I created this thread to allow posters from each side to contribute to the dialogue regarding each team's bright futures.... and stop posting in the recruiting forum!!!

I actually loved my trip to Arkansas State. Very nice stadium with a true home field advantage. Friendly fans in the tailgating area, and where I sat (heard contrasting reports about their student section). Shame we lost our rambling that year as the come from behind win in 2004 was a great game. I have been 3x and would likely go again, which is more than I can say for Oxford.

Have at it....

And yes delusional... Memphis has always acted like a basketball school. Coach Scherer used to park construction equipment in front of the South Campus to show recruits that the projects that were promised for years were finally coming.... we have been coming off of four of our worst years in history and you think we are on equal footing!?!!! The fact that you couldn't leave us in your dust with all your upgrades and two future $EC coaches at the helm.speaks volumes.

We ARE ranked #25!!! We ARE Siri`s favorite team!!! We have finally started focusing on football, so it's time to leave other teams that used to be our equal in the rear view mirror!!!

Thanks, and congratulation on the top 25 ranking, that is a big deal. Not sure if Memphis will be playing in Jonesboro anytime soon but if they do you will be impressed in the improvements.

I did ask someone at church close to the Administration about what happened to the' Boise of the South' thing, and they said that their plan now is to be the best G5 team in America period, and Boise is a G5 so that ended that. They have every intention of being better than Boise, out recruiting Boise, and their AD assured some deep pocked Arkies that if they put up the cash it would not be a case of 'if' but when 'when' as far as making the playoff as the best G5 team.

Sure every G5 school is saying the same but most have no chance. IMO both Memphis and A-State are showing in tangible ways they intend to be in contention, but I think A-State is in a slightly better position going forward. Going to a bowl game in a total rebuilding year, with a new coaching staff, and young team that was devastated by injuries did not change my opinion of where they are at. They have a chance to be very, very good next year, and will be much better on both sides of the ball and in special teams.

Not sure Memphis will be as good on defense next year.

(01-31-2015 06:13 PM)Seminole Indian Wrote:  Thanks, and congratulation on the top 25 ranking, that is a big deal. Not sure if Memphis will be playing in Jonesboro anytime soon but if they do you will be impressed in the improvements.

I did ask someone at church close to the Administration about what happened to the' Boise of the South' thing, and they said that their plan now is to be the best G5 team in America period, and Boise is a G5 so that ended that. They have every intention of being better than Boise, out recruiting Boise, and their AD assured some deep pocked Arkies that if they put up the cash it would not be a case of 'if' but when 'when' as far as making the playoff as the best G5 team.

Sure every G5 school is saying the same but most have no chance. IMO both Memphis and A-State are showing in tangible ways they intend to be in contention, but I think A-State is in a slightly better position going forward. Going to a bowl game in a total rebuilding year, with a new coaching staff, and young team that was devastated by injuries did not change my opinion of where they are at. They have a chance to be very, very good next year, and will be much better on both sides of the ball and in special teams.

Not sure Memphis will be as good on defense next year.

Memphis was supposed to still be rebuilding LAST season. We won a share of the AAC...and everyone who has half of a brain knows we were the best AAC team last season.
We played a bunch of folks on defense last year...and so we do have some experience coming back.
That and the fact that we are signing some quality young men like CRAZY all of a sudden...look for Memphis to STAY in the 20-25 range in the rankings for awhile to come (as long as coach Fuente is here anyways)

I'll call BS on last year being a rebuilding year for Memphis, on either side of the ball but especially on defense. IMO the defense, and the fact the AAC was loaded with some very weak teams(taking nothing away from Memphis), were big reasons for the 10 wins.

Based on the numerous recruiting sites you are not recruiting any better than you have recruited in the past.

Do agree your current coaches are outstanding.

I think the AAC is gong to be a tough, competitive conference in the future, and like fans of teams in the SEC West can testify too, that can be a real grind and becomes a war of attrition. Might give some teams in the other G5's an easier route to the 10-11 wins needed to be in the top 25.

Have not seen your schedule but do agree your offense is strong enough to cover some growing pains on defense next year, but some drop-off should be expected.

