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So does that mean I can have a valid opinion now? Good. Here it is: 1) I'll show up at Apogee whether we're playing Texas Southern, LSU, Sunbelt, Alliance, or Denton High. 2) As long as there are bats, gloves, and baseballs involved, I could not care less about the logo on the cap. And for that matter, nor could I not care less about the helmets in football. We're sports fans, not metrosexual fashionistas for Lord's sake! 3) Rick Villareal has been good for UNT. Period. 4) That said, we all make mistakes, and I will hold a lifelong grudge against Todd Dodge and his vaunted football system. 5) Basketball is not my sport. I don't enjoy it. But watching Tony Mitchell play. Well, a beautiful athlete is a beautiful athlete, and Tony is a work of art in motion. 6) I have experienced no problems with parking or tailgating at Apogee, and the walk ain't gonna kill us, tubby. 7) If I found a hundred dollar bill on the ground, I would buy a twelve-pack of 120 minute Dogfish Head IPA and a couple cigars of dubious origin. Somehow, I think this would work regardless of whether the bill was wrinkled or freshly ironed with starch. 8) I loved hanging out in Denton. Potheads and all. It's a great little town. 9) UNT provided me with an education that got me gainfully employed right out the door, and for that I will always be grateful. This message has been bought and paid for by oldguystudent middleagedguyalumni. This post has been promoted to an article

And, sadistically speaking, would UNT vote to have sMUT back in the conference? What goes around, comes around. I say, let the bastards rot!!

"@JustinPatton10: Only school I care about is North Texas and I give them all my cheers and glory!!! #MeanGreenNation" This post has been promoted to an article

The progress of Cooper Jones is really, really, really important to this team. When DT went down last year, there was not anything close to an effective option. Jones really needs to claim the #2 spot. If he doesn't, and DT goes down, well, remember Tulsa? 'Nough said.

No. We would absolutely vote them in. They then Can't run...can't hide.

If all come back I really hope we are not a 15 seed!!!

What was that huge thing hanging over half court?

Johnny's taken this thing to 2 of our 3 NCAA tournament appearances in program history. He's had us on the precipice of two more these last two years. His job is in no way dependent upon an NCAA tournament appearance next year. How quickly some folks forget how bad this program was. Hundreds of fans in the stands during those crappy years, contrasted to now where we had the best home attendance average since the late 70's when the Pit opened. I get to watch competitive basketball at NT EVERY year now. That's something I'm still thankful for.

Someone on the Mean and Green Forum posted the below link re the Las Vegas Sun interview with Neal Smatresk (who I believe is the current president of the MWC). http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/mar/15/taking-new-look-athletics/ He and others talk more about a 20-team conference and maybe these are subtle hints that this is the thinking of those who would structure this alliance. If so, we have been included in each model that I've seen but the other three have varied (although FIU has been in most). What would be your preference for the remaining leading candidates? My preference would be to admit San Jose State and Utah State in the west which would allow UTEP to stay in the east. Instead of FIU though I would prefer Florida Atlantic or MTSU. Both are more traditional universities and I believe that both will have better attendance than FIU. Each has produced good teams in the past and are capable of doing it again. Florida International has the more proven coach currently. It is larger and in a larger market. It has the best academics of the three. But, its wide diversity and scattered campus doesn't bode well for future attendance. FIU's stadium only seats 23,500 and has no press box. It smacks of minor league. Florida Atlantic is the only FBS university in the West Palm Beach market, a smaller market than Miami, but still a rather large market. Middle Tennessee is in a good market (Nashville) with a better history in football, more competitive in every sport and has better facilities. I'd much rather have UTEP in our (I know that I'm making an undocumented assumption) division, section, pod, whatever because they are in Texas and we have a longer history with them.

