NM Green

and give up a shot a beating them - no, I don't think so. I have seen us beat Texas Tech twice and Baylor. We are getting strong enough to compete with them home or away. GMG

I know market is a monster selling point, but with the picking up of TCU I think national status is also very important. I truly believe the BIg 12 should have gone after BYU and Boise. Those 2 programs have proved they are going to have large solid fan bases that will follow them everywhere and fill up bowl games. Let BYU bring their network and make their money. They will not be mediocre forever as they will always replenish the Mormon pipeline. In Las Vegas this week the Strip looked like an international soccer match with small and large Boise flags flying off the vehicles up and down the Las Vegas Strip after the win. They brought another large following to Vegas 1.5 months after bringing a HUGE group to Vegas in early November when playing UNLV. Boise is keeping Petersen and will replenish the potato pipeline to excel in the Boise system. I think those two national programs with their huge and growing fanbases would rival what Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, K State and OSU. With that I think the Big 12 survives. I am just not sure how long Texas is going to feel great about hanging with and playing the frogs, bears, wildcats and cyclones. Add the Broncos if they were invited and any of those Big East shools like Louisville and Cincy. The WVU is going to make it interesting. I am just excited which SEC programs get to roll into Aggieland next year. GMG

Not so fast my friends. Could it have been that tragic showing by the Golden Panther last night? I doubt it but this is a surprising development. I wonder if Cristobal has a shot at PSU? GMG

I am sorry but those burgers in the commercials didn't even look as tasty as the ones prepared at the Apogee tailgate. Of course I would welcome going to their bowl game next year zesty lemon wings and all. GMG BOB get a new advertising director.

I think Hawaii needed to pick someone who has done it before. They play well under fire and McMackin was not a fiery coach. I don't see Chow as a fiery coach either. I hope he succeeds but if I were Hawaii (football hungry state) I would not take a risk on a coach who has not been a successful head coach before. Plus I still think Hawaii is a great gig that gets name programs to the islands and can make solid runs to big bowl games with a fat record. Good luck Norm. Go Bows. Go Mean Green!!!!! P.S. - yes that fight was all Marshall. Cristobal will due fine at Pittsburgh. Penn State gig despite the problems will be a good job for whoever ends up with that one.

In another strange hire - I think Hawaii will stay off the football map with the hiring of Norm Chow. I don't like that one at all! So bowl slots keep on opening:) GMG

You know West Virginia fan is gonna have fun with this one: "Your new coach can't even beat Marshall!" GMG

Meanwhile USC can fall off the football map for multiple years and OSU gets to tweak and settle in under the Urban sun and shine in 2013. Weak. College football is really a seedy enterprise. GMG

FIU is one of the most cockiest teams we have ever been in a league with. Maybe we were that cocky 10 years ago. Hope they pull it out but FIU played a lot like USF when they played big boys tough and won and then had inexcusable losses. Our program mirrors Marshall in ways in that we were both up at the same time and down at the same time. Keep building Green! GMG

Tulsa and Rice would like UNT in CUSA due to destination and easy travel. It is time to use this to our advantage, and our conversations with new leagues need to be creative. For example we are centrally located which is great! But we are on the east and west of both CUSA and MWC. It would be nice to package UNT with Rice, Tulsa, UTEP and join the MWC. But also add a bowl game in Apogee hopefully for one of the Eastern schools or UTEP or UNM which would travel to DFW well. That would give the MWC a bowl in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Dallas/Fort Worth. Nice league with nice bowl destinations for it's members which stretch from Honolulu to Houston. Tulsa, Rice and UNT would be natural rivals, UTEP and UNM would reunite, AF, CSU and WY are natural rivals, Fresno, Hawaii, Reno and UNLV are natural rivals (Hawaiians travel and have large populations in these areas). UTEP still gets to play in Texas. I really think a new Mountain West which included: Hawaii Fresno State UNLV Reno Wyoming Colorado State Air Force New Mexico UTEP UNT Tulsa Rice would be a heck of a lot better than the monster conglomeration they are talking about which also includes ECU, Marshall, Memphis...If you are going to go that far East it needs to be into easily accessible international airports.

