GrandGreen

There are obviously many things at play as far as NT athletic finances. The student fees are the biggest variable. Remember the BOR can increase the amount up to 10% a year until NT reaches the state max of $20 an hour which could relatively quickly double the amount of funding without any student enrollment increase. Also the amount of the student fees that can be used for construction is supposed to be limited to 50% of the construction cost. This should provide significant increases in operating funds from student fees. Hopefully, a new coach and stadium will also significantly increase revenues. In short, I would not be surprised that the new HC will be paid in the $500 to $750k range with significant boosts also for the staff.

They may be stronger or it could be the beginning of a downturn for Troy. Their recruiting scheme of over signing borderline academic athletics has been at least partially derailed by new rules. One bad year or a downturn for their program, only time will tell.

Great start for the new coaching staff and congrats to the team. It will be interesting to see what Murczek can do next year. He actually inherited a descent team, the past coach used to have a good team about every four years and Murczek came in at the right time in the cycle. They lose some good talent but I suspect that next years team will be better.

I was wrong, I could not conceive of anyone still advocating the WAC for NT.

Why in the world would anyone from NT want La Tech in the Belt? Other than them being the closest to Denton, what do they add? Forget all their delusional fans and administration, they probably are the biggest direct competitor to NT for recruits. One Northern Louisiana team is enough for me. If you are going after anyone from the WAC, NMSU is the best choice, at least they would up the basketball profile. If you want to go based on potential go UTSA. They like La Tech would be a big recruiting rival but at least games in San Antonio would be better than Ruston. I have stated I like La Tech ability to do a lot with relatively little, but the Belt already has a North Louisiana representative as well as the Cajuns. I see all the Louisiana schools ex LSU having a difficult time as they all depend heavily on state funds. I'm not sure even if La Tech lowered themselves to the Belt level, that they would get the support from the other Belt schools for entrance. UTSA has not played a down of football but being located in one of the largest cities in the USA gives them greater potential than TSSM or La Tech. If I had my preference, I would have the Belt stay as is. The only real reason I see for expansion is to kill the WAC and I'm not sure that is worthwhile and it is certainly not the best of causes.

Not sure what a game like this means, other than the obvious; NT is not a top notch program. Only got to listen, but it sounded like NT was totally intimidated. Not sure what NT was thinking when they scheduled this game, But in the scheme of things, it means little. NT should recover quickly but it is disheartening to know that NT can't compete with the top teams. I would have been happy with a 20 pt or less loss, but NT was non competitive in this one.

You haven't been around long, this would be a close game in the Trilli era.

Can we now stop the crazy NT to WAC discussions? Phillips, Vito and the Bleacher Report all had articles about that possibility recently, despite to any one's knowledge; NT ever showing any interest and it being a very bad idea. Although there are more than a few La Tech fans still singing the WAC praises over the Belt, they have passed from delusional to demented. The WAC will be lucky to even exist in any form in 2012, If I were UTSA or TSSM, I would be rethinking the WAC and maybe even fb division football. Their risk has been magnified at least, and at most their move ups may be in jeopardy. They may have gone too far to turn back but they may want to take a more cautious long term approach then getting involved with the WAC.

Yes, being put on probation for years and probably a non-factor in college football for years won't bother Auburn a bit. Awards that are tainted and will probably be taken away are worth being looked down on by the whole college football world as both a cheater and stupid at it to boot. The NCAA has a history of being lenient to the big boys, but I don't think it is going to be that way this time.

My guess is that Neinas has been working for NT for weeks, probably a verbal deal till they could get full approval. So Canales performance has nothing to do with his hiring, the Neinas agreement was probably made before Canales' first game as head coach. Why would NT terminate Dodge and wait a month before hiring a head hunter, that makes no sense. Canales is definitely a candidate based on his performance, and his success will be based on two factors. How he performs until a decision is made, and what other coaches are valid alternatives. The hiring of Neinas is certainly not positive for Canales no matter when the decision was made. The tendency will be for Neinas to promote his own candidates not someone already here. However, the final decision IMO will be made by Rawlins and I really believe he is going to do what ihe thinks s best for NT football. Secrecy is a component in the decision to use Neinas, but any consultant could provide that function. $40,000 by the way is not a lot of money for a search firm, but NT is paying primarily for his expertise in choosing a hc. HIs involvement tells the football world that NT is serious about this hire. Although it may not be a big signal that confidence in the AD's is lacking, it certainly won't hurt to have Neinas behind the decision when it goes before the board for approval. The Dodge hire was popular at the time, but RV has to live with the results forever.

Very confusing live stats, looks like something so glaring would have been caught and corrected. Good relatively easy win for the girls. Now they go against the mighty MUTS. NT will definitely be the underdog but they can play with this team.

Last night games: Chris Jones had 18 in a Garland Centennial 66 to 54 victory over the Colony. Forrest Robinson had 29 as Eastland won over Early 59-33. Trey Norris led S. Grand Prairie with 17 in a win over Southlake Carrol 61-47. Brandon Walton is averaging 16.6 for 2-3 Casper CC.

Was not a legend, he purchased I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was in the thousands of cheap end zone tickets.

