuff, the owner said that they are glad to do custom work and they are always interested in doing more universities. All you have to do is send them the logo that you want and they can take care of it. http://www.jcjonescompany.com/home

Wait so let me get this straight- The Pac-16 includes Texas Tech, and UT goes to the SEC? Really?? I forget, but didn't UT consider the Pac10, and snub the SEC, at the end of the SWC due to academics? That would seriously piss some people off.

That can't be true, they have a softball team!

I know we play a UNM in baseball quite a bit. If (and when) we move up, I would not mind playing those teams. I think they would draw better in San Marcos than Florida International or Eastern Carolina.

Cmon? Would you really want to live in Beaumont? I know I wouldn't.

I know that this is not the site you are looking for, but I find it to be a great tool for comparing one school with another. http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Uni...l&id=227216

Jim, Not to attack you personally, but I have never understood this philosophy. How does FBS football make your UNT degree more valuable than my Texas State or Tarleton State degrees? For example, Texas State's geography and Tarleton State's agriculture programs are considered some of the best in the region (if not the nation), and therefore it can be assumed that their degrees carry more weight than similar degrees from North Texas. All of that being said, I agree with Green Mean. It does not matter if you went to the best program in the nation if you only skated by, and did not retain any information after you were finished. The education you walk away with is more important than the piece of paper on your wall.

Here's the article from the SA Express News- http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/localco...en.37bc6ea.html

I can understand why you wouldn't want to travel to an FCS stadium, just as Texas State wouldn't go on the road to Tarleton or A&M-Kingsville. However, if you time it right, you can still get a trip to Austin, a toobing trip, and your wives could spend all of your money at the outlet malls. That being said, I would love to come to Denton to play a game. Hopefully we can start to schedule some games as we get closer to the FBS move.

The only thing I like about the WAC is that *some of* their teams have national name recognition. Everyone knows Boise, Hawaii, and Fresno, but aside from that can you name the rest of the conference. I guess to be fair most outsiders can only name a handful of Sunbelt teams, so it wouldn't be that much different. UNTLifer makes a very good point. I am a Rangers and Stars fan, and it really sucks that all the rest of our divisions are two hours behind and on the west coast. People say that Texas State should look at the WAC, but I would hate to think that our closest Regional opponents are Louisiana Tech or NM State. Can you imagine cost associated with road games to Idaho and Hawaii regularly?

I agree, Texas State is not TSU. TSU will always be Tarleton State for me. This is a screen name that I have used since my time at Tarleton State University. People from Houston will see Texas Southern as TSU. The abbreviation for Texas State that I usually see is TXST. Just for the Record My undergrad is from Tarleton My grad degree is from Texas State

Wow! After moves like that, I am really worried about our game against the Ponies in September.

Honestly, I would look forward to games against North Texas. From lurking around this board, I get the impression that you guys would welcome more Texas opponents to develop a rivalry.

I had Kansas winning from the beginning. I am in the lead on a couple of my brackets, but Memphis making it to final game hurt me.

I am new to this board, but I am have been lurking for sometime. In answer to the initial post of this thread, I don't think that presenting yourself as a "College Value" is a bad thing. For many people, especially from lower-to-middle income, first generation families, cost of attendance is a major factor. I know I concerned when I started looking for colleges at 17. My family did not make a lot of money and I was the first one to consider college, so we had no idea how the financial aid system worked. I looked at a variety of institutions (never UNT because they did not market in the wastelands between Waco and Abilene). In the end, I chose Tarleton because they provided the best financial aid package. One of Tarleton's missions is to provide a quality education at a reasonable cost. This draws quite a few people. Even though I have only been out of school for a short period of time, I am a proud alumnus. I am a member the alumni association, I donate money to the university, and I frequently return to Stephenville for Athletic events. I am not however season ticket holder because I cannot convince myself to drive 500 miles each week to return home. Instead, I purchase the annual online web-stream package. We have pretty good teams, so it makes it easy for me to give money back, however we play D2 so nobody gives a rats ass. That does not stop me from being just as boastful around the coffee pot as everyone else. The problem is that either need to have a perennial winner or you need to brainwash your fans. The Aggies have the right idea, and Tarleton has copied them in that respect. We send our freshmen to brainwashing... I mean Duck... Camp the weekend before school starts. They learn University traditions, lore, and history. The hope is that by they time to return to campus Sunday night, they are not freaked out by the Purple clowns running around, the guys in purples chaps, and they are familiar with all of the cheers. It makes them feel like part of the university from the beginning and benefits student retention.