NCAA Board Of Directors Approve New Bowl Selection Process
As talked about earlier this week on Thunderjags, the NCAA Board of Directors approved a new selection process on Thursday for bowl games. This new process includes the possibility of a team with a 5-7 record to be selected to a bowl game.
Under this new measure, on the contingency that there is not enough bowl-eligible teams or if a bowl cannot be filled by its conference affiliations, the open spots would be filled through a six-tier process.
- First consideration will go to 6-6 teams with a win against any FCS teams (Former Division I-AA) regardless of scholarship numbers.
- Then a 6-6 teams with wins over two FCS schools.
- Follow by a team that finish 6-7 and loses in a conference championship game.
- Next a team that finishes 6-7 that play a 13 game schedule allowed under the Hawaii exception (Hawaii and it’s home opponent).
- Then a transitional team moving from FCS to FBS if they have a 6-6 record.
- Finally A team with a top-five APR that finishes 5-7 on the season could be selected.
There are 124 FBS Schools as of 2012 (Four are transitional teams which will be completing their second year of a two year transition). As you probably know by now they are the University of South Alabama, UT-San Antonio, Texas State and UMass. There are four schools that have a bowl ban for the 2012 season, Ohio State, Penn State, North Carolina and most recently UCF.
However two more institutions, Oregon and Miami (FL.) University have cases pending before the NCAA which could further lower the number of bowl-eligible schools to as few as 114 possibly. There are 35 bowl games which opens 70 slots for bowl teams.
In 2011, there was worry that there would not be enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the needed slots. By the end of the season there were 72 teams for the 70 slots, including a 7-5 Western Kentucky team which was not offered a bowl berth.
While we have been told the Jags would not be eligible for a conference championship or a bowl game, that may not be true now. Depending on how the rule is applied, IF the Jaguars can finish with a least a 6-7 record, they could potentially be eligible to fill any empty slot in a bowl game.
“It’s exciting to even hear that news,” Head coach Joey Jones said. “We had put that completely out of our mind and that next year would be the first year that we would have an opportunity. For our players and our staff, that’s something to work toward.”
Jags Appear On Bowling Green Schedule For Home-And-Home Series
Bowling Green announced updates to their future non-conference football schedules which included two dates with the University of South Alabama. They have added a home-and-home series against the Jags on September 11, 2021 in Bowling Green and the return game will be on September 3, 2022 in Mobile.
Between now and 2021 when the Jags are scheduled to play the Falcons, they could potentially meet in a bowl game. The MAC and the Sun Belt conferences have previously signed a deal with the GoDaddy.com bowl, which is played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, for the top team from each conference to square off in a MAC vs Sun Belt match-up.
Future Sun Belt member Texas State has dropped off of the Bowling Green schedule. They previously had a home-and-home series scheduled for September 19, 2015 in Bowling Green and a September 24, 2016 date to travel to San Marcos, Texas. No reason was given for dropping Texas State.
UPDATE: Bowling Green has since taken the reference to the South Alabama schedule off of their site.
Jags Second Practice Cut Short Due To Weather
Quarterback CJ Bennett prepares to take a snap in the light rain at the Jaguar Practice Facility on Friday evening.
The Jaguars hit the field for their second practice of preseason camp but cut it short due to weather. After only an hour on the practice field with light rain, Coach Jones has to call off practice due to lightning too close the practice facility.
Saturday’s practice has been moved up from the previously announced 6:30pm time to an early 7:15am practice. This will mark the first time the Jags will hit the field in shells and allowed light contact.
Their short practice allowed them to work on individual drills for a little over 30 minutes before about 15 minutes of skeleton passing drills. It was during the Skeleton drills that the call was made for the players, coaches and staff to return to the Football Fieldhouse.
First year offensive coordinator Robert Matthews said that, after meetings and walkthroughs prior to practice, the offensive unit would not be affected by the weather and that the installation of the game plan will continue to be on schedule when they take the field on Saturday. The offense is converting to the spread from the multiple power offense that had been run previously.
“We had a lot of good meeting time today, but unfortunately lightning popped and we had to go back inside,” Coach Joey Jones stated. “We can make it up with good meeting time and walk through time, but the bottom line is we didn’t get in much of a practice. But we’ll have a good practice tomorrow morning, I’m looking forward to that. We were going to practice in the morning starting on Monday anyway. There’s a 20-30 percent chance of rain tomorrow morning, but 40-50 percent chance in the afternoon, so we rolled the dice and will go in the morning.”
