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#10. North Texas The Mean Green are built for pounding the football - they've a fine offensive line and a couple of solid running backs - but that isn't the problem. QB play was too inconsistent last season for the running game to be more of a factor. That may change this year with mobile Kansas-transfer Brock Berglund in the running - literally! He's a dual-threat who can add a lot of yardage to ground game. The main backs, Brandin Byrd and Antoine Jimmerson combined for 1404 yards and 9 TDs, run hard, but they don't possess game-breaking speed - and this is the biggest issue. The Mean Green don't have an apparent playmaker anywhere on offense, meaning defenses can load up closer to the line of scrimmage. If they find one in the fall (Reggie Pegram, anyone?), this could be a dangerous offense. Read more: http://uncrownedchampions.sportsblog.com/post/122419/ranking_the_top_running_attacks.html

Ah...Football. It doesn't get any better than this time of the year, does it? No disrespect to baseball fans, but I usually refer to the period between the last day of the NBA Finals and the first day of the football season as "the dry season." Don't get me wrong -- I love going to a baseball game every now and then, but watching it on television is brutal. Football, on the other hand, was made for TV. College football, in particular, is a joy to behold on Saturday afternoons. Watching these kids play their hearts out with no thought of contracts, showboating, or other selfish ambitions (okay, maybe there's a little thought about those things, but not as much as in the pros) is refreshing and makes for great television. If you've never attended a college football game, well, to call it an experience is an understatement. With that being said, we are just weeks away from the start of the college football season, and one team in particular is looking to build upon previous successes. The University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane had a phenomenal season last year. Ending last season with a whopping 11 wins and only three losses, TU won the Conference USA championship and the Liberty Bowl, and the Hurricane defense was considered one of the best in the conference. However, for the 2013 season, the Hurricane lost eight starters on defense and will have to depend on their younger players who may have the talent, but may not have a lot of experience. "Every year, on offense and defense, one of the things that we think is important is that we adapt to the personnel that we have," said head coach Bill Blankenship. "The truth is we will have a much more inexperienced squad defensively. So we fully expect that there will be some mistakes along the way, but we think we've got a group that is going to compare favorably in their abilities. Their speed and athleticism are going to be as good if not better than what we had a year ago." Read more: http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A62498

IRVING, TEXAS — Louisiana Tech defensive end IK Enemkpali enjoyed conducting mock interviews with opposing players at Conference USA media day. If new Tech coach Skip Holtz wants to see his Bulldogs on the same film as 2013 opponents, he will need to confiscate the interview footage. With the move to Conference USA, Tech will play 10 new opponents that weren’t on the 2012 schedule, which leaves the coaching staff without much study material over the summer. “It creates a lot of unknowns because we can’t go back to last year and say, ‘Oh they have that one running back or one defensive end,’” Holtz said during media day. “Our players won’t be familiar with our opponents, so it’s like starting all over again. “We try to (study) our first few opponents (over the summer), and that starts with North Carolina State, which has a new coaching staff.” Tech’s two familiar opponents are Rice (’Dogs won 56-37) and UTSA (51-27 win). But the Bulldogs might not even recognize the Owls, who won their last five games (including a bowl) and expected to be near the top of Conference USA. Opponents won’t know much about the Bulldogs either with 31 missing seniors and a new coaching staff. “We don’t know how we’re going to measure up,” Holtz said. “... We’ve talked with players and seniors about it, and we don’t know how we’re going to stand up and how it relates from a win-loss standpoint. “We don’t know how good we’re going to be, but let’s just make sure that we’re as good as we can be.” Read more: http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130729/SPORTS/307290020/C-USA-fresh-start-Tech

