It must be a difficult week for longtime University of Memphis football fans wondering about the long-term future of the program.

It wasn’t long ago — 2004 to be exact — that Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida were battling for the Conference USA title. Louisville went 11-1 overall, 8-0 in the league and finished sixth nationally. Cincinnati went 7-5, following a 5-7 finish a year earlier, and South Florida was stumbling to a second straight 4-7 season.

Memphis was on roll, earning its second straight bowl bid for the first time in the program’s history.

Three years later, it’s quite a different story.

By putting significant money into their programs, Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida earned invitations to the Big East, a BCS conference, and are reaping the rewards. While Louisville has struggled to a 3-3 start, the Cardinals were a consensus Top 10 pick at the beginning of the year and have become a national program. Cincinnati, a program not unlike Memphis during its C-USA tenure, is unbeaten and ranked 15th nationally. And South Florida is the early season Cinderella, cracking the top 10 for the first time.

Ten years ago, who could have imagined a Louisville-Cincinnati football game being one of the nation’s top matchups.

With a new on-campus stadium and new state-of-the-art practice facilities, South Florida’s C-USA opponent Saturday, Central Florida, is positioning itself to follow Louisville’s, Cincinnati’s and South Florida’s blueprint.

Grizzlies vs. Estudiantes

The game again featured two NBA officials (Luis Grillo and Jack Nies) on the three-man crew. A hybrid of NBA and European rules applied.

First Quarter
Sporting new uniforms (road blue trimmed with Spanish colors — gold and red — down the side), coach Marc Iavaroni went with the same starting lineup he used Tuesday against Unicaja Malaga. Damon Stoudamire, Mike Miller, Rudy Gay, Stromile Swift and Pau Gasol got the Griz going early with noticeable improvement in all the areas that plagued them during a loss in the preseason opener. They rebounded well and played solid defense. Gasol and Swift blocked shots on consecutive possessions and Miller later took a charge as Estudiantes found it difficult to get field goal attempts near the rim. Brian Cardinal and Tarence Kinsey checked in for the first time after not playing at Malaga. Intensity wasn’t a problem to start this one as the Griz dominated en route to a 32-11 lead.



Second Quarter
Forward Andre Brown came off the bench and immediately scored a layup that put the Griz ahead 40-13. Brown was seeing his first preseason action after sitting out against Malaga. This is shaping up to be a total mismatch as Estudiantes can’t match the Grizzlies’ strength and speed. Makes you wonder how Estudiantes beat Unicaja Malaga last Sunday. Credit the Griz, though, for their execution and consistency so far.

Halftime score: Grizzlies 52. Estudiantes 33.

Third Quarter
Mike Conley and Hakim Warrick started the second half as the Griz continued to control every aspect of the game. Needless to say, the Griz had fun in this one. They went ahead 73-42 after Lowry fed Darko Milicic for a dunk. Milicic smacked the backboard with both hands and flashed a smile on the play. Griz take an 80-52 advantage into the fourth quarter so get ready for extensive garbage time.

Fourth Quarter
Free agent Dontell Jefferson got in the game. What else did you expect?

Final Score: Grizzlies 98. Estudiantes 73.

The Griz departed for Memphis soon after the game and should arrive in United States early Friday morning.

THE BIG STORY

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville hears the rumors that he’ll be coaching somewhere else next year, maybe Texas A&M or Arkansas if those schools have openings.

But Tuberville, in his ninth year as Auburn’s head coach and the the third winningest coach in the country since 2000, said he really doesn’t want to go anywhere. He recently he moved into a new multi-million-dollar home.

“We like it here,” Tuberville told syndicated radio show The Sports Tap on Wednesday. “I just built a new home and we’ve got two kids in school, and moving is very tough on families. This is a great place, and we’ve worked very hard to get the program where it is.

“Our coaches love it here, that’s the main thing. If people want us here, sure we want to be here and be part of the program.”

A look at the league: Read the rest of this entry »

And many more…
Rookie point guard Mike Conley turns 20 today, sharing a birthday with Keith Brown – the Grizzlies’ season ticket holder that won an all-expense paid trip to Spain with the team.

Video Postcard
Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace previews today’s meeting with Estudiantes. Also, NBA commissioner David Stern will attend the game.

Postcards competition
The Grizzlies’ video postcards have received more than 3,300 views as tabulated by YouTube. It’s been an interesting competition so far in terms of were players rank in popularity.
As of early Thursday, here is how the top five looked:
1. Hakim Warrick, 752
2. Mike Conley, 613
3. Pau Gasol, 526
4. Mike Miller, 306
5. Brian Cardinal, 194
*Warrick and Gasol also carry 5-star ratings.

Meet the Grizzlies’ scout that is based in Italy

With day of competition in the books, Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., is leading the FLW Series event on Pickwick Lake.

On Wednesday, Rose caught five bass that weighed 18 pounds, 15 ounces. He holds a 2-pound, 8-ounce lead in the $1 million tournament, featuring 200 pros and 200 co-anglers representing 28 states.
Read the rest of this entry »