Now that Off-Season is over and Spring Football is about to begin we can start talking about actual on the field stuff. There is already a good discussion going about Feldt and where he fits into the Oline structure. We have not had an inside look at the offseason program before so we don't have anything to compare to. I will say there are quiet a few of the returning starters from last years team that are in the TOP 20 performers for this off-season.(Going off the performance scores on Facebook page) There is also a good number of backups performing at a high level as well. This tells me that the returning starters are not resting on their past and know that you can always improve yourself. The backups are not all accepting that they are backups and also pushing for playing time. Work ethics catches a coaches eye and they would be more likely to give a player an extra look during reps because of it, thus turning into playing time. There will be several spots open during Spring because of injuries. Both Powers and Prior are out with shoulder surgeries. Lemon is out with a leg.(knee?) This will give others a chance to prove themselves. Miller is one that will have the oppertunity with Powers and Priors spots. Will Feldt be given the chance with Lemon out? I think the fight for No.2 QB spot is wide open. Will Byrd take the oppertunity that is in front of him? RB position is his to lose. WR. Will the redshirts step forward and will Delgado continue his improvement? Defensive backfield. The biggest question mark on the team. Loaded with SRs last year, proved to be the weak link of the team. How will the young guys do? My take. The Oline reloaded with young guy last year and became the bedrock of the team. I think the defensive backfield will be the most improved part of this years team. DLine: Starters = ABBE, Boutwell, McCoy and Obi... the only spot I see where there is question is depth at DT. Linebackers:In good shape, now they need to stay healthy. Special Teams: Need a new snapper. Who will step forward? We now have to wait for April 21.

I'm sorry...I missed that. Could you go over it again for me?

And a good day to you too, fine sir.

Akol avgd 6 pts and 3 rbs a game. Played only 11 minutes the night before (vs Den) & shot 5 /21 in the the 3 games prior, didn't even make all tourney team. Previous season high was 17 vs SE LA. He may of been all world vs us , but at the end of the day he is just a role player

Hate to be a downer, but even if everyone gets eligible, we still may not make the NCAAs. WKU is going to be really good next year, and all their freshmen got a full year of experience. I don't care if we are a play in 16 seed next year, as long as we make it. At tuis point , WKU is the favorite, and we are a one bid league

/krammed

Link to the North Texas helmet: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/619642-love-the-lid-power-ranking-all-120-college-football-helmets/page/17 Can't disagree with that.

Can Joe Lunardi just go away now? Norfolk State Preview Lehigh Preview

My bracket is in the trash

3. The #1 helmet (OSU) is nothing but stickers? How high school-ish.

It's not illegal to get out of your vehicle and talk to whoever you want, whether the police tell you to or not. The kid could have walked away. Instead he chose to physically confront the guy. And we dont know whether Zimmerman got out of his car because the kid was at the window or not. This whole thing reminds me of the Duke Lacrosse team. Lets hope people don't play politics and ruin lives with this incident like they did with that one. While in Hot Springs, I was waiting for a cab behind Lucky's when 2 bikers came out the door, followed shortly by a Troy basketball player, who was yelling at the bikers, who turned around and took a couple of steps back toward the Troy ballplayer, at which time the Troy ball player turned his left side away from the bikers, reached into his pocket, pushed his pocket out, and yelled "I got something for you, come on!!", clearly attempting to indictate he had a gun in his pocket, which he clearly didn't (easily seen from my vantage point, not able to be seen from the biker's vantage point). I told the bikers to walk away, all that was in his pocket was his finger and told him to take his young ass inside, which he did. The thing is, if the bikers had pulled a gun and shot him dead before I said anything, they would have had a really good self defense claim. And the Troy player wasn't on top of the bikers beating the snot out of them. Moral of the story? It is seldom as cut and dried as the media presents.

I don't get too worked up over the two-deep before spring ball. There's a lot that can change before the first game.

Wow. Because you have all the facts, right? Or maybe facts don't matter? I hope you never find yourself in any situation where you are prejudged (the root word for prejudiced, by the way) like you are prejudging this guy. He wasn't arrested because the police believe probable cause does not exist. Probable Cause. Not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but probable cause. Could it be that the way the story has been reported is completely wrong? Yep

I thought we all agreed long ago that WE are the next Boise St. Charlotte and UTSA will have to settle for being the next UNT... As soon as we become the next Boise St. Clear...??

This is just the thing that folks who oppose Vote ID laws hate to hear...the actual truth. Thanks for taking time to post and state these points.

