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I'm not trying to scold anyone here, but what's it gonna take for more people to come out and support our basketball teams? And other sports - softball and women's soccer are always solid, and volleyball just made a promising coaching hire. Our basketball teams are a combined 23-9, which is the best in The American. They're also a combined 17-1 at The Super Pit. But no one is showing up for games. I don't want this to turn into a bitch fest about our marketing. It is probably deserved, but the people on this board likely follow our athletics department on some other social media or email list. Every Monday on Twitter I see a post about what teams are playing at home this week. I know some aren't a big fan of basketball, do you dislike it more than you like the Mean Green? Many are rightfully getting turned off by NIL and the transfer portal. I don't blame you. But the coaching staff for the men are putting together its' school record eighth straight winning season. With Burton, the women won't be far behind. In football, I get it adds up for a family of four - tickets, parking, concessions. But the other five spectator sports offer free parking and normally a hella great ticket deal. Season tickets for basketball start at $99 (like $6.50/home game). If you like soccer, softball, and/or volleyball, an Olympic pass will get you a GA ticket for every home game for $75 (less than $2/ticket!). Again, not trying to call out the board, just want to raise awareness for our other sports, especially if you are feeling sour about football. Come out to The Pit at least one time the remainder of the season! The men and women deserve it. Next women's home game is this Wednesday, 1/15 at 6:30pm against defending conference champ Rice. The men play at home a week after that on the 22nd against Temple - last year's conference runner-up. Or, if you live in the Central Texas or Houston area, look for upcoming games at UTSA next Saturday, 1/18 and at Rice Tuesday, 2/11. GMG!

@SUMG - THANK YOU for posting this. I was going to do the same thing so you saved me some time. Glad to see the national media sees what occurred yesterday at the same time we had moronic hot sports takes tagged under "We picked the wrong quarterback" and "So sick of the crap this football program slings us". Pretty sure most of us expected to get blown out (let me raise my hand) with so many hitting the portal, so IMO we played a really solid game and barely lost. For those people that constantly berate all things UNT and are never happy, it's a New Year -- find something that DOES make you happy. Back to the point, great article by ESPN. Very eye opening and well done! 🙂

UNT fans: I'M TIRED OF LOSING ALL THESE BOWLS Vito: UNT has lost all these bowls UNT fans: DAMMIT VITO

As in, right now? If a school leaves and we need a replacement, I see them as a solid candidate. But I don't think we need to add them just to add them.

I'm calling him Drew "Breeze" https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43278528/north-texas-mestemaker-opens-eyes-first-responder-start

This is ridiculous. Chandler Rogers had two carries for Southern Miss in 2019, spent two seasons at ULM, one year at North Texas then a year at Cal. How is he still eligible? This is taking away opportunities from other deserving players. If the NCAA loses every lawsuit, why doesn’t some overlooked high school recruit sue over the NCAA’s failure to enforce eligibility rules? Let’s clear out these guys who are sticking around college football forever. Chandler Rogers has had his college career. Move on and give a real college student an opportunity.

Man, that effort by Mestemaker was amazing…considering everything he had to face, that was a lot to be proud of…

You missed his point entirely. He’s not talking about having another“but Denton hates us” pity fest. if the same people (or just half of them) who can manage to make it to Datcu to watch a sub .500 team would make it literally across the street to the pit to watch a team that has won 🏆, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

There's an easy fix for this... UNT just simply wins a bowl

https://www.patreon.com/posts/118123212?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

I really DO NOT like the endzone rendering. It looks like a lot of wasted space (roof) that could be used for some great elevated seating. It also replaces a large central videoboard with a wimpy one in the corner? Let's try another design!

I know we're all sick of moral victories, but this is probably the best news UNT Athletics has had when it's come to TV ratings before, and the team represented us well. Plus, Mestemaker's performance has overshadowed TXST's win.

So, ESPN SC is on in the background with some guy talking about the Cincinnati Bengals and I just happen to look up at the TV and see this.

https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/ben-baby/ He's a UNT grad who started his career at the Denton Record Chronicle in 2011. Way to represent UNT!

Wish he had been making this case sooner but better late than never I guess.

Tulane and UNT were the only AAC schools to lose their starting QBs for the bowl. That's the difference. Mestemaker played a great game. I think a *healthy* Chandler Morris wins the game. That's just me. Mestemaker made great plays for sure but there were also several deep misses early on. Before the Coleman TD, he was 3/8. He found his groove then sputtered some then picked things up again. I hope he stays and I'd love to watch him start next season. On the flip side, we played a 25 year old QB who started all year for Texas State (edit). There's no substitute for experience and continuity. I don't think this loss indicates in any way we're stuck in neutral. I think it shows how well this staff identifies and develops offensive talent. To compete in your bowl, you either need a senior QB, a loyal QB, or to get very lucky like we did with Mestemaker.

Looks like they have been hit harder than us in terms of volume. Really we’re only down 3 guys and if Blair and Duncan are back, I’d say our o-line has upgraded from our last few games with Mercer. Also sucks to lose Morris but he was a shell of his pre Tulane injury self those last few games.

This was my 81st men's basketball game since my freshman year in 2014. Best game I've seen in person, and I was in Ruston for the big comeback against LA Tech. Overcome an 18-point lead against a bitter rival on national TV with a decent crowd. Imagine a full Pit.

When teams start getting long bowl losing streaks, it's always brought up. Remember when Notre Dame lost like a dozen bowl games in a row? It was constantly mentioned in the press. I mean it sucks, but it's fair to say.

