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IRVING — UTSA quarterback Eric Soza barely had time to check into his hotel room Tuesday afternoon when he was summoned to do a live radio interview with broadcasters from Louisiana covering the Conference USA media days. One of the first questions to him centered on how he felt about UTSA’s schedule, the toughest by far in the program’s existence. Soza answered by saying he’s excited to compete in C-USA and that he welcomed the opportunity to play the ”big dogs” of college football this fall. “One of the things that brought recruits to UTSA (initially) is that the administration told us we were going to play Division I football,” Soza said. “(Administrators told us) if we’re in a Division I conference or not, we’re going to play these guys. “I think that put a chip on our shoulders. We want to see how good we are . . . We want to play the big dogs.” Soza agreed that moving into Conference USA, in only the program’s third year, has been something of a whirlwind. “For sure, it’s a great problem to have, (moving) this fast into the FBS, into Division I,” the 6-foot senior from Beeville said. “I don’t think anyone at UTSA knew we were going to be doing it at this speed. It’s a great problem to have. We’re excited to get to work and (play) in this great conference.” UTSA played its inaugural season in 2011 as an FCS independent, posting a 4-6 record against a schedule dotted with opponents from the FCS, Division II and Division III. Last year, fielding a team consisting of only 67 scholarship athletes, the Roadrunners moved up a level into the FBS Western Athletic Conference. They executed dramatic internal improvement, finishing 8-4, including 4-4 against FBS programs with 85 scholarships. They finished fourth in the WAC at 3-3. Read more: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/utsa/2013/07/utsas-soza-welcomes-chance-to-play-with-big-dogs-this-year/

UTSA set an attendance record of 56,743 against Northeastern State, has averaged 35,521 for home games through two seasons and has a coach with a national championship on his resume. All of this in just two seasons. "It is almost like this was meant to be," said UTSA athletic director Lynn Hickey. "All of it, from the first time we talked about football, has been the greatest experience. "This move up to FBS football (and into Conference USA) has been much faster than any of us expected. We are ahead of schedule. I don't know if we realize the magnitude of everything we've already accomplished." From no football to crowds that would make several dozen FBS schools jealous, including much of the current C-USA, UTSA's story is one of the most inspiring in college football. College football takes center stage on Monday when the Big 12 Conference media days, including Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, kick off a two-day press frenzy in Dallas. Conference USA, featuring defending champion Tulsa, will hold its media day on Wednesday in Dallas. The Roadrunners will play their first BCS home game when Oklahoma State goes to the Alamodome on Sept. 7. It is part of the toughest non-conference schedule any FBS team in Texas will play this fall. UTSA also plays Arizona and New Mexico before jumping into its first season in C-USA. Okemah native Larry Coker, hired to build UTSA football from the ground up, begins his third season there this fall. "To see where we are now and to remember where we were when Larry got to San Antonio are two different worlds," said Hickey. "It has been quite a ride. "Larry has coached a national championship team (at Miami) yet never complained once when he got here and his office was in a trailer. He's been great. He's worked so hard to make sure we've done everything the right way and he's gone to every event we've asked to try to build our fan base from nothing." It is apparently working. UTSA apparently has a very strong fan base and growing. Hickey, a native of Welch, Okla., said when she first went to UTSA as athletic director she was asked what she thought about the school adding football. "I told them at the time I thought it was very expensive and bad idea," said Welch. "I just thought it was cost prohibitive at the time for us to think about it. Obviously, I've changed my mind. Read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/UTSA_not_just_another_school/20130722_203_B1_CUTLIN606551

