NM Green

You have to think crazy and big to even begin to move in that direction so I love this thread. I do not see this happening necessarily, but it triggered another thought. What if we went and got BYU. The natural instinctive thinking is to lure one of the AAC back but they are too close in competition to us. They are swimming inside the fish bowl with us. But go get the big fish in the MWC territory. Let them bring their network with them ala Texas in the Big 12. Salt Lake City is an easy destination to get to for all of our major market schools and BYU now gets lucrative recruiting territory in Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee. They get exposure out west and in the fertile south. Until we create our Big Boy like the MWC has in Boise, lets go get a free agent. BYU to CUSA! GMG

I would find a way!

Deal Breaker for me is...can't even fathom it - can't! We must beat Idaho good and beat down UTSA like a drum. Those must happen! Icing = win or excellent showing in Athens - Georgia or Ohio. Need = win over Rice on Halloween night with bright lights upon Apogee. Want = nice win over La Tech our new rival for years to come - let's get the upperhand Mean Green Nation!!!!! Goal = bowling anywhere - Dubai anyone? GMG

I am always pumped up for a season but have cautious optimism. I think the Dodge debacle tempered my excitement for any future seasons. Time to apply that learning lesson to basketball. Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa or ECU couldn't put CUSA on the BCS map. They are about to be gone and I sincerely hope UNT gives them a swift boot in the *** on the way out. CUSA is still ripe for a team(s) to emerge and rival MWC for non-big six power. We have conference name, sweet bowl tie ins emerging markets/programs. Time for the refreshed CUSA to make some noise. Enthusiastic and excited yes. Ready to predict a conference crown and big boy take down not so much. Get it done! GMG

This is a mute conversation. I have not heard any chatter about the MWC wanting anything to do with Texas. Conferences seem to be wanting to move together to carve out rivalries and attendance - oh wait, that's what we did! Love me some CUSA. Time to compete in it. Work to dominate. GMG

ummmmmmmmmm that was freaking awesome!!!!! Goosebump awesome. Ready for the season! GMG

The following excerpt appeared in a letter from Jim Livengood who is retiring as AD from UNLV. I and all fans get a weekly update from him regarding happenings inside UNLV Athletics having been a season ticket holder in bball and attended many football games. The middle part about fans having to be creative and fight stuck out to me, because that is where UNT is right now. I loved how he put the pressure on the fans to do their part to keep UNLV relevant in the ever changing landscape. This is no time to retreat. The Mean Green Nation AD, coaches and organizations must balls to the wall it to cement our place on the Texas and national scene. I plan to work harder in what I can do at my level and that includes season tickets and Mean Green support at home and away games, recruiting fans, contributing my thoughts. I hope everyone intensifies what they can do in 2013. "It is no secret that UNLV is at a crucial time in its existence. With the ever-changing landscape of college athletics at the national level, UNLV and this community must come together to make a decision about the future of Rebel Athletics. Is it enough to simply survive? Or do we want to thrive? If I know the Rebel faithful like I think I know the Rebel faithful, they will demand that survival is just not enough. It will take courage, creativity and passion to position the Rebels to be among the fortunate ones as college athletics continues to redefine itself nationally. If we do not fight and do all that we can to be among the fortunate ones, future generations of UNLV fans will forever hold us accountable - and rightfully so. I will be there to support UNLV, the interim AD, the new AD and, most importantly, Rebel Nation in this effort. We must do all we can to assure that every day remains a GREAT day to be a Rebel." GMG

no one has addressed the funniest part of this thread - TCU with a t-shirt wearing fan? Really? TCU? Again North Texas has a better chance at the BCS than TCU does in 2013 and in the coming decades. GMG

Imagine if Hawaii makes it to he bowl. A long shot indeed but there would be a lot if green! GMG

Yep. Froggy realizes that the purple daze has already begun and they will forever be relegated to second class citizens of the Big 12. The fact that North Texas stands a better chance of getting to a BCS bowl than TCU does from here on out stings the poor toad. Beat the Vandals! GMG

From a pure fan point of view that doesn't watch the position battles as closely as most, today was greatness! The day was perfect! It was a perfect running day for the 5k. This was my first spring game to attend after living out of town for a decade, and it just really felt nice to "start" the season in April. The garage sale and game were icing. Nice to see the students out and our D looks like it is going to be strong this year. I echo the QB play. I was impressed with AM and BB. DT looks faster and better from the competition. All in all a great day in Denton. For our tailgate crew a new tradition is born. GMG

I am struggling to understand why you are not excited to play Rice, UTEP, La Tech and possibly Southern Miss every year. Those are juicy programs with some very nice followings, good facilities, national championships and name recognition. It is almost as if we are not playing Tech, Oklahoma, TAMU, Texas and Houston some are not interested. I am very interested and we will have our hands full. GMG

