FAU Golf Drives to the Top!

While the major sports at FAU are continuing to strive for excellence in their conference and in the nation, the FAU Men's Golf team has been rep'n the FAU letters quite well!

FAU started off the season with a 16 stroke! win over Army on Feb. 19 at the Polo Club of Boca Raton.  Leading the pack for the team was junior, Clint Wilhelm, who scored a 73 for the round, ending with a 1-over-par for the Equestrian Course at the Polo Club.

This momentum continued through the
week, when the team played their second tournament of the season at the Gary Freeman BCU Spring Invitational at the LPGA's International Championship Course. After two rounds of play, the Owls managed a team score of 3-over-par (579) to lead Bethune Cookman by 1 stroke. Again, junior, Clint Wilhelm, led not only the Owls, but managed to put him self into first place for the entire tournament with a score of 212 (4-under-par) on the par 72 course. The team's co-captain, Justin Thompson, had an outstanding tournament as well, tying him for sixthplace with a 218 for the tournament.  The Owl fell short of first place as a team, finishing third place overall in the tournament.  However, the FAU Golf team is showing the fans and community that they are here to stay and will be nudging for the top spot in the next round of play starting on March 4 for the three-day South Florida Invitational in Dade City, at the Lake Jovita Country Club!

Sincerely,
The Informer

Sources:
http://www.fausports.com/sports/m-golf/recaps/022912aad.html

Baseball Season is Upon Us!

The time has come for the FAU Baseball team to hit the field, and boy did they 'hit it'!  FAU started off the season against SEC's University of Alabama with Coach McCormick in search of his 100th win.  The team didn't wait long to get Coach this win as they dominated the Crimson Tide in a three game sweep in Tuscaloosa, FAU's first sweep since 1999 when they played the Wildcats of Kentucky. FAU was the first team in 11 years to sweep Alabama, and the first in 113 years to sweep the Tide at home. Also, the Owls forced Alabama to start the season 0-3, which hasn't happened since 1952.  If that's not enough significancy for you, the Owls also brought home some national recognition from this sweep!

Florida Atlantic players won two Sun Belt honors given out on Tuesday for this past weekend's performance.  Alex Hudak, outfielder, was awarded with the Sun Belt Player of the Week as he went 6 for 12 with 7 RBI's against the Tide. Hudak concluded the series with two home runs and 5 RBI's, which helped the Owl's leap to  victory for the final game of the series.  Pitcher, Ryan Garton, was awarded the Sun Belt Pitcher of the week while winning the first game (5-2) of the 2012 season for the Owls.  Garton kept the Tide to just three hits and one earned run, while striking out 7 and only walking one.  Garton earned the number one starting spot in the rotation and it looks like he will stay there for awhile.

The Owls baseball look to impress the FAU fans as they come home on Friday as they play Manhatten in their stadium that was just recently fixed up and looks much better, thanks to some new exterior banners.  With this great start, we hope to see another winning season by Coach McCormick and his boys this year!

Sincerely,
The Informer

Sources
http://www.fauowlaccess.com/articles/152/alex-hudak-and-ryan-garton-honored-by-sun-belt-conference.aspx
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fau-owls/fl-fau-news-0222-20120221,0,3780305.story

Bye bye Sun Belt?

Is it time to say 'good bye' to the beloved Sun Belt Conference for the Owls? 

We can only hope so!  With a new 'Mega' conference beginning in the 2013-2014 academic year, teams from Conference USA and Mountain West have been plucked to be in an 18-24 team conference.  Teams ranging all the way from Hawaii to East Carolina, this conference is undoubtedly the largest conference geographically speaking.  But would this be a smart move for the FAU Owls?


The conference (yet to be named) would be split into a West and East conference to help the travel aspect and could potentially create great conference rivalries within.  As of now, the West division consist of UTEP, Tulsa, Rice, Wyoming, UNLV, New Mexico, Nevada, Hawaii, Fresno State, Air Force, Colorado State; and the East contains Tulane, UAB, Marshall, Southern Miss and East Carolina.  Adding FAU and FIU would contribute great competition to the smaller eastern division, as well as adding two teams from Florida which the conference is currently missing.  

