Around the Dog Park: Underdogs catch the eyes of NFL scouts

General G5

• Several Underdogs made ESPN’s list of the top performers during bowl games.
• There’s a big change to college football on the horizon as coaching staffs petition to allow freshmen to play in up to four games while still retaining their fifth year of eligibility.
• Our staff voted on awards for our best writers/editors/podcasters.
• USA Today assigned letter grades to all teams in FBS.
• The Vegas Golden Knights are in a trademark battle with Army over the rights to use the mascot name.

• Bleacher Report’s list of the biggest sleepers in the NFL Draft features several Underdogs.
• Bill Connelly has started his countdown of the top 100 games of the 2017 college football season.
• We’ve released our way-too-early top ten rankings for the G5 in 2018.
• ESPN has a few interesting predictions for the 2018 season.
• Who was the true football state champion of your state? The results may surprise you.

AAC

• We approve of this UCF attempt to further troll Alabama.
• Houston will seek to complete their coaching staff with the hire of a safeties and cornerbacks coach.
• Kyle Allen has opted to forego his final year of eligibility at Houston and put his name in for the NFL draft.
• #JoeTalk has returned as the Joes break down the AAC’s bowl season and crowd UCF national champions.
• Could successful 2017 seasons help in UCF’s and USF’s campaign to join the Big 12?
• ECU has hired Daric Riley as safeties coach.
• UConn has hired John Dunn as the Huskies’ offensive coordinator.
• While watching Case Keenum lead the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL playoffs we must remember that Keenum was one of the best college football quarterbacks of all time when he was at Houston.

C-USA

• North Texas walk on tryouts are set for January 31st.
• Charlotte has announced their search committee for their next athletic director. The most notable name is Fred Whitefield, the President and COO of the Charlotte Hornets.
• Which painting portrait most closely resembles your C-USA team’s head coach?
• Southern Miss charts out their recruiting plan for the last month of the 2018 recruiting class.
• Our C-USA Pawdcast is back as the fellas recap bowl season.
• Let’s take a look back at the 4th and two play that gave UTSA their first P5 win in program history as they sacked Anu Solomon to beat Baylor.
• Former Auburn receiver Kyle Davis will join Lane Kiffin’s FAU squad in Boca Raton.
• Bobby Wilder will be inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame this summer.
• UAB will open their 2018 season against Savannah State.
• North Texas has added a transfer from Idaho.
• Rice has lost another promising player to the graduate transfer rule as Preston Gordon has announced his intention to transfer for his fifth year of eligibility.
• Lousiana Tech has added a transfer from TCU.

Sun Belt

• The improvement of New Mexico State’s defense paved the way their historic season.
• The Sun Belt is graduating one of its strongest class of quarterbacks ever. Here’s a look at those guys as well as who could be in line to replace them.
• ULM athletic director Nick Floyd answers questions from the press after his first six months on the job.
• Louisiana-Lafayette didn’t enjoy a very successful 2017 season but there’s hope on the horizon.
• Despite losing their spot in the Sun Belt, NMSU athletics is in great shape in Year 4 under Mario Moccia.
• Jaleel Scott is starting to draw the attention of NLF scouts who love his athletic potential.
• New Mexico State generated $24.4 million in media coverage with their bowl game.
• NMSU has scheduled a bowl win celebration for Saturday, January 20th.
• The Aggies have added three players to their 2018 recruiting class.
• Troy has added a big time graduate transfer from Louisville.
• ULM has added an assistant coach with local ties to serve as the Warhawk’s wide receivers coach.
• Here’s our first crack at ranking the Sun Belt for the upcoming 2018 season.