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Joining CUSA will have so many positive results for us as NT fans. First, we'll get local teams in Apogee and the Super Pit consistently. Our alums will finally get to play games against teams that co-workers and friends know and/or graduated from those schools. The "water cooler rivalries" will exist for us...finally. We'll have makeable (and desireable) road trips. And, my favorite part, we'll have an excuse to go to New Orleans to watch a football game at least once every two years (and in some cases twice in a year...once to play Tulane and once as the CUSA representative in the NO Bowl). But, alas, there will be one horrible result of joining CUSA. One drawback that a great deal of our fanbase will be unable to escape and will cause them heartache year in and year out........ The last "legitimate" excuse for not supporting their alma mater will be gone. For years and years some of our "fans" clung to the "I'd come to games but we play in a crappy stadium" excuse. So we built Apogee. Then they changed their incessant whining to "Apogee is nice, but we don't play anyone I care about." Sorry folks, now we're playing Tulsa, UTEP, Rice, La Tech, Tulane, So Miss, etc. Unless some of you want to stand your ground on the "I love NT, but only when UT, the Rangers, or Cowboys aren't playing" or "The weather isn't ideal for an outdoor wedding so therefore it's bad for football" excuses, I hate to tell you that you'll need to be calling the ticket office soon. I just hope some of you can survive this drastic shock to your realities.

I normally have little good to say about schools changing conferences. The whole realignment thing has been out of control, stupid, and done for all the wrong reasons. But out of all the schools changing it is North Texas that I have no bad feelings about. Your choice was done for the right reasons. To bring schools of regional interest into your stadium to increase the enjoyment of your fan base. You've been on an island too long and it will be good to see you part of Texas again. We all know CUSA chose you for your market and other ignorant reasons. But they accidentally are getting a good conference member. They are lucky though a bunch of their fans probably don't know it. You will probably catch some bad vibes from some in the Belt, but you leave the Sun Belt better than it was when you entered and have been a great partner over the years. I will definitely be rooting for you and will be excited to see what happens. I would ask one thing....don't forget where you came from and all your years with us. You know we are still fighting,

Sun Belt ... we need to talk. Do you remember when we said everything was alright? Well, it wasn't. You're not the problem, we are. We're not the same school as when we met. We've grown apart over the years. We knew from the beginning that a long distance relationship like ours would be tough. We like you but we don't love you. We need to move on. We think we'll be better off as friends. Yes, we have met someone else. We've been seeing each other for awhile now. We feel closer to them than we ever did with you. Hopefully you'll meet someones who will complete you.

They did.

It just keeps getting better!! Not only does UNT move into C-USA, but Texas somehow annexes half of Oklahoma as well!

because I love America... and CUSA is obviously more American than the Sun Belt... also I hate belts... they restrict my American Beerbelly... here's a picture of me loving America

Why must you continue to beat that poor, dead horse?

I think CUSA is loading up with too many FCS schools. MTSU would be just fine. So would New Mexico State, Navy, Army, the entire MAC... There are FBS schools that need a home! Won't you do your part? (cue the sad Sarah McLachlan music)

The girls on the Marshall swim team ... good or bad? There's cause for either choice.

I know we don't have all the facts yet and I'll take some heat for this, but the last few years have left me scared sh*tless to have a kid who plays football.

Wait, I've got change for you in case the Sun Belt doesn't.

I think I got a $20 bill in my wallet... I am mobile.

I'm kinda amazed of all the people that have never heard of Old Dominion or UNC-Charlotte. But, I suppose it just shows how little a lot of people follow college basketball.

TUFlyer is drumming up support at the moment to push through a vote.

Murray State was ranked in the Top 20 nearly the whole year. They got a 6 seed and lost in their second game (basically they lived up to their seed). UNT90 is correct - -getting to the Sweet 16 is hard as hell. If we could win a round in the Dance it'd be the biggest accomplishment for the Athletic Department in over 30 years.

No need to sugar coat it, babe. I caught you shacking up with Benson. You harlot!

It will be a tough season with the Belt teams...except for FIU. When we play FIU this year, the game clock will start but there won't be any plays made because both teams and all of the fans will be too busy giving each other high fives! It's going to be an EPIC game!

Fixed for accuracy.