FAU is desperately seeking some excitement in their competition, since playing teams like the Louisiana sisters, North Texas, Ark. St., and the others aren't the most entertaining events for fans to watch.  Therefore, playing teams like Southern Miss and ECU could attract more fans and fill the brand new Stadium that is still seeking a truly sold out crowd.  Not to mention, the potential TV opportunities for FAU could bring in a significant amount of dollar signs for the Athletic Department which is currently underfunded and desperately in need of a larger budget.  But with that said, being in this new conference would challenge the Owl's differently than the Sun Belt and a 1-11 season would not be welcomed by any Owl fan in South Florida.  But just like we said with our new stadium, our new football coach, and now a new conference, only time will tell!


Sincerely,
The Informer


Sources:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-02-13/sports/os-conference-usa-mountain-west-merger-0214-20120213_1_conference-usa-independent-football-program-new-conference
http://www.fauowlaccess.com/blogs/owlthingsconsidered/2012/02/fau-could-be-a-candidate-for-new-national-conference.aspx
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/14/3752922/c-usa-mountain-west-agree-to-merger.html
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports/college/fau/blog/2012/02/fau_a_target_for_spanning_the.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fausportsblog+%28FAU+Sports+%7C+Sun-Sentinel+Blogs%29

In the Hands of the Fans for FAU Basketball

Coming off a tough loss to cross town rival FIU, the Florida Atlantic team faces two crucial games this week that will either make or break the Owls for the Sun Belt Tournament.  The Owls (9-14, 5-5 Sun Belt) are struggling to stay consistent in their gameplay as well as bringing in fan support to the Burrow.  As usual, the student section was pumping loud and proud for the game against Florida International, but getting the students to the games this week against Denver and North Texas might be a little more difficult. 

Home court advantage is definitely something that has grown immensely in the past three years at the burrow, and the students are finally starting to act like they are proud to be an Owl.  Although the Burrow can barely fit over 2,000 fans, the need to expand is sometimes desired and sometimes neglected.  For games against rivals such as FIU and WKU, the students always find a way to get there.  Whether it's because of the free shirts or simply because they want to watch a good competitive basketball game is hard to tell.  Regardless, the fan support of FAU is picking up and the team cannot be happier with the help of the 6th man.


If the FAU students can get out to the games this week, then the Owls would definitely have a good chance in receiving a bye in the first round of the Sun Belt Tourny.  This would indeed help the team get to the long desired NCAA tournament, but they need to first prove that they can win at home and be a contender in the tough games to come.  Only time will tell, how quickly it will take FAU to be a national contender for the 'Oh so beautiful' NCAA Championship title.

Sincerely,
The Informer

Sources:
http://www.fauowlaccess.com/articles/139/denver-at-fau-preview---owlaccesscom.aspx
http://www.fausports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/020712aaa.html

The Future looks bright down in Boca Raton

FAU Football fans have been burrowed away this Spring ever since the ending of a

1-11 season last fall.  With a new coach in the office and a glimpse of sunlight on the horizon, the future of FAU Football is looking quite bright!

With many questions for Coach Pelini and his staff regarding the plans for this program, I believe a simple list will help answer and resolve many of the conversations Owl fan's and media reporters might have.  With the help of many, such as Assistant Coach and FAU Football Alum Jared Allen, Coach Pelini has brought in 28 commitments via NLI (National Letter of Intent) to the FAU program.  Six of them were mid-season recruits that were brought on in January.

(Above: Adrian Burton, DB from Pompano Beach-Ely signs his NLI with FAU at his high school ceremony - Photo Credit: OWL ACCESS)

The list is considered one of the best recruiting seasons yet for the Owls (Chris Nee, a Florida writer from Rivals.com) and Carl looks to capitalize and turn these recruits into Sun Belt Champions. Watch Coach Pelini's Press Conference regarding Signing Day here

One of the most exciting commitments is a quarterback from Pearl River Community College (Poplarville, Mississippi).  The 6'3'' 195 lbs. Melvin German lll is a triple threat quarterback who looks to bring strong competition to the QB position, and not to mention some overall 'swag' that has lacked in the past.  German lll completed 65% of his passes for over 2,700 yds and 17 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions last season.  His size and speed will put the defense on their toes and change the game of Sun Belt play.  But only time will tell, and for now we can only depend and trust in Pelini's staff that with the right training and practice, German lll will lead this Owl's team back to the top and hopefully out of the Conference.

Sincerely,

The Informer

Sources:

-http://www.news-press.com/article/20120201/SPORTS/120201014/1011/SPORTS01/Dunbar-grad-Melvin-German-III-signs-FAU?odyssey=nav%7Chead

-http://jcfootball.scout.com/a.z?s=87&p=8&c=1&nid=5431513

-http://www.fausports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020112aaa.html