Around the Dog Park is our daily round up of G5 football news around the internet. Feel free to submit any news we may have missed in the comments section.

General G5 Football

• Let’s take a moment for an annual reminder that the NCAA doesn’t police school changes for coaches the way they do for athletes. Yet again dozens of coaches around the country looked recruits in the eyes and told them empty promises only to ditch them for another school in the days following National Signing Day.
• The MWC Mountain, the AAC West, and the MAC West were the top three G5 divisions in college football last season. Here’s a toast to the MAC East who ranked depths below all other divisions.

American

• The American Conference released their official schedules today. Their press release repeatedly uses the phrase “Power 6”.
• Major Applewhite will face a serious challenge in his first season as a head coach as the Cougars’ schedule doesn’t have many gimmes on it.
• Meanwhile, Navy’s schedule lines up pretty nicely. If they can get the best of Notre Dame then the Midshipmen could be in for a wild season.
• Temple’s schedule does them very few favors in Geoff Collins’ first season.
• Speaking of which, a weak 2017 signing class has Temple fans feeling hesitant about the direction of the program under Collins.

Conference USA

• There’s no better way to start off the CUSA section than voicing our excitement for Louisana Tech Bulldog Jaqwis Dancy. The Bulldogs’ running back has won his painful battle against Stage Three Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
• In other news out of Ruston, projected starting quarterback J’Mar Smith will also be playing baseball for Louisiana Tech this spring. Football will take precedence in his schedule.
• The Virginia state government endorsed Old Dominion’s stadium renovation plans. The school is aiming to have the construction completed for their 2019 season opener against Norfolk State.
• North Texas has rapidly lost many of their assistant coaches to Power Five schools. It’s a good sign for head coach Seth Littrell’s eye for coaching talent but the Mean Green will need to regroup.
• Middle Tennessee cornerback Jeremy Cutrer is emerging as a draft sleeper.

Sun Belt

• Neal Brown turned in a solid recruiting class at Troy this year but another strong winning season could take their talent level to even higher ranks.
• Former New Mexico State defensive coordinator Zane Vance has landed at Charleston Southern as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.