TexasTerror

SFA has really upgraded their facility in the last few years. I was there a few weeks ago and it was much different than I remember. I like all the new things they have in there. I do not like the purple wall, but it's their colors and we don't need seats going down to the courts in Nacogdoches. This isn't Lamar, this is SFA. Fan behavior is going to be an issue. Whenever I've been there for a Sam-SFA game, there's issues to be had.

2 or 3 Lamar responses. One from SHSU, another from NWST and TXST. This is great! We really need to do what we can to bolster the coverage in the Chronicle. Keep it coming, guys! [Hidden Content]

What happened there? That's an upset IMO.

LSC is STILL around! Texas A&M-Kingsville, A&M-Commerce, Tarleton State, East Central Oklahoma, West Texas A&M and company are in it...

Please respond guys! [Hidden Content] Talk a little Cards, but talk about other things you see around the conference, match-ups you anticipate, the weird eligibility issue at SLU. Got to give this blog some hits and some response so it comes out more. Only helps coverage of Lamar, SLC in major market and helps promote SLC tournament (thus, making Billy Tubbs look good since he pushed this amongst other things).

Angelo State is in the Tech system and is still (and will remain) Angelo State. Part of the agreement, I believe.

Your 2011 and 2012 SLC slates are posted at: [Hidden Content] Working on all SLC schools right now through 2012.

For what it's worth - McNeese had a girl drop NINE against a Div I opponent (La Tech) on way to 39 points in the Cowgirls first win over the Lady Techsters since the 1970s. Wow!

At least he mentions SHSU is a "perennial conference power". ;D I figure some amongst the KatFans would tell you that is the closest thing to accuracy that Bob West has written in some time.

UTSA gets a single vote and SFA goes free falling. No gain for Lamar. And a new number one. Go Redbirds! 1. Illinois State (26) 14-0 753 2 2. Gonzaga (1) 8-4 713 1 3. Butler (3) 12-1 704 3 4. St. Mary's (1) 13-1 681 4 5. Davidson 10-2 665 5 6. Siena 10-4 557 14 7. Creighton 12-3 554 6 8. College of Charleston 10-2 541 7 9. Cleveland State 10-5 523 8 10. Portland State 12-4 469 10 11. Western Kentucky 9-4 456 15 12. George Mason 8-3 396 11 13. VMI 11-2 370 20 14. VCU 8-5 337 9 15. Liberty 10-5 332 12 16. Evansville 10-3 308 17 17. Drake 10-4 287 25 18. Wisconsin-Green Bay 10-4 248 NR 19. Miami 7-4 208 23 20. Niagara 11-3 139 21 21. Stephen. F. Austin 8-4 113 13 22. Hofstra 9-4 91 18 23. Middle Tennessee 9-5 84 NR 24. Arkansas State 10-4 81 24 25. Wisconsin-Milwaukee 8-5 55 NR OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Arkansas Little Rock 54, Buffalo 52, Illinois Chicago 50, Rider 45, Bradley 38, Belmont 22, Old Dominion 21, East Tennessee State 19, Lehigh 17, San Diego 16, Lamar 14, UC Riverside 12, Northeastern 11, Oakland 11, Vermont 10, Navy 7, IUPUI 4, Cornell 1, Texas-San Antonio 1.

SFA has got the easier path to the regular season crown being in the SLC East. Fewer rough road trips. I think LU and UTA make up rest of the top three with SHSU being a team that can either join them if the team continues to progress through the season or be back in the second group. I do not feel the Kats will slip to the back of the bus. They'll get into the SLC tournament. SLU is going to be interesting to watch as they lose their top player and that could open the door for an unexpected team in the SLC East to make a push for a top four seed.

$14M for FBS? Are you kidding me?!? $14M in three years won't even rank in the top three as far as SLC budgets go. UTSA, TXST and SFA will all top that mark and there'll probably be one other to do so as well.

Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast. Not available on DISH or DirecTV.

