Eagle1855

Haha. Riiiight. Because 9 straight seasons of 10+ wins, a National Championship, a couple Conference Champs- all things Aggies couldn't swing in over a decade+ - all just went right out the window after two down years and A&M's first 10+ win season in 14 years? Okay. That's almost as absurd as the Aggies in Houston that call-in to talk radio stations and say things like "We're above the Cotton Bowl, we don't get excited about those sorts of bowls." You know, the year following a 6-6 Meineke Car Care Bowl appearance in the "awful, overrated and mean Big XII". Don't kid yourself: the Aggie little brother mentality is still strong. But hey, all this bravado is stupid. And to think any side is more or less justified in the pillow fights between these two schools is wishful thinking. But it sure makes for good rivalry, doesn't it?

May be viewed that way, and Texas may have indeed felt the same, but many reports said that the SEC and A&M didn't want a match-up with Texas in the Cotton Bowl, as it provided no benefit to the Aggies. If they won, they beat Texas in a "down" year (oh to be part of a program where 9-4 is "down"). If they lost, it would be business as usual for the Aggies. I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment, but that was what was reported, nevertheless. I'd provide a source, but I'm lazy and it's the internet so you can take my word for it. Personally, I think initially it was good business to cut A&M off of the schedule- for Texas and the rest of the Texas teams in the Big XII. If the Ags want to SECede, let them. Then offer them no additional recruiting benefit by having them play additional games in the State of Texas. "Sure, you can go to A&M, but your parents will only get to see you play close to home 6 times a year." What the Big XII and Texas (Deloss) didn't count on was A&M being this good, this fast. Which, I believe, has changed everything.

I hear a promising young head coach named Mario Cristobal was available. Oh, wait...

I don't buy the SEC thing for this season, with respects to A&M. They aren't playing new recruits. This is a Big XII-recruited team with a CUSA offense everyone said was a gimmick. And it's awesome. They are probably the best team in the nation- right this moment- and we won't know definitively because we don't have a proper playoff. Ironically, had they stayed in the Big XII, they'd likely be playing for a National Championship THIS SEASON. But overall, yes... they'll clearly be fine in the SEC! It also doesn't hurt having the best O-line in the nation. And there might not be enough hyperbole in English language for Manziel.

This is exciting news. I remember that play very well. Looked at the woman and said "damn, back that up, let me see it again." About the play. On DVR. Because the play was impressive, you see.

So the new Big East is basically C-USA with a couple decent teams from the West Coast. And we're now in a Sun Belt-friendly form of what was once C-USA, along with a couple of local start-up programs. Cool, I guess?

Eesh about time shomeone hired my shun. He'sh a very good head coash and he'll surely have a great bit of shuccshess at Louishiana Tech.

The biggest problem UNT faces is that no one in Texas even knows (or cares) that we exist. Have we ever had another major Texas school support us in any conference move? We are the isolated stepchild of Div 1 football in Texas. Don't believe me? As I said in a post last week, look no further than Texas Monthly linking to articles about importance of a UTSA-Texas State rivalry in the absence of Texas-A&M. Are you kidding me? We've played DECADES of division one football and we're never mentioned outside of DFW (and I don't know if we are much of a topic of conversation locally, as I no longer live there). If a proud alum such as myself can see this through his own foggy green haze, I feel confident officials in other conferences can also see as much... and that's why a C-USA invite took so long. And it's why no one cares about a HUGE University in the middle of a major market. All that being said, winning can cure much of what ails us, but even that won't get any easier with (now) 12 Texas teams in 5 different conferences- 7 of whom/which have landed in "major" conferences. I'll always root for the Mean Green above everything else. And my money will continue to support my University. But I'm not holding my breath over the awakening of this alleged "sleeping giant."

I don't disagree with you. But it would really be something if a Big 12 team hired a coach that a Sun Belt team JUST fired...

I don't care what conference we are in. I just want us to win. People keep talking about TCU. Well, TCU spent 16 years being the best in any and every conference in which they were invited to be a member. They didn't get to the Big 12 because they are a private school, or because they have donors, or because they are in FW- all of those things were nice complements to the fact that they were WINNERS.

