FIU Golden Panthers Prowl

Game 12: Florida Atlantic vs. FIU LIVE BLOG

Welcome to Shula Bowl VIII as your Panthers try to erase the painful ending to last season's Shula Bowl at the hands of the Hooters.

No need to rehash the 4th quarter of that game, you all know what happened.

It's a drying out FIU Stadium as we had some heavy rain just about 20 minutes ago (Jackie was right again).

I had to do a little janitorial work in the open-air press box -- which is a lawsuit waiting to happen when someone gets electrocuted when it rains. I had Ted Hutton take a photo of me making sure nobody gets electrocuted in the front row of the press box. You can check out Ted's blog for my cleaning photo.

Before we begin to find out who will carry the Don Shula Trophy for the next 365 days, here are some friendly LIVE BLOG reminders:

***So that the question is not asked 500 times during the LIVE BLOG, here are your viewing & listening options for today's game: 

BLOG: Right here.

VIDEO: CSS and espn 360.com. What channel is Comcast Sports Southeast? I don't know. Contact your local cable company.

RADIO: 1080 AM -- the part-time home of FIU Football; 95.3 WRGP

A few reminders for all GPP LIVE BLOGS:

1) The size of the LIVE BLOG window is at its maximum, but the way the blog program works by making the window larger it takes away the scroll button. However, you can still view previous comments by using your arrow keys.

2) There are only 25 spots to be an unmoderated commentator which allows you to post comments without my approval.

If you are 1 of the first 25 to log-on AND I think you will contribute some worthwhile comments then I will go ahead and approve you as an unmoderated commentator.

3) After the 25 spots are taken up, I then have to approve each comment from each reader. So if your comment takes a minute or so to show up it's because I'm busy either writing down the previous play for my game notes, working on the FIU/Hooters notebook for Sunday's paper or posting on the blog at the moment. At that time, I am not able to publish what you posted, but I will eventually get to it.

Let's go blogging....

Don Shula Bowl VIII Preview: Who's Going to Play FIU Volleyball Defense?

The buses are all gassed up in Boca Raton and Del Boca Vista Phase II as the Hooters prepare to drive down to Miami and FIU Stadium in about 15 hours for Shula Bowl VIII.

Your Panthers are on the prowl looking for payback for last year's 4th quarter.

Your LIVE GPP BLOG of Shula Bowl VIII begins at 6:45 p.m. right here from FIU Stadium on Saturday night.

Good to see the enthusiasm flowing on the GPP and over on Ted's FAU blog. Last year's game took this Shula Bowl rivalry to another level. Whether you were rooting for the Hooters or clawing for the Panthers, last year's game at Dolphin Stadium was a classic and there should be many more games like that in this series in the future....beginning with Saturday's showdown at FIU Stadium.

It's the first Shula Bowl at FIU Stadium since 2005. While FIU Stadium was being built in 2007, FIU hosted the Shula Bowl that year in the Orange Bowl -- which I just got off the phone with the OB and she says from stadium heaven to thank FIU for closing the OB the right way with a win over North Texas.

Back in the 2005 Shula Bowl, FIU tied an NCAA record with 4 interceptions returned for touchdowns and routed the Hooters 52-6. On Saturday it will not be that kind of a rout for the Panthers.

In fact, neither team will win in a landslide, because of their defenses, which brings us to the title of this post.

We'll get back to the Shula Bowl VIII preview in a second, but first let's salute the FIU volleyball team which finished its season 32-4 on Friday with their loss to Florida in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

The FIU ladies set a program record with 32 wins this season and were only 1 of 3 teams in the nation to win 30 or more games this season. Only Penn State and Northern Iowa won 30 or more games this season.

And a special salute to FIU's 3-soon-to-be-4-time All-American senior Yarimar Rosa (left), who leaves FIU as the greatest volleyball player in the program's 23-year history. They'll be hanging the No. 3 jersey in the U.S. Century Bank Arena rafters soon enough.

Back to our Shula Bowl VIII preview. The Hooters and the Panthers bring two of lowest ranked Ds in the Sun Belt and in the nation to FIU Stadium on Saturday. FAU is 7th of 9 Sun Belt teams in total D and FIU is ranked last in total D in the conference. FAU is 6th in points allowed in the SBC. FIU is 8th. So you kind of get where I'm going with this.