Well another record setting game for the Green. ORU is good but, not that good. This NT team seems to have more depth and some talent but again shows no defense and tons of turnovers. SS's 94 feet of heat was supposed to be by her team, was it not? SS whose trademark was supposed to be a pressing, fast break style; not only can't play it very well; but seems defenseless against teams that can. It is early, but this eight straight road games may be more than they can recover from. At some point, this team has to develop some defense and ball handling.

Winning over losing teams is something NT hasn't been able to do in a long time. Also to downplay those wins you have to be over looking the injury situation at NT. Canales is not a shoo in at this point, but another win and he is going to be very hard to ignore. I have no idea who the other candidates are but it is going to hard to pick another candidate if Canales is 3-1 going into the KSU game. Some of you seem upset that Canales has ignited and obviously as a lot of support among the team and has moved himself into serious contention. If it comes down to Canales versus a name coach on a downward slope, or an assistant with no hc experience than Canales should have an excellent chance.

Only stated the obvious, the game was NT 33 to 34 with about 5 to go in half. It seems most coaches would have at least called a time out to try to stop the momentum. ORU is a good club, but don't give them the game.

Well ORU goes on a 20 to 5 run to end the half, it seems SS could have at least called a time out.

A few late thoughts. NT has looked very suspect against two lower division teams. The score against Henderson State was deceptive, a lot of that point margin occurred late with HS playing their subs. NT also had to start a full court press to get control of the game. Johnson looked great, you would think based on the games this year that he is the returning all conference player. Thompson continues to be the best at creating a shoot and had a good game; not Kansas State good, but he is performing the best of the big three. Shorter kind of disappeared after having a breakout game in the exhibition. Odufuwa and White still looked a little sluggish to me. I think O is finding it a little difficult trying to be the inside scoring force. With A. Williams out, the guard rotation is suspect. Hall did look ok as a walk on, but I hope we don't have to rely on him a lot. By the way you can't compare what Holman, Edwards and Hogans did versus Tremel when Tremiel didn't often or ever play the full 40 minutes. Also NT played at least part of the game with Holmen playing outside. Holmen was much better this game but he didn't come close to making any of his outside shots. Hogans also had a better game, lots of hustle as usual and some great blocks. NT did what it had to win, but doesn't get any style points for this one. The next two games will be very interesting, if they play like they have so far; they will lose both. However, I look for much better play and for White to come up big in the marquee games. On another topic, the crowd other than the kids was terrible. Less than two hundred students and likewise other fans. Enjoyed the kids until they started the wave.

Good win for Stephens and the team. Blowing an 18 point second half lead was not good, but held on at the end. I may be in the minority but I hate those 5 player line changes, Stephens or Jones teams are not that deep. Veterans Godbolt and Kellum had great games, newcomers Nelson and Evans look real good. It is really unfortunate that NT scheduled such a stupid and rough oc schedule with all those away games. If they can survive that, they should have a descent year.

This is fairly common, it is an exhibition game for one team and regular season for another. I would imagine it makes it a lot easier to schedule lower division schools as their official record is not effected.

my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/387662/newspaperid/1722/Like

Disagree with your point. First, Fry coached until 12 years ago, not exactly in the leather helmet days. How is the world of football totally different these days? I can look back decades and I don't see the big changes you are referring to. The game is basically unchanged. The favored offenses and defenses run in cycles, but the fundamentals are the same. It is my guess that good coaches of old would be good coaches today and the reverse. The ability to lead, motivate and relate to staff, team and fans has always been paramount to success.

It is foolish to put much on an exhibition game, but that doesn't stop me. I am very concerned about the play of NT's bigs. Edwards injured or not did not show anything and Holmen looked like the same player that spend most of the last part of the season on the bench. Knox at least got a few rebounds, but looked slow and lacking confidence. Was Spencer even suited up? Hogans certainly looked a lot better than the others, but he still looks like he would be better coming off the bench. I just cringed when the first thing that both Holmen and Edwards did was shoot a three. NT does not need a post player that can shot 30% on threes, it needs one who can play defense, rebound and score around the basket. I was not surprised but still disappointed that Holmen looks no better than he did last year and the Edwards recruitment still remains a mystery. The guard play is going to be fine and could be even great. Thompson and White did not show much this game, but we know they will be very good. Shorter's offense was a pleasant surprise, he could be a major factor this year. Williams and Johnson both had very solid games. If it was not for lack of depth at the guard spot, I could see NT going to a 4 guard offense. NT is going to be a good team this year, but I still lament last years' lack of recruiting. Yes, there are numbers at the post positions; but with WKU and others adding big good inside players; it is asking a lot of Odufuwa to carry NT in the paint. We will obviously know a lot more in a week, but right now this team seems to be missing a big piece.

What a lackluster effort, a real bad game by the Green. Sure didn't see anybody close to earning Tramiels' minutes. Holmen and Edwards both didn't show anything. White kind of sleepwalked through the game. Good showing by Shorter and Johnson.. Hogans was ok but based on this one game, has not upped his game much. White, Odufuwa, Thompson, Shorter, Williams and Johnson will all be fine, but I am concerned about the other post position.

Generally, basketball signings don't come in all at once like in football. However, this year; I would not be surprised if NT gets all its commits signed early.