untjim1995

Speaking of UH, that would be a good place to look at an assistant AD who has picked up lots of ideas and experience from those above him or her.

I think positivity will be back now for awhile. This is a great first step to healing what remains of a fanbase that has been hammered for years by an inept AD. I don't understand why it took so long, but I'm sure glad it's done. Laziness is gone. Now is the time to get a hungry AD who is focused on schedule improvements and making season ticket sales and promotions become a reality. Hell, this board did more of these than RVs department did...

It is kind of ironic that his banner gets both a mention and picture in RV's AD obituary from Vito...we can laugh at it, but it appears that it must have had some effect, even if just a little bit at gaining the interest of the one beat writer we have.

It basically appears that keeping Benford for another year was the trade for getting rid of Rick Villareal. In that case, I'll gladly support the keeping of Benford for his 5th year to end his contract.

Seth Littrell's best chances at future success just skyrocketed.

I never thought I'd see this day. Ever. It is beyond necessary for this place to heal. This is so very good news and I sure hope we replace him with someone completely outside of the university.

CUSA isn't going to kick us out. They need to sell DFW to advertisers and other schools for recruiting purposes. Here's the reality of our situation. If we were good in CUSA, SMU would still have us blocked to go to the AAC and the MWC is content to wait out things to see who will fall into their lap in a few years here in Texas, knowing that TCU, Baylor, Tech, UTEP, UTSA, and Rice are potential adds in a few years. What I do believe is that had we done anything in the last decade in football beyond being the worst program in the country for that timeframe, as well as not doing anything with the the two NCAA bids we earned in hoops under JJ and allowing the program to drop down to levels not seen here since the mid 00's, we would be in the MWC already, having replaced TCU when they left. But that obviously didn't happen and RV has been allowed to stay in his same role for 15 years now, with absolutely no chance of him leaving anytime soon, barring serious injury or death.

P5 towns are different and you know it. Fans of that school, as well as fans of other teams playing there will flock to the College Stations and Stillwaters of the world. They won't do that to Moscow, Idaho, Monroe, Louisiana or Las Cruces, New Mexico.

And average 13k a game for football and about 2k for basketball games--with hundreds of thousands of alums in DFW, 36k students, and millions surrounding the DFW area as citizens. The huge majority of alums and students came to Denton because it was cheap and easy to attend. Most of have never stepped foot back in Denton again, much less followed how our teams are doing.

Combine the salaries of AFA, UTSA, and SFA and you'll still have plenty left before you get to what SMU pays Morris...and that's who our beat writer is blathering about when they get a recruit from Ryan HS. Seems about right for Denton and our appreciation for all things UNT football.

When Wazzou has a good coach, they are usually tough. Mike Price made Wazzou tough for a long time and they went to two Rose Bowls in his tenure, as well as defeating Texas in the Holiday Bowl when Mack had the Longhorns rolling as a top ten program. Mike Leach is following in those footsteps. He took over the worst P5 program at its lowest and has methodically gotten them better, just like he did at Tech. Hopefully, these Leach disciples, Littrell and Harrell, can follow his same path here in Denton. But when you take over the worst of anything, it takes a while to get it fixed, which is usually about three years if the coach gets things right.

That's pretty much what we have done now. Charlotte, FAU, FIU, MUTS, UAB, UTSA, and UTEP are our peer group for athletics. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Remember how much time and money Ken Starr spent on the Clinton White House? Guess who is in going to have to enjoy the feds investigating him for nefarious acts committed on his watch. If Ken Starr is really, really lucky here, he will ONLY lose his job. Fines, law suits, and jail time are all potential hurdles that he will face in the coming months and years ahead.

You know, maybe following college football just isn't your thing...

Anybody can be comfortable with matchups, since the game is played on the field, but the MWC has sent its champion to a BCS Bowl Game on 5 occasions, 4 of which were not automatic. The AAC has sent two (UCF and UH), while the MAC has also sent one (NIU). CUSA and SBC are at zero... SDSU is preseason ranked 28th. USM is 64th. Boise is ranked 29th, Marshall is 71st. AFA is ranked 53rd, WKU is ranked 72nd. Utah State is ranked 87th, La Tech is 91st. New Mexico is ranked 88th, MUTS is 95th. Nevada is 90th, Rice is 99th. UNLV is 92nd, FIU is 105th. CSU is 93rd, ODU is 106th. Wyoming is 100, UTEP is 107. SJSU is 101, UTSA is 111. Fresno is 110, FAU is 114. Hawaii is 117, Charlotte is 124. And finally, UNT is 126. The spreads between the top 12 of each league are 36, 42, and 19 for the top three comparisons that favor the MWC over CUSA. The next 3 spreads are 4, 7, and 9 in the favor of the MWC. The next 3 spreads are 13, 13, and 7, all in favor of the MWC. Finally, the last three spreads are 10, 4, and 7, all in favor of the MWC. That doesn't count the absolute embarrassment that is UNT at 126th. Just food for thought. The other gigantic advantage that the MWC has over CUSA, SBC, and MAC is that they are made up of major schools within these western states, getting their full backing. Nevada and UNLV, Hawaii, Colorado State and AFA, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah State, and Boise State represent the #1, #2, or #3 schools in their state. In CUSA, Marshall is a #2 in WV, La Tech is probably #3 in Louisiana (which means nothing behind LSU) and USM is clearly #3 in Mississippi. Rice, UTEP, UTSA, and UNT are nowhere near the top three in Texas, nor are the F_Us in Florida. ODU MIGHT be #3 in Virginia, but Charlotte is nowhere near that in North Carolina. WKU is clearly #3 in Kentucky. MUTS is clearly #4 in Tennessee IOW, the first conference has legislative pull to go with its programs that are historically better by a long ways than the current CUSA, SBC, and MAC. None of these last three teams have the media, the legislative pull, or devoted large fanbases to compare with the MWC and AAC when looked at as a whole.