Okay fence sitters. This is the time to rally behind this team however you can. Attending games in rain, sleet or shine does this and means a lot. There are some great Mean Green fans that can donate financially, and there are others like myself that can contribute with attendance. Whatever your method make it happen and drag a few folks along. I have successfully turned an OSU Buckeye fan and UNT alum to avoid Buckeye games on Saturday, buy season tickets and tailgate at Apogee every home game. Another friend and NMSU alum is now a Mean Green season ticket holder who is getting Mean Green gear for Christmas because that was my only beef with him was no Mean Green gear on gameday. No excuses next fall, the Eagle is dawning. Lastly not tooting my horn but I loved being able to make all home games this year for the first time in probably 10 years when I lived in DFW. I kept an eye out for those $198 round trip tickets on SWA and loved seeing the Green win 4 games at home in our new palace. Of course we all have that friend that graduated from UNT, lives 30 miles from the campus, attends a game one in a blue moon and beaches about the parking, or the losing or the color of uni or the distance to the parking lot...I am glad he feels bad when he realizes I've turned two non-traditional football fans into hardcores and oh yeah we had a blast. A word of advice - go make new fans rather than spending valuable time on dormant alums. The dormant alums sometimes don't care to be turned on or are so far out of reach the energy is not worth it. We will do well to make new fans around the Metroplex to fill our stadium. It can happen. I am currently in UNLV gear getting ready to head to the T&M to see the Rebels beat down 1-10 ULM. Non-alums can and will be turned on by a fun, exciting, event filled environment. Enjoy the holidays and then lets get to work to ensure we get 25K at a couple of games next year. If you say we can't do it, we can't. With hard anything all is possible. Don't tread on my optimism! GMG

beautiful!

Exactly. You root for where you are planted! If I were in the MWC right now I would be pissed and discouraged with how Saturday unfolded. If we get into CUSA they had better raise their level of football play immediately. Keep the pressure on all sports. In the MWC UNLV took down previously unbeaten Illinois in the United Center avenging last year's horrible tournament beat down. New Mexico went into Oklahoma City and took down the OSU Cowboys. Wyoming is 11-1 in basketball in a shocking development. The MWC basketball is stepping up thus far and the SBC is stepping up in bowl season this year. Hopefully FIU doesn't get distracted by the Pitt hiring. I've said it before - even if we get into CUSA or MWC the SBC is going to be a nice Southeastern based league that will only get tougher to deal with. We are in a good place while shooting for the stars. The Big East is going to have a big transition period just building natural rivalries despite decent programs like Boise, SDSU and Houston. SMU riding the coattails and laughing at programs like ECU and Southern Miss who have done a heck of a lot over the decade to improve their chances makes me a bit sick to my stomach. But oh well kudos to SMU and good luck building the new rivalries. We will be great continuing to build our program for the future. Still no ACC or Pac 12 in DFW so keep building and anything can happen. GMG

Just wait until FIU wins another bowl game and now you have some good name recognition in our league. College football fans know: Troy North Texas FIU - coming on strong with Cristobal Louisiana Lafayette - coming on Arkansas State Middle Tennessee Who would of thought LaLa would raise the New Orleans Bowl bar to new heights. Let's Go Belt! Keep it going!!!!! GMG

I truly believe the conditions are ripe for a brand new league to emerge and I would push like heck to be a part of it. This league would be made up of institutions who most likely are not going to be cherry picked by the BE or B12. Most importantly a league of institutions who want to be together, have some history and want all sports to play each other. Some might say, that is what we have in the SBC right now. Agree to a point, but I want more natural rivals, name institutions and elevated programs. UNM stinks in football, but they have a great basketball program. UTEP has average programs but a rich history in basketball. They are also another state of Texas program (Troy is probably as close but Troy is not Texas). Tulsa is close and has a nice history. There is something I just don't trust about the mega league and since none of these programs are going to receive BCS money it is time to get creative, committed and build a league that can thrive for 10 years - ala MWC. The MWC and CUSA are going to take some perception hits and be known as the decimated leagues. It might be time to rebrand and rebuild. GMG

I am not a fan of the Sumlin hiring but one thing he has going for him is he knows and understands the Aggie culture. I love the Aggies too (Sis a grad), but I hope this doesn't blow up in their face. I want them to be successful in the SEC. Next year the visitors to Aggieland include the Florida Gators, Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers. They play at Ole Miss and I believe Auburn. June Jones should go back to Hawaii. They would welcome him with open arms and then he could avoid the awkward 2012 ahead. GMG

I would like to move to CUSA for more regional rivalries and MWC for better name programs. However, I do not hate on the Sun Belt or even our days in the BW. Some of the most memorable games in my Mean Green memory were games against NMSU, MTSU, Idaho, Arkie State and Utah State. Heck I have great memories of our Southland days with battles against NLU, McNeese, SWT and Abilene Christian. We do have a rich history in Denton and much like Boise we should celebrate all of our stops along the way. I saw an excerpt on the Mountain about Boise and they did this chronological excerpt about their days playing D1AA football, playing in the Big West, their rise in the WAC and now to the Mountain West. I would love that story to be told about the Mean Green because I could feel the pride in the Bronco nation after that piece. We have a lot of tradition and history to celebrate as a fan of the Mean Green nation! GMG P.S. - wherever we live I won't bash it, but will work to build it. I also won't bash the Belt if we get a chance to leave. GMG! How much fun was that win over SHSU last night!

