Leaderboard

Listening to the game over the Internet, I thought I was in a time warp. All that was missing was Bill Mercer and sponsorship from Braniff Airlines.

Never more an example of a coach leaving a "Bare supboard" than Sonny Dykes at La. Tech. He graduates 31 seniors this year. 31!! Will La. Tech immediately accept 8 years of losing football? Will UNT lose to a team with an even more bare cupboard next year? Will the new La. Tech coach make this a constant excuse? Only time will tell.

Heck... Can he wear a suit and at least do post game interviews after losses?

So I was thinking and this is from memory. I can think of 4 games that the three of them played together last year. I believe it was Texas tech, Jackson state, Troy and lala. Lala beat us at home. And we had Brandon. This team is young, overhyped and has tremendous upside. Help me if I am wrong, because I am looking at a crown double in the st. Louis airport marriott after watching our guys fight their arses off in a hostile environment.

Maybe it's just me, but sending Fric and Frac to negotiate with, and convince the MWC that they need to offer UNT a membership to have a presence in Texas, does no give me a whole lotta hope.

Didn't call for his head, but I'd damn sure put him on notice! Brought to you by DeepGreen, 45+ years in the distribution business, Exec, VP, and many years hiring and fireing guys like UNTLifer! Just kidding Lifer!! I couldn't let you off the hook that easy! Carry On.

The MWC doesn't need any more regional rivalries or geographic presence, and realignment (clearly) isn't being driven by those priorities anyway. The MWC is holding for five possibilities, two of which still have to play out. 1. Boise State and San Diego State return. If this happens, it's probably gonna stop for now. 2. The CUSA gets done being raided, and the MWC executes the merger plan by taking those CUSA teams with with either the market or the credibility to be good for them. In this scenario, MWC takes Texas-El Paso, Texas-San Antonio, North Texas, Rice, Tulsa and Louisiana Technical School for the Criminally Insane. 3. The Big East dies, and MWC takes back San Diego State, Boise State and adds Houston-Telephone and University Park Senior High School. 4. The MWC decides to expand to the traditional 12 via a cynical TV market play. MWC adds North Texas and Rice. 5. The MWC does nothing. Still a lot to shake out here, folks. The Big Whatever still isn't done, nor is the Big Less Than Whatever. The Big Everywhere is still going to lose members - whether to the Anywhere near a Coast Cnference or to the Big Less Than Whatever. There is still a strong possibility that the basketball schools defect from the BE as well.

Or, maybe the bowl turn down just helpped him decide to leave...my guess, however, is that the bowl situation had much less to do with Dykes' decision to leave than his new coaching salary at Cal and a PAC 10 head copaching slot did.

Rick, and our smiling/e-mailing president Rawlins, should be 127% into the Tulsa president's brown butt trying to get him to consider us as a geographic package with Dallas "TV market" (which we don't drive)...YESTERDAY! Rick and Lane have got to be on airplanes this weekend, not phones, making our presence known. Surely, they cannot be sitting back waiting on Banowsky to do something. That guy is a freaking zombie. We'll be in the Southland if we keep following Banowsky's lead.

at least we get a year of awesome conference games

I will never forget: Dr. Williams was teaching my conducting class, and cancelled class the dayBrubeck was on campus. Brubeck was giving a master class to jazz piano players in the concert hall, and we were all supposed to go watch the master class instead of going to conducting class. Watching him slowly make his way to the piano, he gently set his briefcase on the ground and sat at the piano bench. Immediately, it was like 40 years had been wiped away, and he looked young and vibrant, just like the students he was teaching. He played a few charts with some lucky rhythm section students, and then proceeded to listen to a dozen or so pianists.He was nothing but complimentary and helpful to all of them. That day showed changed the way I looked at having a career in music. It was certainly one of the best days of my undergraduate career.

They played 10 games together last year. 7-3 record.

Wish we had Cristobal on the UNT football staff in some capacity.

I don't think we saw much of an effort from St Louis with their coach still freshly dead, but hopefully Benford has finally realized that this thing needs more Niko.

Tony did not play against Texas Tech last year.

Thought the team did a lot of the little stuff much better. Hard to say if we'll be able to hang with LeHigh...still giving up way too many open looks from 3. Also felt like we went longer stretches without subbing, and packaged lineups when we did to better effect.

Blakenship was an assistant for four years at Tulsa before being named head coach. He last coached high school in 2005.

Olawale is the only one that pissed anything away during his time at North Texas. Two completely different coaching staffs saw the same thing and evaluated him. I'm very excited that it appears he has figured it out now and is utlizing the potential that everyone saw and loved but previously was only potential.