When Lynn Hickey interviewed for the Texas-San Antonio athletic director job in 1999, UTSA President Ricardo Romo asked her if the school should consider adding football. Hickey told him no. “It was cost prohibitive,” Hickey said. She told Romo, “Be good at what you've got.” Hickey got the job. And a year later realized she had said the wrong thing. The top-selling T-shirt in the university bookstore proclaimed “UTSA football still undefeated.” The largely commuter school of 16,000-17,000 students had no identity and little campus life. On Sept. 7, Texas-San Antonio, in its third season of football and its second of Division I-A, hosts Oklahoma State in the Alamodome. Football is part of a Roadrunner success story. The Texas Legislature has declared UTSA an emerging Tier I university. Enrollment is up to 31,000, with many of those students now living on campus. The school has almost as many students from Harris County (Houston) as Bexar County (San Antonio). And UTSA football, while nowhere near undefeated, has drawn as many as 57,000 fans to the Alamodome for a game. “We didn't have any identity,” Hickey said. “Football has helped us change our persona. In Texas, kids grow up with football.” Hickey said UTSA once was a “but” school. As in, I go to UTSA, “but” I'm saving up to go somewhere else. And it was a bunch of Oklahomans who made the buts disappear. * * * When UTSA played its first game ever, Sept. 3, 2011, the city of San Antonio got quite emotional. Sports radio callers were moved to tears as they discussed the launch of the program. As Hickey walked through the pregame tailgating, she got marriage proposals. When UTSA's spanking-new marching band, 250 musicians strong, took the field, “people were blown away,” Hickey said. “It's been fun. It's a dream thing. How many people get a chance to build this? We've established a game experience for these students.” The Roadrunners won that inaugural game 31-3 over Tahlequah's Northeastern State, their coach's alma mater. Such symmetry seemed fitting. Hickey, 62, grew up in the Green Country town of Welch, where she was Lynn Sooter and scored 2,654 points in high school basketball. All four of her siblings were collegiate athletes, including brother Mark, who played basketball at OU. Hickey went to Ouachita Baptist, then got into coaching. She was on the OU women's staff in 1977-79, then Hickey became head coach at Kansas State (hired by DeLoss Dodds) and eventually Texas A&M (hired by John David Crow). Hickey became an associate athletic director at A&M. Hickey's Oklahoma ties are deep. When Hickey's mother was 19, she was a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Hitchita, halfway between Henryetta and Checotah in eastern Oklahoma. Among her students were Bill Self Sr., who became a longtime executive director of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association and father of the Kansas basketball coach. Bill Sr.'s brother, Jeff, rented a pasture outside Hitchita from the family of Brad Parrott. Parrott grew up in Midwest City, went to then-Central State University and became a sports writer for the Oklahoma City Times. Parrott entered the corporate world, eventually made vice president at Southwestern Bell and retired from what is now AT&T, joining Hickey's staff as an associate athletic director for external affairs. Parrott spearheaded the fundraising and corporate/civic partnerships that made football possible at UTSA. When Parrott was with the Times, he once covered a Luther-Fairfax playoff game. Fairfax that night was coached by Larry Coker, who had grown up in Okemah, just down the road from Hitchita. Today, Coker is head coach at UTSA. His career has included stops as offensive coordinator at Tulsa U., OSU and OU, and six years as head coach at Miami, where his Hurricanes were 60-15 overall and 2001 national champions. Coker's defensive coordinator is Neal Neathery, who grew up in Stillwater and whose father was an OSU professor and Coker's Sunday school teacher during his Cowboy days. More OSU ties for UTSA: both Roadrunner basketball coaches are OSU graduates. Rae Rippetoe Blair was a Cowgirl player and assistant coach. Brooks Thompson was a star under Eddie Sutton. And Coker's defensive line coach, Eric Roark, played at OSU from 1979-82 for Jimmy Johnson. Read more: http://newsok.com/article/3864477

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

You know, with as many creatives that come from UNT, you'd think we have a leg-up on this sort of thing. Alas, no. http://www.goutsa.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208628261&DB_OEM_ID=13100 This, ladies and gents, is cool and a quality example of how to engage a fanbase.

