San Diego St. -
Over the weekend, long time Aztec football head coach Don Coryell passed away. The memorial service is being held at Viejas Arena on July 12.
A public memorial service celebrating the life of Don Coryell will be held on Monday, July 12, at San Diego State University's Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl, beginning at 2 p.m. PT. The Coryell family has indicated that this will be the only service.
In other news, it seems that the Aztecs are already looking past football and can't wait for basketball to start.
San Diego State returns all five starters - D.J. Gay, Kawhi Leonard, Chase Tapley, Malcolm Thomas and Billy White - from a team that posted a 25-9 record, won the Mountain West Conference tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. ESPN analysts Dick Vitale, Andy Katz and Pat Forde have all listed the Aztecs among their top 25 teams in the country. SDSU is ranked 23rd by Vitale, 24th by Katz and is among the top 23 teams listed by Forde. The Aztecs are one of just 21 teams nationally that are listed in the top 25 of all three ESPN analysts' polls.
Season Tickets for the "Most anticipated season in Aztecs basketball history" are on sale as of today.
Air Force -
The Falcons are already getting ready to throw a party to celebrate the start of the 2010 football season.
Join other Falcon fans for a celebration of the start of the 2010 Air Force Football season at Toast to the Host, a pre-season party and beer tasting. The party will take place on August 7 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Cadet Gym Terrazzo.
The cost is just $25 per person to enjoy samples from beer, wine and food vendors while watching the Falcon football practice from the terrazzo area. Vendors include Colorado Mountain Brewery, Rockyard American Grill and Brewing Company, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery and Trinity Brewing Company.
The Air Force hockey team also received some recognition over the weekend, ten players from the team received academic all-conference honors.
Ten Air Force hockey players were named to the 2010 Atlantic Hockey Association all-academic team, as announced by the AHA league office. The 10 selections tie as the second most in school history. AFA had 10 cadet-athletes on the team last season as well. The 10 selections tie as the most since 11 Falcons earned all-academic honors in the College Hockey America conference in 2005-06. A total of 140 student-athletes earned academic all-AHA honors, a new league record.
TCU -
The Horned Frogs are garnering some national recognition, with Lindy's 2010 College Football Preview ranking the Frogs backfield as 5th in the Country.
The TCU offense is led by four-year starter Andy Dalton, the nation's leader in wins (29) by an active quarterback. Dalton's 29 victories also tie him with Slingin' Sammy Baugh (1934-36) for the most in TCU history.
Also returning to the TCU backfield this season are sophomores Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley who rushed for 676 and 638 yards, respectively, as freshmen in 2009.
TCU's football program is really being respected... Yahoo! gave them the highest amount of all-americans among all NCAA Football schools at 4.
TCU football led the nation with four selections on the Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports Preseason All-America teams.
Center Jake Kirkpatrick and punt returner Jeremy Kerley were first-team picks, while offensive tackle Marcus Cannon and safety Tejay Johnson were chosen for the second team.
UNLV -
The TV time for the Rebels game at West Virginia this season has been set.
UNLV's football game at West Virginia on Oct. 9 will begin at 12:30 p.m. PT and be shown live in Las Vegas on KVVU-TV Fox 5, the school announced Thursday.
The non-conference clash will be televised by ESPN Regional's BIG EAST Network and be picked up here by the Fox affiliate.
I'm glad Fox picked up that game. I wouldn't have been able to see it otherwise.
UNLV received many academic awards for the past season, getting over 50 MWC Scholar-Athlete awards for the second year in a row.
For the second straight year UNLV saw over 50 student-athletes receive the Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete Award, as 51 Rebels were honored by the conference on Thursday. That was just two off the all-time athletic department high of 53, set last year.
The MWC Scholar-Athlete Award is the highest academic honor bestowed by the Conference. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better, and have participated in varsity competition in an NCAA-sponsored sport.
BYU -
BYU Men's Golf Head Coach Bruce Brockbank became the 28th president of the GCAA.
BYU men’s golf head coach Bruce Brockbank was named to a two-year term as the 28th president of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) on Thursday.