I still have a CUSA buzz. Call me crazy but I am trumpeting the fact that my university is about to play in CUSA. Not sure what all the negative nellies really want us to do at this point other than put on a Johnny Football shirt and TAMU belt - both which I own by the way. However, never switching my allegiance from the Green. Glad about CUSA Looking forward to the upcoming season Ready to win now and return to bowl games in 13! GMG

My hair hurts trying to follow that:)

I know we liked Tulsa's proximity but I personally think WKU brings better basketball and football than what we are losing with the hurricanes. Tulsa football is solid but WKU to me has equal attendance and good upswing. Basketball is a no brainer. I think the Whats a Hilltopper wins hands down. GMG

They sure are bumping their gums a lot for a program without an announced invitation! GMG

Me too. You need to have a conference home these days and they will at least be able to compete for some bowl games. GMG

I just don't have any affection for Tulsa. All I have ever known is that we get humiliated by a little named program. We don't beat them or even play them competitively. I would rather play an MWC team or Pac 12 school. We rarely go West anymore. What on earth did New Mexico, Air Force, UNLV or Arizona...do to piss us off. I find it hard to believe any of those programs out west wouldn't want to showcase their programs in North Texas. We should be able to get one school from the West to come play just north of Jerryworld every year! GMG

90 makes coming to this board a whip but in the spirit of Covey - seek first to understand. I understand the frustration he and others have, but unless a rant comes with a solution or suggestion for improvement that he/she can directly contribute to I just can't take their message seriously. 1. 90 rants because he cares - love that 2. just add some suggestions and solutions to the rant for more effectiveness At this point it looks like we should just pack up the tent and call it a Mean Green life. As long as UNT is fielding a team and tailgating is encouraged I will be there with diehards in tow. If I have stood in a hurricane against against Nevada, sizzler at OU, debacle at Rice and heartbreak in Austin, I sure can enjoy a beer in the Alamodome and some Mexican food in the Sun Bowl. Man the Mean Green helped me see Jake the Snake at ASU, taken me to the best tailgate in the nation at LSU on multiple occasions, observed a miracle in the desert, shocked by a hog call and many beat downs of ACU early on. Awesome times to come! GMG

I like both of those solid adds. The Sun Belt could easily continue to outperform CUSA with a strong Arkie State, App State, Troy and GA Southern. I like where we are now but geez it is beginning to feel like a sandwich of slightly better above and slightly better below the CUSA group. Time to perform CUSA! GMG

I am sorry but that conference lineup is not nearly as attractive as what we have now. MTSU is solid and we have some years built up going against them. The FIU and FAU can pull some upsets and showing up in South Florida every year is not a bad sell. You also might snag a florida kid to add to the Texas talent. WKU has name recognition in bball and I am actually interested in getting to know Marshall and ODU. Southern Miss is also a solid program on hard times right now, but they still get strong representation even in SEC country. I know that from my work in the South a few years back. That heavy Louisiana schedule, some Texas and all the way to West Texas just does not look broad enough to me. The lense is way too focused on that lineup. GMG

Boy lots of gloom on this board. The more important question is what is our brand recognition strategy for our inaugural season in CUSA? I would hope that our University is planning a series of events aimed at celebrating our move to a higher profile league. The communications strategy is critical here and don't underestimate the importance of this one year opportunity to get everything right. We must educate our fanbase on who our new league mates are and get them excited about our new rivalry. I would like to see the following: CUSA apparel and accessorie strategy - gear and accessories such as CUSA car magnets, flags, cups, pennant pile of all the new schools Pre-game and post game event strategy Communication strategy - truly trumpet our first year of competition in CUSA! Again we have 1 year to make a splash! Out of the box - how about a new call in show 30 - 60 minutes after each home game to dissect the good and bad of the game and take calls from friends. This is something that most schools I have followed outside of UNT do, and I am talking about MWC programs not SEC. I just want some big creative ideas out there to be stirring - some that never leave the editing room floor but at least they were heard or investigated. Make it happen UNT. GMG

That is why you don't hear a peep out of the MWC regarding Eastern expansion. At least in Vegas they didn't even talk about an inclusion of Houston and SMU even at the height of their movement. Maybe there were deeper rumblings than met the eye, but I feel they learned from the TCU risk. They loved that TCU brought some great cred to the conference, but imagine if TCU had been SMU but out on an island. They were fortunate and it brought great credibility. Now that Eastern ship has sailed. There appears to be no movement by the Pac 12 anytime soon, so they are safe with their solid regional (big) conference and some big dogs - Boise in both major sports, UNM, UNLV, SDSU and CSU in bball. Joining the MWC is a pipe dream for SMU much less UNT. We must compete with the A whatever as a next tier league and simply have all of our programs win and get ranked. GMG

I like the Dawgs words. So much - wish we were over there talk. Has been for over 10 years now! We have a conference name with some street cred We have multiple programs in driving distance We have sweet markets to visit There is definitely some upside to look toward and enjoy. Some choose to look at the dark side of everything. Ready to rumble in Ruston! GMG

I was not excited about Tulsa so no loss to me. Just win and go bowling baby! Build the brand. GMG