Leaderboard

I hope we go to the WAC because I can't wait for the Humanitarian Bowl. There is just something about a blue playing field and blue players' faces (sub zero) that I find irresistable. The 4,000 mile trip to Boise is also a plus for fans.

Nice sales job Mr. Benson. Let's look a little closer at this post. Fresno State: You state they are "cash strapped." Just what I want to be associated with, plus their academics are suspect which makes them not attractive to the PAC-10 and MWC. Just don't see them being the next BCS buster, and again, being "cash strapped" is a negative to me. Hawaii: great road trip; too bad it costs an arm and a leg to get there. Has been a BCS buster, but they have terrible facilities and are on a downward slide since Jones left. La. Tech: "An up and coming program" really? Talk about cash strapped. Their facilities are horrendous and they've mortgaged everything to be in the WAC. The would jump all over a CUSA invite if one came. Nevada: Good program and a perfect fit for the WAC. Basketball schools: We've shared a conference with USU and NMSU and they did nothing for our attendance. Well, NMSU did but USU does nothing for me. The thing that scares me about the WAC is its instability. You've stated that Fresno St. is "cash strapped" and so is La Tech and Hawaii. Bowl Games: The Humanitarian Bowl is gone, the Hawaii Bowl isn't financially viable if Hawaii isn't playing there and who watches the Poinsetta or New Mexico Bowl? I'd much rather go to New Orleans or Mobile than to any of the bowls you've listed. The WAC is in survival mode which is something I don't want to be associated with. The ESPN contract will be drastically changed, and not for the better, with the departure of Boise State.

Let's face it. We lost Boise State, which is a pretty big deal, but we have other teams that will fill those shoes nicely. I think adding UNT (if they continue to improve) would be a good fit. Fresno State, despite what some of their fans may think, is not going anywhere. The MWC does not want them and they're strapped for cash. Plus, they can be the team that's the next BCS buster. How many BCS busters in the Sun Belt and CUSA? Hawaii has been a BCS buster, plus is a hell of a nice road trip. Great school with a great baseball tradition as well. LA Tech is another up and coming program that will do whatever they can to stay in the WAC and out of CUSA. Not sure they would even go, if invited. Most fans don't seem to be interested. Nevada seems to be the next team poised to bust the BCS. They have a great program there rising up and have broken into the top 25 a few times the past couple of years. Also, we have some pretty good basketball schools in Utah State, New Mexico State, and Nevada. The WAC also has 4 guaranteed bowl spots per year, matched up against the Pac 10 and MWC in some pretty awesome cities ti visit. Not sure the Sun Belt (or CUSA) offers this for you guys. Plus, let's not forget the caveat to this whole thing. We HAVE an ESPN contract for another 9 years which garauntees every WAC football and basketball teams gets at least 1 nationally televised game a year..

We haven't had enough Tim's make the NFL.

