caseyorourke

If you go PAC, you might see us again. We usually play at least one PAC team every season. Last was the Pirate on the Paloose, this season will be the Dogs in Seattle, the Beavers the season after that and the Ducks in 2018.

In Oregon's case, Phil Knight, creator of Nike, being an Oregon alum, makes huge donations to the college. For football, he designs and all the uniforms free of charge. In exchange, Oregon, and a few other schools, volunteer to test Nike products in development to see if it's viable. It was being one of the test schools and our success last season that inspired Nike to do Portland State's rebrand and provide new uniforms for the coming season.

Personally, I think they should look for somebody who either has Texas / C-USA roots, but has also spent time at other institutions or somebody from another part of the country who still understands Texas, but not so married to the Texan mindset that he/she isn't afraid of unconventional ideas. I was looking at the bio of our new AD and noticed that he grew up in Louisiana, played football at LA. Tech, but he spent time at lots of institutions.He had a connection to Oregon through 4 years at Oregon State and had a Texas/ C-USA connection through UTPA (now UT-Rio Grande Valley) and LA Tech. AD Rountree has brought a new mindset, new ideas and has set Portland State on a direction that an AD from Oregon or the Northwest may not have envisioned. Barnum says AD Rountree is the most unique AD he has ever worked for, he likes to cook a big pot of chili or jambalaya for tailgates, enjoys having a few beers with the fans after a win, isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty. Evidently he wasn't shy about using our relationship with Nike ( a PSU grad created the Nike swoosh) to get them involved in our rebrand. That is the type of guy you need for an AD.

Not even in his wildest dreams

Back when Nigel Burton was the HC, they say he saw a player coming out of a 7-11 on game day with a Slurpee. He then decided to put the team in a hotel the night before a home game so he could make sure the team wasn't out doing what he considered stupid things. That was one of the first things Coach Barnum changed when he became our HC. By the way, Nike just did a major rebranding for us replacing the old "Buffaslug" with a new primary (PS) and secondary (Viking head) logo and uniforms. I really like the helmets

A blogger who is a regular poster on the FCS forum board Any Given Saturday looked into the NCAA rule book and found that the WAC, even though they dropped football, they are still an active athletic conference, previously had been a D-1A/FBS conference and have retained the right to invite schools to play at the FBS level (current FBS teams and FCS move ups). Like A Zombie, The WAC Could Indeed Rise from the Dead He also wrote an excellent article Idaho's Return To Big Sky Shows How Broken FBS Membership Is, which looks at how in his opinion FBS membership isn't as great as some think it is.

Looks like now that Idaho is safely in the Big Sky fold, the conference now has New Mexico State in it's crosshairs. Idaho now in the fold, the Big Sky is reportedly going after New Mexico State, too That would bring the Big Sky membership for football to 15 with the possibility of going to 16 if we can entice another school to join up.

Harry, as an outsider looking (but also a Texas resident) in I am going to respectfully disagree. Texas football is bigger than DFW and there are more than enough good (3-5 star) football players all over Texas who could fit in with any of the many colleges in and around Texas. The city I call home, Kerrville Tivy is a UIL 5A school with a team that is nearly always a contender for the state championship. It is heavily recruited by UT, TA&M and a host of other Texas colleges, but to my knowledge, UNT hasn't made their presence known in the area. Maybe its time UNT stopped looking at just DFW, but started looking at the kids in the southern, eastern and western part of the state too. Right now UNT and Seth Littrell needs to do what Bruce Barnum is doing at Portland State, build a culture and a program. Barnum was quoted as saying "once you build it, a program will run itself." In the Big Sky, Montana is the perfect example of that. They have managed to build football culture and program that is so strong, it doesn't matter who the coach is or what their record the previous season was, the program keeps going and going (think of an Energizer Grizzly Bear), if you want to play football in the NW, Montana is the school you want to play. The best way in Texas to do that is hold these satellite camps, in and around the hitherlands of Texas, identify these young kids that may otherwise be unknown because they don't have the big city media fawning all over them. If UNT can get (steal) these kids and build a winning program around them, The kids from DFW will begin to notice UNT is suddenly a winner and say to themselves "Hey, Why not North Texas?."