South Alabama Completes First Preseason Practice
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp.
The University of South Alabama opened preseason camp on Thursday night at the Jaguar Practice Facility behind the Football Fieldhouse. The Jags begin preparing for their season opening match-up against UTSA on August 30 a nearly three hour session. (See videos at end of article)
The players hit the field in shorts and helmets as they began preseason camp which began with individual position drills, one-on-one position drills, multiple 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills, group position skills and about 10 minutes of 11-on-11, offense vs defense drills where they ran around 30 plays.
After warm-ups practice began with individual skill drills for around 30 minutes before going into the first skeleton passing drills which lasted for about 15 minutes. The first and second team units combined for about 24 snaps and the third team was on the field for about 15 or more plays.
The squad came together for another skeleton passing session over an hour later. The first and second teams run about 16 plays each while the third team added at least 10 snaps themselves.
Head coach Joey Jones was pleased with the session but was quick to let the players know that more is expected of them and they still have a long way to go.
“It was a long practice and it was hot out here,” Coach Jones stated. “They came out with great effort and intensity, but we did have a few guys cramp up. They were mentally sharp, but what I challenged them with is to work on everything individually to make our team better. If they can do that and we are better on August 30 than we are now, then we will be achieving our goals. We can’t rest, we need to keep pushing.”
Coach Jones said that he expects a similar distribution of plays to continue next week as they get closer to the first of three preseason scrimmages. After the scrimmage, the coach staff will begin to focus on potential starters and forming a depth chart. “For a week and a half, I would say that we will give equal reps at least through the threes,” he explained. “After that, we’ll have to start to make some decisions.”
Coach Jones was also pleased with the performance of the quarterbacks and receivers. He attributed their success today with their voluntary workouts over the summer.
“I thought our quarterbacks distributed the ball very well,” he said. “You could tell that they have been working through the summer. They knew where to go with the football, and they placed the ball in some good spots. I was pleased with that.”
Some notable players were not on the roster today, Receiver J.J. Keels and Linebacker Logan Bennett were both absent from roster. We were unable to get any reasons why they were not on the roster, however it is suspected it was academics.
The Jags will return to the Practice Facility at 6:30pm on Friday and are scheduled to wear shorts and helmets again.
Head Coach Joey Jones speaking about the first practice of preseason camp.
Demetre Baker speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Quarterback CJ Bennett speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Brandon Ross speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Linebacker Jake Johnson speaking after the first practice of preseason camp.
Jags Opener Versus UTSA To Air On ESPN3
Yesterday the University of South Alabama announced that their Sun Belt opener against Troy will be televised. Thursday, South Alabama announced that their season opening game on Thursday, August 30, 2012 versus the University of Texas-San Antonio will be aired nationally on ESPN3 as part of the Sun Belt’s network in the fall.
This is the first of two Jaguar contests that will be broadcast on ESPN3. The Jaguars game in Raleigh versus North Carolina State on September 15th is the other game scheduled on the network. The Jags game against Troy will likely be broadcast on the network as well, but there has not been a formal announcement.
ESPN3 is the live multi-screen sports network for ESPN. It is available nation wide online and also available on many mobile devices via the WatchESPN app. ESPN3 is freely available to around 73 million homes nationwide through their high-speed internet service provider or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.
It is also available at no cost to around 21 million US college students and US-based military personnel.
Go Jags!
Jaguar Golf Honored By Coaches Association
The Jaguar golf team is honored, for the fourth straight year, by the Golf Coaches Association of America by being named an All-Academic Team. In order to be eligible for this honor, each player on the team must carry a minimum 3.0 GPA for the academic year. The school must submit the grade points earned and the hours attempted by each player on the official team list to be considered.
Last season 11 Jags had a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and four of them had a 3.5 or higher. As a team, they had a 3.35 GPA for the 2011-2012 season.
79 NCAA Division I schools were honored for the 2011-2012 season.
McLain Leberte was recognized by the GCAA as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar as well. He will be a senior this coming season.
Go Jags!