Welcome to the board babigos, not everyone on here is Anti-WAC, it is about 65/35 according to our poll against the WAC. I think that would drastically swing to the 65/35 in FAVOR if NT was invited along with UL and ASU. That would give us a nice Eastern Division and some security. CUSA could still get raided and La Tech (or NT) could get poached as a replacement. We would feel pretty stupid to leave our stable conference to save the WAC only to have our only other Central Time Zone team leave us as the new red headed step child of the WAC. Here is what I posted in another thread about comparing the WAC to the Big West - in my opinion, there is no comparison... and people forget, those Big West football teams were pretty salty. We NEVER lost our bowl games to the MAC back then, it was just a given that the BW rep would destroy the MAC rep (which was their champ) every year in Vegas. Here is my post: Man, you guys get mean with each other. The Big West was a mish mosh conference but there was some damn good football played in it. North Texas was underfunded back then, we were barely surviving on a $6.7 million dollar athletic budget. The BIGGEST drain were the non-revenue sports of which the Big West had a ton of non-football playing California schools to deal with (UCSB, Pacific, UC-Irvine, Cal Poly, etc..). Our program was in its infancy and had not built a fan base. We did not have tailgating - it was illegal on campus... so to compare the two attendance averages is jut not fair. We didn't even have an active fan message board. All that being said, I would want to go with Arkie State and UL. Take those two schools, add La Tech, North Texas, and NMSU and you have a solid division for the Eastern WAC. The bowl in New Mexico is suitable for us but a better bowl would need to be worked out. The Belt could continue to work on the Sun Belt footprint of the Southeast and possibly add schools like UTSA, Texas State, and Appy State to replace outgoing members. The main reason why I said yes- it is called playing defense. Texas State is ready to take advantage of this environment, so is UTSA. If we say no - they will likely get an invite and that would hurt us in my opinion. Think about how you will feel, really - if you watch Texas State go into the WAC and we stay in the Belt. There is a pecking order in college football and unfortunately, the Belt is at the bottom. I think that we could move up that ladder with the WAC. One thing that would need to be put in place - a legal commitment from all schools that they will stay in the conference for at least 5 years. It would completely suck if we were to move to the WAC with UL and ASU and watch La Tech move off to CUSA. We would essentially be saving the WAC and in exchange, they would need to guarantee our security. Just my opinion, nothing else. Please don't scream at me or tell me that I am stupid. Its not neccesary, ok?

So, what is the Sun Belt offering UNT? Any BCS busters, etc? How's the current bowl structure.? What about how the conference is perceived? The money just isn't there and you guys are supposedly in the Sun Belt's footprint. The WAC is a huge upgrade compared to the SBC. Also, don't hold your breath for CUSA to send an invite. There would need to be a mass exodus of members there for UNT to even get considered. This may your best shot in upgrading the program for awhile. If UNT is truly committed to their fans and improving, joining the WAC would be a big step in the right direction. Staying in the SBC and praying for a CUSA invite would cost the school millions in lost revenue.

that is the perception that I am talking about...

in the lowly Sun Belt Conference Someone needs to tell this guy that we're just as good as the WAC!

Based on how fun it is, I am guessing this was Satan's opening line when he took Jesus into the desert.

Yeaaaaa...if you fellas didn't pick up on the intent of this note...that ain't on Vito.

Todd Dodge

Even though the poll option is now working, I like the way the old-school polls have gone lately. Answer "YES" or "NO" to the following 2 questions about Manute Bol: 1. Was Manute Bol one of the top 10 shot blockers you've ever seen in a Washington Bullets uniform? 2. Would ya?

Isn't this the scene in Citizen Kane where Kane is forcing himself to applaud for his girlfriend's very pathetic singing performance? NOT because he really believes that she can sing, but because his ego won't let him admit that he is wrong about her. Hmmmm,

"...back-to-back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the lowly Sun Belt Conference will do that to a guy's rep." yes very honest.

Man, you guys get mean with each other. The Big West was a mish mosh conference but there was some damn good football played in it. North Texas was underfunded back then, we were barely surviving on a $7 million dollar athletic budget. The BIGGEST drain were the non-revenue sports of which the Big West had a ton of California schools to deal with (UCSB, Pacific, UC-Irvine, Cal Poly, etc..). Our program was in its infancy and had not built a fan base. We did not have tailgating - it was illegal on campus... so to compare the two attendance averages is jut not fair. We didn't even have an active fan message board. All that being said, I would want to go with Arkie State and UL. Take those two schools, add La Tech, North Texas, and NMSU and you have a solid division for the Eastern WAC. The bowl in New Mexico is suitable for us but a better bowl would need to be worked out. The Belt could continue to work on the Sun Belt footprint of the Southeast and possible add schools like UTSA, Texas State, and Appy State to replace outgoing members. The main reason why I said yes, it is called playing defense. Texas State is ready to take advantage of this environment, so is UTSA. If we say no - they will likely get an invite and that would hurt us in my opinion. Think about how you will feel, really - if you watch Texas State go into the WAC and we stay in the Belt. There is a pecking order in college football and unfortunately, the Belt is at the bottom. I think that we could move up that ladder with the WAC. One thing that would need to be put in place - a legal commitment from all schools that they will stay in the conference for at least 5 years. It would completely suck if we were to move to the WAC with UL and ASU and watch La Tech move off to CUSA. We would essentially be saving the WAC and in exchange, they would need to guarantee our security. Just my opinion, nothing else. Please don't scream at me or tell me that I am stupid. Its not neccesary, ok?