No one in Texas (save Rice) wanted Manziel, initially- not even A&M. Sherman had to be convinced to give the guy a shot at QB. Even his current coach, Kevin Sumlin, passed on recruiting him to UH. That, to me, is the coolest part of this terrific story. Manziel is a special talent. But so is that pro-style O-line that Sherman installed. You know, the one that will likely contribute a pair of outstanding tackles to the first round of the upcoming NFL draft. It's also worth mentioning A&M also recruited and offered Gilbert. They didn't get him. Lucky them, right?

The other thing to consider in looking at this is that some came into programs that were already on the upswing or well established. I'd say definitely that our situation was a little more challenging than many of those.

Did any of them replace a coach who won 6 games in 4+ years and had only been a high school coach before taking over? Not trying to be a Mac apologist--flame away if you think I am--but he's already won 9 games, where the previous regimes won 13 games in the 6 years before him. We all want a winner here, but you gotta get a qb that can play and lines that can block or pressure the other team. McCarney's recruiting and development can really be judged as we move forward here. But the 2nd season, at least in my opinion, is his last honeymoon year here--going forward he knows that the expectation is to have winning seasons or he won't be here beyond the 2014 season.

Yeah... Mack Brown sucks at finding QBs. He only landed Chris Simms, Vince Young and Colt McCoy.

Every wonder why those great QB's coincide with those great teams? Put Dodge, Thompson or Vizza on the teams of 2001 to 2004 and they are instantly thought of much better, put Hall on the teams of the last 8 years and he becomes an average at best QB. Not a knock on Hall because I think he was a good fit for his teams but without Kennedy and that defense, he would not have won many games even in the Belt.

State or federal?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-...25z;_ylv=3 5. North Texas (3-5) Losses: at Creighton 71-51, Alabama-Huntsville 78-75, at Virginia 80-64, Texas-Arlington 72-59, Louisiana-Lafayette 80-76 Why they've disappointed: Before the season began, Tony Mitchell told me he wanted to leave a legacy at North Texas. Right now, however, the only thing this year's Mean Green will be remembered for is underachieving. Despite having a potential lottery pick in Mitchell and a talented supporting cast, North Texas is off to a disastrous 3-5 start. Some of those losses have been one-sided yet forgivable like a season-opening 71-51 loss at Creighton. Others have been downright head-scratching like a loss to Division II Alabama-Huntsville or home setbacks against Texas-Arlington and Louisiana-Lafayette. In the Louisiana-Lafayette game, Mitchell scored only three points, took only one shot and fouled out in 25 minutes. Can they recover? Any hope of North Texas living up to its hype as a dangerous mid-major and the preseason Sun Belt favorite probably depends on whether its anemic offense improves. The Mean Green are shooting 40.2 percent from the floor and an anemic 26 percent from behind the arc. Compounding the problem, they're also turning the ball over too much. Mitchell's 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game are pedestrian for a super-athletic forward with first-round potential. He needs to take at least 15 shots per game, something he has only done three times this season. And with 12 turnovers and no assists in North Texas' last three games, he needs to do a better job dealing with double teams and his teammates must more consistently sink open shots. View the full article

$100 bill

We all hope our Year 3 in MG Country will be successful, but here is what happened with all these coach's 2'nd years at their respective outposts. This info below from M & G board: Will Muschamp, Florida, $3,000,000. Record: 11-1 BCS #4. Bill Blankenship, Tulsa, $800,000. Record: 10-3 .....C-USA Conference Championship. Dave Doeren, Northern Illinois, $400,000. Record: 12-1...MAC Conference Championship. BCS Buster #16. ......Left to take the NC State Job. Darrell Hazell, Kent State, $324,000. Record: 11-2......Final BCS rank #25. David Shaw, Stanford, $1,000,000 per year. Record: 11-2....BCS final rank #8, Pac 12 Conference Championship. Pete Lembo, Ball State, $400,000. Record: 9-3 Rocky Long, San Diego State, $700,000. Record: 9-3 Mark Hudspeath, U of L Lafayette, $400,000. Record: 8-4 Brady Hoke, Michigan, $2,000,000. Record: 8-4......Final BCS rank #19. Al Golden, Miami (FL), $1,500,000. Record: 7-5 Dana Holgorson, West Virginia, $1,400,000. Record: 7-5 James Franklin, Vanderbilt, $750,000. Record: 8-4 Paul Chryst, Pitt, $1,750,000. Record: 6-6 Jerry Kill, Minnesota, $1,500,000. Record: 6-6. Hughe Freeze, Ol' Miss, $1,500,000. Record: 6-6 Paul Pasqualoni, Connecticut, $1,600,000. Record: 5-7 Steve Addazio, Temple, $675,000. Record: 4-7 ....Left to take the Boston College Job. Don Treadwell, Miami (OH), $400,000. Record: 4-8 Dan McCarney, North Texas, $600,000. Record: 4-8 GMG!