- UTEP The Miners have rich history in both football and men’s basketball. In 2011, UTSA basketball beat UTEP in an early season non-conference game. On September 21, 2013 UTSA football plays the Miners in the historic Sun Bowl. Located a short direct flight away, El Paso and San Antonio offer fans of both teams easy travel options. In the long-term, UTEP could emerge as a major rival as the two schools square off in annual competition season after season. - North Texas Denton is a quaint community located just north of Ft Worth. With many UTSA fans located in the DFW metropolis, a regional rivalry with the Mean Green makes sense. There has not been a recent history between the two schools so only time will tell. Read more: http://smu.scout.com/2/1305097.html

May 4, 2012. That was the day UTSA officially announced their agreement to join Conference USA. Fast forward to July 1, 2013 and the Roadrunners are now an official member of that conference. Athletic Director Lynn Hickey shares her thoughts. General thoughts on joining CUSA: “It’s a great opportunity. If you go back the feasibility study conducted in 2006, we determined the ideal conference was Conference USA, not knowing that we would ever have this opportunity this early. It’s huge for our program, not only for football but for our other sports. On the football side, it gives us access a good FBS conference with bowl opportunities and national visibility. We’re just very fortunate to have been in the right place and the right time.” The Journey to get to this point: “It’s definitely been a team effort. It’s been a huge collaboration, not only on our campus but with the City of San Antonio. I think the other way you would characterize it is that it’s been pretty fast. We’ve started football and moved to the FBS faster than anybody in the history of the NCAA. I’ve been very very proud with the way our student athletes and coaches have handled the transition steps. We have thrown a lot at them without giving them more resources. And they have handled the competition and have performed at high levels. Winning the Commissioners Cup in the WAC this year was an outstanding accomplishment for our kids and our coaches.” Read more: http://idaho.scout.com/2/1304173.html