I think it will help in recruiting against our Belt friends, but keep in mind that just about EVERY school we compete with is either already on this level (Rice, UTEP, Tulsa, Tulane), is moving here with us (LA Tech, UTSA, FIU, and even TX St to an extent), or are on their way to bigger & better (SMU, Houston, TCU). Honestly, the team I think will be hurt the most if they do not win immediately will be TX Tech. They'll continue to get any recruit they want from Abilene and west, but with all of these move-ups (especially TCU), the recruits that they are used to getting from DFW/Houston/Central & East Texas areas will begin to dwindle.

Just wanted to drop by and offer my congratulations. I'm looking forward to some road trips to Denton. I know y'all have been waiting for this week as long as Tech has. It's finally here. Enjoy it!

If people don't give a rats ass about North Texas, then all the pomp and circumstance you want for game day won't mean a thing. As if the Band doing this bad ass pre-game whatever will make suddenly make NT fans/alumni/students care and start coming to games?!? I don't go to a college football game to listen to the band -- I go to watch football; hopefully good football. The band a nice novelty and does add to the experience, but to me it is not the be-all/end-all you are making it out to be.

They would know FIU before they knew UTSA, and would give 2 flips about neither.

I think ODU is going to still make the move. The CAA is falling apart and this is probably the only time they could get asked to move up

DONE! Except, I sent him a very nice email correcting him and assuring him that he is otherwise doing a wonderful job.

Maybe I'm crazy but id rather add ODU than MTSU. I want to distance ourselves from everything that is the SunBelt. If CUSA reloads with a bunch of belt schools, I feel like CUSA would be perceived the same as the belt has been perceived by most of the sports world. Nobody wants that. Although schools like ODU and utsa have little or no fb history, at least people don't know what expect which creates excitement. Also, with the loss of Memphis, CUSA should really try to grab a strong bball school which will at least add value somewhere if the fb program is weak.

CUSA has some traditional strong teams in UAB, UTEP, UNCC but there is no reason that NT can't prosper in this league particularly in the Western Division. Outside of UTEP and Tulsa, there are no teams with any better basketball histories. Based on recent history, NT should do well. By the way, I take back what I thought about Trilli lying to recruits about NT going to CUSA. He wasn't lying, he was just off on the dates a little.

Not a bit. At best, we will be a 12 seed. Best case scenerio, we play another 12 in a play in game. Even odds of losing. Then would play a 5 seed. Then would play a 4 seed. Underdog in every game but the play in game. Lets say we get a 13 seed. Well, one less game, but that would mean beating a 4 seed in the 1st round, followed by a 5 seed in the second round. Underdogs in both games. The easiest way is the way WKU did it in 2008 (?). Win your first round game, have a much lower seed win the game of your next oppponenets, and then beat that seed to get into the sweet 16. Could it happen? Yes. Will it? The odds are heavily against it. That is just the reality of the situation. Sun Belt Historic NCAA seeds: 2012 - 16 2011 - 16 2010 - 15 2009 - 12 2008 - 10, 12 2007 - 15 2006 - 14 2005 - 13 2004 - 14 2003 - 14 2002 - 9 2001 - 14 2000 - 13 1999 - 14 1998 - 12 Out of all of these years, Sun Belt teams have won all of 3 games, with 2 coming in one year, the year that WKU made a sweet 16 (2008). WKU won one game the following year (2009). Other than that, zero zip zilch success in the tournament for the Belt. WKU even wasted the 9 seed in 2002, falling to an 8 seed in round 1. Being in the Sun Belt doesn't help. Win the conference and the conference tournament, and you might get an 11 seed. You will still be the underdog in your opening round. Make no mistake, I hope this team is more than what we all hope it can be and win 25 games, go to the sweet 16, and gain some national attention for our program. But make no mistake. The odds on that happening are very long.

Here's hoping the Sunbelt will humiliate Texas State's "we're stepping down" whinning ass in every sport; as our relacement.

And I was always proud of "MUTS" that I coined. But "nUTSAx" is truly brilliant.

I thought we were discussing us "not being SMU". My point is we aren't being SMU when we gripe about UTSA's inclusion, because UTSA has exactly one year of what amounts to DII history. Just a little different circumstances. I DO NOT wish UTSA well, I wish them 10 straight years of 0-12 records. If that makes me a bad person, so be it. Suck it, UTSA!!!