Will the final score be an NBA halftime score again? My guess is no, because both offenses do not have all their weapons, but then again they are also facing generous Ds.

So which team's D is going to rise up like the FIU volleyball team did in its match against the crosstown Hurricanes on Thursday? The lady Panthers with their D stopped two match points before eventually eliminating the Hurricanes back to Coral Gables with a loss.

That's what Shula Bowl VIII will come down to. Which defense makes 1 or 2 more stops than the other D.

There will be plenty of points and yards to satisfy any fantasy football owner that has an FAU or FIU offensive player on their team.

However, you will see that either the Hooters D or the Panthers D will make 1 or 2 crucial stops in the 3rd or 4th quarter to decide Shula Bowl VIII. Maybe it will come when El Oso Scott Bryant (right, thanks Alex J. Hernandez photo) makes a tackle to break Keyonvis Bouie's FIU all-time tackles record. El Oso has 296 tackles, Keke has 299. Recently, spoke to Keke and he's proud of El Oso. Keke is a linebackers coach in Pahokee High nowadays.

We can't forget about our final weather forecast of the 2009 season and we can't forget about Jackie, who has never been wrong with the gameday forecasts this season.

Jackie says this might be her ugliest forecast of the season. You might want to bring an umbrella or a poncho for tailgating time. Jackie is looking at afternoon thunderstorms with a 50% chance of rain.

Jackie says the weather should clear up by halftime with temps in the upper 60's. It's a TV game so halftime is expected to be about 9 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game. TV always slows a game's pace.

Speaking of slow, there will not be any of it when the clock hits 0:00 in the fourth quarter on Saturday, because like 2005, it will be a race to see which Panther gets to the FAU sideline first to carry the Shula Bowl Trophy back across the field to the FIU sideline.

GPP says: FIU 43, Florida Atlantic 38

The View from Del Boca Vista Phase II

T-minus 43 hours until Shula Bowl VIII kicks off from FIU Stadium. Time to learn a little bit about the Boca Raton Hooters.

Boca Raton's and Del Boca Vista Phase II's college football team was expected to contend for the Sun Belt title this season, but with the season-ending injury to their starting quarterback things went south. Let's find out more about Morty Seinfeld's favorite college football team.

Please welcome Sun-Sentinel and Hooters beat writer Ted Hutton as he fills us in on what's happening in Boca Raton. That's Ted there between photos of his favorite dance team -- the FIU Golden Dazzlers.

Apparently, Ted and myself -- like most people involved in sports --  tend to disagree on certain aspects between the two teams we cover. We also tend to disagree as well on Isiah Thomas's hiring. click here for Ted's Excellent Adventure, to learn why Ted and his favorite dance team are so well displayed on this post.

But when it comes to Hooters football, Ted knows what he is talking about -- after all he's covered them since their inception. So please, do not go questioning Ted's credibility when it comes to FAU sports. The man is a fountain of Owls knowledge and wisdom.

Here's what Ted had to say about Saturday's game:

1) Besides Rusty Smith going down for the year, what else went wrong for FAU this season?

TH: The defense never showed up. We knew they were going to be inexperienced, with eight new starters who had picked up very playing time in previous years, but this group just has mediocre at best and awful too many times. The offense also broke down at critical times, but it is the defense that takes the fall for this season.

2) Should the FIU defense's main concerns be Alfred Morris and Jason Harmon?

TH: Yes and yes. Those two are doing the most damage. Morris is a strong runner who rarely goes down on first contact and has the speed to make big gains once he gets some open space. Harmon is back to his usual self, and is very tough to cover and also is good an picking up yards after the catch.

3) What's the latest on the Owls on-campus stadium?

TH: They haven’t broken ground yet, but it does look like FAU will host its first game in a new, on-campus stadium in 2011.

4) Who will have a better program in 3 years -- Mike Jarvis or Isiah Thomas?