SAN ANTONIO — UTSA officially became a member of Conference USA (C-USA) on Monday. The Roadrunners joined Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Florida International (FIU), Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas and Old Dominion as full members, which pushed the league's membership to 16 schools. The Roadrunners are coming off a successful 2012-13 campaign in their lone year as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). UTSA won this year's WAC Commissioner's Cup, which is awarded to the school that performs the best in each of the league's 19 men's and women's championships. The department's winning point total of 90 was bolstered by WAC Championships in indoor track & field and baseball (tournament). The Roadrunners also captured 12 individual conference titles (nine men's track & field/three women's track & field) and had a total of 137 WAC All-Academic honorees. That came on the heels of a 21-year run as a member of the Southland Conference. UTSA won a total of 58 Southland Team Championships after joining the league in 1991-92 and 37 of those came in its last dozen years. UTSA also won two Commissioner’s Cups (2007-08 & 2010-11) and it boasted a conference-leading 30 Student-Athletes of the Year since the circuit started handing out the award in 2002-03. From its beginning in 1995, C-USA's dedication to excellence has been the league's guiding principle and remains a common thread today and for a promising future. Throughout the changes during its history, the conference has held onto its strong foundation that reflects its national presence. Its 16 schools have compiled numerous athletics and academic achievements and, additionally, the C-USA footprint has grown by nearly 20 percent, while providing the geography that allows for a divisional scheduling model that will be beneficial to the student-athletes, fan-friendly and cost effective. C-USA sponsors competition in 20 sports — nine for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field) and 11 for women (basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, softball, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track & field, volleyball). The league sponsors numerous academic awards, including the Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Commissioner's Academic Medal, indicative of outstanding achievement in the classroom, in addition to sport specific all-academic teams. C-USA annually awards 12 postgraduate scholarships, along with the Sport Academic Award, Scholar-Athletes of the Year and the Institutional Academic Excellence Award. The conference also added a Spirit of Service Award, which recognizes student-athletes three times a year for a combination of significant community service efforts, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport. C-USA performers have achieved great success in competition, placing the league among the top leagues in the nation. Seventy-two football programs have earned bowl bids and Bowl Championship Series member has tie-ins with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, Heart of Dallas Bowl, Military Bowl, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and Sheraton Hawai`i Bowl Meanwhile, 108 men’s basketball teams have participated in postseason play (50 NCAA/42 NIT/8 CIT/8 CBI), 48 women’s basketball squads have appeared in the NCAA Tournament and 58 baseball programs have made NCAA Tournament appearances. Additionally, 37 volleyball teams, 67 men’s and women’s soccer squads and 39 softball programs have received NCAA Championship bids. The league also has had nine national champions in track & field, one in diving and numerous NCAA individual and team competitors in cross country, golf, rowing, swimming and tennis. Overall, C-USA teams and individuals have made more than 700 NCAA Championship appearances since the league’s inception in 1995-96. C-USA institutions are among the nation's best in academic performance among student-athletes, bolstered by the fact that they have a higher graduation rate than the general student population. Among its 5,000 student-athletes, there are champions off the playing field as well. In 18 years, 176 student-athletes have earned Academic All-America honors, while 618 have been named Academic All-District. In addition, more than 26,000 have been named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll or received the Commissioner's Academic Medal, indicative of outstanding achievement in the classroom. The league enjoys significant television exposure through partnerships with FOX Sports Media Group, CBS Sports Network and ESPN. The multi-tiered selection process that is rooted in partnering with all three networks has substantially increased the number of national and regional appearances for football, men's and women's basketball and all other conference sports. As one of the largest Football Bowl Subdivision conferences in 2013, C-USA membership will include institutions in 12 of the Top 65 television markets, eight in the Top 40 and four in the Top 25 media markets according to Nielson. C-USA home markets next year will include more than 14.5 million TV households, a 43 percent increase from a year ago. The C-USA Digital Network officially launched in August 2011. Network programming includes live streaming of non-televised events, video-on-demand, a weekly studio show, podcasting, regular season and championship event highlights and conference-produced feature stories. In its first year, 1,164 events were streamed live and 8,126 videos were posted and available on the network. Monthly and yearly subscriptions offer fans access to events offered on all of the C-USA member institution's athletics websites, as well as C-USA network programming. The conference's current footprint is concentrated with 16 members in nine states and a combined area population of nearly 17 million. With a commitment to community involvement, the league has developed several initiatives to maintain strong ties in C-USA cities, as well as with fans and alumni across the country. Member schools also place a priority on giving back to their communities through volunteer service with local and national organizations. Individually, student-athletes are recognized each season through the Spirit of Service award. C-USA has significant representation in the NCAA governance structure and the presidents of the member institutions serve as the league's Board of Directors. The league was formed in 1995 and quickly emerged as one of the nation's top conferences. It unveiled its name, logo and commissioner April 24, 1995, in Chicago. Charter members included Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, Houston, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, Saint Louis, South Florida (USF), Southern Mississippi, and Tulane. Eleven of the institutions began athletics participation in 1995, while Houston joined competition in Fall 1996. The conference's headquarters was established in Chicago and, after nine years, relocated to the current office in Irving, Texas. Britton Banowsky was named commissioner in October 2002, succeeding Mike Slive, who was the league's first-ever commissioner. C-USA added East Carolina in September 1996 and Army the following March as football members. East Carolina began league competition in 1997, Army in '98 and UAB began football play the next season. The conference added East Carolina and TCU in 1999 for all sports and they began competition in 2001. USF started C-USA football in 2003, while Central Florida, Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP became full-time members two years later. Full release: http://www.goutsa.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208506460&DB_OEM_ID=13100

