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I believe in homer-ism, but do you that expressed the opinion really think Tulane make a mistake joining the BE (or conference to be named later)? Even with the West Coast defections it is still a much much stronger conference than CUSA. NT would sign on in a heartbeat to be in a conference with UH, SMU, Memphis and Tulane. Remember back a few months, when the leftover Belt teams were all about how much better their league was going to be compared to CUSA. Well those thoughts were short lived, as MTSU and FAU defected and the others are in despair that they didn't get an offer. There is going to have to be a lot more damage done to the football BE, before it isn't a lot more attractive than CUSA light.

"What will be scary for UNT is if he does leave for the NBA. No matter how one looks at it, Mitchell was remarkably productive last season. He set the school record for blocked shots in a season, ranked fourth in the league in rebounding and 13th in scoring." Just wanted to point out this portion. Hope everyone reads it several times.

From the official site The men's relay teams grabbed three top-five finishes today. North Texas had two teams competing in the men's 4x100 meter relay. Team A (compiled of James Fowler, Clint Collins, Johnny Hickman and Cameron Newson) finished second in 40.70 with Team B (compiled of Trevor Henderson, Kedron Sowells, Caleb Pryor and Terrance Williams) coming in at third in 41.63. Only issue is that there were only three teams entered in the 4x100, NT A, NT B and the winner If you want only a positive slant, try the NT official athletic site. Only problem you don't a lot of information unless you dig. Another current example, Women's golf is in tenth place at a tournament, with no mention off what teams are entered or even how many. You don't expect hard core reporting from any universities' official athletic sites, but it would be nice if they provided the basic information on a timely basis without such absurd bias.

Remember when people thought UTA was as bad as us?

The two Texas teams could be Stephen F. Austin (coached by UNT Alum Danny Kaspar) and UTA.

Just because you throw gmg after that shit doesn't make it ok. Take that to the tamu board.

This athletic department has never done anything but the bare minimum. The last straw for me was a couple years ago when billboards went up for the new stadium, obviously designed by the same inept designers of all our other marketing material, where "Mean Green" was completely illegible from more than a few feet away. Even when we finally had the funds to do something to get the name out there even a little bit, they couldn't be bothered to spend more than a few minutes in Photoshop. They can't hire, we know that for sure. But add on top of that they can't market or advertise, fundraise, or sell tickets. They miss opportunities to make money and provide a fun environment for fans. Instead of trying to swell community support by sending someone out to local businesses, they expect those businesses to come to them, etc. Living in Ft. Worth, I see TCU everywhere. I was honestly shocked. A lot of that is going to be due to TCU being incredibly successful in football, sure. On the other hand, there's a lot more to it than that. I'll see schedules, posters, uniforms, apparel, you name it at restaurants and other businesses, and I'm practically in Keller. Not once in Denton did I feel like UNT's reach went beyond the square outside of Rudy's, and sometimes even then it was lacking. Some of it is about winning, but a lot of it is about effort and persistence. Point of the post is that this athletic department is not a quality department. I'm sure there are some people doing their jobs or even going above and beyond, but from the outside looking in, the organization as a whole appears to do the bare minimum. RV took over the program 12 years ago, and outside of a student-funded stadium, we're not much better off today than we were when he first started. We had some level of success under Dickey and Johnny, but JJ won more games in his first year than Benford, and DD had the same record in RV's first year as McCarney did in 2012 without having to beat an FCS team to get there. I'm just tired of this department getting a pass and defended to the death by this board when there's not a single thing that we can point to in recent history that shows improvement. We haven't won a bowl game since 2002 and we've still yet to advance in the NCAA tournament. Doesn't look to change anytime soon on our current trajectory.

There is no reason to be excited yet. I'll be excited when I see the Ws on the the field, not because so and so looks great in practice. Our past years have been a mediocre, new league and better competition and I see us going through some struggles. Berglund may come in and save this team, or he could be a bust. I will wait to see it on the field.

My other alma mater got its 20th win tonight and made its conference championship game. It has never been to the dance. My heart and my money (Those other guys don't get a dime from me) belong to UNT, but I sure would love to see some success for those hippies out west. In other news, baseball season is off to a strong start. With today's weather, my daughter and I were talking today about how kickass it would be to go see a UNT baseball game tonight. Soon, my fellow Mean Green followers. Soon. I can't wait.

That is a pretty revealing statistic. But we have some good new facilities. I mean thats why people come out right?

I see Macs job on the line this year and its going to rest in the hands of our QB. I dont see how DT can be the starter, hes not a D-1QB, I like him as a person but he cant get it done on the field. How can you get excited about a team when they finished 1-4 in there last 5 games and haven't won back to back games in 8 years

I did both of my degrees at NT, so I have no backup plan after being Benford'D.