I'm sorry, but based upon what? A Rivals 4-star ranking? I'd expect in 2 year's time you'll have a line of C. Feldt - Lemon - B. Feldt - Y'Barbo - Jornson...but next year to expect a kid with no college experience and 2 years removed from competitive football to step in and easily win either the 1 open spot on the line over numerous returnees or to un-seat 4 good starters seems a bit unrealistic.

As a hispanic Texan, I like the Voter ID law. Only people who are up to something shady would have a problem with trying to defend the integrity of our elections. I don't think it unfaily targets poor people, the elderly, or minorities. It targets people who may want to illegaly influence the outcome of an election. Poor people manage to obtain Lonestar Cards everday. Old people somehow manage to get their medicare. Minorites, like myself, already manage to earn educations, work, and vote. And, can you believe I did it on my own without the help of the government. Wow! Liberals must hate that. The Justice Department = the Demoratic Policy Enforcment Department. What a joke...

i can never tell if you guys are being dry or serious but we were the first school to do that. only ours were 2 & 2's with georgia for felton and south carolina for horn. it was written in mcdummy's contract but we know how that played out.

Y'Barbo has the build of a center, so he might end up there, but it sure is nice to have these kinds of problems.

Friends, GL2Greatnes isn't a SMU fan. Nor is he a UTSA, TsSt, or any other fan. He's just some poor sod who enjoys getting people worked up. I'll bet he posts anti-SMU stuff on their board. The best response to this idiocy is to ignore the little jerk. Starve him of the attention he craves and he'll go somewhere else.

Seriously, how much longer do we have to tolerate checkfacts using a UNT moniker to do nothing but attack UNT on a UNT fanboard???? Could someone please deal with this? Thanks, troll, for turning another conversation into your personal anti-UNT rant.

In studying conflict between groups sociologist came to a very simple two part conclusion. The first part is that the groups are in conflict with one another because they misunderstand each other's goals and intentions. The second is that they are in conflict because they UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER VERY WELL. If you are a SMU grad, then your very arrogant response came as no surprise to me at all. And yes, I understand the ways of the world very well. I was just hoping that there had to be some other explanation, besides SMU having several Billionaires on their board of regents, and their purchased past sports glory, for getting invited to high profile conferences......with no discernible following outside of the confines of Highland Park and University Park.

Well, if the MU's and SMU's of the world fudge the attendance numbers as much (if not more) than we do, then will someone please explain the thought process involved in inviting SMU over us to both CUSA and the BE? And please don't talk about their previous days in the 30's,40's and early 50's. And their most recent national success (top ten ranking and cotton bowl appearance) in the 80's was BOUGHT. And even back then, like they do now, they had attendance problems.

Lots of pro basketball around the world he might be a better prospect for. NBA isn't one one of them....

He is a young player with tremendous upside. Does he have the size or athleticism of TM? Not even close. TM has the size, length, and athleticism to play anywhere in the country. TM is going to be a lottery pick in the NBA next year. Frazier is a volume shooter who will have to learn how hard he must work to have an impact in the college game. He'll need a lot of attention and pushing to succeed as a freshman at the D1 level. Not saying he won't eventually have an impact. He's only been defended a few times like he will be at the D1 level and those results haven't been pretty. Ask any of the NBA scouts you see watching TM if they project Frazier as a lottery pick? Not saying Frazier won't be a really nice college player. Am saying he won't have anywhere near the impact TM has or will have.

Now that's a reach. Frazier will have fraction, if any impact on a team as a freshman, especially if compared to TM. Wherever he lands, those fans will be frustrated with him, especially as a freshman. See Lebryan Nash...