OE: UTSA has gotten some press for the opponents that they will have coming to the Alamodome in the future (Oklahoma State, Houston, Arizona, Kansas State, Arizona State, Baylor). Is Texas State trying to follow the model of bringing big names in like Texas Tech, and why have UTSA's negotiations happened quicker than Texas State's? LT: They have a dome and are located in a big city with major TV stations. As we try to get better home football games, visiting teams also want to know they can play in front of fans. I have said this many times before and will say it again. We can't just show up when we play Texas Tech. UTSA averaged 35,000 fans playing Division 2 and 3 schools and went 4-8 in their first year. Last year, in their early games, they still played these teams and their fans supported them. We have to do the same. All I hear is we needed to win and play good quality opponents. Other schools are getting good support and do not necessarily live by this rule. We have to stop making excuses for why we cant attend Bobcat sporting events. They have done 2-for-1 contracts where they will go on the road for two games and get one home game. This year UTSA averaged more fans per game for their WAC opponents than we did. We just need to show up and support our team. You also have to be impressed with what they did on Thanksgiving weekend against us. Many of our fans and students went home for Thanksgiving with their families. Their fans made their football team their family and went to the dome during this weekend. We had better learn if we want to be successful, Bobcat football needs to be your holiday family. OE: UTSA is not on the football schedule for 2013 and is not listed a non-conference opponent for UTSA in 2014 or 2015. Do Texas State and UTSA have a realistic shot of playing each other in the next ten years? LT: We actually talked to them recently. We have told them we will play them every year. Unfortunately, they said it looks like they cant start playing us until 2020. Part of this is they have done so many 2-for-1 games. They are scheduled way out in advance and don't have many dates open. We want to play them in all of our sports. OE: What, if any, are the plans being made to ramp up the tailgating scene again after the noticeable drop off in participation following the Texas Tech loss? LT: As I said before, fans create their own excitement. Other schools students and fans show up to their games, set up all over town and all over campus and tailgate. Unfortunately for us, I hear we need to play Texas Tech each week and we want to tailgate 100 paces from the gate or we aren't coming. We played a great WAC schedule this year and the WAC was rated the toughest non-BCS conference. We had great home games this past year. The athletic department should not have to create a tailgate atmosphere for people to show up. At other schools, fans create their own tailgating and it is not in the parking lot just outside the stadium, it is all over campus, town and any other location near the stadium. They tailgate, have a good time responsibly, then walk into the game and don't go home before kickoff. Our fans need to learn how to come to San Marcos, park anywhere within walking distance of the stadium, bring their own food and beverages, create a tailgate on their own and then come into the stadium. I get frustrated since I hear this too many times: I wont come to the stadium and support our team unless we are playing a big 12 opponent each week, we win every game, we can tailgate within 50 yards of the stadium, and it is 80 degrees and sunny at kickoff. We need to be football fans first and to support the Bobcats. Read more: http://star.txstate.edu/node/7071