TH: I am going with Jarvis because he is building with freshmen while I see Thomas taking a shortcut with a lot of JC transfers. Jarvis has turned the roster over in on year, and the players he has brought look really good right now…FAU has four freshmen in the starting lineup, and the quality of players from top to bottom is the best it has ever been. If Thomas keeps up, hats off to him, but I expect FAU to be near the top of the Sun Belt next season and stay there as these kids grow up and improve.

5) Your Shula Bowl VIII prediction and final score?

TH: At the start of the season I predicted that FAU would go 8-4 with two conference losses, and those losses would be to Troy and a much-improved FIU team. But FIU has been as disappointing as FAU has been, and I think FAU wins this one. High-scoring and close, but FAU 38, FIU 31.

Thanks to Ted for joining us on the GPP and to show our appreciation we'll post Ted's favorite photo here on the right>>>>>>>>>

Hope you were able to read Ted's thoughts above.

Will be back on here Friday with your GPP Shula Bowl preview and prediction.

One last thing to get to........If you like the FIU Golden Panthers Prowl better than the FAU blog, then jump in the air.

Thank you ladies.

FIU signs No. 1-rated Baseball Players in U.S. & Canada

Yes, it is Shula Bowl VIII week, but let's take a little timeout here to acknowledge the work FIU baseball coach Turtle Thomas and his staff did with the latest FIU baseball signing class.

Who does FIU baseball think it is signing the No. 1-rated position player in the U.S. and the No. 1-rated position player in Canada?.........The New York Yankees?

Brito High shortstop Manny Machado (left) -- rated the No. 1 position player in the nation by Baseball America --signed with FIU. Here on the left is Machado hitting in a game at FIU's University Park Stadium.

Canadian Junior National team catcher Kellin Deglan (right) -- rated the No. 1 player in Canada -- also signed with FIU. In the photo on the right, Deglan is hitting in the Blue Jays home park -- Rogers Centre, formerly Skydome.

Machado led the U.S. National team in hitting this summer as the Americans won a gold medal.

Both players are expected to be highly drafted in next June's Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and may never set foot on FIU, but you never know. Machado is represented by Scott Boras, who has been known to play hardball with MLB clubs before so maybe MM decides to end up at FIU.

For details on the rest of FIU's 2011 signing class click here: newest FIU Baseball players

SHULA BOWL VIII COACHES DINNER

No, Howard Schnellenberger and MC did not wrestle or wring each others ties to see who would kickoff on Saturday. Instead, there was a lot of mutual admiration for both your Panthers and the Boca Raton Hooters by both coaches on Monday night at the Stadium Club at FIU Stadium.

HS said he was "sweating bullets" on the sideline during last year's Shula Bowl, because FIU was on the verge of knocking the Hooters out of bowl contention. Of course, you know what happened toward the end of the game as the Hooters erased two FIU 14-point leads and came back to win 57-50 in OT.

Although the Hooters lead the Shula Bowl series 6-1, four of the seven games have been decided by 10 points or less. Saturday should be no different according to HS:

"I just know it's going to be a competitive game. It's going to go down to the wire and the team that comes out of it with a win will gain a great deal of momentum into the off-season.''

For FIU, a win would give the Panthers their best Sun Belt Conference record ever (4-4) since FIU joined the conference in 2005. It also would leave FIU one game shy of last season's 5-7 record, which considering how this season started, it would not be the worst thing on Earth and at the same time provide some momentum into recruiting as we are T-minus 64 days and counting until Feb. 3.

MC thinks the Shula Bowl series has the potential to develop into one of college football's best rivalries:

"If you watched college football this past weekend you see Alabama and Auburn going at it. You see Florida State and Florida, and Clemson and South Carolina. You look at places that are jam packed with enthusiasm and excitement and it didn't start that way, but it has become that and that's what is going on right here. Two special programs that are building and building is special, because it allows you to put your thumbprint on it.''

Sure, the Hooters are the Panthers rival, especially since the team across town doesn't man up and play FIU. Yeah, I know we'll get the blog hits on this one.

PANTHER PAWSE

Check out on Wednesday at the Miami Herald's FIU page a story on retiring FIU media relations guru Rich Kelch written by MH intern Michael Zeff.

LIVE GPP BLOG of Shula Bowl VIII begins at 6:45 p.m. from FIU Stadium on Saturday night.