This is insane. So seasons played at a JUCO don't affect eligibility at all? What this does is give a huge recruiting advantage to JUCOs over FCS schools and lower, and potentially over G5s. A player thinks he has P2 ability but isn't getting P2 offers? Commit to a JUCO, give yourself 2 years to develop and show what you can do in college ball, then still have just as many years of eligibility to offer as a high school commit would have. We are going to see more of these 24- and 25-year-old college football players going forward. Once again, note who is ruining college football....It's not the NCAA, it's the court system and government (okay, along with ESPN).

Well, not our problem anymore.

I like what he did just now. Very respectable class, big boost on defense with the Cassity hire. Letting Caponi go was not easy. I heard Caponi got on his knees and begged. These guys did family vacations together and whatnot. So its sad and tough to do but he had to go. I give Eric credit. Guys a winner and he has dealt with a lot green North Texas horse shit since he got here with the burden of NIL and whatnot. Just remember, the cream rises to the top and this guy always wins both on and off the field.

So a lot of you think that NT is not deserving of your valuable fandom. I actually was proud of the team that continue to battle with a completely revamped lineup including a completely untested QB. Yeah and spare me the low expectations accusations that are usually leveled at anyone that dares to not rave and rant about a loss.

Drew Mestemaker may not win this game, but he’s shown more heart at QB for us than we have seen since Mason Fine…

@Glory to the Green I'll go through tomorrow am and try to pair it up so we have a better idea of who is staying to play on both squads and who won't be participating. I honestly think our offense may have a chance to be more explosive without Morris at the helm. He was gimped up because our throws downfield significantly dropped after the Tulane game when he took that big shot. Tons of screens, quick game, etc. I hope they allow Mestemaker to air it out so long as he's proven to earn the trust in that. I did get a good report from a former UNT football player that his friends on the defense said the offense had been killing it in practice and Mestemaker was the least of our worries in the bowl game FWIW.

I’ve really soured on college athletics. It’s not fun anymore for me.

I have no idea how he'll do, but that commitment tweet makes a very good first impression on me. Here's hoping he can help lead the Mean Green to a great season next year!

He was productive at the FCS level. I was hoping for McIvor for the same reasons I like this guy. Experienced guy who was successful at a D1 school and is on his final year so we don't have to worry about him leaving before bowl season. In his 2 seasons at Albany, he totaled 60 passing TDs to 17 interceptions and added 8 more TDs on the ground. I love this pickup.

I wish the American had been able to get the Air Force Academy to join us.

I generally share this sentiment but it was actually new news this time. And you haven't moved on from UNT rejecting your admissions application 35 years ago, yet they still let you post.

This is what I call a “growth game.” This is the kind of game Hodge can use the film from to show the team the razor thin margin between winning and losing against the best teams in our league. If we are who we hope we are, our team walks away from this knowing we CAN beat anyone come conference tourney time, we just have to execute.

Got our tickets, got our parking, we're on the way in a bit. The wife is a SWT grad, so this should be fun. (She's ticked off that our seats are on the UNT side. Too bad, so sad 🙂 )

Bringing in Poffenberger, signing Jimerson and Mestemaker returning, Cash probably realized he wasn’t going to get any playing time here soon. Best of luck to him.

Are you trying to get a restraining order or comply with one?

If he wanted to be a WR he'd do it at one of his P4 WR offers.

He led the FCS is passing in 2023 and has similar traits to Chandler Morris. I'm sure Cam Ward swayed him to go play for Morris.

A third string quarterback from Miami that’s on his sixth year of college football. I’ll save the judgment until we see him in spring ball.

He moved on. Time for y'all to move on.

And fans saying stuff like this can lose me with trying to imply that the people supporting this program for 5, 10, 20, 50+ years with UNT degrees on the wall are the problem. It’s literally OUR program, not the coaches or mercenary players that will never graduate from the institution’s program. We can literally say anything and be critical about whatever we want to. We’ll all be here after they’re all long gone. Fans didn’t create this idiotic system we’re all collectively subjected to.

After Morris and Sheffield transferred, how many here were actually expecting to win? Many of us were just hoping TXST didn't handle us like they did UTSA this year or Rice in last year's First Responder Bowl. Sure, it's the head coach's job to have his team ready to play and in position to win regardless of the adversity faced, but it's still incredible the performance Mestemaker had. Tonight was better than any game C. Morris has had since Memphis. Coastal Carolina lost their starting QB to the portal and got dog walked in their bowl game against UTSA in their own building. Yes, the loss increases our bowl futility streak to an active high, and it sucks to lose to an intrastate program in an inferior conference, but that shouldn't take away from Drew's game. The biggest disappointment to me was how badly we were outnumbered by TXST fans. We went from packing the lower level of the Cotton Bowl to being matched ON OUR OWN SIDE. Like our team, our fans also struggle to wear green. However, there should be optimism surrounding next season. Eric made a poor hire with his first DC obviously, but made the tough (but right) call in getting rid of him. Next year's presumed starter will be in his last year of eligibility, so no losing another 4000 yard passed before the bowl game. If we struggle to another 6/7-win season and bowl loss with next year's schedule, I think Eric's seat should be pretty hot again.

By all means feel free to step away and not come back.

You mean like this!!!!!

The face of a kid about to become a North Texas legend

Well, I do think Eric Morris is a winner, and I have confidence in him for the future of NT football. A young coach that understands young men and places an exciting brand of football on the field might just work if Coach Morris can improve our defense. NT had some close losses to some good football programs this year and he only really crapped the bed against Texas Tech. Coach Morris has my official support.

Good. Fvck them. I hope they are being embarrassed. No sorrow for those douchecanoes at all.