To quote Jesus..... "Ask and ye shall receive." 2015 FCS College Football Stadium Experience Rankings There is also a link in the story for FBS stadium rankings. Apogee is ranked at #104

This has also come up on the FCS boards. Somebody posted this open letter from EMU's website signed by EMU's Interim President, President Elect and its Board of Regents, saying basically they are not dropping football, not dropping down to the FCS and that they will be remaining in the MAC. Open Letter to the EMU Campus Community, Alumni, Friends and Supporters

First, I'm not trying to be mean, but I really want to know....... Anyway, I finally found and listened to the KNTU podcast of the Portland State game coupled with my download video from NTTV. The pregame show had lots of hype on Jeffery Wilson, his abilities, contribution to the team and that he would be a major factor in the game. Given all this attention........ CAN ANYBODY TELL ME WHY HE SPENT SO MUCH TIME ON THE BENCH THAT GAME???????? If he had played, I'm sure the game would have been a hell of a lot better on both sides.

This was not coming from me, but is speculation from Craig Haley, a senior editor for STATS. I think he would qualify as someone who knows the ins and outs of college football on a national level, would not bring up this possibility, unless he's been talking to various football insiders and/or the respective conference commissioners from both the G-5 and FCS. Given that the FCS is gaining more recognition and becoming more relevant in football circles,the push to move up have not been as strong as it has been in the past. I for one don't think it is a move that is necessarily in the FCS' best interest and I really doubt the FCS commissioners would feel the need to come begging the G-5 for any type of merger. Right now, the only way for any team to move up is to be invited by a higher division conference, so it is currently impossible for an entire conference to move up, even if they wanted. Any offer of a merger would have to come from the top down, i.e. from the G-5 commissioners to at least the top tier FCS conferences. Since, as far as I know such a mechanism does not exists it would have to be negotiated and fully approved by the commissioners of the entire G-5, the various elite FCS conferences and the NCAA. IMOHO, I think it will all boil down to how desperate the G-5 becomes for more teams and increased competition once the P-5's finally decide to become completely autonomous and leaves the G-5 twisting in the wind.

I was checking out the FCS Stats videos on Youtube about FCS stability. Craig Haley, FCS Head writer for STATS, was mentioning that the FCS commissioners were looking at the possible upcoming changes in the FBS, especially among the P-5 conferences. When asked what he saw for the FCS in 5 years, he said that if the P-5 decides to break off on their own, he sees the possibility of a merger between the G-5 and the FCS top conferences. FCS stability

I found this quote very enlightening after reading many of the posts here. Granted many FCS programs need the body bag games to fund their programs, but if a G-5 program is well ran, it should be able to avoid making games like this an annual occurrence or necessity.

Interesting article in Forbes about NMSU and Idaho possibility of dropping down and how in the long run doesn't really hurt them. Idaho And New Mexico State Considering Dropping Down In Football-More Should Think About It

Sorry Jim, didn't mean to ruffle your eagle feathers..... The truth be known, I have developed a liking for your team and quickly becoming a fan. I do feel some sympathy for you guys because, like you and all the rest of the die-hard Mean Green fans, I suffered through many years of poor seasons at Portland State, but never gave up and always have remained a true fan. So, when I make these observations, I am not trying to be smug or snarky, I'm doing it because I hope someday to be counted among those who will celebrate your success your team deserves. Yes we didn't win our first playoff game, but that was our first playoff game in 15 years, so we aren't a NDSU, Sam Houston or UNI (teams that have in the last few years become regular fixtures in the FCS playoffs.) In fact we weren't even picked to end up where we did. We was picked to be near the bottom of the Big Sky. But our success was the result of finally finding the right coach and I hope and pray that Seth Littrell will be what Bruce Barnum became for Portland state