Will have Hooters beat writer Ted Hutton on here later this week with his take on the Shula Bowl. Here's what TH has been up to for Shula Bowl week: Ted's World .

BTW, as you will see on TH's blog, the Golden Dazzlers leave the FAU dance team in the dust. In case you need a reminder here you go.........

For now, let's get your thoughts on what is most important about an FIU win in the Shula Bowl....

Online Surveys & Market Research

Don Shula Bowl Week

The season finale is just about here for your Panthers with the Don Shula Bowl on Saturday from FIU Stadium against Florida Atlantic or as they are affectionately known -- the Boca Raton Hooters.

Shula Bowl VIII week kicks off on Monday night with the Coaches Dinner from the Panther Club at FIU Stadium. Will be heading out there later to check up with MC and Howard and have a blog post about it on Tuesday.

As you know, the Hooters have held the Shula Bowl Trophy (right, FIU's helmet is on the back of the trophy, which Howard refers to as the "dunce side" because it faces the wall at FAU) for 6 of the 7 years the game has existed. However, the only FIU win in the series came at FIU Stadium -- the last time the game was played there in 2005 where FIU tied an NCAA record with 4 interceptions returned for TDs.

In 2007, FIU was the home team for the Shula Bowl in the Orange Bowl, but lost that one.

Before we get to all the Shula Bowl stuff, wanted to pass along to you some highlights of the Scout Bowl that your Panthers reserves played in last Thursday on Thanksgiving morning.

Your Panthers were off from practice the past 3 days and had a chance to heal up from injuries before returning to the practice field on Monday.

SCOUT BOWL

The last day of practice last week had the scout team offense playing against the scout team defense. The scout D won the bowl 17-0.

Now, since FIU is low on depth, there were some players that are expected to see significant playing time next season participate in the Scout Bowl. So don't be surprised when you read some of the following names.

To start the Scout Bowl, FIU's two No. 1 draft picks for next season: quarterback Wesley Carroll and running back Jeremiah Harden did not play, even though the regular offensive players were chanting to the coaching staff to put WC and JH in the game. But no, FIU needs those two healthy when it opens the season in 2010 against an undetermined Sun Belt team at home or on the road. (Won't know the 2010 conference sked until the SBC office releases it in the early 2010 summer).

MC gave the Scout Bowl -- a bowl-like feel by pumping in crowd noise and a band [yes, I know about the band] through the jumbotron speakers -- during the practice last Thursday.

Freshman Chris Schirripa started at QB for the scout team O. On the first series, Andre Pound and Josh Forney batted down passes.

Freshman receiver Jairus Williams (left, thanks Roy Viera photo), who had some dropsies in camp back in August, made a nice catch over the middle and paid the price on a hit by freshman safety Terrance Taylor. JW to his credit did hang on to the ball. At 6-5, JW can be a big contributor next season.

On the next series, to no surprise Pooh Bear (right) burst through the o-line and made a tackle for loss.

The first score of the game came when linebacker Chris Edwards forced a fumble on Schirripa and junior defensive back Jose Cheseborough, a transfer from Edward Waters, scooped it up and returned it 81 yards for a TD.

Freshman Carlos Gonzalez then took over at QB and was intercepted by freshman defensive back Antwoine Bell.

Freshman Junior Delpe was next up at QB and he connected with tight end Joey Harris for 21 yards. Or as him teammates were yelling out "Joey the Bear" Harris.

The O would not move any further than Harris's reception. Junior transfer linebacker Antoine Graham (South Dade High/Kansas JUCO) got a sack and defensive lineman Kasey Smith had a tackle for loss to end the drive.

Freshman safety Cain Elliott made a nice open field tackle of Schirripa on a scramble.

Jairus Williams after stopping on a deep pass that could have been for long yardage and resulted in an incompletion, came back strong with another catch over the middle.

The Cheeseman was at again. Cheseborough scored his 2nd and the Scout Bowl's 2nd TD when he recovered another fumble and ran it back 42 yards for a TD to make it 14-0.

The last highlight of the day came when Graham, Smith and Pooh Bear combined for a sack to end it.