With Memphis leaving CUSA to go to the Big East, the profile of CUSA basketball drops some. However, it is still a big step up from the Sun Belt. Basketball has been a bright spot at North Texas over the last several years, but we haven't dominated the league (only one regular season title right?). Most of the success has come from the conference tournament. I was curious where we fit in with the new CUSA. I looked at the last 5 years of Sagarin ratings (mainly because they are easy to find and are free). These numbers aren't exactly comparable since UNT has had worse competition which probably has hurt its numbers. North Texas is ranked 6th out of 12 teams. That's not too bad but we were probably 2nd or 3rd in Sun Belt over same period. Like every sport we'll have to step up but I feel really good about our chances to compete. Here are the rankings: Team 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 Avg UAB 131 62 61 56 56 73 Tulsa 103 97 75 63 71 82 UTEP 144 78 42 79 110 91 S. Miss 66 75 123 144 109 103 Marshall 79 90 86 158 144 111 UNT 166 175 157 152 138 158 ECU 141 140 235 198 226 188 Tulane 176 204 238 176 153 189 UTSA 173 217 200 188 261 208 La Tech 191 248 99 181 324 209 Rice 150 172 259 231 313 225 FIU 238 292 302 292 263 277

The writer replies to my email and apologized. Said they'll get it right next time. I am mobile.

A new rival?

No presence in Tennessee is almost like having no presence in Florida - its a big hole in the footprint. If ODU falls out I think MTSU should be an immediate grab. Now thats a footprint: Texas 4, Louisiana 2, Alabama 1, Mississippi 1, Tennessee 1, North Carolina 2, West Virgina 1, Florida 1, Oklahoma 1. GMG

I left him a voicemail!

I bet he's a really great guy.

North Texas State? This article can't be credible.

Geez...Can someone start preparing the new CUSA map for tomorrow.

I am not gonna promise conference titles out of the gate, but we should compete very well. We're not gonna be in the cellar or anything like that.

I think so but if we can't, it's pretty lame. I don't think we should back down from anyone

Probably no better than a 12. That is the assumption. Of course, it depends on who we beat OOC and who our conference mates beat OOC. Look, people have been posting on here like a sweet 16 is more than likely for this team. That couldn't be further from the truth. We don't know who will make grades, who will transfer, what injuries will happen during the season, etc... The odds and history say a sweet 16 is a minute long shot, that is all. EDIT: The best case scenerio is to make a deep run in the preseason NIT, thus gaining us early season attention and a possible ranking before conference play. The odds of this are low for entirely different reasons (new coach, new system, point guard with half year experience, and so on...). Even if we achieve this, we can't afford more than 2 or 3 losses in conference or else we will soon be forgotten by the national media.

I could give a crap about pluses or minuses. Maybe a lateral move is a bit... of an overstatement. But having 2 more schools that have never played a down of BCS football join nUTSAck (brilliant name, by the by) cheapens the brand of CUSA football, and thus cheapens the hard fought invite that UNT obtained. Too bad they couldn't be basketball member only schools. And I would hope CUSA isn't concentrating on the Belt. Benson will make sure that conference implodes with no help from the outside.

*slow clap*

"nUTSAx" Every once in a while a nickname that is so clever, and so fitting, comes along and I must adopt it into my vernacular. Oh, and attempt to use it so freely that I can fool someone into thinking I conjured it up myself. So thanks.

Let's have one rival ... but let's win so much that everyone else considers us to be their rival.

There will be more visiting fans from regional teams, a few more will travel and they will have a lot more alumni in the area. However, it is not going to be a huge increase; my guess would be max of 1000 in the attendance average. I also don't think that the CUSA teams will excite NT fans much more than the Belt once the new wears off. There will be some increase because NT will get a lot more state wide coverage than they ever have. Good winning visiting teams will bring out more fans, but frankly I don't think playing La Tech, Tulsa, UTSA, UTEP and Tulane is going to improve attendance significanly. The students that don't get excited playing Belt teams are going to complain about not playing UT, OU and the like at Apogee and stay away. I agree with you the key is winning but I must correct one of your comments because I have seen it many times. When NT left the MVC, Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati were all gone. Tulsa was still a member but Fry didn't risk much leaving the MVC as it was about done as a football conference.

They won't be in our division, but I see East Carolina at the top of our most hated conference mate heap. Those people are jerks.

The days of relying on visiting teams' fans to help fill our stadium MUST END!! No excuses for Apogee not filling to capacity at each and every home game.

Attendance is not going to bump up as much as anyone think's it is. Rice, Tulsa, and Tulane do not travel at all. UTEP will probably bring 5k extra fans, they travel pretty well. UTSA is yet to be determined. The teams in the east aren't going to bring anyone. These aren't big time schools, they aren't going to garner much more interest than the SBC teams.