WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Middle Tennessee's first appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championships has garnered a wealth of national exposure for the Blue Raider program.

Middle Tennessee will be showcased, along with St. Mary's, in Wednesday's edition of Lance Ringler's "Off Campus" feature. Ringler, Golfweek's assistant editor, interviewed Blue Raiders Kent Bulle and Chas Narramore, along with Head Coach Whit Turnbow, for the video.

"It's great exposure for our players and our program," Turnbow said. "Any recognition and publicity is good but to be featured nationally only brings more attention and that's always a good thing. I've always told our players that the only way to gain respect is to earn it so it's rewarding to see their hard working paying off."

The feature, which can be accessed at Golfweek.com, focuses on Middle Tennessee's storybook season and making it to the greatest stage in collegiate golf for the first time. Golfweek named Middle Tennessee its men's "National Team of the Week" three times during the 2008 spring season.

MEDIA DARLINGS: Not only are the Blue Raiders featured in Ringler's "Off Campus" feature Thursday, but Golfweek Senior Writer Ron Balicki also wrote a story about the team's appearance here that appeared on Golfweek.com Wednesday.

Middle Tennessee's players and coaches also have warranted local and regional coverage in the midst of a record-smashing season that has seen the team win five tournaments, including four straight during one stretch.

Head Coach Whit Turnbow was featured in Wednesday's Shelbyville Times-Gazette, Rick Cochran was featured in Tuesday's Daily News Journal, Kent Bulle has been featured in his hometown paper, The Glasgow Daily Times, multiple times in the last week, Chas Narramore was recently featured in the Kingston Roane County News, and Nick Bailes was featured in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press following Middle Tennessee's showing at the NCAA Regional.

FIRST TIMERS: Middle Tennessee and St. Mary's, Calif., are the only first-time participants at the NCAA National Championships. Blue Raider Head Coach Whit Turnbow, 29, is the youngest head coach amongst the field and is one of two first-year head coaches who are here. The other is UCLA's Derek Freeman.

TOUGH FIELD: Nine of the 30 teams vying for the 2008 National Championship already have at least one title to their credit. They are Georgia, Stanford, UCLA, Wake Forest, Oklahoma State, Clemson, Florida, Texas and Arizona State.

NOTHING EASY ABOUT IT: Purdue University's Kampen Course was redesigned by Pete Dye in 1996. Dye is the world renowned course designer who was named World Golf magazine Architect of the Year in 1994, and 10 of his courses have recently been included in the Top 100 courses in the nation. The Kampen Course is rated one of the top collegiate courses in America.

LINE OF THE WEEK ... SO FAR: Upon realizing the Kampen Course is public and can be played for the small fee of $36, one Blue Raider player was overheard saying, "Great, you can pay $36 to shoot 100."

In all actuality the course is not always set up as difficult as it is for this week's National Championship; however, officials have strived to make it as hard as possible for this week's tournament.

ANOTHER GREAT LINE: After being presented with a gift following his speech at Monday night's welcome dinner Dye said, "All I wanted was a hat."

MURFREESBORO TIES: Arizona State Head Coach Randy Lein, who is in his 16th season and led his team to the 1996 National Championship, is a Murfreesboro native.

NAME GAME: San Diego Head Coach Tim Mickelson is the brother of PGA tour pro Phil Mickelson. San Diego is not participating in the National Championships; however, Tim Mickelson is on hand as a member of the NCAA Golf Committee.

Oregon second-year Head Coach Casey Martin is a familiar name in golf circles. Martin suffers from Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, a degenerative disorder that causes his veins to rupture and fill the cavities around his tibia with blood. Golf fans will remember Martin successfully sued the PGA Tour in 2001 for the right to use a golf cart during competition under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Supreme Court found for Martin in a 7-2 decision.

Martin is in his second season as Oregon's Head Golf Coach and has the Ducks in the National Championships for the first time since 2003.

Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas is the brother of PGA tour pro Jay Haas.

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