Louisville's Sept. 22 visit to FIU will be a 7 p.m. game, as decreed by college-affiliated football's four-letter television masters from Bristol. Now an ESPN3 game, it could move to ESPNU. That would be FIU's third ESPNU game of the season, as they'll already be on against Arkansas State and FAU. The Oct. 20 game at Troy also is now a 3:30 start, in case you were planning any birthday parties around it.
Of course, the big question is whether the gap pictured below will be filled in exactly three months from Friday...
SOCCER
Gulliver and FIU alumnus Jean Camere will be an assistant coach and FIU alum Phillip Lamarre will be a volunteer goalkeeper coach under first-year men's soccer head coach Kenny Arena.
Over on the XX side, FIU's defending Sun Belt Conference champions will open the season Aug. 17 at home against Stetson. Two more home games, Aug. 19 vs. Jacksonville and Aug. 26 vs. Morehead State. The first two home games will be Parents Weekend, a good move to get some folks in the stands at a time few folks are around campus.
Then, comes the toughest part of the schedule -- a hat trick of road games against Florida Gulf Coast, Florida and LSU, a combined record of 44-21-3 last season among the three NCAA tournament teams.
Prediction on men's soccer: Arena continues to build on the rebuiliding Munga Eketebi tried to do under the yoke of NCAA sanctions, but playing in still-tough Conference USA keeps FIU under .500.
Prediction on women's soccer: Sun Belt Conference regular season champions. If they come out of the first three-game road stretch with only one loss, they might get into the NCAA tournament without winning the conference tournament.
SWIMMING & DIVING
The 2011-12 College Swimming & Diving Honors named FIU as one of its nine Female Break Out Teams for the Sun Belt Conference meet performance; one of nine top Championship Performances (by a) Female for sweeping the Sun Belt swimmer (Johanna Gustafsdottir), diver (Sabrina Beaupre), head coach (Randy Horner) and assistant coach (diving coach Chris Mantilla) of the year awards at the conference meet; and Mantilla was named one of the top nine assistant coaches of the year.
A little June Jamiroquai break...
...now back to news.
BASEBALL
Phil Haig, who led FIU with nine wins, 72 strikeouts, 99.1 innings pitched and 16 starts in 2011, announced he'll be the new pitching coach at Sam Houston State.
Lake Worth Trinity Christian catcher Phildrick Llewellyn, an FIU commit who became the highest drafted Phildrick when taken by Arizona on Tuesday, told the Palm Beach Post he'll sign with the Diamondbacks organization soon.
