Photo Gallery Coach Craig Bohl and his team teach Bison cheers to Bright Elementary students. James Iorio, principal of Robertson Elementary, accepts team football from Sam Houston State Bearkats.

The teams are rivals but their messages to Frisco ISD elementary students were the same - study hard, do your best, and stay in school.

For the second year in a row, NCAA officials arranged for the teams competing in the NCAA Division I Championship game to visit schools in Frisco. The coaches and players enjoyed the cheering and support they found at the schools among some of the city's youngest football fans.

The Sam Houston Bearkats visited Robertson Elementary School where they found students lining the sidewalk making their bearkat claws and sporting orange pom--poms in support of "their" team. At Bright, the students wore Bison headbands were waving green pom-poms. Both teams presented the schools with footballs signed by the team players.

Matt Veldman, tight end from North Dakota State University, spoke to the Bright students and encouraged them to listen to their teachers and to be willing to ask for help with difficult subjects. "The things you are learning now are the foundation for what you will learn the rest of your life," he said.

Mayor Maher Maso welcomed the North Dakota team to Frisco and then led the Bright students in their school motto "I think like a winner" motto to encourage the team.

Students at Robertson asked Bearkat players questions about their favorite NFL teams and what teams Coach Willie Fritz had coached in the past. When one student asked how big a player was - the student got to take part in a side-by-side comparison.