Careful. The last guy who took on the "us vs them" mantra became the scapegoat for a high school coach. And that dude HAD a conference title.

I'm surprised SEC did not let them in because of the condition of that stadium. Between A&M and Baylor...their respective stadiums are CRAP. but i could give a rats ass cause i plan on sitting my HAPPY ASS in APOGEE every home saturday watching the MIGHTY MEAN GREEN KICK MAJOR ASS!!! I am officially taking the attitude of the team, not the fans. KICK MAJOR ASS!!!

Are you serious? You want me to watch video from THAT GAME? I don't know what the rest of the video is and don't care. That WKU loss still makes me want to sports cry.

Just for reference, here is last year's scouting report on him....

Ok, ignoring your classless description, once again, one game for them versus a WHOLE season for us. I guess their "raping" is equivalent to our UAH game.

Well, let me put on my Tasty hat and lets take a look at the numbers, shall we? First, I think many of you forget how well Jordan was playing right before he and Chris were suspended. Anyway, here we go: Last six games of 2011-12 season before suspension: .482 FG% from the floor. .346% from 3 point range 2.8 RPG (.117 rebounds per minute played) 1 APG 2.3 TOs per game 12 Points PG in 24 minutes PG (0.5 points per minute) Last 6 games this year: .437 FG% per game .444 FG % from 3 point line (good improvement) 3.6 RPG (.106 rebound per minute played) 1 assist. Not per game. 1 assist in the last 6 games. 2.8 TOs per game 17.5 PPG in 34 MPG (yep, 0.5 points per minute). So it took Benford a full year to get JW back to the level he was playing at when he was suspended last year. That's coaching right there. Now lets look at the year end stats: 2011-2012: .410 FG%. .274 FG% from 3 .778 FT%. 4.0 rebounds per game 10.9 PPG. 1.31 assists per game. 2.2 TOs per game. 25.3 minutes per game (.436 points per minute played) 2012-2013: .416 FG%. .341 3P% .732 FT%. 3.7 RPG. 0.7 APG 2.2 TO per game. 31.7 MPG. 14.2 PPG (.447 points per minute) Marginal improvement at best. When you figure in assists per minutes played, that stat is actually quite concerning in its direction. Like I said, I think a lot of you forget how well Jordan was playing right before his suspension last year. This is not a shot at Jordan at all and I like him as a player (but he does need to get his ass on the boards, play better D, and mature, as that bad Technical in Hot Speings showed), this is just breaking down the raw numbers to show that his last 6 games last year and this year were pretty much a wash. Keep working, Jordan.

He must be crazy to think the Big East is a better move still. What a ding dong.

It's funny. As I was watching the last few moments of that game I knew you'd be sprinting to the nearest keyboard. Nevermind that TWO of our university's THREE trips to the Big Dance were under JJ. Nevermind that he led LSU to the best SEC season they've had in a while. Nevermind that all he did was do BETTER with someone else's kids...and has highly ranked kids lined up to come in (I'd say his needle is pointed up...Benford's?). Nevermind that their fan base (Mostly) likes him. Read their boards. Nevermind that he got "raped" by a top 15 team. That's comparable to a 19 point loss to ULL, right? But hey, keep relishing the minor stumbles of a guy who lowered the hurdles at North Texas...meanwhile our administration has managed to trip face first over the mole hills he left as if they were mountains.

LSU got raped today. Lost 58-80. Coach JJ

Out of the 124 current athletic programs that field BCS (Division IA) football in addition to men's and women's basketball, only North Texas, South Alabama, and New Mexico State have had neither a bowl appearance nor a basketball postseason win (NCAA or NIT) since 2004. South Alabama hasn't really had a chance yet in football, and they did receive an at-large NCAA bid during that span, which we never have. New Mexico State had three NCAA appearances to our two during the past eight years. Granted, this is only one way of measuring athletic department performance, and I'm kind of arbitrarily picking a year for obvious reasons. Furthermore, I'm neglecting all other sports. Still, I think the facts above show why some of us are starting to get really frustrated with futility in the major sports--especially now that it looks like we're married to a men's basketball coach who may sink the program for years to come, if he's allowed to continue.

I guess you're referring to me with that. I don't really think I tore down Tony's game. . . . I was just observing what that video pointed out for all to see, and it pointed it out to a degree that I had never noticed it before. As far as wanting Tony to stay . . . sure, that would be nice. But I'd also be the first to admit that this past year hurt his draft stock, and failed to develop the few areas he needed to develop before the season. I agree that he's a lot better than he showed this past year. I disagree that the proof is to be found in reviews from his performance at the camps. Tony has always had the "wow" factor, and can certainly impress when called to impress in certain situations. But the proof will be when he can prove it over the course of an entire season playing with a team. IMO, his time with the U.S. Under-19 team proved far more than the camps proved. His performance the half of the 2011-12 season that he played proved more than the camps proved. Can't really disagree with any of that. If he can go in the first round now, he'd better jump on that ship before it sails.