1. No Don't get me wrong. As long as there's a chance of getting in CUSA, that's where I want to be. But I want to know the ins and outs, the good and the bad, of the WAC because it could be better than where we are now. It's still a little on the fun side to speculate. Besides, conference talk is about all there is for the next forty days.

that has to be the weakest argument ever. All I have to say to that is TCU. They went West alone not trying to recreate the SWC and it has paid off for them. Tell momma she can by a plane ticket or watch on ESPN.

Please answer the following with a yes or no then feel free to add commentary at your discretion. Question: Are you completely worn out with UNT to the WACy surveys? Talk amongst yourselves.

Why isn't he a head coach now with all these skins on the wall? His play calling has been questioned at his past two stops. I hope he succeeds, but it is going to take more than just him to turn this thing around this season.

It's the Bleacher Report, the only source with less credibility than the Weekly World News.

Look out that window.

Better than Ubadlo Himenez and Jim Lincucum?

How can he pitch with you attached to his midsection? Maybe I do need to evaluate this Hall of Fame thing.

I think we need to understand the balance that winning and named opponents both matter, we were on a 26 straight game winning streak running through the belt and we still were not having great attendance, until we played Baylor. The students easiest excuse is our record right now, but if we start winning it will be the same thing we never play anyone I have heard of at home. But good things are happening, with enrollment increasing and more students living on and around campus then ever before we will naturally increase our attendance. Plus the population in and around Denton is really booming and that is going to help. We start winning and every time we play a team the general public as an idea who they are we will have great attendance.

I miss El Guapo.

My mind has been changed. I do not care where we are at! Just win games in every sport!

i've got no beef with vito and appreciate the coverage he give NT but this was cheap

Since I work with the current students and deal with them daily. I will be happy to tell you why they don't go to the games. It is because we aren't good and they don't care to watch a bad team. They don't care who our opponent is more than they want to see us destroy them. And we don't. So they don't come out. That is the one constant I hear from students.

Just out of curiosity, doesn't UT sell out games against Sun Belt opponents? Their fans don't seem to care who the opponent is as long as they get to see their team play and win. I am not saying that we are UT, but it seems to me that if we can build a fan base and win, it won't matter who we play.

How can you not love soccer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! USA, USA, USA

Did you just make an inference that compared the WAC to the SEC? Please tell me no.

Have you had your coffee yet today? First, are you really suggesting bowls don't care about attendance? Turnout by the fans of a school makes a huge difference in deciding which of two teams a bowl is going to choose. And I know you can't be suggesting Albuquerque is more marketable than Mobile or New Orleans. If so, you can't have been to either one in the last decade! Without Boise, the Honolulu paper and other newspapers are suggesting the Wacy TV deal will drop by about half to around $2 million. Of that, about $1 million is rights to broadcast the teams in the Wac and an additional $1 million is for those Wacy teams being willing to have games that start on Friday and other days at 8pm Pacific time. That's 11 Eastern/10 Central. ESPN needs games to fill that time slot to maintain serve their West Coast viewers. The Pac 10 isn't going to play that kind of schedule. The Mountain West isn't with ESPN. The rest of the conferences can't supply those games. So, the Wac wisely gets a nice, well deserved bonus for late games from ESPN which is what makes their contract better than the SBC. The obvious drawback is NO ONE IN THE CENTRAL OR EASTERN TIME ZONES WATCHES THOSE GAMES. You can't get publicity for games no one sees because they start at 10pm and end after midnight! We've already been over and over the fact local and regional media will not cover late college games. Even those NT fans that want to go to the WAC only want to do so UNTIL there is a CUSA opening. As soon as possible, we want to be there. One of the goals stated by that Wacy Mr Benson for expansion was conference stability. They might be Wacy, but they are getting tired of having to go get new members every few years. We don't fit. As for BSC money, without Boise, the Sun Belt and the Wac are almost exactly equal. Actually, with NT's terrible football record of late if we moved to the Wac the SBC would clearly LEAD the Wac in BSC money without Boise.