McNeese needed a home game. Lamar wanted to restart their football program with a rivalry game (which doesn't happen to be too far away and will have probably the best atmosphere for a Lamar game on the season in terms of home/visiting crowds) and a good measuring stick of where they need to be. It's a good move, if you ask me.

Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast Not available on DISH or DirecTV.

Not sure why that would be the case, though I read something similar on another board and it was not the Lion's Den, which has no discussion of the subject. They have some very in the know posters, so that's why I would not lend it credibility just yet. It's usually where you miss the first semester because of transfer requirements, eligibility issues, etc. The only reason a player would not be eligible any longer that I can think of is that they are not eligible via grades, which comes about once the grades from a semester are certified then the player becomes ineligible.

Too bad Lamar does not have much to supply to attract the WAC. Figure the more Western members would not have much interest in letting the Cards in. Only reason La Tech got in was to replace TCU in the 'Eastern' side of the WAC so they could play UTEP, Rice, SMU and Tulsa and "balance" the conference between West and East. Of course, that did not last long. WAC would probably dump La Tech if they could. If UTEP ever left C-USA for the MWC, perhaps La Tech would take their spot. I really see UTEP, Fresno State and Boise as the top contenders for a spot in the MWC. If the Pac-10 goes 12, this gets very interesting.

So I was looking at one of those "open date" web sites and based on what has been made available (at McN, at SLU, at Ga State and TBAs vs SHSU, SFA, South Alabama, Northern Colorado, North Dakota and vs Langston) -- I came up with this possible schedule. While Woodard loves to talk about the possibility of an FBS game, no one will schedule you guys until 2011 because you will not count as a bowl counter towards bowl eligibility until then. Thoughts? Saw on there that you guys were not looking for Oct. 16 (one of the few dates, you were not) -- so can only assume that you want a bye that week or you have a foe booked. No clue. If you do end up with such a schedule, I would say that it was the toughest of any new program. Ended with Georgia State because I figure that would be a nice end of year "reward" for the opening season, a game in the Georgia Dome. Throw in the fact it is tough for USA and Georgia St to get games at the end of the year and it only made sense to put them in November. Sept 4 - at McNeese (Confirmed) Sept 11 - vs Stephen F. Austin (Unconfirmed Date) Sept 18 - vs Sam Houston State (Unconfirmed Date) Sept 25 - at Southeastern Louisiana (Unconfirmed Date) Oct 2 - vs Northern Colorado (Unconfirmed Date) Oct 9 - vs Missouri - Rolla (Unconfirmed Date/Opponent) Oct 23 - at UC-Davis (Unconfirmed Date/Opponent) Oct 30 - vs Langston (Unconfirmed Date) Nov 6 - at South Alabama (Unconfirmed Date) Nov 13 - vs North Dakota (Unconfirmed Date) Nov 20 - at Georgia State (Unconfirmed Date)

North Texas does indeed fall. Lamar's total gets cut nearly in half. SFA does fall a spot as well. 1. Gonzaga (21) 8-3 751 1 2. Illinois State (3) 12-1 732 2 3. Butler (2) 10-1 686 5 4. St. Mary's (3) 12-1 649 4 4. Davidson (2) 8-2 649 3 6. Creighton 11-2 638 6 7. College of Charleston 10-1 549 7 8. Cleveland State 9-4 511 8 9. VCU 8-4 508 11 10. Portland State 10-3 506 17 11. George Mason 7-2 481 9 12. Liberty 10-4 403 15 13. Stephen F. Austin 7-3 370 12 14. Siena 7-4 335 14 15. Western Kentucky 7-4 331 10 16. Illinois-Chicago 8-3 318 16 17. Evansville 9-2 266 20 18. Hofstra 9-3 202 13 19. Arkansas-Little Rock 8-4 201 18 20. VMI 9-2 152 19 21. Niagara 9-2 127 21 22. East Tennessee State 7-3 110 NR 23. Miami (Ohio) 6-4 107 23 24. Arkansas State 9-3 101 22 25. Drake 8-4 77 24 OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: San Diego 44, Lehigh 41, Wisconsin-Green Bay 35, Fairfield 31, Akron 29, Belmont 26, Old Dominion 21, Jacksonville State 13, Lamar 13, Rider 11, Mercer 9, Cornell 8, North Texas 7, Vermont 6, Northeastern 5, Loyola-Chicago 4, Missouri State 4, Mount St. Mary's 4, IUPUI 3, Navy 1, North Dakota State 1.

