Morning Espresso
by Peter Bean on Jun 22, 2007 10:34 AM CDT
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No big news, so briefly: Vince Young tidbits in the Tennessean: he thinks Pacman Jones doesn't care about the Titans, his calf strain isn't bothering him, and 60 Minutes recently finished interviewing him for a segment this fall... The Statesman reports that shortstop Josh Prince will transfer to Tulane and outfielder Michael Demperio will transfer to Georgia... Stuart Mandel takes a stab at the 10 most important football games of the fall, with Texas-Oklahoma at #6. Looks to me like he got most of the biggest ones... Central Florida's new stadium is "85% completed" as they prep for its inaugural game September 15th versus Texas. Anyone going?
--PB--
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Did you know . . .
. . . that UCF has 47,000 enrolled students?
I sure didn't. I wonder why I never heard of UCF until just a few years ago. It also makes me wonder how FSU, UFla, and Miami got to be so good at football with such a behemoth in their backyard. Just how many kids are going to college in that state anyway?
With all due respect to Mr.Mandel, the 10 most important football games in 2007 are the first ten games on our schedule. All the others pale in comparison. I don't know why people around the country can't grasp this simple fact.
And, Vince is correct, of course.
by Arby A on Jun 22, 2007 11:22 AM CDT reply actions
Plus,
UCF has MUCH cooler unis than FSU, UFla, or Miami (yechh). They sort of look like GaTech.
by Arby A on Jun 22, 2007 11:23 AM CDT reply actions
UCF Game
UCF game tix
I tried myself forever to find tickets cause I thought i was going to go to the game and have a bunch of friends in Fl who wanted to go... Now I don't want to cause I decided that I am actually going to attend ACL this year but am offered on in my student tix. If you are really interested I may be able to get you a few when I order my tickets in the beginning of July.
by PrewCary on Jun 22, 2007 5:00 PM CDT up reply actions
UCF Tix
Definitely interested. If you would do me the favor of letting me know if/when you get the tickets I would appreciate it. Thanks
Oh the shame of it
There's an article linked from the Mandel column on schedule strength in the Big 12 this fall, and Texas is 8 out of 12. Ahead of only Baylor, Tech, KU and Mizzou.
Behind the ranking: TCU is the best of an otherwise bland group of nonconference games. The Longhorns do get a home game against Nebraska from the North, but also go to Iowa State.
Toughest game: It's Oklahoma. It's always Oklahoma. Even with Texas winning the last two in the series, OU coach Bob Stoops is still 5-3 against the Longhorns.
Cakewalk: The Longhorns have won their last seven season-openers, and Arkansas State won't pose a problem in making it eight in a row. Texas has outscored its last three season-opening opponents by a combined 201-10.
Trap game: Even when fielding inferior teams, Kansas State has given the Longhorns trouble (see last season's 45-42 Wildcats' victory). The game is in Austin this year, but the last time the Wildcats ventured into Royal-Memorial Stadium in 2003, Texas had to sweat out a 24-20 victory. That year the game was the week before Texas faced Oklahoma -- just like this season.
Changes from last season: Old Southwest Conference rival TCU is a formidable nonconference opponent, but it's not like facing Ohio State -- which drops off the slate. No other nonconference opponent is a threat. The alternate change of venues allows Texas the advantage of facing Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas Tech in Austin, but the Longhorns go to Texas A&M.
I know this has been discussed at length in other threads, but honestly.....
by patienthornsfan on Jun 22, 2007 11:28 AM CDT reply actions
Morning Scones
Truth be told, I love non-con road trips even more than conference road trips (except NU and CU) and most of our home games too. It's just fun to go to towns and stadiums you've never been to and see how other fan bases do game day, especially if the school has a lot of CFB history and tradition. Plus, I really like the UT fans who travel...they always seem to be more respectful and friendlier than what you see on average in Austin.
Over the last 10 years, I've been fortunate enough to attend games at UCLA in 98 (went to Vegas after the 3rd quarter), Stanford in 00, NC in 02, Arkansas in 04, and tOSU in 05. And even though Fayetteville was hell on earth, it was still an amazing experience.
That being said, Central Florida does absolutely nothing for me. I consider it no different than when we play Rice or Courgar High down in Houston. I think CF will be a lot like when UT played Rugers in 99 up in Jersey. But at least you could hang in NYC for that one.