When i saw your team play I thought your defense was outstanding this year, but you graduated a lot of players on that side of the ball. Did help with some nice mid-term additions.

I definitely see another winning season, and bowl game in the cards but another ten win,and top 25 finish might be hard to come up with.

Last season we did it on defense, this season we will do it on offense. We will win a minimum of 8 games, but I think we get at least 10 pending on how the schedule sets up and if we avoid injuries.

We were predicted in the middle of our conference and most thought six wins would've been a major accomplishment. Yes, it was very much a rebuilding year. We didn't even have a full team of scholarships players.

You claim to follow Memphis, but if you think Memphis wasn't still in a rebuilding mode, you haven't paid attention. I know getting stomped by Memphis two years ago stung, but it didn't mean we had arrived, just showed y'all hadn't.

And I do have to clarify to anyone that isn't sure, I don't dislike Seminole Indian or Arkansas State for that matter. I talk crap to their fans the way I would if we were sitting at a bar. Get heated in our debate then laugh, have another drink and talk about how the $EC sucks!!!

Have not seen your schedule for next year but based on what you return on offense, special teams and the fact that you are currently just better than most AAC teams right now, 8 wins +/- 1, and a nice bowl game seems a very reasonable expectation.

For the record, I dislike 'fan's' of any school because they are well fans. Like talking to parents about their kids when you talk to fans about their school, there is a line you can't cross when talking to them, even when facts are on your side.

Memphis is surpassing A-State each year and we play in a better conference.

Well since the teams started playing again in 1975 the Tigers have always been in a better conference, sometimes in a higher division, always had more money, paid their coaches more,had better facilities, a bigger fan base, better media coverage, and in many of those years their team was even better. In just as many they were not.

Because I focused on recruiting, and know a little more about than most, I always knew that the fans of either school saying they had left the other in the dust simply did not know what they were talking about. Most years I would have had to flip a coin to pick which class of recruits I thought was better, even when A-State was in 1-AA.

As far as this years recruiting class, it is a long time until Wednesday ask me then. Not sure about Memphis but many, and according to their coaches most of A-State commits are picking up additional offers, and just like the last few years many are getting P5 offers as those schools scramble to complete their classes. Hopefully, as has been the case for A-State recently, most will stick.

Going into next year at this point I cannot say which team I think will be better,but if forced to pick today I would say A-State. After next year, just like the last 40 years, who knows.

This guy wants to keep Arkansas state relevant by coming onto a Memphis message board and writing an equivalant to his homework for the weekend.

Arkansas state isn't even in our league right now and it took the worst years in our history for them to even get their hopes up.....

Obviously you are either young or stupid or both.

"Arkansas State and the Boise State image"

Two things that have nothing to do with each other...but OK.

Long discussion from their glory years when they were gonna contend with Oregon. They were going to become the next Boise State.

It was a HILLARIOUS read actually. Funny how the story changed over time as well.

Hands down I would pick the Tigers!! Not even close.

(01-31-2015 04:35 PM)tigernole79 Wrote:  I created this thread to allow posters from each side to contribute to the dialogue regarding each team's bright futures.... and stop posting in the recruiting forum!!!

I actually loved my trip to Arkansas State. Very nice stadium with a true home field advantage. Friendly fans in the tailgating area, and where I sat (heard contrasting reports about their student section). Shame we lost our rambling that year as the come from behind win in 2004 was a great game. I have been 3x and would likely go again, which is more than I can say for Oxford.

Have at it....

I was an undergrad at ASU I 've always been proud of that stadium and The Convocation Center, which when built was the best facility in "these parts". My last trip to Jonesboro for a football game was in 2000 and it was a great night and the Tigers pulled out a a close one.

It was fun to tailgate with some olf Tiger/ASU fraternity brothers before that game.

(01-31-2015 08:42 PM)Seminole Indian Wrote:  I'll call BS on last year being a rebuilding year for Memphis, on either side of the ball but especially on defense. IMO the defense, and the fact the AAC was loaded with some very weak teams(taking nothing away from Memphis), were big reasons for the 10 wins.