Smastrek is a mover and shaker and will play a key role in the development of The Alliance. I have met the gentleman before and he is an incredibly nice and effective leader. He was at Hawaii before moving to Las Vegas and the guy just breathes enthusiasm and positivity for college athletics. He was the gentleman who talked about the expansion being very methodical in nature and is happy that The Alliance will be made up of programs that truly want to be together. Of course when big leagues call that makes it tough, but The Alliance will not be assembled in a haphazard format. Their goal is to capture some power and make and call shots. That is why they are having full and rich discussions about who is invited. They are waiting on the TV deal which is looking very nice. They are building for the future, and the fact that we stand a great chance at being invited and part of this excellent future league is freaking outstanding! We have earned it Mean Green and now we need to get invited and feed it. UNLV does its part with basketball and a commitment to football (on campus stadium plans drawn). Hawaii will bring solid football, we bring market, improving football and solid basketball. I too like FAU in that facilities are important to this league. FAU has proven it is committed on that front. Is FIU a flash in the pan? If you only bring market I don't think that is enough. That is why UTSA needs to commit to facilities if they want to be considered for future expansion. I think FAU and MTSU could both be strong contenders. North Texas needs to focus on strong attendance numbers this fall. No schedule excuses either. Our marketing team and event committee teams need to be meeting weekly now on how to average 25,000 at Apogee and 5,000 at the Superpit in the coming seasons. These should be starting points for us. GMG

Not really, the following have higher standards: Rice (21%) UT (47%) Baylor (47%) UTD (49%) TCU (52%) SMU (59%) UNT (65%) Though UNT does seem to be noticeably ahead of Texas Tech, UTA, UTSA, Texas State, UTEP, Houston, etc.

UNT has some of the highest admission standards in the State – if anyone from SMU is using that worn out excuse for failure you can count on it being total Big Time BS – I mean the toilet clogging, water line busting, gaseous kind of Big Time BS.

Been there. Really nice arena. Surprisingly tiny for how much they spent. Anyone who has been to summit, it's like that, but with the second level stacked on top of the first if you brought the walls in to the walkway. I bet that place gets loud. Pit feels more big time tho.

This team should be better next year with a year in McCarney's program and a little better overall talent. On paper other than rb and db, the team should be significantly better. The secondary had a rocky year last year, I think in part to a new defense. Obviously that was the focus in recruiting and I am very optimistic that it can be improved. At rb, NT lost one of their best all time players, but he was not 100% for a lot of the year. I don't foresee another Dunbar, but the offensive line should be better and I think the rushing offense could be as good if not better.

Our uniforms better have the SOW on them and not North Texas or i'm out on supporting this program. Baseball uniform talk is underway!

Be careful of being accused of being a bad fan for asking such legitimate questions. But since I've already been called th at, may I also ask if they will be cheaper since last year we had two "premier" games while this year we have none?

I have no idea about this year's cost structure. We will all know the answer to that question when the packages hit our mailboxes. I am also certain that there will be plenty of "chatter" about it which ever way it goes. One thing I would like to remind everyone...with a limited budget and increasing expenses the Athletic Dept. does need as much revenue as possible...but this could work the way it works when taxes are raised...one actually gets reduced tax revenues instead of increases...I hope the Athletic Dept. personnel understand that concept better than some of our politicians. Just sayin......

Great post! Rick

Thank you for living up to expectations.

Ohio State University here...don't want to confuse anyone with what you are saying with Oklahoma States helmet...no stickers on the Cowboy's helmets...just sayin....

Yes, it's the Bleacher Report which may sometimes in the next millineum actually say something nice about North Texas, but if you have a few minutes click thru some or all 120 NCAA FBS helmets and read some of their comments (of which I acutally agree with a few). North Texas, Southern Miss Rajun Cajuns and Boise State are the 4 schools with the most letters on their helmets; no other FBS school comes close to those 4. The other 116 NCAA FBS schools use fewer letters, mascots or fewer letters/mascot combos on their helmets which allows those schools to have larger letters since they use, uh, fewer. http://bleacherrepor...ootball-helmets Dallas Morning News sportswriter legend Blackie Sherrod in his famous "Scattershootin' ..." Sunday AM column many times referred to us as "NorTex" in many of his columns thru the decades (and no I don't see that as an abbriviated answer to reducing our letters, either, but that just came to mind). I also remember reading Sherrod's "Scattershootin" column when he once wrote "look for NorTex to be the next school to seek Southwest Conference membership" not long after UH had been admitted, circa 1972. (If Apogee had happened when it should have one can only wonder). GMG!

Opinion ? Yes A valid one? No