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the first story in a three-part series on the 100th anniversary of the North Texas football program. Today’s story is an overview of the program’s past and its future. C. Dan Smith tucked away piece after piece of the North Texas memorabilia he collected over the years on a bookshelf across from the dark wooden desk in his Plano office. A football commemorating the 1959 Sun Bowl, which Smith played in, sits front and center with a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet signed by UNT legend “Mean” Joe Greene to the right. Just below rests another football commemorating UNT’s 2002 New Orleans Bowl win over Cincinnati. Those mementos — and 12 more that accompany them — represent a few of the great moments Smith has taken part in or witnessed over the more than 50 years he’s been associated with UNT’s athletic department. During that time, Smith has gone from being a player to the chairman of UNT’s Board of Regents to one of the school’s most influential athletic boosters. That experience gives Smith an unparalleled perspective on where UNT has been and where it’s heading as the program reaches a milestone with its 100th anniversary this fall. What excites and concerns Smith — and a lot of other UNT officials and boosters — is that the milestone coincides with circumstances that could make the next few years a tipping point in program history. “The progression over 100 years has been very slow,” Smith said. “As you start growing and things start happening, it’s good to continue that growth, but it has to be accelerated. Once you move up, there is more pressure to continue moving up and get better and better. We are in a position where we could make a tremendous leap in the next three to five years.” UNT made its long-anticipated switch to Conference USA from the Sun Belt earlier this month, a move that will provide the program with additional revenue and exposure. The 2013 campaign also is UNT’s third in Apogee Stadium, a 30,850-seat venue that came with a $79 million price tag, and its third under Dan McCarney, the most highly regarded coach the Mean Green has employed in decades. UNT’s football program has never been in a better position to succeed, or under more pressure to capitalize on the investment the school has made to give it a better foundation. Eight years have passed since the Mean Green last posted a winning record or played in a bowl game. UNT is tied with UAB for the sixth-longest bowl drought in the Football Bowl Subdivision. UNT’s attendance has risen and financial support for the program has increased over the last five years, but both figures lag behind many of the school’s new peers in C-USA. How the Mean Green fares in advancing, from the results on the field to the support the program generates from fans and boosters over the next few years, could impact UNT’s athletic program for decades. “The program has the potential to go two ways,” UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said. “With the investment we have made and the staff we have brought in, if we can get our fan base to come out and support this team in what is going to be a time of transition, I think we have the ability to be a program that is recognized nationally for success. “If we don’t support the program, we could become average.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130727-football-a-critical-time.ece

For the first time since 1994, when North Texas was a member of the Southland Conference, the Mean Green is in a conference that includes other members from Texas. Texas-San Antonio, Rice and Texas-El Paso are in Conference USA with North Texas, which has spent time since '94 in the Sun Belt (2001-12), Big West (1996-00) and the independent ranks (1995). “Get some rivalries going,” said UNT coach Dan McCarney. “To this day, I still haven't found out who the rivalries really were at North Texas before I got there.” Read more: http://newsok.com/college-football-tulsas-trey-watts-has-more-than-one-memorable-play/article/3865493

– New Southern Miss Coach Todd Monken had some choice words for the power conference teams bandying about the idea of a “Division 4″ consisting of all big boys. Here are some of the greatest hits: He makes a good point. Even if all the “Power 5″ conferences circle their wagons, there will always be a top of the list and a bottom of the list. And some teams used to being near the top, or at least firmly in the middle, won’t like the view from the basement. Read more: http://blogs.dailymail.com/marshall/2013/07/25/post-c-usa-media-day-roundup/

DALLAS — Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said when another wave of conference football realignment began building two years ago or so, he was concerned about a potential tsunami-like impact on the league. And while the roiling waters reshaped C-USA’s landscape, Banowsky said the conference not only has survived but continues to evolve much as it has since its birth in 1995. “I could not have imagined it turning out any better,” Banowsky said Wednesday during an impromptu roundtable at the Conference USA Football Media Day at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport Marriott. Banowsky said that C-USA had made a contingency plan should other conferences begin another round of adding or losing schools, starting a cascade of falling dominoes that affected first one league’s membership, then the next and then the next. “We said let’s execute this plan, and I think it came together splendidly,” Banowsky said. “It really did come together very, very well, and we have platforms now to power up from that we’ve never had. We’re in markets that we’ve not been in before. There’s more connective tissue.” read more: http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20130725/SOUTHERNMISS/307250028/COLUMN-Banowsky-reveling-evolving-league

