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SMU teams are always better before they play a down of football. Then the games begin and the popped collar crowd gets bored and gives up on going, which is why your attendance has been in the bottom half of the FBS for so many years.

Did the PAC-12 becoming the PAC-2 teach you nothing? After the big dogs leave a Power 5 conference can implode faster than the sub that visited the Titanic.

IRVING, Texas – Head football coach Eric Morris along with senior CB Ridge Texada and WR Damon Ward Jr. will represent UNT at the 2024 American Athletic Conference Kickoff, held at Lowes Arlington. Twenty-eight student-athletes are scheduled to attend this year’s Kickoff, which will be held in Arlington for the second consecutive year. Media sessions will begin at 2 p.m. CT on Monday and will continue Tuesday morning with press conferences with the 14 head coaches. The results of The American’s preseason media poll will be announced at 8 a.m. CT (9 a.m. ET) and Commissioner Tim Pernetti will deliver his remarks Tuesday at 8:15 a.m. CT (9:15 a.m. ET). In addition to the Tuesday press conferences, student-athletes and coaches will be available for breakout sessions during specified times on Tuesday and upon request during their scheduled Monday-afternoon block. And for the first time, The American is inviting fans to participate in the annual event to start the college football season. A limited number of fans will be able to experience the 2024 Kickoff in-person to gain unprecedented access to players and coaches. Fans will have the opportunity to sit in on press conferences, take part in photo opportunities and enjoy meet-and-greets with the student-athletes and coaches. Fans who wish to attend the 2024 Kickoff can register at www.TheAmerican.org/AACKickoff Live coverage of The American Kickoff will air Tuesday, July 22, at 9 a.m. ET as Morgan Uber, Rene Ingoglia, Taylor McHargue and Brooke Kirchhofer interview coaches and student-athletes from all 14 teams. ESPN+ will have that telecast, along with a second feed that will feature the full press conferences from the head coaches. Loews Arlington is conveniently located approximately 20 minutes from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport at Texas Live! Situated between Globe Life Field and Choctaw Stadium and across from AT&T Stadium. Tickets for the 2024 UNT football season and mini-plan packages are currently available for purchase now. General season ticket holder benefits include priority seating locations, flexible payment plan options, a season ticket holder gift, discounts on additional single-game tickets, kick time guarantee, postseason ticket priority and the ability to resell unused tickets on SeatGeek. Additionally, single-game tickets are also now on sale. The UNT football home opener is Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m. versus Stephen F. Austin. The Mean Green football team has six home games this year and hosts Wyoming (Sept. 21), Tulsa (Sept. 28), Tulane (Oct. 26), Army (Nov. 9) and East Carolina (Nov. 23) in addition to the SFA home opener. Fans interested in buying new season or mini-plan packages for the 2024 season may do so online at www.meangreentickets.com or by calling the North Texas Athletics Ticket Office at (940) 565-2527 during normal business hours. Season tickets start as low as $80 prices for Family Zone seating with options all the way up to exclusive premium experiences in the HUB Club or Field Cabana.

In Europe, players start being treated as professionals from a young age. When you join an academy over there, you do everything at the academy. It's like being in college here. They live, eat, do their schooling at the academy on top of playing the game and this can start in elementary school. Getting a player from Europe means getting somebody who's been living the lifestyle of a college student for over a decade. I doubt it's to that level for football but for basketball (and other sports) it is. I have family over there and knew a guy in an academy for judo (France regularly has olympic medalists in judo) who lived like that in middle school. Away from family and following a strict daily schedule to progress in the national ranks. Again, getting at least basketball players from over there would mean getting guys mature far beyond their age.

Well, Memphis is going to be tough this year as we play them on the road, but no FIU or Navy on the schedule and no Earle on the roster, so 12 - 0!! Oh, and sadly Lennay Kekua passed away on September 11, 2012, so I hope you are happy with yourself for intimating that she was Cousin Ollie's gal. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1474459-remembering-lennay-kekua-before-the-biggest-game-of-manti-teos-life