You know, it occurred to me that since college football teams almost always have a band to help cheer them on and provide musical "encouragement", during the game, why not celebrate a century of North Texas marching band. Now, the problem with that is, early on, did they even show up to games and when did they start showing up at games to provide the aforementioned "musical encouragement". Also, when did they actually start marching at games? Here is the earliest photo of a North Texas band that I can find...from the 1911-12 school year. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth60980/m1/133/?q=music It looked like this the first year a football team was fielded (1913) http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth60982/m1/169/?q=organizations By 1917 (the 1916 football season), it's finally looking like it might be a marching band..... http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth60985/m1/185/?q=normal%20band By 1920, their numbers had dropped quite a bit. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth60999/m1/177/?q=Normal%20Band The first band with uni's? 1928. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth60996/m1/137/?q=school%20band So, how/when would we celebrate the 100th year of the North Texas Band?

Ditto for me. I am going into the season cautiously optimistic. My hope is that Brock an some of the other key transfers are going to overachieve this season. All of us here at NT are certainly overdue for a huge break or two when it comes to sports success. However, when I start to get excited about things, I look back at our last 3 recruiting classes and realize that the deck is certainly stacked against us. That is a fact that cannot be denied. Does this mean our FB team cannot be successful this year ? Absolutely not. But, we are going to need superior coaching and conditioning to overcome the fact that our players weren't the biggest, fastest or most agile coming out of HS. Most of the other schools we will be playing can afford a slip up or two. To have success, we are going to have to come together as a tight-knit team that plays disciplined, consistent and nearly mistake free football. I am hoping for the best this season, but certainly not expecting it.

I don't remember Jordan taking the kinds of shots he took near the end of this season last year. last year, Jordan was very hesitant with the ball, unless on the fast break. He took VERY ill-advised 3pointers, and at times looked completely lost with the ball. The mid-range game he was flexing at the end of the year was virtually non-existent last season. Jordan certainly did improve. I think Benford & staff deserve a little credit for this. And for me, that's about where their player development credit ends. And for all of the credit they get for helping Jordan develop, they lose it in the lack of development of Coleman. I think this guy was handled all wrong this year.

Well I suppose there is a reason it is called player development..... But it is on both parties. You really think Lebrons high school coach "coached" him up to be an NBA player? At a young age coaches know who will develope into something. That is not to say player performance is always pre determined, but often it is. The rest is a mix between players and coach.

And I won't be a season ticket holder for 2 of them. If we win less than 10 next year and still bring him back, I may just have to consider doing better things with my time than waste it on UNT sports.

Good post, Adman . . . But I don't think Charr was the one to blame for players' feet being destroyed. The likely culprit was the poorly-made Under Armor cleats.

Ok, this is just downright delusional. Bankowsky has not done a single thing right during realignment, if he was going to play his cards right, he would have done so by now. CUSA lost 3 out of their top 4 largest fanbases (ECU, UCF and UH) and all of their previous conference champions save for Southern Miss. He should have only added maybe 1-2 teams, wait for the old BE to implode then absorb all of the teams inculding their AQ bid and ESPN deal. He failed miserably at all of those things and teams like USM and Marshall are going to pay the price unfortunately.

We've already spent tons of money on upgrading our existing sports. I think it is time to expand our brand into new sports.

Lime green pants and Kelly Green jerseys are nothing short of nauseating.

Dumb. It sounds like a PC move to appease these clowns who play on alternately-colored fields.

Griffin will be a stud. I'm going to hate him for many years to come.

I understand this but in all fairness I think Benford should have another year and there should not be a lot of bickering about it. He has been here one year. In one year he could not build a mountain and he could certainly not destroy it. He could have had a major year this year and then the next three seasons average about 13 wins a year. That is nothing spectacular. Next season lets see if we can pull together 16 to 18 wins and make a push in the CUSA tourney. If things go further south then we can talk. It has taken coaches a lot more then 3 years to build/destroy a program so be patient. Johhny did not all of the sudden make LSU great. he just had a decent year that ended with a nice run in conference play. I believe we can do the same next season.

Well I am a LSU fan. After I started that thread I decided to stick around here. If your wondering why I said ''It was tough watching Tony's highlights from that game. '', it was because I watched that game last year...