Two years ago today, Texas at San Antonio was preparing for year one as a football program. Two years later, UTSA is preparing for year one in Conference USA, having skyrocketed through the following stages in the span of 22 games: planning, forming, creating, building and winning. UTSA won eight games in 2012, its first season playing a pseudo-Football Bowl Subdivision schedule, and notched a 4-4 record against FBS competition. (The Roadrunners went 4-0 against teams from college football's lower levels.) For now, ignore the fact that UTSA's four FBS victories came against South Alabama and Texas State, another pair of new FBS additions, and Texas State and Idaho, a pair that went a combined 2-22 in 2012. Who cares? Led by former Miami (Fla.) coach Larry Coker, UTSA is moving quicker than any program in FBS history. Before anointing UTSA as the next great program to come out of Texas, however, let's wait and see how the Roadrunners fare against a 12-game schedule loaded with teams like Oklahoma State, Arizona, Houston and Tulsa. LAST YEAR'S PREDICTION Wins and losses don't matter. Well, they do – no one wants to lose – but they don't. This season won't be judged on Texas at San Antonio's won-loss record; it'll be judged by progress of another sort, the kind that can't be seen in the standings but remains, without a doubt, the most important task at hand as the program begins its second season of existence. It'll be ugly at times. One win against true FBS competition – not counting South Alabama or Texas State – would be a tremendous accomplishment. What seems far more likely is no more than three wins, with two of those coming against the FCS. Keep the long-range vision in mind when watching this team: UTSA could one day be somebody. Today, the Roadrunners are nobodies. 2012 RECAP — In a nutshell: Wins! Eight wins, to be exact. Who saw that coming? (Not me.) Here's what UTSA was heading into 2012: young. No, not the team – though the 2012 team was quite young and extremely inexperienced. The program itself was young, having played only 10 games as an FCS independent before transitioning up to the FBS and the WAC a season ago. All the Roadrunners did as the youngest, weakest, least-experienced team in the FBS – and perhaps in FBS history, believe it or not – was win eight games, half of which came against FBS competition. There was no precedence for a team winning eight games this quickly as a member of the FBS, just as there was no precedence for a program moving so quickly from nonexistence to the top level of college football. So … what's next? — High point: The four wins against FBS competition. It seemed hard to top the first, a 33-31 win over similar FBS greenhorn South Alabama complete with a hard-to-believe 51-yard field goal with 16 seconds left. But UTSA would close with three wins in a row to end the year, the last two against FBS foes: 34-27 at Idaho and 38-31 against Texas State. — Low point: A four-game losing streak in October and November. Yes, the four losses – the only four on the season – came against the only strong FBS teams on UTSA's schedule. The Roadrunners lost to Rice, San Jose State, Utah State and Louisiana Tech by the combined score of 185-82. — Tidbit: UTSA's roster includes only 10 seniors, befitting a program entering its third season of existence on any level. In all, UTSA's roster leans in two directions: young and Texan. The Roadrunners' 105-player roster includes 31 freshmen, whether true or redshirt, and another 19 sophomores. UTSA also has 45 juniors, which is an abnormally high number – and means that the 2014 squad should have more seniors than any other team in the FBS. UTSA also has 92 players from Texas, compared to 13 players from the other 49 states: five from California, three from Florida and one from Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland and Oklahoma. Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/05/13/texas-at-san-antonio-utsa-college-football-countdown-2013-preview-larry-coker/2156359/

UTSA football coach Larry Coker and athletic director Lynn Hickey both share optimism about the promise of a strong Conference USA in coming seasons. But Coker on Wednesday lamented the announced departure of defending C-USA football champion Tulsa in the latest wave of realignment. “Well, I guess it's not surprising,” the coach told reporters after practice at Farris Stadium. “You guys have probably followed it more closely than I have. But I am disappointed in losing Tulsa.” A day after C-USA accepted Western Kentucky into the fold, Tulsa on Tuesday announced that it would be leaving for the conference formally known as the Big East. The changes will take place on July 1, 2014. UTSA moves into C-USA in all sports on July 1. The Roadrunners will play in the C-USA West Division in football this fall along with Tulsa, Tulane, Louisiana Tech, Rice, North Texas and UTEP. In Coker's perfect world, he wouldn't mind if Houston and SMU could be added to that mix. Of course, that's nothing more than wishful thinking, as both will open play this fall in a group that includes a mix of FBS programs from the old Big East and recent C-USA defectors. “I like the regional makeup of our league,” Coker said. “I'd love to see Houston and SMU come back this way. Who knows what's going to happen?” Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/college_sports/local_colleges/article/Coker-laments-Tulsa-s-departure-from-C-USA-4407476.php#ixzz2PReZFegg

Roadrunners open C-USA play at UTEP on Sept. 21 All 12 of the Roadrunners' opponents this season are members of the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A. UTSA kicks off its third season at New Mexico on Aug. 31, and plays Big 12 team Oklahoma State in its home opener on Sept. 7. The Roadrunners play three of their first games on the road, including their C-USA opener at UTEP on Sept. 21. "It's another challenge," quarterback Eric Soza said when asked about the schedule. "We've got to take that next step. There's a lot of doubters out there, but we try not to worry about that. We try to worry about what we can control. "We need to focus on the spring right now and get better as a team. Competition is great. That's why we came here. The administration promised us that we were going to get big D-I football and it's finally here." Soza, who will be a senior this season, said the difference between UTSA's first spring training in 2011 and now is "night and day." "The speed's totally different," he said. "It looks like we're a college football team, not just a bunch of high school guys. It's a great thing because there's a lot of competition, both offensively and defensively. It's exciting. It's the reason why we're three years down the road." Read more: http://www.kens5.com/news/C-USA-opener-still-six-months-away-but-UTSA-football-team-back-at-work-199683171.html