Idaho is a member of the Big Sky for basketball and their Olympic sports. There is an open invitation for their football team to also rejoin the Big Sky. But if you read their forums, the majority of fans are dead set against that because they don't want to give up the revenue sharing that comes from conference participation in bowl games and the CFB playoffs. What they are hoping that with the rumors of conference realignments, they will decide to save the shared revenue for the next two years, go independent and hope they can find a stable conference to join up with or take the Big Sky offer as a last resort. In reading their forums, you also get the sense that their is a lot of Boise State envy going on because of their success on the field, so they believe that if they stick with the FBS, they will become as successful as BSU. They have been rumors that the Big Sky is going to split into two separate "divisions." one an FBS division for the schools who want to move up but want to avoid having to look for a conference or going independent and the other, an FCS division for the schools who have no interest in moving up. Frankly, before that occurs, Japan will finally apologize for starting WWII or hell's going to freeze over.

Hi Guys, I've been visiting the forum and reading the mail mainly to keep up with what is going on and possibly looking forward to visiting you guys for a game or two once we finally come back to Texas (Kerrville) and you guys don't mind if I wear my Portland State jersey. I actually may have to wait till you visit UTSA, since San Antonio is the closer to where we will be living. Anyway, I wanted to comment on the topic at hand. I know that you guys are looking at your game with Bethune-Cookman with bated breath, but I propose a bit of caution on your part. Yes B-C is an FCS team, but I might remind you they finished the season just out of the FCS top 25 (27th or 28th) and those HBU's are always tough and are always ready to prove themselves They know you guys are in the rebuilding process, with a new coaching staff, a new system and possibly a lot of young players. They will be looking at the result of your last encounter with a ranked FCS team, they will be coming in, knowing that this is only your second game of the season and possibly still getting used to the new schemes, with a chip on their shoulder the size of Rhode Island, chomping at the bit, with the incentive of forcing you into playing their game. Like I said earlier, don't take any game lightly and as Portland State proved against Wazoo and you guys, dynamite comes in small packages.

You thinking Coach Littrell might take a page out of Bruce Barnum's playbook and insert either Smith or Morris as a Utility QB?

That would be Nate Tago, who scored a couple of rushing TD's in that game., Thank you and everybody else for your prayers.

Not sure if this is a good place to put it, but I wanted to pass this along to you guys Sunday Portland State linebacker A.J Schlatter #31 passed away at home due to complications from minor throat surgery. Viking Athletics Deeply Saddened By The Passing Of AJ Schlatter I would ask that you keep the Schlatter family in your thoughts and prayers.

I want to wish your team the best of luck in your recruiting drive. Personally, I think that this year Coach Littrell should consider splitting his recruits by bringing in some experienced quality JUCO players to fill your immediate needs and with some young freshmen who can learn from from the older players. Just an FYI, your FCS opponent for next season, Bethune-Cookman finished their season just out of the FCS top 25 at #27. Not sure how many players they are losing, but the HBU's are always a tough opponent. STATS FCS Poll as of 1-11-16

And to top it all off, Coach Barnum was voted Big Sky and FCS Coach of the year. Bruce Barnum Named Big Sky Conference Coach Of The Year Portland State's Barnum goes from interim to FCS Coach of the Year The school gave him a $20,000 bonus which he distributed amongst his staff. Portland State coach Bruce Barnum gives bonus money to the PSU assistants

Speaking from experience,You guys need an experienced QB now, so instead of trying to get a transfer from another 4 year university who has to sit out for a year to be eligible, get a good JUCO QB who has experience in the type of offense Littrell wants to set up who can start now. Recruit good freshmen QB's and have this guy help the coaches bring them up. At Portland State, along with all the QB's we have, Kuresa and Kraught and Penn have been given the task of working with next years underclassmen to make sure when the time comes, they can step in and run the system without any loss of the quality play.

He did graduate with another year's eligibility. From what I understand, EWU didn't offer his course of study for his masters, but Oregon did. They used the graduate exemption to avoid him having to sit out a year because he moved up. A JUCO graduate would be a good idea. That is what Alex Kuresa was when he came to us, and see how well he worked out.