There is a link. SHSU compares itself to the other schools in the Texas State University System. Of the schools, SHSU has been most open about not having a flagship and has even taken the steps to protect their name. Lamar doesn't care as much as SHSU has shown, but the Huntsville school is very protective about it's university and it's standing amongst peer institutions. You may recall in the 1980s, that all the schools that are comparable (outside of Lamar, who was at a different level at the time) moved together up the collegiate athletic ladder (SWT, SHSU, SFA). I really believe that the schools would do that again if it came to it with TXST possibly having a head start, but to soon be joined.

Chose Texas over Rice and Baylor. Apparently, those were his final three choices.

La Tech talks smack of ULL and ULM all the time. Their AD has even gone as far. There's no chance ULM and ULL leave their current situation to have any part of La Tech. This whole Independence Bowl has taken it to a whole new level. Secondly, of the non-current FBS schools, UTSA is the most attractive. More so than TXST and Lamar. Their commitment to facilities is very intriguing, they are in a major city (which hurts TXST, who is squeezed between UTSA and Texas), they have a connection to a bowl game (home games at the Alamodome - home of the Alamo Bowl) and unlike the other two schools, have hosted NCAA championship events in basketball and volleyball. That does not hurt, from what I am told. Someone on the TXST board brought up a good point, "I hate to say it, but I think that UTSA has a very similar situation to U of South Florida. USF got a football program that was starving for a football team in a way similar to San Antonio's current situation. Back when USF started their program several years ago, they immidiately had crowds averaging around 25,000. If this is what happens in San Antonio, they (UTSA) will be come a viable option for CUSA." Third, SHSU's President has told the "inner circle" that there's no way SHSU would not join TXST and LU in a join up if those schools went that direction.

MFFL -- your intelligent banter is starting to reach levels only equaled by that of UNLV. We lost all of our key players (sans Ramirez) from last year's squad and despite that, with a young team, we are going to be right in the thick of things in the SLC race. Our team has been competitive and came with a basket or two of beating a North Texas team picked to win the Sun Belt's West Division. This team is going to be good and they are only going to get better as the season goes along. There's a bit of an excitement from those who actually have some sort of basketball IQ, including the coaches, because they get to teach this year and they think this team is going to peak later in the year than most Bearkat teams of year's pasts. And you are right, we do not get SLC caliber talent or beyond SLC talent -- probably explains why we won 20+ for the last three years, a feat Lamar probably has not pulled since several years before your birth. Heck, the vast majority of the fans at Montagne Center probably vaguely remember those days from the early to mid 1980s -- an eternity ago for them. I'm enjoying Bearkat basketball thoroughly this year, the foundation is there for a strong team next year and the year after.

Sure helps getting players when you can tell them about our graduation rates, how our athletes have the top GPA in the conference year to year and the most Commissioner Honor Roll selections. You'd be surprised, but academics does hold some weight. Best thing an athletic program can do is find student-athletes who can get full academic rides and not use up an athletic scholarship, especially in those Title IX sports or even sports like baseball, which are not fully funded. Bob Marlin can promote being a successful student and an athlete. He seems to have almost half the SLC all-academic team the last three or so years.

Hey Cards, how would a March trip to Seattle, Wash. sound? [Hidden Content] Your other favorite schools, Texas A&M and UH are also in the mix. No UNLV though.