IRVING, Texas Payback can be hell. A week after Old Dominion cancelled a football game at UNC Charlotte slated for 2014, the 49ers retaliated by cancelling a game at ODU scheduled in less than four months. Charlotte officials called off a Nov. 16 game at ODU on Monday, said sources who attended Wednesday’s Conference USA football media day in suburban Dallas. Adding insult to injury, Charlotte replaced ODU on its schedule with James Madison, the Monarchs’ archrival the last two seasons in the Colonial Athletic Association. Charlotte and JMU will play on Sept. 21 in Harrisonburg and then in Charlotte in 2014, reported the Harrisonburg News Record. Meanwhile, Eastern Michigan and ODU have apparently agreed to a 2-game series. Eastern Michigan’s press guide indicates ODU will host the Mid-American Conference team on Sept. 13, 2014, then travel to Eastern Michigan on Sept. 5, 2015. ODU now has three of four non-conference games scheduled for both 2014 and 2015, including a home and home series with North Carolina State. ODU athletic director Wood Selig and coach Bobby Wilder declined comment on the Charlotte game. Charlotte coach Brad Lambert said he had no information on the 2013 game. However, the football press guide ODU distributed to the media Wednesday morning listed the opponent for Nov. 16 as “TBA” and did not list Charlotte among ODU’s opponents. The cancellation leaves ODU with the difficult task of finding a team to play on short notice. No Division I teams appear to have an open date on Nov. 16, so ODU may be forced to schedule a Division II or NAIA school. Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2013/07/unc-charlotte-pulls-out-nov-game-against-odu

IRVING, Texas -- Of the eight schools joining Conference USA, perhaps none is more excited than North Texas. "It's a tremendous opportunity," coach Dan McCarney said during Wednesday's C-USA Media Day. "When you sit there and talk about eight national television games for North Texas, six bowl opportunities from Hawaii to New Orleans... "I know this much, there's all types of schools in Division I that would like to be in our shoes." UNT begins its first season in C-USA along with returning member FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, UTSA and returning member Charlotte. Old Dominion will begin C-USA play in football in 2014 and Charlotte in 2015. They join holdovers East Carolina, Marshall, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB and UTEP for a 14-team league in 2013. North Texas received a boost with the opening of sparkling Apogee Stadium in 2011. The Mean Green were 4-8 in their last season in the Sun Belt, but C-USA's higher profile should help UNT better exploit the advantages it already has. "We didn't get this opportunity because of recent success in football," McCarney said. "It's because of potential, location, leadership on our campus, that's why we got this opportunity." North Texas will kick off its first year in C-USA with its first home opener in 12 years on Aug. 31 against Idaho. The Mean Green are also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the football program. "North Texas has been getting on a bus or a plane every year to start a season," McCarney said. "Rick Villarreal, my AD, and I worked together on this. I wanted a home opener for our fans. It's our 100-year celebration. We're honoring our all-century team at North Texas. We've got a home opener. "Now one small detail: Go win a football game." Read more: http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/collegefootball/conference-usa/story/North-Texas-looks-to-take-flight-in-new-?blockID=923191&feedID=3799

And so it begins. The buildup toward the kickoff of UNT’s 2013 season starts tomorrow with Conference USA Media Day down in Irving. This will be UNT’s first season in the reconstituted league after 12 years in the Sun Belt. So what are the storylines this year? Here are some thoughts: 1. How does UNT fit in? The big benefit of the move to C-USA for UNT is it will finally be in a league with three other Texas schools in Rice, UTEP and UTSA. It will be an interesting mix, especially for the first few years because there really hasn’t been any kind of pecking order established, nor a feeling of how those teams will match up nor an idea of how they will approach competing for recruits in the state. UNT has struggled since 2004. Does the move to C-USA provide the boost it needs? Can new head coach Sean Kugler give UTEP a boost and make the Miners competitive right away? And what about Rice? Do the Owls have an edge now as the lone Texas private school in the league after the departure of SMU and the impending departure of Tulsa and Tulane? There are always a handful of players who prefer the private school environment and it seems like more and more top players are gravitating to private high schools. UTSA has a huge local base to draw from in San Antonio, but has little history. Can the Roadrunners ramp up their program that fattened up on lower division teams and do it quickly due to some inherent advantages? Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/conference-usa-media-day-primer.html/