The Fireworks. This year we will see the long maligned fireworks display finally lose the moniker "The Most Dishonorable Fireworks of Shame"

WOW! Another perfectly good goal disallowed for the US in the first half against Algeria! I simply cannot believe it. Is the US squad "snake bit"? We'll see. Their fate is still in their own hands. With England up 1-0 on Slovenia the US needs a win against Algeria to advance. Jozey missed an open (well almost open) net near the end of the half. Just tap the darn thing in the net, instead he blasts it well over the goal post! UGH! Cannot do that and advance. We'll just keep watching. It will be a fast and furious second half for both squads, but the Algerians will probably play for the tie and hope the England score holds. The US must push forward. Donovan needs to step up and lead his team to victory...something he is very capable of doing and something he has done time and time again. GO USA!!!!!

But I would contend that that was more to do with the lack of tailgating than anything else. I was there during that time frame and the days of the game were dead until the game started. That isn't the case now. You think people care more about Florida International than Nevada or Idaho? Don't think so, it's a wash. I would be willing to bet that we would get MUCH larger crowds for the combo of Hawaii/Fresno State/NMSU than ANYTHING the belt has to offer, including MTSU/Troy/???whocares-state. And who was our biggest rival in the Sun Belt until recently? NMSU. Oh - the irony. Just my .02

I'll pick two positions: Field goal and H-back I hope both positions put up big numbers!!!!!!!

Not that we are looking down, but that we are looking up. Like it or not, Tx. St. is not on UNT's level, and it should be UNT's mission to make sure they never are. Just look at your comparison thread of athletic budgets. Just about every single school in there is FCS. Kind of an insult to compare UNT to FBS schools, no? Some of us are trying to go forward, not backward, and step back into the old Big West is an unbelievable step backwards, as is joining any conference with any plan to incorporate a FCS team into the mix. We are in that conference now. We are looking to get out of that conference. And for those who are looking forward to a rivalry with TSU or UTSA, could you please, please, please, set your sights just a little higher? I swear, it's like the parent of a child being satisfied with a 6th grade education for that child.

