Eagle1855

I was on record in this thread with a 38-13 guess. So I guess I win? Still left the game feeling like I'd lost.

For the record, you're wrong. And you do not understand what going to bowl games means to the players and for perception related to the program. The Bahama Bowl may not mean anything to you, the expert marketer, but it means a lot to the kids actually playing the game.

You advocate "beating the crap" out of teams and going to bowls every year. That's not a marketing plan. That's winning. Glad to have you aboard.

Its probably more related to the fact he's the only one on that panel that knows anything about NT -- at all.

This. There's no question.

The reason UH filled the stadium was because they were winning. Now UH has a brand new stadium they can't fill. Sound familiar? Not sure what it matters if SMU and Rice are private schools -- they both consistently out-recruit us. Our school is three times the size of theirs. If we had a proportional increase in attendance, Apogee would be sold out every weekend -- and then some. Better players want to win games. Better players sign up with programs that either have a winning tradition, a staff that has proven it can win, or a staff they believe has what it takes to win. To which of these categories does UNT belong (if any)? As for Texas State not being "successful," they've consistently improved every year since moving up to the Sun Belt while out-recruiting us along the way. And it surely isn't because the fans are showing up in droves to their glorified HS football stadium. Give me a string of bowl games. Get people around the state used to seeing us win more games than we lose, year in and year out. That's how you turn a brand into a winner.

It seems to be working for UH, Rice, Texas State, and SMU -- and that's just in-state. There are a lot of programs that recruit well (well being defined as "better than us") without filling their stadiums.

Our fanbase is not the problem. Losing is the problem. You want to go to bowl games every year. Even if it's not a big bowl. Playing in the post season matters for perception and it matters to the kids playing the game.

As someone who was in Norman, OK for Dodge's first game, I must say, this is the understatement of the century. Ha.

I don't know, we went 8-4 and beat a sort of someone in the Heart of Dallas bowl. How did that do for recruiting?

I don't see why we can't be impressed by their effort against Baylor with a first year coach when we celebrate putting up 21 points on Georgia, even though we lost by 24 while giving up 45 points and 450+ yards with a third year coach and what was easily the best defense we've fielded in years.

All of this supports the idea that SMU beat themselves as much as we beat SMU. If SMU plays a clean game and all other things hold equal to last year, we lose.

I'm not going to go this far with it, but I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 38-13 in favor of SMU is a pretty good score. We'll see. And I'll see it in person. Looking forward to the trip!

Can they both lose?

For that matter, neither can A&M. Jonathan Football wasn't in any way shape or form a prototypical QB. But Sherman felt strongly enough about his talent -- his potential -- they gave him a look. I'm sure Kevin Sumlin appreciates it. Without him, Sumlin's on a rather short leash going into Year Four... Few programs have that luxury. And even the ones that do don't always get it right (Texas, Bama, LSU, Florida, Michigan and several others all come to mind).

Who knows what this game will look like. Both programs will likely have entirely different coaching staffs. C-USA may not even exist in its current incarnation. People complained about the lack of regional rivalries. Then they complained when we set up long-term series against a regional rival. Now they're complaining about playing a non-conference road game against decent in-state opponent. Everyone seems to forget just a few years ago we'd be lucky to play a single Texas program in a season. This year we play four. Last year we played FIVE. 2020 we're also poised to play five Texas FBS programs. That's almost half of our games. We're in a better situation now than we've been in a long, long time. Let's take the check -- and it's a hell of a check -- and enjoy the game day atmosphere.

I agree. That's why you make these stupid FCS games the homecoming game every year, then you essentially guarantee a win for the alumni and fans -- which is most people's only trip back to Denton each year.

I believe all of this to be true. But would welcome being wrong.

The Big XII likely won't even exist in 5 years. Texas and OU will have zero problem finding a new conference home when the bigs finally break away from the pack. But everyone else's days in the sun are numbered. All that's left is figuring out who's going with UT to the Pac-16/ACC and who is going with OU to the SEC. They've ruined college football. The networks. The sponsors. The feckless NCAA. University presidents. They're all responsible.

I believe it was listed as our tertiary color in the branding effort that gave us the current marks. 2005ish?

Some of us enjoy living in Houston. Broaden your perspective.

This is the nail on the head. Define clear objectives and create a pathway to get there. That's what people get behind.

We'd be elated to be where UH is right now.

Couldn't we just do this in green?

Yes. And the fact that we've historically played SWTSU-SM more than any other program. For a fanbase that is starved for a true rival, I'm surprised so many people are quick to dismiss rekindling this series...