The time has come to take a look at what we can expect from UTSA football in Year 3 of the program. And I know what you're saying as you read this. “Isn't this the guy that picked UTSA to finish 4-8 last fall?” I can't deny it. It's a fact. Last summer, I was asked to make a prediction on the Roadrunners. At the time, 4-8 seemed generous. Well, we all know what happened after that. The Roadrunners got hot at the outset, won their first five games, and then cruised home at 8-4. This time, I'm going to take another stab at it. It seems appropriate to say something, after all, following the release last week of schedule information out of Conference USA. With the release, we found out that the Roadrunners would be playing home conference football games in the fall against Rice, Louisiana Tech, Tulane and Alabama-Birmingham. We also learned that UTSA would play C-USA road games at Tulsa, North Texas, UTEP and Marshall. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/college_sports/local_colleges/article/Taking-an-early-stab-at-a-prediction-on-UTSA-4236662.php#ixzz2JWXR2CWO

While San Diego State still gets the first chance to remain in the Mountain West by Jan. 31, but that does not mean that Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson is burning through his long distance minutes contacting other schools to join the league. Earlier on Monday, it was being reporter that the SMU Mustangs are not interested in joining the Mountain West, and if that is the case than adding the Houston Cougars seems like a far fetched option. It would make sense for both Houston and come as packaged dell, well that is unless Tulsa, or even Texas-San Antonio, join the league. UTSA was mentioned as a possibility since they are in Texas, and actually have drawn well in their infant years as a FBS program. However, InsiderRunnerSports.com is reporting that UTSA has not been in contact with the Mountain West, but Tulsa has (via ESPN Insider): "A source was able to confirm that the Mountain West has not been in recent conversation with UTSA for expansion and, this time around, it would be very unlikely an invitation for membership would be extended," InsideRunnerSports.com reported. "Multiple sources have confirmed to IRS that discussions between Tulsa and the Mountain West are ongoing, but preferred not to make any further information public." UTSA is too much of a risk for the Mountain West to take a chance on, even though they are in a large market San Antonio, but it just doesn't seem to fit. The only way that UTSA could be considered is if Houston is involved as a travel partner. Read more: http://www.mwcconnection.com/2013/1/8/3849464/mountain-west-expansion-tulsa-ut-san-antonio

UTSA hopes to build regional rivalries with the likes of Tulsa, Rice, North Texas, the University of Texas-El Paso and Louisiana Tech. Now, with the possible creation of a new conference, officials at those schools surely will be tempted to look around to better themselves. Already, a newspaper columnist at the Tulsa World suggests that the C-USA football champion Tulsa Golden Hurricane might be a better fit in the new conference. Columnist John Hoover suggests that Tulsa would be wise to look into a possible move because C-USA has lost some of its luster with recent changes, including the addition of schools that have just started football programs. Personally, Im wondering what Houston and SMU will do. Both are scheduled to execute a jump from C-USA to the Big East in 2013-14. But both are looking at a Big East that hardly resembles what they decided to join. Id like to see those schools in UTSAs conference, playing in the Alamodome every other year, but with the winds of change blowing this hard, theres just no telling whats going to happen. Read more: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/utsa/2012/12/winds-of-change-blowing-after-big-east-break-up/

27-24 Roadrunners just went up with 9 minutes left in the 4th. South Bama had been leading for most the game.