ULL’s Hudspeth Named Outstanding College Coach In Louisiana
University of Louisiana-Lafayette head football coach Mark Hudspeth was named the Outstanding College Coach for the state of Louisiana as part of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Greater New Orleans Awards.
He will be honored along with Christi Orgeron, who was recognized as the Outstanding Female Amateur from New Orleans.
Under Hudspeth, ULL improved the Cajun’s from a 3-9 record in 2010 to a 9-4 record in 2011 which included a thrilling win over San Diego State in the New Orleans Bowl. That was their first bowl game in 41 years and tied the school record of nine wins in a season. They were also a perfect 5-0 at home.
Additionally, they set a school and conference record with an average attendance per game of 29,171. That was an increase of 11,788 per game which lead the nation in attendance increase.
The Jags will travel to face the Rajin’ Cajun’s on November 24, one week before the Jags travel to Hawaii to end their regular season.
Vote For The Jags In ESPN’s Wear Your College Colors Contest
Go vote for your Jaguars!!
ESPN is hosting a ‘Wear Your College Colors’ contest right now. We blew up the voting for the Coach Of The Year the last two years before fading behind some of the bigger schools. We can do it again with this.
Visit http://ESPN.com/CollegeColorsDay and vote for YOUR South Alabama Jaguars! Vote Early and Vote Often!!
Go Jags!!
Jags Sun Belt Debut Vs Troy Will Be Televised
It was announced today that the Jaguars first-ever Sun Belt Conference football game will be televised. This historic game will feature the Jaguars versus Troy University and will be televised on a regional basis as it will be included in the league’s broadcast package this fall.
The September 29th game will be available on the Sun Belt Network which is a joint partnership with Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST). It will be available in 13 states across the southeast and it is likely to also be carried on ESPN Game Plan and ESPN3 nationwide outside of CSS and CST markets.
In order to accommodate television, the kickoff time will be moved up to 2:30pm on Saturday, September 29.
It’s Our Time! Go Jags!
Players Report Wednesday, Coach Jones Quotes
Head coach Joey Jones working with the field goal unit during South Alabama’s Scrimmage on Saturday, March 3, 2012.
The players are scheduled to report today and they will participate in their first preseason practice on Thursday at 6:30pm at the Jaguar Practice Facility. Below are more quotes from head football coach Joey Jones.
“The thing you look at as we go into Division I is obviously we have a tough schedule and we really respect all the teams we’re going to play. But I also have a lot of respect for our team and our staff and everyone involved in our football organization and the price they’ve paid to get us where we are. It’s an exciting time for us.”
“The thing is, to get better you’ve got to play the best. I think we’re at the point where we’re playing the best. This is going to be the toughest schedule we’ve played, and I’m excited to see our kids step up to the challenge.”
“If our offensive and defensive lines will hold up, we’ll be in pretty good shape. I think a lot of pressure will be put on those guys, as it always is, to be successful. I think our team’s success will definitely be on their shoulders, but I tell them that every year.”
“It’s good to feed off the excitement. There’s no doubt that the kids are excited about this season. But then you look at 13 games in 14 weeks, you’ve got to be steady in what you do. You can’t get too high or too low at any point in the season.”
“You realize you play N.C. State, then Mississippi State, then Troy and then Arkansas State. You start looking at a run like that and there’s no way you can play that roller-coaster game. You’ve got to stay steady. I think that’s up to our team to learn, and it’s something we’re stressing with the staff.”
“(Only one open date) is going to be different for us and it’s something we’ve anticipated and worked on in the offseason to get the players to understand what type of deal we’re going to be in. We’re going to have to do a good job of monitoring that and monitoring our team’s health and their legs and even their mental side. We’ve got to be smart about what we do.”
“One of the big things I think for me and the staff and our players is the fact we’ll be able to measure ourselves against people in our conference. When you’re not in a conference, you kind of play for wins and losses and that’s all well and good. But when you come up against competition against other teams in your conference, that’s what it’s all about. That makes you competitive. It makes you competitive in recruiting, it makes you competitive on the field and every day you’ve got to get better. That’s something that excites me and I know it excites everyone else that’s involved.”
“(Thursday’s first practice) is going to be fun. I was able to get away and get some time off, but all of a sudden now you’re ready to get back. It’s been a good break for everyone, and we’re ready to go to work.”
Continue checking back as Thunderjags covers preseason camp and the entire season.