July 23, 2013 The Big Ten Conference extends its relationship with the Heart of Dallas Bowl presented by PlainsCapital Bank and enters into an agreement with the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl to secure a commitment to have a conference school play in the postseason games, on a rotating basis, during a seven-year period following the 2013-2019 seasons. Starting in 2013, the Big Ten will place seven teams over a seven-year period in the Metroplex. The 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl presented by PlainsCapital Bank will host the Big Ten on an ESPNU televised game. Their opponent will be a school from Conference USA and the game will kickoff at 11 a.m. (CT) on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014 at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, Texas. "The Big Ten has played bowl games in the state of Texas annually since 1995 and we look forward to continuing that tradition by participating in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl and Heart of Dallas Bowl presented by PlainsCapital Bank," Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany said. "The opportunity to play in a historic venue like Cotton Bowl Stadium first drew us to the Heart of Dallas Bowl, and the hospitality of the people of Dallas and the charitable generosity of the bowl committee make this an ideal partnership. In addition, the agreement with the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will allow the Big Ten to maintain an annual presence in the state of Texas, which is home to a large alumni base from conference schools. These two postseason games in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area are welcome additions to our national bowl lineup." "We are extremely pleased to extend our relationship with the Big Ten for the Heart of Dallas Bowl game," said Kern Egan, Heart of Dallas board member. "The ongoing support of one of college football's premier conferences will continue to help the Heart of Dallas raise money for charities to make our city a better place." Owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl has featured the "armed forces" theme since 2006. Patriotic overtones recognizing all five branches of the service are prevalent throughout the game. Past Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowls have included fan-fest areas showcasing armed forces hardware; flyovers; demonstrations by several of the military's top skydiving teams; custom homes awarded to wounded warriors; on-field induction ceremonies; armed forces bands and honor guards; the annual Great American Patriot Award presented by Armed Forces Insurance; and the Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the Football Writers Association of America. "This is another major milestone for the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl," said Brant Ringler, BHAFB executive director. "We look forward to working with the Big Ten Conference officials and Heart of Dallas Bowl representatives during this process to produce exciting postseason football games in North Texas." With Rice defeating Air Force 33-14, the 2012 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl drew an attendance of 40,754 and the largest TV audience in the game's history with an average of 2,584,000 households. The ESPN telecast had a 2.6 average household coverage rating - marking the bowl's second-highest rating in the event history. After two seasons as the TicketCity Bowl, the name of the postseason game at the Cotton Bowl was changed to the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The 2013 game featured Oklahoma State defeating Purdue before a crowd of 48,313. The bowl game raised $100,000 for the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance. ESPN Regional Television ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, owns and operates collegiate sporting events worldwide, including two Labor Day Kickoff college football games; seven college bowl games and eight college basketball events. These account for approximately 200 hours of programming, reach almost 64 million viewers and attract nearly half a million attendees each year. The owned and operated events build relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as provide unique experiences for teams and fans. In addition to event ownership, ERT manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program. Collegiate Football BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); Beef `O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Las Vegas Bowl; MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.); Texas Bowl (Houston); AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (Honolulu) and The Home Depot College Football Awards Collegiate Basketball Armed Forces Classic (TBD); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men's & Women's Basketball Classics presented by Corona Extra (Madison Square Garden & Durham, N.C.); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan, PR); State Farm Champions Classic (United Center, Chicago) and Wooden Legacy (Orange County, Calif.) http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072313aaa.html

LAS VEGAS – The gulf between college football’s 1 percent and the proletariat is widening. In recent weeks, several of the top power brokers in the sport have proclaimed that it might be time for some major restructuring. Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Monday that it might be time to consider a model in which the five major conferences (Pac-12, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC) would form their own “federation” within the NCAA — because it’s no longer practical for football programs with million-dollar budgets to be governed by the same rules as programs with budgets of more than $100 million. Tuesday afternoon, Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said he agreed with Bowlsby, but played down the idea that the “Big 5” might be considering a secession from the NCAA. “If you read carefully, what they are saying is that there needs to be transformative change. Field hockey cannot be treated like football,” Thompson said, adding that he does not think the top 70 programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision will break away from the rest of the football-playing schools any time soon. “It might happen; I don’t think it will happen,” Thompson said. “I think there will be a different solution for those people. If they want to give (student-athletes) cost-of-attendance stipends, we should allow them to do that. It’s not going to affect the way we perform and play.” It won’t affect the conferences finances, either, Thompson said – at least not in the near future. The Mountain West recently signed a seven-year media rights deal with ESPN and CBS Sports Network through the 2019-20 season. “CBS Sports Network and ESPN would have to pay us the same $18-20 million," Thompson said. "We have a contract." Read more: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/23/mwc-craig-thompson-major-change-college-football/