PANTHER PAWSE

Congratulations to the FIU volleyball team (right, thanks Sam Lewis photo) for, as expected, reaching the NCAA Tournament. The FIU ladies take on UM in Thursday's 1st round from Gainesville and then would play the winner of Florida/College of Charleston on Friday. Won't be able to cover those matches, because of football duties, but when the lady Panthers take on defending national champion Penn State in the Sweet 16 on Dec. 11 then I should be there in Gainesville and hell, even have a LIVE BLOG for you.

Will have a LIVE BLOG of Shula Bowl VIII on Saturday from FIU Stadium at 6:45 p.m., but will have to leave you in the fourth quarter, because of a very unfriendly kickoff/deadline time of 7 p.m. -- plus it is a TV game (CSS/Sun Belt Network) so that will make the game even longer.

Q&A

Clawing Cancer: 1) Is FIU planning on/doing anything special for Rich's retirement? I don't know about you guys, but I've seen long-time SID's at other schools get things named after them (usually press boxes and such). Any chance we see something similar for Rich? I think he deserves it, frankly. I'm not talking about a stadium or court, folks, for the record... personally, I'd name the press box at the football stadium after him. God knows, he's spent enough time in them.

2) I've heard that Akron and FIU have scheduled a home-and-home series in football. From what I understand, FIU goes to Akron in 2011 and the return trip for the Zips is TBD. Do you know anything about this, good sir?

PP: Should be something doing at the Shula Bowl either before the game or at halftime. Nothing concrete on naming of press box, but like I wrote in the second to last post, once it is complete, FIU should name the press box on the north side of the stadium and every other press area at FIU after Rich. The Miami Herald will have a story on Rich later this week.

FIU and Akron had a series scheduled under former AD Rick Mello, but that is off the books now. FIU's future non-conference schedules look like this: 2010 - Rutgers, Texas A&M, Pitt, Maryland; 2011 - UCF, Louisville, Duke and OPEN DATE; 2012 - Duke, Louisville, UCF and OPEN DATE; 2013 - Texas A&M, UCF, Louisville and OPEN DATE; 2014 - UCF, Louisville, Pitt and OPEN DATE.

blkpanther: Pete any news on Milk or any other additions to the 2010 class?

PP: Nothing as of this post. I think FIU is keeping one spot open for later on. Maybe, C.J. Leslie?

Ultimate FIU Fan: Pete, Panther Pass has become very ordinary! Not covering MAJORITY of the men's hoops road games. What gives?!

PP: You can get the majority of men's hoops road games through the opponent's webcast. Like tonight's game at Bowling Green is available on video through BG's website for like $4.95.

No. 3-ranked Hoopster in U.S. Eyeing FIU

Although, you good people know my sentiments on recruiting and all the attention given to [insert name here of superstar high school player] thinking about 35 different schools before making a decision, the following is unprecedented territory for FIU basketball.

Rakeem Christmas, the No. 3 player in the nation for 2011, has whittled down his choices of college basketball programs to 5 and your Panthers are among the choices.

Granted, X-mas is still another whole year away from becoming a college hoopster, FIU has never been thisclose to landing this type of player -- except maybe in baseball where the No. 4 player in the nation -- Manny Machado is expected to sign with FIU this year, but might never field a ground ball for Turtle, because of the Major League Draft. Still, quite an accomplishment for both Isiah and Turtle.

Here is the latest story by Evan Daniels of scout.com about FIU's possible Christmas gift:

After listening to pitches from a number of college programs, Rakeem Christmas has sliced his list to five schools.

