GTWT

Our kids played well in the first half. They made positive plays and often out-hustled the Coogs. In the second half Houston found their footing and did the things a good team should do. Make no mistake - The University of Houston is a very good football team - they have a great college quarterback and a talented set of receivers. I won't be surprised if the Coogs go undefeated. As for UNT, once we get past Alabama things will get better. We've already played the best SBC team and I think we'll beat our share of the rest of a weak conference. By December we'll all be feeling better than we do now. After signing day, we'll be down-right giddy and ready to predict a National Championship in 2012. God bless Texas

The University of North Texas deserves a winning program. We, as fans, sudents, & alumni, are part of the university. We should be proud of our team. As long as they're working hard and trying their best we should be proud that they represent our university. God bless Texas

Good article. I don't expect to beat a very good Houston team this week but I do hope to see the Mean Green play better across the board. It's off topic for this thread but one item in the DRC link bothered me a lot: Friday night is for high school football.

I don't understand how any conference charter, binding on all members, doesn't have verbiage specifying the process by which a member leaves. Oh! and a heart-felt 'poor Aggies!

BUT, my Mean Green friend, time is exactly what we need. Time to install new schemes. Time to recruit new players. Time, most of all, to instill a new attitude. Look at the FIU game as a baseline. It tells us where we are and where we need to go. I think we have the right coaches in place but it will surely take time to get there. In the meantime, let's be as supportive as possible. God bless Texas

Great post. But your preaching to the board that bitched about a coach in the early 2000s that had won 4 straight conference championships and 4 straight coach-of-the-year awards. Positivity ain't one of our virtues. I'm betting that by December of this year some of our posters will be calling for the current coach to be fired. God bless Texas

If UNT is doomed to be in a second-class conference (which, in the case of the Sun Belt, will require improvement), I want that conference to include Texas schools. Texas State and UTSA are both superior academically to most SBC schools and, in a few years, will be better athletically. Keep Lafayette (I like the food) and replace as many of the others as possible with NMSU, UTSA, TxSU, etc. Change the darn name - Sun Belt sounds like an off-brand of tire. 'New Southwest Conference' sounds good. God bless Texas

Hi Flyer, If you read the blog you linked to you'll find there's a bit more to the story. The Cern study did indeed show that the sun influences climate, that's something we've known for a very long time. In the Nature article the authors are careful to make it clear that climate change isn't just due to solar radiation or the interaction between solar radiation and the earth's atmosphere. Rather climate is determined by a complex interplay between solar radiation, the atmosphere, the oceans, and the biosphere - the biosphere includes anthropogenic impacts. No where in the article do the authors suggest that anthropogenic release of fossil CO2 isn't occurring or that the CO2 entering the atmosphere doesn't play a role in climate change. The authors, like nearly all scientists, recognize that man is releasing massive amounts of CO2 through the burning of fossil fuels, that CO2 is a potent greenhouse gas, and that the CO2 is interacting with abiotic factors to cause a dramatic increase in mean global temperatures. Science denial ain't nice... God bless Texas

It's embarrassing that UNT is affiliated with a conference that is a candidate for 'worst of the worst'. God bless Texas

Bless these warriors and the people (and dogs) they loved. And God bless Texas

A&M is going to the SEC and they'll be okay. UT may stay in a reconfigured Big12, create a new super conference, join the PAC12, or go independent - regardless, they'll be fine. The loser in all this is college sports in the state of Texas. I like the Aggies and would rather watch them play Texas than LSU. I like the Horns and would rather watch them play A&M than Iowa State. Sad. Sadder still, this probably leaves the Mean Green in that Hell Hole calted the Belt. God bless Texas.

But that's the problem. Our country and our culture are facing multiple challenges, some related to economics, some not. To just choose someone because they're a capitalist or a Christian or an eviromentalist is being one dimensional and simplistic. That's why we end up with candidates like Sarah or Al.

I'm not a historian but isn't that basically what Roosevelt did to get us out of the Great Depression? Of course WWII helped, which was government spending on a massive scale.

The degrees sought by athletes are irrelevant. What does matter is that universities do not want to be associated with institutions that are embarrassments academically. Thus the need to leave MTSU, UL-Monroe, and Troy far behind. The bottom line is that these are not the schools that UNT needs to be associated with on any level.

Predictions Texas A&M goes SEC. They won't win many SEC championships but no big deal. They've never won many conference championships. They'll be happy. Being a medium/small fish in a big pond ain't bad - ask Vanderbilt. Texas stays in the Big XII as long as OU is in the Big XII. Two top 10 programs is good enough. Houston enters the Big XII. UNT goes to cUSA.

I responded to your crack about liberals. Neither your statement nor my response were necessary or appropriate on this thread or this board. For my part, I appologize.

OR, it's like the conservatives trying to convince the rest of us everything they do isn't for the rich. Oddly enough, many fall for it.

I need at least one good laugh every day. This is it. Thanks!

If you're serious about this I'd like to get involved as well.

WT (one motto is "Always WT") reminds me a lot of when I started at NT in the 1970s. It will never grow as big as UNT - Amarillo ain't no Metroplex - but it's a nice medium sized state university. Athletics is huge here - much moreso than UNT when I was there. Volleyball, women's basketball, softball, & soccer, and, of course, football are all successful and well supported. The university opened a new sports park (soccer, softball, baseball) this year. My heart will always be green, but WT is a nice school and as my second love - isn't bad.

I live in Canyon - 15 miles S of Amarillo. When you're not watching the Mean Green check out the WT Buffs. It's Division II but it's still a great football experience. There are several UNT grads teaching at WT but most seem to not be very interested in athletics. GMG

The SBC is stable because conference teams have no place to go. The SBC isn't getting better, the WAC just got bad in a hurry. Our university needs to get out of the SBC as soon as possible. We're keeping bad company. Momma warned us about that.

You're right - now it's the WAC. Before we get too pleased with ourselves, when was the last time a time moved up from the SBC?

The only way the WAC becomes a good option is if it adds enough quality members that it can split into eastern and western divisions. That doesn't seen likely. The SBC is a lousy choice but it may be the only choice we have at present. It must be remembered that the best program in the SBC will never be considered anything better than mediocre by the rest of the world. It must be remembered that our university will be judged by the company we keep. In the SBC our 'peer' universities are third-rate athletic programs and 4th-rate academic schools. UNT needs to be doing everything possible to move up to something respectable. That's not the WAC (at least not right now) and it's certainly not the SBC.

I'm sorry but the La. Tech president is right. Conference membership has to do with academics - not just athletics. The Sunbelt has some miserable qacademic institutions. UNT should not be associated with ULM, MTSU, or Troy. UNT must find a conference home that doesn't reflect badly on our university.