They tried to fire coach K for his first what 3 years? Now look at him. Of course we should fire Benford now. Just like Duke should have fired coach K....

Good??? I would say less than average, but if were comparing ourselves to Arkansas Monticello, then yes we have good new facilities.

Can someone please tell me why Benford is complaining about all these injuries... Why is he hiding behind the injury wagon, I mean if you look at the games played from last year to this year, its not much different. But its a new system so he has a freebee, please... Rule #71 - No excuses, play like a champion

It was tough watching Tony's highlights from that game.

I think it boils down to whether Tony enjoys school enough to return. He does not make an NBA roster at this point regardless of if he goes in the first or second round. 1st round picks, of course, receive guaranteed money and teams will be reluctant to pay that after his performance this past season. On the other hand, the Miami Heat will repeat as champions and he could be a nice low risk/high reward type of pick. Don't think Lebron James or DeWayne Wade would allow any rookie to loaf. At this point, I can see Tony having a lucrative career in Europe, after spending some time in someone's D-League. I wish the best for him because he obviously is not ready for the NBA. Would not be surprised at all if he decides to return for at least another year. (Can't sell your stock when it has hit rock bottom) Coach Benford and his handlers owe Tony an honest assessment.

a nice bandaid on a crap pile

Sorry to be snarky here, but I just can't resist. If we have a rivalry with UTSA that is based anything on what you just posted, this will be further proof that our school really does care a lot more about music than athletics. I can only imagine the highlights from this "rivalry"--nothing on ESPN or Fox Sports, but great coverage on VH1!! Seriously, I may very well be in the vast UNT minority within our fanbase, but I could not care less on how our band matches up against another school's band.

I never have said that adding baseball will adversely affect football.However,there are only so many beans in the pot, and I would rather take care of existing sports than put millions into a baseball park plus the annual cost of fielding a team. Just because you can doesn't always mean you should. I put a UNT proposed baseball stadium in the same financial pew as the UNT@Dallas campus and the proposed UNT@ Dallas School of Law, which is no longer needed since Texas A&M purshased TWU's law school, but probably will be built anyway.

We are in violent about upward trend about UNT in general. I just would like to see us finish up golf and track&field before we make a multimillion committment to a non revenue producing sport.In my business career I tried to complete existing projects before I took on a larger one that would require a major investment in both time and money.If you look at college baseball as a stand alone business and the start up money came from your personal coffers, then you probably would be like SMU and pass. However, since we don't view money spent on college sports as funds that could be better used elsewhere,such as a needed School of Pharmacy, then we will build our field of dreams and hope they will come.Even thought I would not add baseball, I wish the proposed program nothing but the best,as I do North Texas.

Shhh, logic will have no place here...at least not while we're still trying to downplay Benford's predecessor to excuse an epic drop off.

I cant help but wonder if the tearing down of Tony's game by some here is some type of sub-conscious effort to justify Tony staying at UNT to "improve" his game... Look folks. Here's the plain fact. Tony is infinitely better than what he did this season at UNT. The proof: The reviews from his time at the Amare and LeBron summer camps. When in the hands of NBA people who understand his game and what he does well, he excels. Do you know why he's even still considered a 1st round pick by some? It's certainly not because of his statistics at UNT. He needs to go pro now so that he doesn't hurt his chances in the future by being associated with this team which is hemorrhaging badly.

Sounds like a questions for those in the College of Music.

Nope... Tony didn't improve this year. Neither did CJ. Neither did Alzee. Neither did Keith. Neither did Niko. Neither did Clarke. PJ got better as the season went along but you could easily argue that he was just getting acclimated to the level of competition. Franklin, the kind of player that gets by on pure hustle and heart without need of an offense or system, had a great great senior campaign. Jordan made some nice strides late in the year to basically get back to the level he was at before suspension last season. Give Benny a bronze star sticker for that I guess.

I have to LOL at the -6 six to my comment above. Of course it is justified that he just sat there on the last free throw of the game and let WKU get a board and easy two to put it out of reach for us.Of course I am wrong. Oh that was under Johhny... he must not respect Johhny... that must have been it. That is why he jogged up the court on multiple occasions on D which led to easy 2's for WKU. Loser mentality is welcome at UNT apparently. I hope we get more players at UNT who jog up the court in the biggest game of their careers (to that point). That is what the fan base wants... I guess I dont follow where the bashing on Benford is coming from. It is ok for the most taented player ever to wear a UNT jersey to not give 100% int he conference finals but lose a game to a d2 and your toast. Where is the logic? We complain about losing but then try to justify lazy play. Go figure... only at UNT He is a great player but there is no denying that if he hustled on one of those plays and rebounded that last ft we could have been dancing....