A strange thing happened during the late innings of the C-USA baseball championship game. The Rice fans cheered. Not the polite hand clap saved for a departing pitcher. Not applause for scoring a run. The fans cheered, and they cheered loudly. But not for the reasons you think. Goaded by visiting Southern Miss fans, the Rice crowd broke out in loud cheers. That's what it took during that championship game to get the Rice fans to finally do something besides bellow loudly at the umpires...or worse. The Rice basketball team closed out its season on Saturday, March 13. The team trailed Tulsa by a very large margin, something that was all too familiar during the season. Then, with the game seemingly out of reach, the guys went on a run and with just under a minute left, the Owls had the chance to get the deficit down to one bucket. Then the ball went out of bounds, flying into the stands. Instead of returning the basketball, a Rice fan chose to play hide-and-seek with the referee, bringing the action to a standstill while the fan showed just how much smarter he was than everybody else. Rice fans don't cheer a lot. They do jeer a lot, shouting out not-as-witty-as-they-think commentary on the umpire's calling of the strike zone or a referee's inability to call traveling. It's as if Rice fans, what few there are at the football and basketball games, think they're too cool to actually cheer on their teams but are instead supposed to shout out mindless witticisms in vain attempts to sound smart. Rice is in the process of hiring a new athletic director -- note, I've had the privilege of getting to know the interim AD, Rick Mello, over the past several years, so I'd be pleased if he was given the actual job. And one of the things the new AD is going to have to deal with is a fanbase that really doesn't show up for games, and when it does thinks that jeering officials is more important than cheering the team. Read more: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2013/07/rice_owls_fans.php

http://www.dnj.com/videonetwork/2557371528001/MTSU-football-summer-workouts?BCNextUpID=50951458001_1

Well, you know what? Coker said. It's probably a good place to be, and I sure can understand that. I think we were picked last in the WAC last year. I saw where we're picked seventh (in the C-USA West) and Oklahoma State was picked in one poll to win the Big 12. So, we've got our work cut out for us. UTSA opens on Aug. 31 at New Mexico and returns home the next week to play Oklahoma State, its first game in history against a Big 12 opponent. A brutal month continues with a road game the following week at Arizona, followed by its C-USA opener at UTEP and a home game against Houston. One message Coker likely will send to his players in training camp, which opens Aug. 6, will center on how they shouldn't allow other coaches or commentators to author the narrative for their season. Hey, don't let people label us, the coach said. If we're seventh, we're seventh. But let's decide that, how we play and who we play. I know that's coach speak. But that's how we're going to approach it. For the Roadrunners, who finished 8-4 last year, the season's opening weeks could be revealing. You know, the first five games are going to tell a lot about us, Coker said. But I just think we'll be better than people think we're supposed to be. The closing stretch all in conference includes Marshall, Rice, UAB, Tulsa, Tulane, North Texas and Louisiana Tech. Marshall, Tulsa and North Texas are on the road. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/college_sports/local_colleges/article/Coker-brushes-off-C-USA-poll-snub-4675549.php

There is also the never-ending anxiety among fans about the school's current home in Conference USA, which has been diluted by departures to larger leagues. When asked about how much of a priority it is to find better conference affiliation, Bennett preferred that the athletic department focus on the task at hand rather than fretting over its current conference. "Conference USA is a good conference and I don't think we'll ever underestimate where are, nor do I think we ought to underestimate the level of competition that we are going to face this upcoming season in Conference USA," Bennett said "But I think any institution and any athletic program and any individual always ought to consider where else they can go and what other opportunities can exist for them. What the AD and I have determined is that we are going to do a comprehensive review of where we are, and we will make some determination as to whether or not we are placed appropriately." Bennett said that he believes conference re-alignment has not come to a close. McGillis had praise for C-USA and its members on Thursday, but he emphasized the need move USM forward."The 'To the top' motto here speaks to the aspirations of the university and of the program," McGillis said. "We are going to aspire to national excellence at the very highest level whatever our conference affiliation is. My time at South Florida has obviously given me an opportunity to witness and understand and be in the middle of conference alignment issues for the last several years. I'm very aware of what's happening in the industry." Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/20/4810106/mcgillis-delivers-experience-that.html Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/07/20/4810106/mcgillis-delivers-experience-that.html#storylink=cpy