Me too! It's going to help us out tremendously in all of our head-to-head recruiting battles.

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?

WKU's coach is about to hit the road, too.

I wonder if Kristi Malzahn will be doing any interviews this go 'round...

Good hire for Auburn. Cash rules college football. Coaches follow the cash (which is perfectly understandable). Small (budget) programs don't have cash. So success generally is greeted with staff turnover. And the cycle starts over. Them's the breaks. Officially jaded, Eagle1855

Maybe I'm alone, but I don't really care about our conference anymore. I used to care. I really did. I used to think it mattered. Realignment and its tradition-and-geography-be-damned money grab has broken me. Now I'm reading articles linked to Texas Monthly about the importance of the UTSA and Texas State rivalry- two teams that are in their infancy at this level (one, at ANY level). I just want to win. Just fill up that fancy new bad-ass stadium and watch some good football. The rest? It's whatever.

Well, besides Tulane being an all-around better brand, it brings another large market to the table. The Big East believes they got Dallas and Houston with SMU and UH. So what do we bring that they don't already have? Academic prestige? Tradition? A winning program? Sorry, I love my alma mater, but I don't blame the Big East for not jumping on the sleeping giant wagon.

Good perspective, great post.

The reality is, we are probably going to be left behind in all this mess based on nothing more than lack of performance and lack of winning tradition associated with our brand. Yes, we have put everything in place to become a major player. But we probably needed it to be there in 2002, not 2012. College football took a wild turn this past decade... and it happened about 5 years before we were ready for it. The scramble for TV $$ will ruin college football for half the country. Count on it. College football is largely myth anyways. More than half the major conference teams are stocked with players who'd have had zero chance of getting into said school based solely on academics. In my opinion, that's a problem. All we can do is root for UNT- which I can do quite well- and hope the higher-ups are able to pull off a game-winning hail mary.

Eh, overrated.

Again, The Almighty Dollar continues to ruin college football as we once knew it.

Who cares if it's padded? All recruits see is 8-4. It's winning. And I'm not alone in this line of thinking. Listen to the Ol' Ball Coach himself: More...

This. We're not good. We haven't been good for a long time. The Sun Belt was absolutely atrocious when we won four-straight titles. Don't believe me? Look at our OOC games. Look at the rest of the leagues OOC games during that time. Pathetic. Anyone attend the UH game? Our guys are smaller and slower across the board. And that's a "peer" program. Or at least it should be. Give him time to get guys in here that can do what he needs them to do. And that includes at the QB position. Bad season. But still plenty of cause for optimism for NT fans. Literally everything is in place for this program to flourish. All we need are the wins.

Well the $2M/year they "ponied up" hasn't gotten them much, yet... at least not much more than the peanuts (comparatively) we pay coaches. So who knows how willing they'll be to dig deep again for another uncertain initiative. They should call it the "Pony Upper" campaign. Because it's even more ponying up. Your'e welcome, Richards Group.

We might be better-suited for long-term success as a football power than UH. Denton is a college town. Houston is not. Houston won't ever shake the commuter stigma and North Texas has made TREMENDOUS strides in that area in the past decade. Sure, Houston has history on it's side. It has Heisman winners. It's been ranked in the top-five. They've had big wins over big programs. Yet here they stand, on their way to a shaky conference (that no one in this state gives a damn about) after another coach has left for a better job down the road. All of that success hasn't translated into anything of note. Yet we haven't any idea how it would affect NT because quite frankly, it's never happened. Sure the Sun Belt titles were great, but casual fans thought that was a 1AA conference during most of that time. We were never ranked. We never beat a ranked team. We really haven't done anything in the same time period that UH has done a lot, and yet we're still viewed as "peer" athletic programs. I think that is significant. Denton is far enough away from the "big city" that a true college experience- the one we romanticize- can still be found. And if this drugged-up giant ever awakes, it will be a lot of fun to see what happens.