In early August, Rakeem Christmas, of Bryn Athyn (Pa.) Academy of New Church, cut his list of schools to eight. Now the No. 3 prospect in the 2011 class has narrowed his list further. “Since our last announcement, certain schools have made a valiant effort regarding Rakeem’s recruitment. Stronger bonds have been established with a few programs and their staff. Our current list reflects that.” Amira Hamid, Christmas' aunt and legal guardian, said. “Once we know it’s right for Rakeem and once he feels 100% confident about the situation, everyone else will know. This process has been lengthy but we are in no rush to meet a timeline. We’re pleased with the current schools we are considering and looking forward to watching them play this season.” Christmas’ new list consists four schools – Florida, Georgetown, Oklahoma and Texas --- that were among his list of eight that he released in August. He’s also added a new school – Florida International – to the mix. “I’m happy to work with a smaller group of schools going into the season,” Christmas said. “I’ve been so busy with maintaining my grades and practicing with the team, that I think this will help me focus with having to deal with less pressure during the season. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound post prospect hasn’t visited any of the five schools on his list. According to Hamid, they’ll likely look to take some trips following his junior season. “We might do something, but definitely not before the school year is over,” she told Scout.com. After a big showing on the AAU circuit during the spring and summer with Team Final, Christmas opted to make a change and switched from Northeast Catholic to Academy of New Church. Thus far it’s been a smooth change. “My transition at ANC has been great. I’m enjoying my classmates, teachers, and teammates,” Christmas added. “Coach Givens has been great with the workouts. I’m just ready for the season to start.” The Academy of the New Church opens their season on December 4th against Atlantic Christian

A True "Golden" Panther

It's a bye week for FIU football. FIU hoops does not play again until the weekend and the FIU volleyball ladies are back on the court Saturday against Florida A&M. On Sunday, the volleyball team learns when and where it would play its first and second round games of the NCAA Tournament -- likely at either Florida State or at FIU.

So with a short break in FIU sports, I wanted to use this post to salute FIU media relations maven Rich Kelch, who after 31 years at the helm of FIU media relations, worked his last FIU home game on Monday night as the Panthers hoopsters played Murray State.

Rich started as a student-intern in early 1978 and was hired by FIU in July 1978 and has not stopped since making life a lot easier for the media.

Whether it was getting a player or coach on the phone at the last minute, printing out a football media guide when no media guides were going to be printed or handing out hot dogs at halftime, Rich was a tireless and outstanding asset for those who cover or covered FIU.

And even when he was understaffed at games and he was handing out food or doing stuff that many media relations heads should not be doing, Rich always did it with a smile. I would always say to him, "Rich, you shouldn't be doing that, get someone else to hand out the in-game box scores." His response was: "Pete, I'm getting my exercise in."

Rich has won 6 CoSIDA awards -- which is sort of the media relations version of the Heisman Trophy -- during his 31 years. It should have been a whole lot more, but FIU is not in a BCS conference and Rich's 40-yard dash time was a 6.3, which is 2 whole seconds slower than T.Y. Hilton -- so that probably worked against Rich's favor.

Rich also won FIU's Co-Employee of the Year in 1998. Just one question for those in charge of handing out that award at FIU........Where the hell are Rich's other Employee of the Year awards? 31 years and just one EOY award. C'mon!!

FIU should name all the press boxes at all FIU playing venues: the Rich Kelch Press Box and at the Bank name it Rich Kelch Press Row.

Like a lot of athletes, Rich will tell you it's not about the awards. But unlike a lot of athletes, Rich means what he says.

Many of you good people might not know Rich, because he works behind the scenes at the FIU games and does not diagram plays, throw a curveball or set a volleyball, but if you see him at FIU football's final home game on Dec. 5 at the Don Shula Bowl at FIU Stadium, then stand up and give Rich an ovation or a pat on the back, because he certainly deserves that and much more. 

Last year, FIU came out with its very popular "I Am FIU" campaign, but the university should re-work it for Rich,, because "FIU is Rich Kelch".

PANTHER PAWSE

You good people got a 2-for-1 deal blog-wise yesterday and I was not able to get your pulse on the new FIU/Pitt football series. Tell us what you think and cast your vote below in the poll.

Q&A

FIU010: Pete, Please explain to me a few things.
1. Why is it that when I look to the sidelines at the FIU-UF game in Gainesville, I see our impressive coaching staff wearing the colors of the following schools (Arkansas, Arkansas State, Army, Central Florida, Cinci, Georgia, Houston, Iowa, Louisville, Missouri...) You get my point *BLACK* It is embarrassing that our coaching staff wears black and not Blue or Gold. Who makes these wardrobe decisions?
2. What was up with the play calling on two fourth and short attempts. An option...on the short side of the field...against one of the is not the fastest defense in the country!!!???
A Daunte Owens run up the gut with a defensive line that engulfs our sunbelt caliber O-line!!??
3. Lastly, Who does Antoine Walker think he is...I'm sorry wrong Antoine, I meant Antoine Watson. Does he realize that he maybe shouldn't shoot everytime he touches the ball? He is not 3-point sharp shooter like Antoine Walker haha but tried to be. .235 FG% & .200 3P% is unacceptable!.