TULSA FINDS ITSELF in an odd situation this fall as a member of Conference USA but with an eye on the American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane will be the favorite in C-USA football this fall and one of the favorites in C-USA men's basketball this winter. However, what's happening in the American Athletic Conference will be important to Tulsa's long-term success. TU will enter its final school year in C-USA as the king of the league. The Golden Hurricane has won 49 conference championships in C-USA, more than twice as many as the second-place school during the same period. Tulsa will leave that all behind when it moves to the AAC next July. How TU fits into the new league will be interesting. Actually, how that league fits together should be a study in modern college athletics. The league will stretch from Connecticut to Houston. The AAC, the old Big East Conference, is basically the old Conference USA. If this all sounds confusing, it should. The AAC was formed to save Connecticut and Cincinnati. To be honest, it would have been easier for Conference USA to add UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida and Temple. Still, the reality is a handful of C-USA schools jumped early to the Big East before the Big East imploded. Thus, when it came time for C-USA teams to make the leap if possible, the natural home was the AAC. "We think the landscape has stabilized and there's a pretty good chance things will stay stable for the foreseeable future," American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco said in a press briefing earlier this summer. Tulsa got caught in the middle. TU would be far more comfortable, and make far more sense, as a member of the Mountain West. Tulsa has geography in common with much of the Mountain West. Read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/TU_watching_closely_as_schools_start_transition_from/20130712_203_B1_TULSAF956545

North Texas was shut out on the preseason All-Conference USA coaches team that was released today by the league office. The Mean Green was picked to finish fifth in the league’s West Division. Tulsa was a unanimous pick to win the West, while East Carolina was picked to win the East Division. This is how the poll shaped up: West Division 1. Tulsa (14)……98 2. Rice…………76 3. Louisiana Tech..72 4. UTEP…………46 5. North Texas…..39 6. Tulane……….31 7. UTSA…………30 Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/unt-shut-out-on-preseason-all-c-usa-coaches-team-picked-fifth-in-west.html/

North Texas is another team new to C-USA this season. The Mean Green will look to bounce back from the 4-8 record it posted in its final season in the Sun Belt Conference. With the exception of an early-season game against Georgia, North Texas non-conference schedule makes it somewhat plausible for them to build from last year. If anything, the conference schedule might pose a problem. The Mean Green will face both Tulsa and Louisiana Tech. On the other hand, UTEP might end up being challenged more by its non-conference schedule. The Miners only managed three wins last season so theyre in need of similar upward momentum. With road games at Colorado, New Mexico and the mighty Texas A&M, nothing will come easy for the Miners. On top of all that, this season is New Mexico States turn to host their annual rivalry game. UTEP will not play ECU this season. The Pirates beat the Miners 28-18 in 2012. In their first season in C-USA, the University of Texas at San Antonio, it will be very tough for the schools young football program to have success under former Miami (Fla.) head coach Larry Coker. Read more: http://eastcarolina.scout.com/2/1307482.html

Old Dominion has canceled a 2014 football game at UNC Charlotte, one of its future rivals in Conference USA, in an effort to strengthen its schedule, officials said on Tuesday. ODU is scheduled to host Charlotte on Nov. 16 in its final home game this season. ODU had been scheduled to play a return game in Charlotte on Oct. 25, 2014. However, ODU exercised a cancellation clause in the contract on Monday and must pay Charlotte $60,000, said ODU senior associate athletic director Bruce Stewart, who handles football scheduling for ODU. Stewart said when the two-game series was signed, both programs were slated to be in the Football Championship Subdivision in 2014. Read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2013/07/odu-cancels-2014-football-game-vs-charlotte

his is part of a series spotlighting the players attending C-USA Football Media Day, July 24 in Dallas. Interviews from the event will be streamed live on ConferenceUSA.com. North Texas joins Conference USA this fall looking to making its mark on the league and take the next step forward by returning to postseason play. The Mean Green will have eight returning starters on defense to help that cause, led by senior LB Zach Orr. The all-conference performer is coming off a 108 tackle season in which he also had a pair of interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries. 35 ZACH ORR, NORTH TEXAS Senior LB 6-1 223 (DeSoto, Texas/DeSoto) 2012: Orr was named second-team all-conference in 2012 after recording a team-high 108 tackles....It was a career-high for Orr and the first time in his career that he topped the 100 tackle mark....The 108 tackles were the third most for North Texas since 2006....Had 3.5 tackles for a loss and two interceptions on the year....Orr had two PBU's, two fumble recoveries and one QBU on the year....Orr had six games of double-digit tackles in 2012...Had a season-high 12 tackles in the win over South Alabama ....Led North Texas with 11 tackles against Arkansas State....Orr had one of the key plays against Louisiana-Lafayette with his second interception of the season....Had nine tackles in the win over Louisiana-Lafayette, which led the Mean Green defense.... Had a season-high 12 tackles on the road at Houston.... Orr a team-high 10 tackles against Florida Atlantic, including one tackle for a loss....Orr had his second career interception in the game against Troy, to go along with 11 tackles.....Had nine tackles against Kansas State. Orr had four tackles against Texas Southern....Recorded 10 tackles against LSU. Read more: http://www.conferenceusa.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/071613aaf.html