I guess we lost gracefully this time? question... using past info

Perfect games sometimes happen in baseball. LOL! Lets just hope this is a sign of the upswing for this team.

Got away? Did we even recruit him?

Mesquite Skeeter, Cory Remekun, came up big for St Louis. I hated when he got away

Considering Tony was in foul trouble, I think they held their composure pretty well. They didn't lay down

Unsatisfied yet again.

This have me hope for the season. I mean, I'm done with moral victories but still.

Better than ULaLa, but still...I need to see better composure at the end of the game before I let Benford off the hook.

Ugh. SLU drives for wide open layup to go up by two. North Texas goes down gets off balance shot at hoop. Tie up goes to SLU and they hit two FTs. Basically ended game. Those two possessions sum up UNT season.

Gotta be happy we played a LOT better. Play like this in belt play and we don't lose.

That might be it.

Mitchell showing up for this game. I think he has 12 points already but not sure.

The horror. The horror.

I assume you were there at every practice and know him not to be worthy of NT playing time. You are making an assumption based on your undying faith in the NT coaching staff's ability. I am making assumptions based on what he is doing since leaving NT. The facts are that the first coaching staff recruited Olawale as a wide receiver and used him sparingly, McCarney as far as I can remember did not use him at all. As far as he not being heavily recruited, you really want to use that in your argument, when the truth is that neither was 80% of the team. There may have been injury issues or eligibility problems with Olawale that limited his play at NT, although you would think that would have been mentioned. The only reason I commented other than of course to use it for an opportunity to bad mouth the NT athletic department, was McCarney constant reference to how few athletes he found on the squad when he arrived. It seems ironic to me, that Olawale was apparently available and he certainly fits the description of an athlete. I am happy for Olawale and hope he sicks with some pro team. With the Cowboys I saw a player with a lot of drive and a fairly high talent level. I think most would assume that those traits have always been there, therefore it is highly possible that NT misjudged his value. Generally no one who post on this board knows the full story about anything. It is mostly opinion and speculation hopefully with some logic applied. It is also at least on my part, fun or at least interesting to take part. It is much more serious business for those actually involved such as administration, coaches and players. All should be fully aware what they are subject to when they chose to participate as an employee or as as a player. Criticism is very mild at NT compared to most programs so I get amused with those that think that anything negative stated is really going to have any significant effect on anything.

Haters gonna hate

Hmm. That IS fun with numbers. As TM and this team learn, assuming they do, things will go accordingly. And I'm not referring to skill and ability. Potential just means you haven't done it yet. If they don't crater mentally, they will be fine. It won't be easy, and a lot on the court has been in HS and AAU.,

Freeze, Pasqualoni and Chryst are all first year coaches

Probably not...only UNT would be stupid enough to hire a high school coach...for the second time!!! (remember Dennis!)

I believe it's the presence of Benford that has impacted TM's numbers.

Benford even sucks at coach speak.

I do not claim to be a basketball x&o fan, but it looks like our new coach is trying to put a square peg in a round hole. The team does not like his style on play, and it shows on the court, both in play and attitude. If Tony Mitchell's apparent bad court attitude carries over into the classroom he will be gone by December.I would have thought we would have hired an experienced head coach whose style of play mirrored the existing team's ability. This reminds me of a football head coach installs a rushing offense with players recruted to pass. Nothing good will come of that until he flushes out existing team and replaces them with players suited to his style. I don't think anything good is going to come out of of our mens basketball team this year. Bedford may turn out to be a good long term hire, but not for the team he inherited.

He actually had a piece with a positive outlook written...but then substituted this one in at the last second.

Seems to me Benford was give a lot more money than JJ when he arrived here. Benford rode JJ success because UNT is much more attractive place to coach than when JJ arrived. RV thought per Benford's resume that he was ready to make the jump from assistant coach to head coach. That hasn't turned out to be the case....LOL!!!! Now UNT is screwed unless RV takes immediate action by firing Benford and hiring another coach. See my long post on page 10 of: Fire him (Benford). Benford is destroying with lighting speed what it took JJ 10 Years to build at UNT!!! This is a tragic situation for the Mean Green Nation!!!! This makes me sick at my stomach every time I thing about it. It's like the Todd Dodge era all over again, but 100 worse. Much better UNT team with right coach in place, and all of us and the Mean Green Nation have seen this before referring to Todd Dodge hire. RV, do something, or just shoot us all in the Mean Green Nation. If you leave Benford as coach you'll just be killing all of UNT's fan base with a 1,000 paper cuts and letting us bleed out slowly to our death's. Do we really deserve a slow death. Just shoot us with a 44 Mag. and let us die a quick death!!!!