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Interesting that one jumps immediately to the conclusion that UNT is not doing much. My guess is that UNT is doing quite a bit and that unless one is involved in the process they really have no clue. And, if anyone thinks Houston is going immediately to the Big XII or whatever it will be called now, they may have to throttle back those hopes...at least for awhile. The reports I have read say that, for now, the Big "Whatever" is fine with ten members. But, to the bigger issue. These type of comments do absolutely no good, and are a reflection of the "stinking thinking" (to borrow a phrase from Zig Zigler) so prevalent in may of UNT's so-called fans. The first thought is not that UNT is probably working behind the scenes very diligently to keep track of all that is going on, but rather that UNT is probably doing nothing because there is some report that some other school is doing this or that. Good grief. I think the powers that be at UNT are very wise to keep their traps shut about what they are or are not doing when it comes to possible conference realignment. When/if the time comes to go public, they will. All the BS coming out of Aggieland recently about playing second fiddle to UT and how they may bolt to the SEC, etc. really made the Aggies look good now that they have decided to "stay" with the remaining ten schools. They would have been better served to work behind the scenes, do their homework and when fully prepared make a statement. Now, it looks like they have accepted their role as "underling" to UT. Until UNT fans, students and supporters think and act like UNT is a quality and Big Time program no one else will take UNT that seriously. This challenge goes right to the heart of the matter and each and every person who wants UNT to progress in a positive way CAN help make that happen. Believing UNT is second class will not help!

The WAC has only been to a BCS bowl 3 times. And their members have included such no-names as Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, TCU, Colorado State, SMU, Air Force, and Boise State. They can't hold a candle to the Sun Belt!

Sigh Let me start with I don't mean this as a slam against either TSSM or UTSA, but here is a little reality. Let's start with Texas State. Since they have moved up from Division II to 1AA (now FCS) they have had a total of 4 winning seasons. That's right, 4 in the last 22 years. NT has been to more bowl games in the 2000s than TSSM has had winning seasons since the 80s. In their entire history they have one a total of 11 football conference championships, less than half of NT. Now to the UTSA. Everyone does understand they don't have a team yet, right? And you do realize that all of the "contracts" to play in San Antonio don't kick in till AFTER they get to the FBS level. Who are they going to play to average the 15000? For both of them, the Southland has announced that teams the confirm an intent to move to FBC ball must withdraw from the conference before they start the process. That means both need to make the transitions without any conference help or money. Neither will have any chance at any NCAA post season play for any of their sports - basketball, baseball, golf, etc. - as an independent. Then there is the little matter of the moratorium on teams moving up from FCS to FBS ball while the NCAA re-writes the rules with the intention of making it more difficult. Already, a FCS school must be a member of a conference that sponsors FBS football before they are allowed to even begin the process, something neither of the school are. I understand the tendency to think that a school has "passed you by" if they go to a bowl game in a year you didn't, or beaten your team once or twice, or for some even getting mentioned on a blog more often. This is a preposterous.

I don't think you have been reading much lately. Those Wacy folks are going to lose over half of their TV revenue and the H-Bowl is talking about dropping them. They didn't make sense financially WITH Boise so they certainly don't without Boise. The SBC is now slightly ahead of the WAC in BSC money and about equal in TV money, before the additional travel expenses. La Tech is more desperate than ever to leave. La Tech fans still hate ULM, but are now hurling insults and no longer writing they would never be in a conference with them. That is a huge change! As more "exposure and maximizing" our name, it's been shown over and over again going Wacy alone would not do that for a Central time zone team by itself. As for a group from the Belt doing that, why would they jump from a stable conference to a burning platform? It makes no sense.

The point being, BYU is a good school, and I know the leadership will not be angry or jealous of the University of Utah. Having been raised as a Southern Baptist for 29 years, I have seen so much hatred and religious intolerance expressed toward the Mormon Church. Without turning this into a religious discussion, I don't think it's fair to falsely judge the Mormons. Most of what is said out there are half-truths and completely false. I know this for a fact having played both sides of the field.

WAC is a better basketball conference. By far, actually.

I'm amazed at the number of coaches that have left in a short period of time. Breakout season? When you lose your best player (Brittney James) with little to replace her does that make you a candidate for a big turnaround? I hear the sizzle. Where's the steak? Quit laughing, Donna.

I love our program and I enjoy supporting it. But what I don't understand is why so many here say we need to act as if we are a big time program. What defines 'big time?' Are all division 1 schools 'big time' programs? Sadly I would never classify us as a big time program. Not yet. Hopefully one day. But becoming a big time program doesn't start with it's fan base just pretending until everyone else catches on. It starts with building facilities (check), playing other big time programs, and winning those games. We are on our way but until we can beat BCS conference schools we aren't on their level. Sorry.

I'm more worried about what Tom Cruise and the scientologists are going to think if Utah goes to the Pac-10.

Something tells me we have historically significant fun brewing here...stay tuned

I don't beleive that anyone here can say what is or what isn't being done by officials for the future of UNT. All of the really juicy stuff takes place behind closed doors.