PP: First of all, good job stomping on the floor at the Bank and leading the cheers at the basketball game on Monday night. Somebody had to get the wine & cheese crowd going. As for your questions:

1) The coaching staff makes wardrobe decisions. I'm sure if FIU was 8-3 instead of 3-8, then you'd be thinking black is the new blue & gold in fashion talk.

2) Not sure about that will ask after practice this week.

3) This basketball team has more issues than Watson's shooting. Without any height or depth this season, it could be a long season. It certainly does not help when you have to rely on the 3-pointer so much offensively, because when the team goes cold so does the opportunity for a W.

PANTERA NATION: Pete I don't know what do u think? Maybe we can have a little survey on this...With changing the nickname to PANTERAS, we wont have to change the logo plus we get to distinguish ourselves from all the other Panthers around.

PP: I don't like the PANTERAS nickname, but it's Thanksgiving and I'm thankful for your readership so I will put a poll question below the Pitt poll question to see what the rest of GPP Nation thinks.

Concerned B-Ball Fan: Pete this hiring is looking more and more like media hype for IT and FIU then it does about building the program. I was not expecting us to be this bad. Were you?

PP: Let's see no height, no depth, IT hired on Signing Day when all of the best recruits were already signed somewhere else and not much inherited talent, yeah, I was and am expecting a bad season from FIU hoops. IT has a 5-year deal. If it is a Marsh-like FIU team 3 or 4 years from now, then you may be right. But FIU was not going to compete for the Sun Belt this season.

Were you the same guy who told me in Gainesville that FIU should be embarrassed losing to Florida? Might be time for a reality check for you.

With 1 game left in the season, Fomenter has clinched the Win A GPP Blog extravaganza. There are 6 contestants left competing for the 2009 Sun Belt Football Media Guide. 

WIN A GPP BLOG WEEK 11 STANDINGS (Florida Atlantic/FIU scores due by Dec. 5 at 6:59 p.m. Eastern GPP Time)

11-0

Fomenter (155)

9-2

FIU0406 (177), NYCFIUFan (201)

8-3

CJ (194), BaltimorePanther (201), theINTERNATIONAL (210), Joel (213)

7-4

TheChampionUnderdog (194), FIU Fanatic (199), CrazyCane (259) 

5-6

SouthPaw (238)

4-7

FIUer (408)

GPP: 9-2, (171)

Online Surveys & Market Research

Online Surveys & Market Research

FIU vs. Murray State LIVE BLOG

It's the final game of the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer tournament that FIU is hosting.

And the final home game for FIU until Dec. 31 when South Alabama visits the Bank for a 12 noon game on New Years' Eve. That's 28 days on the road for your Panthers, if you're scoring at home.

Tonight, against the Racers, FIU faces probably the best team in this tournament. If the Panthers are not ready for this one, then it could get out of hand early. Follow along and let's see what happens.

Panthers vs. Panthers

FIU and Pittsburgh have agreed to a home-and-home series in football beginning next season at Heinz Field.

Pitt comes to FIU for the return game in 2014 at FIU Stadium.

This is the first of several home-and-home series with BCS schools that FIU is working on.

So the start of FIU's schedule next season is expected to be: Sept. 4 vs. a Sun Belt team (the opener has still not been decided whether it will be home or away).

Sept. 11 - home vs. Rutgers; then at Texas A&M; at Pitt; at Maryland and then 7 Sun Belt games, which the conference will not announce the schedule until later. The bye weeks for next season have not been set yet, because the schedule has not been set.

Will get to your questions and have the updated Win a GPP Blog leaderboard later.

Will be back on here for the LIVE HOOPS BLOG of FIU/Murray State at 6:45 p.m. tonight from the Bank.

James Madison vs. FIU Hoops LIVE BLOG