1. Joe Greene, DT Pittsburgh Steelers (1969-1981) NFL Hall of Fame Pro Bowl – 10/All-Pro – 5 Super Bowls – 4 16 fumble recoveries, 1 int 2. Abner Haynes, HB Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs (1960-1964), Denver Broncos (1965-1966), New York Jets (1967), Miami Dolphins (1967) All-Pro – 2/Pro Bowl – 3 Championship Games – 1 12,065 All-Purpose Yards (4,630 rushing, 3,535 receiving, 875 punt returns, 3,025 kick return yards) 46 rushing TDs, 20 receiving TDs, 1 punt return TD, 1 kick return TD, 1 fumble return TD 3. J.T. Smith, WR Washington Redskins (1978), Kansas City Chiefs (1978-1984), St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1985-1990) Pro Bowls – 2 / All Pro - 1 Super Bowls - 0 35 receiving TDs, 4 punts return TDs 10,287 All-Purpose Yards (6,974 receiving yards, 76 rushing yards, 2,764 punt return yards, 473 kick return yards) #12 All-Time in career punt returns with 267 #13 All-Time in career punt return yards with 2,764 #18 All-Time in career punts returned for touchdown with 4 When he retired in 1990, he was #11 All-Time in career receptions with 544. He is still #83 All-Time in career receptions. 4. Ray Renfro, HB-FL Cleveland Browns (1952-1963) Pro Bowl – 3 Championship Games – 5 50 receiving TDs, 4 rushing TDs, 1 TD pass Still #16 All-Time for career yards per catch average at 19.6 5. Brian Waters, G Kansas City Chiefs (2000-Present) Pro Bowl – 4/All Pro– 2 Super Bowls – 0 6. Spider Lockhart, CB-S New York Giants (1965-1975) Pro Bowl – 2 Championship Games - 0 41 interceptions, 16 fumbles recoveries, 3 defensive touchdowns 7. Bill Bishop, DT Chicago Bears (1952-1960), Minnesota Vikings (1961) All-Pro - 1 Championship Games – 1 14 fumbles recovered, 2 ints, 1 defensive touchdown 8. Cedric Hardman, DE San Francisco 49ers (1970-1979), Oakland Raiders (1980-1981) Pro Bowl – 2 Super Bowls -1 9 fumble recoveries, 1 defensive touchdown, 1 safety 9. Ron Shanklin, WR Pittsburgh Steelers (1970-1974), Chicago Bears (1976) Pro Bowl – 1 Super Bowls – 1 24 career receiving TDs #33 All-Time in yards per reception with 18.3 10. Larry Strickland, C Chicago Bears (1954-1959) Pro Bowl – 1/All-Pro – 1 Championship Games – 1

so dumb

The WAC had the chance to add NT,ULL, and ASU alltogether last time and would not do it. They only wanted one more team and reluctuncly settled for Idaho. A decision on the WAC should consider the financial situation of WAC schools (ex.SJSU and FSU), the possibility of Hawaii going indie, etc. As far as WAC expansion, consider that they are more likely to add western schools (ex. Montana, Portland State, etc) for budgetary reasons. With the Louisiana budget crisis I think that it is far more likely that La Tech will leave the WAC than it is that other schools will accomodate them. Nonetheless, if I ran the WAC I would try to add UNT, ASU, ULL, and TSU (a more compact grouping with LT and NMSU), add a Championship game between division winners at the home of the team with the best record and would break a tie with home average attendance numbers, and try to negotiate the best TV contract that I could.

I think this thread has reached its end of life.

Honestly, he has 11 winnable games. The article paints it a bit like the school is expecting something unrealistic from him when in reality all that's being asked is that he field a team with more wins than losses in his fourth season here. We're really holding him to the fire, expecting that result one year before DD got it.

Link to the story

I've had to lay low for a while...quite a while, in fact...there was this incident, back in school...at the lab...well, it didn't go according to plan and needless to say Richard Nixon is still pissed.

If we could get back to the intended thread topic for a second guys.... 1. 2.

Why are game times an issue?? If the WAC plays at 7PM local time, 10pm east coast time, then there is no competition on television. The WAC owns the national college football audience at that time slot. This isn't the 1970s where the time difference was a huge deal. Nobody reads newspapers, television sports news coverage is 24/7... I just don't get the issue with the time. As for travel, is it really any worse than what we have now? Is the marginal cost of flying and busing to Palm Beach, Miami, Mobile, Montgomery, and Murfeesboro that much higher than flying to Fresno, Reno, Logan, Las Cruces, and San Jose? let's just for arguments sake say it costs $5k more to charter the flight to each location. Is $20k more per year in travel worth giving up the extra $300k we'd get in conference revenue? OK multiply that by the 11 sports, it costs us $240k more per year. We still come out on top and we get a bigger bowl payout if we qualify.

"Mid-major" is a bunch of crap. Allowing our University (or conference) to be included in anything "mid-major" tarnishes our brand. We should disavow anything "mid-major," publically refuse any awards or accolades and sue any organization that attempts to or continues to group us in any mid-major categorization/rankings/awards, etc. If we don't defend our brand, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Keith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti53kjHsAas

1. yes 2. yes 3. i am glad you can not make decisions for north texas athletics