Mark rocks and the way Corby or whoever now speaks favorably about SMU because they do play by play, I think this would be a nice community splash to get him more involved. Mark is clear, fair, excitable and completely professional. He would enhance the experience however he is involved. GMG

Well we don't sell out many things at UNT but I sure hope they get a bigger venue next year. I have $50 or whatever it was burning a hole in my pocket and couldn't get single ticket late. My bad for waiting. Enjoy! Have fun and next year let's raise that occupancy and bring in some more benjamins. GMG

I find it absolutely crazy that programs like UTEP and Tulsa don't automatically lobby to get us included in CUSA to preserve a DFW presence. Isn't one of the primary goals of playing SMU and TCU is to have a place for their alums to watch their teams? I am sure many Tulsa and El Paso alums are present here in DFW. It feels like we are the biggest, hungriest, largest invisible program in the world to some of these people. Time to join them and then beat their arse in every sport possible. GMG

We are in a delicious position. Even if there is a merger there is a prime university in a rich as heck region ready to jump at an invitation. That monster win over MTSU was a great last impression to leave for 2011. Georgio said it perfectly earlier today - why don't select programs recreate the SWC now. There is very little lose and developing regional rivalries is going in the opposite direction of what is happening now. Do different, be different. Soon SMU is going to get tired of playing Rutgers, San Diego State is going to get tired of playing everyone. Boise will always be Boise. I think you are going to see these mass flung conferences regionalize in the future, so lets beat them to the punch. UNLV UNM NMSU Tulsa North Texas La Tech Rice UTEP Southern Miss Memphis Invite Houston and SMU back to the fold when AQ goes away and the Big East dissolves. GMG

I see McCarney seeing this thing through 3 years if not longer. He is a builder of programs and he knows it will take a couple of years to make his mark. When he builds UNT he will be able to name his job in the Big 12, SEC or Big 10. That is 5 years down the road in my opinion. GMG

YESSSSSSSS! That Green Brigade halftime was OUTSTANDING! I loved everything about the game, especially the thumping we got to Witness! GMG

Out of all these posts I believe it is the "Event" angle we must work on. People want to go have fun. I have fun tailgating, but I am a diehard. What are we doing to make the event fun for students and the community. I hate committees because they often do more motivational damage than good, but in this case I believe a committee of community, alumni, students and others needs to come together now to make next year's 5 or 6 events be amazing. They all need to meet NOW to grow the ground game just after New Years and create planned events that draw in all elements next year. I sometimes feel we leave too much up to one group or person. Yes it is the AD's department job but we must increase the reach via lots of arms and I am talking volunteer arms like you do in a campaign. Every single big business in Denton should have a tent at the tailgate with their employees friends and family in attendance for every home game. It seemed like there was more at Fouts than this year. Maybe they were placed somewhere else. Either way it is critical that the grassroots version Mean Green Party get organized now. One request from the AD's office is to please pummel me with UNT information. As a UNLV fan and ticket holder as well I get gameday updates. The email simply says "It's Rebel gameday." All the details for me to head to the stadium or tune in online or via tv are provided. Now that basketball is here I am a casual Mean Green follower, but if I was flagged about I would be inclined to tune in. Also, I receive FIU updates 2 - 3 times a week showing me their new gear, their holiday gear, their bowl gear, announcing their watching party in Miami - all of this after giving them just a snippet of information. Yes Kram, I need to be spoonfed because I am always on the road but always near my computer. By the way great seeing you at the show last night. Annoy me with Mean Green updates - pre and post game. Keep me top of mind. That is what we must do with Denton, Alums and friends of the university. Also, thinking out loud here but how about an open house in the spring? So many people asked me "How is the new stadium" this season. What about throwing a couple of events in the spring to allow the curious to tour the facilities, enjoy movie night or enjoy a free concert. Get some folks into the stands and stadium and then pummel them with next year's home gate dates. The time to annoy is now. Mean Green 2012: Persistent, persuasive, committed. GMG

I agree 100 percent! Definitely one of the most fun and memorable seasons ever. Even in our great years of winning I am not sure I remember so many experiences being so memorable. Seeing the team win 4 games in person was outstanding. Seeing us get our win in Troy on the computer was awesome. The tailgate was simply fun and cherished memories were made. I found a lot of joy in today and every trip to Apogee this year! GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!