And I've no desire for another scheduling debate, but I'd really like to see DeLoss get back on the non-con road trip push (something he's done a decent job of since he came to Texas) and start getting us some more exciting locals...UCLA and the Rose Bowl looks to be on the horizon in 2011, but other than that, it's pretty slim pickens (at UTEP next year and at Arkansas the year after).
UTEP's stadium is kind of cool, it's where they play the Sun Bowl, but El Paso in August...um, not so good buddy. And going back to Faytetteville would be like asking for another tour in Nam. If you've never been, I say go for it. But do it at your own risk.
Anyway, here's my Top 10 non-con road trip opponent wish list (of teams that might be palatable to Mack as they probably won't be cracking the Top 10 anytime soon in no particular order...
Ole Miss - Oxford is supposed to great for tailgating and the women are supposed to be unbelievable.
Air Force - Colorado Springs, enough said.
Indiana - Bloomington is just a all-around fun college town.
Wyoming - Another excuse to go up in the mountains in September when it's still blistering down here.
Michigan State - If Deloss won't schedule Michigan, maybe he'll agree to play in East Lancing. Great history, great atmosphere.
Oregon - Technically a potential threat to crack the Top 10, but Euguene is a great place to be in September and Autzen Stadium is rowdy as hell.
Northwestern - If played early enough in September, you could double it up with a Cubs game at Wrigley..
Boston College - I think this one may actually happen. Back by Fens is a great place to party and again, if played in Sept., possible double up on a Red Sox game at Fenway. If no BC, then how about Harvard? Hey, we scheduled Sam Houston State didn't we?
Army - West Point alone ought to be enough, but the stadium is supposed to be one of the neatest around. it overlooks the Hudson River. I would have said Navy too as Annapolis is awesome (my brother played there), but their stadium isn't anything to write home about and they'd probably want to play the game in DC or Philly.
South Carolina - Gamecock country, Spurier, tons o fun.
Miss Potato Pageant winner, Eunice O'Grady, would also like to shill for the Smurf Turfers, but I think we'll let Boise State cool off before we attempt to spank their spuds.
Anybody got any other non-threatening non-con road trips in mind...
Good list
I would add Wisconsin (Northern version of Austin) and Virginia (cool stadium, great campus).
A Northwestern or Illinois game either at Wrigley or Soldier field would be da bomb. I know both coaches are trying to make that happen each year.
I don't think the Crypt Keeper is a savy enough AD to see the potential in this. He sticks to his comfort zone.
Wisconsin
No doubt on the Badgers...I had them on my non-con wish-list of teams who are usually pretty decent along with Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, Penn State, and most of the SEC power houses. Awesome road game, but I think a W wouldn't be automatic like some of the others mentioned above (with possible exception to Oregon).
Plus, besides Miss Louisianna, Miss Wisconsin is the only other pageant winner that I know of who can drink me under the table...those Badgers can put away beers, ya.
I like Charlotteville too, but we played at Virginia in 96 (I actually made that road trip) and got our butts handed to us by the Barber twins in a miserable rain storm. The memories are still too fresh for me.
non-conference wish list
The first two that came to mind are LSU and WVU - neither of which would satisfy the "ranked higher than #10" rule these days.
I grew up going to LSU games, and that place is nuts. A home-and-home series with them would be huge.
Morgantown is a pretty cool little college town, fun place to party. I once heard that they consume 1% of all the beer in the U.S., which is proportionately a lot.
Both would be fun
But both places, even when the teams are not consistently in the top ten, are really tough places to play. Although, the same could have been said about Ohio St.
Awww!
VY was on SportsCenter last night, being interviewed about the same thing. He was wearing a cap with a big ol' Texas flag on the brim. Lurve him!
I saw part of Vince's interview on Sportscenter
last night
He reminds me of The Hardline's "You know" Counter.
Someone needs to tell Vince to eliminate the phrase, "at the same time" from his speech patterns. He said it 7 times in the 30 seconds he was talking; I counted.
it's hard not to notice it
there are some athletes who are not articulate when speaking to the media; Vince Young is one of them
going to UCF game
I'm going. It will be nice to set a joint tailgate. Anyone interested?
My friends who am going with are UCF students, so it's cool to meet UT fans there.
Morning latte
Bad enough that we still have 70 days to football.... It's even longer till basketball season. Nice tidbit from Bohls blog to whet our appetites.
Connor Atchley looks stronger and more deadly from the outside. A.J. Abrams looks better than ever, as does sophomore-to-be point guard D.J. Augustin. T.J. Ford raves about him and loves his pace and quickness.
by patienthornsfan on Jun 24, 2007 4:05 AM CDT reply actions
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