I wasn't even calling Graham Watson a dumbass. I was calling Ted Hutton from the South Florida- Sun Sentinel a dumbass. So you need to tap on the brakes before you try to criticize my comments, when you don't even know whats going on.

Like I said...who cares? He is not part of the UNT program. He chose to quit and leave the program and his scholarship. His call...he made it...who cares..."the King is dead, long live the King", etc. I wish him no ill will and hope the best for him, but not really interested in what or how he is doing with any other football team. Kid quit on UNT, for whatever reason. UNT has QB's on its roster and those are the QB I care about! GO MEAN GREEN!

The newest design has attention grabbing flair. The older design would have been a very nice place to watch a game but I think the AD is really going for HEY LOOK AT US AND OUR CRAZY ASS NEW STADIUM!!! I think its the right way to go. The first design would have gotten a 5 minute segmant from all the local news channels and a solid meh from those without ties to the school. I think there's at least some hope that people might wanna see this one.

I like the fact that NT has new stadium.

So what is UNT doing?....My guess...not much! That is why we are where we are now. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/college/houston/7053360.html

Is our opinion of our future so low that we really want to be in a conference with UTSA and TX ST? Really? One school that is still in FCS and one school that doesn't even have a football program yet? I swear, sometimes we act like we are the battered woman in an abuse relationship. Zero confidence, zero self-esteem, and the thinking that this is the best we deserve, so we might as well stick with it. Stay in the belt (over the WAC), finish the football stadium, turn our football program around, start a baseball program, and beat a ranked opponent or win a game in the NCAA tourney in basketball. Get an invitation to a better conference (and I ain't talking about C-USA) AFTER we do all the above. Just think of the improvement to our self esteem. After all, how can you expect others to love you if you don't love yourself.

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/archives/2010/06/a-little-of-this-and-that.html My take is still that UNT's chances improve with every move that happens

Just because Dave Justice, moron that he is, writes an opinion column in the Houston Chronicle regarding what Cougar High should do doesn't mean Cougar High is doing it. Their stadium sucks, their basketball venue is a dump, etc... Facilities wise we are ahead of them, now all we need is for Randy Galloway to write an article touting his opinion about why we should be in the BigXII-II, and we'll jump ahead of Houston.

Correct, they don't want a championship game because they fear an extra loss could keep them from a BCS game and money. But, they are truly naive if they think a Big XII and/or Longhorn TV network is going to make them as much money as they've been told. Once they find out the numbers won't hold up over time, the conference realignment mess will start up again. Anybody can throw some meaningless figures down on a piece of paper and make promises they can't keep. http://www.youtube.c...h?v=VRrMu7B1L2I

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO and one more NO

Great questions, but that doesn't change the fact that we have been doing something. Winning fixes most ills in sports as we all know and I don't see that changing any time soon, but it still takes time. Texas is a football state and Basketball will always play second fiddle, but JJ and his kids are getting plenty of attention recently and with the proper advertising and promotion next year could be HUGE for them! But to answer your question about attendance, look at the numbers when Ok State came in, what is going to hapen when Tech comes to town? What happens we we play a team that has a bit of a name behind it? We seem to fill those games pretty well. Maybe that is a sad commentary on the fickleness of our fans but that just seems to be us and believe it or not it is getting better, much better. UNT has changed its face dramatically from the time that I began there as a student in 2000. When I arrived on campus green was an accent color in most students wardrobes and UNT Basketball was a joke for most students. Now you see more green, more UNT shirts and hats and more pride about the university then I can remember not to mention recent conference championship banners hanging in the gym! Denton is starting to support their local school more now, I still don't think it is enough but that is another thread altogether, and students are taking the needed steps to make the university more visible to the general public. The athletic fee, if nothing else, should convince you of that. I know there have been tough times in the past, failed votes to fund athletics, crappy conferences, horrible basketball, horrible football, fouts.... But don't remember the only the past at the expense of what is shaping up to be a bright future! There are good things happening at UNT but like anything else in life that is good it takes time for everything to coalesce into what we dream our university can be. GMG

The PAC-10 would never invite BYU because the Cougars won't play on Sundays in ANYTHING.

Reading Phil Steele's magazine I came across this in the section about New Mexico's coaches... "This year they go into year 2 of switching to a no-huddle, high tempo, wide open spread offense piloted by OC Darrell Dickey..."

Black on black...trimmed in black?

I'd support passing them out to the students when they enter, but I'm afraid they wouldn't understand the "'play' them when we're on defense, not offense" instructions.

1) They'll either grab just Houston or Houston, Fresno St. and either Nevada or Tulsa. 2) Unbelievably and justifiably pissed.