Conference realignment is getting to be old hat for UTSA. The Roadrunners' first Football Bowl Subdivision invitation, from the Western Athletic Conference in November 2010, featured all the pomp and circumstance of an election party: A band, beaming dignitaries, adoring fans, even cheerleaders. Today's affair, during which the Roadrunners will announce their entry to Conference USA in 2013, is expected to be far more subdued — just a basic news conference, followed by a celebratory function later in the day. Not only has UTSA been here before, this move doesn't need any embellishment. Compared to the WAC, which was on the verge of collapse even before the Roadrunners joined, C-USA is exactly what they need: a geographically sound and stable home in which to flesh out their potential. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/college_sports/local_colleges/article/For-now-UTSA-s-big-plan-paying-off-3533741.php#ixzz1txtklgli

DALLAS — Conference USA is restocking its league and is about to add more schools than it is losing to the Big East. UT-San Antonio's move to Conference USA was approved Thursday by University of Texas System regents, the same day that people familiar with the league's plans said North Texas, Charlotte, Louisiana Tech and Florida International would also be joining C-USA. Announcements are expected at each of the schools Friday. Those five additions in July 2013 will come at the same time Big East-bound Houston, SMU, Memphis and Central Florida are scheduled to leave Conference USA. That will give C-USA 13 schools, one above its current membership. Multiple people with knowledge of the planned additions spoke Thursday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because, aside from the action by regents overseeing UTSA, no official announcements had been made by the league or the individual schools. There could be even more additions in the future to the incoming five and the eight remaining Conference USA schools: Southern Miss , Marshall, East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa, Rice, UTEP and UAB. C-USA and the Mountain West Conference announced plans earlier this year to form a partnership in football, with as many as 24 teams located in five time zones. The two leagues are still working through details of such a move that had been planned to begin in 2013. North Texas, which is leaving the Sun Belt Conference, scheduled a news conference Friday about the “future of Mean Green athletics.” The news conference with school President V. Lane Rawlins and athletic director Rick Villarreal will be held at the school's $78 million, 30,850-seat campus football stadium that opened last season. Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/other-colleges/20120503-ut-san-antonio-north-texas-part-of-major-overhaul-of-conference-usa.ece?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/TU/article.aspx?subjectid=94&articleid=20120429_94_B1_Tulsaa192225

MURFREESBORO — Conference USA has reportedly begun to make its selection of new members, and thus far MTSU has not appeared on the shopping list. Texas-San Antonio accepted an invitation in principle to CUSA on Saturday, as reported by CBSsports.com. Sun Belt Conference members Florida International and North Texas and Western Athletic Conference member Louisiana Tech are reportedly the likely three remaining suitors for CUSA’s expansion for 2013, and Charlotte could be a future fifth addition, if needed. If true, that would leave MTSU on the outside looking in for inclusion into CUSA, perceived as a better option than the Sun Belt, where the Blue Raiders have been since 2001. http://www.tennessean.com/article/D4/20120428/BLUERAIDERS01/304280053/Reports-MTSU-not-CUSA-immediate-plans?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CSports%7Cs

SAN ANTONIO -- Conference USA is set to bring aboard Texas-San Antonio ahead of a planned merger with the Mountain West that would create a new league with as many as 24 schools. The University of Texas System Board of Regents has scheduled a vote for Wednesday, and chancellor Francisco Cigarroa has recommended approving the move only months before UTSA is set to begin its first season in the Western Athletic Conference. Football coach Larry Coker and UTSA officials apparently began having reservations about the WAC, telling regents that three other WAC members have declared their intentions to defect. Football coach Larry Coker and UTSA officials apparently began having reservations about the WAC, telling regents that three other WAC members have declared their intentions to defect. The agenda does not reveal which of the remaining football-playing WAC schools -- Utah State, Idaho, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Texas State or San Jose State -- plan to depart. "Joining CUSA ... will provide greater national visibility and association with universities of similar enrollment, academic standing and community size," the agenda item reads. read more: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7866383/utsa-roadrunners-poised-exit-wac-conference-usa