Based on the numerous recruiting sites you are not recruiting any better than you have recruited in the past.

Do agree your current coaches are outstanding.

I think the AAC is gong to be a tough, competitive conference in the future, and like fans of teams in the SEC West can testify too, that can be a real grind and becomes a war of attrition. Might give some teams in the other G5's an easier route to the 10-11 wins needed to be in the top 25.

Have not seen your schedule but do agree your offense is strong enough to cover some growing pains on defense next year, but some drop-off should be expected.

When i saw your team play I thought your defense was outstanding this year, but you graduated a lot of players on that side of the ball. Did help with some nice mid-term additions.

I definitely see another winning season, and bowl game in the cards but another ten win,and top 25 finish might be hard to come up with.

whether or not you agree whether it was a rebuilding year or not is irrelevant.
When Coach Fuente took over..he had what 58 people on scholarship here? And we're JUST now getting back to full strength numbers wise...so yes...it was a rebuilding year.
No one saw us winning 10 games this past year...especially me. I was going to be happy with 5 or 6 wins to be honest. I just wanted to show improvement.
You can say that the AAC was down last year all you want....we went out and beat the trash talkers from BYU where it counts...(on the scoreboard), and records be damned...BYU is a damned good football team.

We would have been ultra competitive with damn near ANY other G5 school in a bowl game. I was hoping somehow we might get a game in with Marshall, so we could have proven what a fraud they were....but I am super happy with the win over BYU.

Add to that, the fact that we lost our best running back last year...had our second best running back injured for a good length of time...and ran the ball with a converted wide receiver...and STILL led the AAC in rushing.
That year could have went south on us in so many ways if we didn't have just a bit of depth in some crucial positions.

Before we took our nosedive 8 years ago, we had beaten Ark State 10 times in a row. That is where the programs really were in relation to one another, and are today. The down years under West and Porter were not the norm for Memphis. I will admit that 2014 was not the norm either, but our 2013 team cleaned Ark States clock.

(02-02-2015 01:35 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  Before we took our nosedive 8 years ago, we had beaten Ark State 10 times in a row. That is where the programs really were in relation to one another, and are today. The down years under West and Porter were not the norm for Memphis. I will admit that 2014 was not the norm either, but our 2013 team cleaned Ark States clock.

Those ten times in a row were almost exclusively at your place. The one game in Jonesboro during that span was one of the best Memphis teams of all time and ranked #25 and they escaped with a come from behind 4th quarter win. The home team has typically won these games and neither team has blown the doors off the other on the road. I am glad you guys caught back up and hope we play again some day.

We are building a fantastic football facilities and will continue to recruit well regardless of whether we ever play again. The conference boasting is the only real issue I have with any of you guys because it is silly. If you are not in a P5 conference then you have no reason to talk trash to any other G5 league. We all have our share of horrible programs in our conference which means anyone can go from #1 to #5 in a short span like the SBC did from last year to this year.

(02-02-2015 01:53 PM)Crump1 Wrote:  

(02-02-2015 01:35 PM)PlainTiger Wrote:  Before we took our nosedive 8 years ago, we had beaten Ark State 10 times in a row. That is where the programs really were in relation to one another, and are today. The down years under West and Porter were not the norm for Memphis. I will admit that 2014 was not the norm either, but our 2013 team cleaned Ark States clock.

Those ten times in a row were almost exclusively at your place. The one game in Jonesboro during that span was one of the best Memphis teams of all time and ranked #25 and they escaped with a come from behind 4th quarter win. The home team has typically won these games and neither team has blown the doors off the other on the road. I am glad you guys caught back up and hope we play again some day.

We are building a fantastic football facilities and will continue to recruit well regardless of whether we ever play again. The conference boasting is the only real issue I have with any of you guys because it is silly. If you are not in a P5 conference then you have no reason to talk trash to any other G5 league. We all have our share of horrible programs in our conference which means anyone can go from #1 to #5 in a short span like the SBC did from last year to this year.

Caught back up? More like surpassed.