Personally, I am somewhat glad that the major school realignment has been temporarily halted. Why ? 1) I expect big improvement from our football team this season. 2) The stadium is due for completion in 2011. 3) I see no reason for any demise in our men's BB program in the very near future. From a public perception standpoint, I really feel that we will be better off a year from now, than we are right now. So many people outside of Denton seem to be hung up on our struggling FB program, despite the fact that our attendance is better than most Belt schools even with all the FB losses. We get K State, Rice, LaLa, ASU, FIU and Troy at home this season. K State attendance could be huge IF the weather is still decent and our FB team is competitive. If we are at least competiting for the belt come November, this years attendance could be terrific. This is simply a huge FB season for our team. We HAVE to be competitive.

We average more than that in the tailgate area during the game.

Thank you! I mean they do have to play this year.

It's wide open.

And they were stronger than this configuration of the big xii this year (had to beat a heavy IC schedule those year) and/or no undefeateds existed in the stronger conferences. But don't take my word for it. Texas' schedule in the all-mighty big xii ranks according to Phil Steele as the #62 most difficult. Three whole spots ahead of Utah state and behind powerhouses San Jose state (43) and Wyoming (42).

That guy is an idiot, its amazing he is a sports writer. I left him a nice comment, I hope he reads it. "Man it seems like they let any dumbass write an article these days. You need to learn more about college football before you go on here writing fiction. If I remember correctly UNT had a 26 sun belt winning streak, yeah we have struggled the past 4 years, but we also dominated prior to that. Go Mean Green!"

I don't think Tulsa is graduating drywall contractors, so it's got to be something else.

You'd think he could spring for a textbook or a tutor, or maybe Rosetta Stone.

Man...you guy's are really hard on G. Vizza. Gino was true Freshman and was beat to almost a pulp more times than I care to mention. I live in Houston, TX., so I was sitting in the Rice Press Box where all of their big money Alumni watch the game. A friend of mine's Grandfather was the Rice team doctor back in the day. I had bird's eye view of 77 Rice 20 UNT butt kicking, and it was a KICKING. Rice could have scored 100+ if they wanted, but had compassion for UNT and it's HS coach. Yes HS coach. Your knock on G. Vizza is he left UNT because the coach's son..."all world QB recruit" was coming to UNT and R. Dodge knew Daddy's system like the back of his hand. If you're getting the crap sacked out of you and Daddy's son is the new team's savior what would y'all do? Ride the bench like Mangrum (sp) did? I wouldn't...maybe I'm not as selfless as I should be. Was Gino V. the only one leaving UNT football. I wonder how much the UNT football team was being run like a college team, or was our program being run like a glorified HS team in the locker room? On the field we've pretty much looked like a HS team. If you disagree please post our current record under T. Dodge. I'm not a T. Dodge homer...thought D. Dickey was better coach...on a coaching scale where does that leave T. Dodge? UNT football savior? Disagree, please re-sight our record under Mr. Todd Dodge please?

Really? Sounds like someone failed 7th grade English.

I don't think we can afford to charge twice as much or anything like that for this new stadium. Yes it is nicer, but the same teams will be showing up to play there. You don't want to drop your attendance because people are scared away by high ticket prices. If you start to see sellouts every game all season long, or something close to that, that is when you raise ticket prices substantially.

Diabetes Studies?

Tread lightly here... What's wrong with a degree from the University of North Texas? Surely he didn't come to UNT to make sure he's a first round draft pick? So he chose UNT to play a little football and get an excellent education for FREE! Then, he left. Open season.

Do I have to watch in order to do that? I want us to win, but I just don't care to see us do it.

I'm a big fan of the vulva but I just don't think playing one in the new Fouts, or the old Fouts for that matter, is the correct place to play with a vulva.

We obviously can not do that because it has been done somewhere else, and our inferiority complexes will run to the surface in some silly fear that we don't look original.

That's silly. Tom Hicks hasn't watched this team in years.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

There's nothing we can do but sit and wait.

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This is the exact point that people need to think about before automatically dismissing WAC membership because of locations. Sorry, but the SBC right now is still below the WAC and CUSA on the food chain. It was very obvious in the recent and past Conference changes and rumored moveups that there is a definite pecking order for moving up. Boise WAC>MWC, TCU CUSA>MWC, Utah MWC>PAC10, etc. There are steps. Schools don't make two-step leaps like SBC>MWC. If the ultimate goal for us is a Big12, MWC, or like conference then the WAC would be a step up progression; not a long-term 30-year stay but a move until a lateral move into CUSA or up to MWC, but a move that must be made.

No... NO ... NO ... Hell NO .... WAC is in real trouble .. and will be soon be far worse than the SunBelt. With Boise it may have been better but not now.. I now rank it now the worst of all first division conferences. There is nothing good about it... too much travel and in Western Time zone which means no media attention at all on Saturday evenings and night, especially night games. The Belt is FAR superior in basketball besides. I am sure they would love to have us. What do they have that is so great ?? Hawaii, Nevada... ??? Nothing appeals to me. Several of our teams have a better history in basketball and other sports if you look at that area. Which games would our fans possibly attend...?? LaTech and maybe NMSU.... and absolutely no more..... Bad situation to be in, ask LaTech.. They want out.

Maybe just by employing Ramon Flanigan at any point in time, you give up any and all transfer/injury waivers retroactively.