Brockbank has led the Cougars to 37 tournament wins, including conference titles in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2007. During the just completed 2009-10 campaign, he guided the golf team to its 18th appearance in the NCAA Regionals.
BYU softball pitcher Paige Affleck received her third academic award of the year with an MWC Scholar-Athlete award.
Affleck has a cumulative GPA of 3.52 in grad school while at the same time leading the Cougars in the circle as BYU's ace pitcher last season. Helping BYU advance to the program's first-ever NCAA Super Regional, Affleck finished with the 10th-most wins in the country at 32, also a BYU record.
Colorado St. -
Steve Fairchild says that 4 running backs on the team are capable of starting this year.
"I think we're deep there. We're talented there. I mean, there are 4-5 guys we can line up and play well with at running back. So, our challenge is to figure out the rotation, figure out who does what and how we're going to use all these guys."
As for the Starting QB situation, here is what Fairchild had to say.
"We're always going to play the guy that gives us our best chance to win. The last couple years it's been a fifth-year senior. This year, it's going to be a freshman. We're either going to start a true freshman in Pete Thomas or a redshirt freshman in Nico Ranieri.
"I'd like to think they're going to play well, but any first-year starter at the quarterback spot, whether he's a freshman or a senior, is going to have some growing pains. Hopefully we can surround him with guys playing well, and not put the entire burden on the quarterback."
Wyoming -
Wyoming Athletic fundraising efforts continue to set records, breaking their previous record high for the fourth year in a row.
For the fourth straight year, Wyoming Athletics has set a fundraising record. For fiscal year 2010, which ended June 30, Wyoming Athletics and the Cowboy Joe Club added $3.4 million in total revenue, breaking the $3 million mark for the first time and meeting the goal of $3.3 million set in 2007 by then Cowboy Joe Club Board President Gary Crum. Adding capital and other gifts donated in 2010 to the $3.4 million in Cowboy Joe Club annual revenue, a total of $8,439,790 was given to Wyoming Athletics for the 2010 fiscal year.
Chris Pendleton was added to the staff of Wyoming Wrestling on July 1st.
The name recognition associated with the Wyoming Cowboy Wrestling program took another step in the right direction today as head coach Mark Branch announced that two-time NCAA Champion and three-time All-American Chris Pendleton would be joining his coaching staff this coming season.
"Chris has an outstanding wrestling pedigree and will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our upper weights," Branch said. "He is one of the best technicians in the country and he has a passion for coaching. He has trained with some of the best wrestlers in the country and has coached some very successful athletes. I know he will do great things with our team."
Utah -
Two of Utah's baseball stars are preparing to play for the USA national baseball team in the World Baseball Classic.
"It is the biggest honor to wear the USA logo across your chest and to represent your country is a tremendous honor," Kinneberg said. "After an eight-month process of choosing the team, I am excited to see the players and get to know them. It is a thrill to develop the team and try to win a gold medal at the World Championships.
Utah has won the bid to host a 2012 NCAA Gymnastics Regional.
It will mark the 12th time that Utah has hosted an NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regional. The Utes also hosted in 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2010. Utah has won 10 of the regionals it has hosted to date, finishing second to Florida two months ago.
New Mexico -
The Lobos led the MWC in MWC Scholar-Athlete award recipients with 104.
The Lobos boast 19 honorees to achieved a 4.00 or higher cumulative grade point average and 12 recognized in multiple sports. New Mexico also saw nine seniors earn the honor for the fourth time in their careers. The MWC Scholar-Athlete Award is one of the highest academic honors bestowed by the Conference. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better, and have participated in varsity competition in an NCAA-sponsored sport.
New Mexico basketball head coach Steve Alford helped out with fundraising for the Special Olympics.
Lobo Coach Steve Alford has been involved in Special Olympics since 1984 and he's involved again July 18-19 in a fund-raising golf tourney to be held at the Four Hills Country Club. "It is my privilege to be around this type of athlete," said Alford, who took the UNM program to back-to-back Mountain West titles. "There is a dedication and a courage you see in these athletes that you don't always get to see."
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