Moving the conference tournament from Richmond to Baltimore for the first time in more than two decades is also causing plenty of angst and excitement for the CAA. "For all the challenges we face with scheduling, 18 conference games was something good for our schools," CAA commissioner Tom Yeager said. The next movement out of the CAA could be James Madison, which is weighing what it will do with football. If it were to upgrade, then the first phone call could be to join ODU in C-USA. If that were to happen, then C-USA would have to grab one more school to get to an even number, likely looking toward the Sun Belt again. "I'm not too concerned at this point," Yeager said of JMU leaving. New Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson knew when he was jumping off the then-sinking WAC ship in February 2012 that the Sun Belt would be grossly affected by alignment. "We added seven and lost five," he said. "While I didn't want us to go through that, we did well." Read more: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9472282/for-basketball-conferences-10-members-magic-number

Everybody seems to be doing getting to know you little intros as C-USA remakes itself today. FIU, FAU, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, North Carolina-Charlotte, Louisiana Tech and Texas-San Antonio officially join the league as Central Florida, Houston, SMU leave. Next year, Old Dominion comes in with football while East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa leave. Charlotte's football team, which begins play this season in FCS, will join C-USA in 2015 Let's be real -- Southern Mississippi brings no more sexy to FIU fans than Arkansas State. The only way Rice draws at Camp Mitch is with Chicken as a travel partner. To Marshalls WeAreMarshall! FIU could give a sullen WeAreAmbivalent. With that in mind, heres my Getting to Know Conference USA primer: FAU, North Texas, Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky: Theyve been in the same conference with FIU for a decade. Dont be afraid to pay attention. As Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes sang... Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fiusports/2013/07/conference-usa-day-1.html#storylink=cpy

IRVING, Texas — Sixteen representatives from the Conference USA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) volunteered Friday morning at the North Texas Food Bank. The group made the visit as part of their annual meeting at the C-USA offices and led the conference's continued efforts to become the best Division I-A collegiate conference in athletics, academics and in the community. Members of the SAAC group and their advisors split into two groups and helped sort produce for needy families. By the end of the shift, NTFB Director of Corporate Engagement Elizabeth Liser told the group they had boxed more than 300 containers, weighing 12,000 pounds and providing 10,000 nutritious meals. Following the work, the group received a tour of the North Texas Food Bank facility and learned how they could best execute their annual campus food drives as part of their "Let's SAAC Hunger" campaign held each fall. Conference USA student-athletes in attendance included: Natalie Capone, Charlotte Softball Jill Jelnick, East Carolina Softball La'Shae White, FIU Track & Field Amanda Odato, Florida Atlantic Women's Soccer Mary Kate Hays, Louisiana Tech Cross Country Zane Gibson, Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball Zach Orr, North Texas Football Ashley Betz-White, Old Dominion Women's Basketball Christal Porter, Rice Women's Basketball Dasman McCullum, Southern Miss Football Brian Lozes, Tulane Cross Country (National SAAC Rep) Amber Bennett, Tulane Volleyball Michael Mudoh, Tulsa Football Kaycee Ike, UAB Football Hunter Nix, UTEP Football Eric Soza, UTSA Football Read more: http://www.goutsa.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13100&ATCLID=208671064

The MWC will have their collective ++++ in their hand come bowl season. IMO, if the MWC and CUSA are seamingly going to be paired up so often, perhaps it's a sign that "the alliance" isn't dead after all. I have always felt that UTEP and UTSA would eventually align with the Western side of The Alliance. And Banowsky has made no secret that he's open to taking two more teams. The Basketball in The Alliance may be worth it by itself. UNLV, UNM, SDSU, USU, UAB, WKU, ODU, UNCC, USM, UTEP... In the long run, Banowsky and Thompson seem to be keeping their synergy in play. Read more: http://www.mwcboard.com/index.php?s=139a80839a80a24485c625a3357bc614&showtopic=48456