Their best is rated 28th, 29th, and 56th, representing San Diego, Boise, and all of Colorado, if not the entire nation... our best is ranked 64th and 71st and represent the attractive markets known as Hattiesburg, MS and Bowling Green, KY. real close comparison...

For 2016's upcoming season, preseason rankings within the G5, taken from a CFN post-spring total FBS ranking list: UH (AAC), SDSU (MWC), Boise State (MWC), USF (AAC), WMU (MAC), AFA (MWC), Toledo (MAC), Navy (AAC), NIU (MAC), USM (CUSA), Marshall (CUSA), WKU (CUSA), Temple (AAC), Appalachian State (SBC), Memphis (AAC), Bowling Green (MAC), Georgia Southern (SBC), Cincy (AAC), UConn (AAC), East Carolina (AAC), Central Michigan (MAC), Utah State (MWC), New Mexico (MWC), Ohio (MAC), Nevada (MWC), La Tech (CUSA), UNLV (MWC), Colorado State (MWC), Arkansas State (SBC), MUTS (CUSA), Tulsa (AAC), UCF (AAC), Rice (CUSA), Wyoming (MWC), San Jose (MWC), Buffalo (MAC), ULL (SBC), Akron (MAC), FIU (CUSA), Old Dominion (CUSA), UTEP (CUSA), South Alabama (SBC), Troy (SBC), Fresno State (MWC), UTSA (CUSA), SMU (AAC), Kent State (MAC), FAU (CUSA), Miami (OH) (MAC), Tulane (AAC), Hawaii (MWC), Ball State (MAC), Army (Independent), Georgia State (SBC), Idaho (Independent/about to be FCS), Texas State (SBC), NMSU (Independent), Charlotte (CUSA), Eastern Michigan (MAC), North Texas (CUSA), ULM (SBC), and UMass (Independent) The AAC has 1,4,8,13,15,18,19, 20, 31, 32, 46, and 50 of the 62 G5 teams--avg rank (21)--overall avg ranking within all of 128 FBS teams(70.67) The MWC has 2, 3, 6, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 34, 35, 44, and 51 of the 62 G5 teams--avg rank (24)--overall avg ranking within all of 128 FBS teams (82.58) The MAC has 5, 7, 9, 16, 21, 24, 36, 38, 47, 49, 52, and 59 of the 62 G5 teams--avg. rank (29)--overall avg. ranking within all of 128 FBS teams (84.75) CUSA has 10, 11, 12, 26, 30, 33, 39, 40, 41, 45, 48, 58, and 60 of the 62 G5 teams--avg rank (33)--overall avg. ranking within all of 128 FBS teams (98.85) SBC has 14, 17, 29, 37, 42, 43, 54, 56, and 61 of the 62 G5 teams--avg rank (39)--avg. rank within all of 128 FBS teams (103.89) Independents--53, 55, 57, and 62 avg rank of the 62 G5 teams(57)--avg rank within all 128 FBS teams (122.75) Overall, in all of FBS, the AAC has the only top 20 team in UH(20th). From 21-30, the MWC has SDSU (28th) and Boise State (29th). From 31-50, the AAC adds in USF (49). From 51-64, the MAC shows up with WMU (53rd), the MWC has AFA (56th), the MAC adds in Toledo (60th), then the AAC adds in Navy (61) and the MAC adds in NIU (62). Finally at 64, exactly at the halfway point of all FBS, CUSA shows up with USM at 64th. At the halfway point, the AAC has 3 teams listed (UH, USF, and Navy), the MWC has 3 teams listed (SDSU, Boise, and AFA), the MAC has 3 teams listed (WMU, Toledo, and NIU), and then CUSA gets in USM at 64th. Now, it gets a bit more even, as we get into the bottom half of FBS. From 65- 80: CUSA gets Marshall and WKU at 71 and 72, the AAC gets Temple and Memphis, at 73 and 75, the MAC gets Bowling Green at 76th, and the SBC adds in Appy State and Georgia Southern at 74 and 78. No teams from the MWC ranked in this area for this upcoming year. From 81 -96, the last group ranked above the bottom quartile of FBS: The AAC has Cincy, UConn, ECU, and Tulsa at 81, 82, 83, and 96. The MAC adds in Central Michigan and Ohio at 84 and 89. The MWC adds in Utah State, New Mexico, Nevada, UNLV, and Colorado State at 87, 88, 90, 92, and 93. CUSA adds in La Tech at 91 and MUTS at 95. The SBC adds in Arkansas State at 94. That leaves the Bottom Quartile of the upcoming season to be ranked 97-128 as the AAC having three (UCF, SMU, and Tulane) at 98, 112, and 116. The MWC has 4 (Wyoming, SJSU, Fresno and Hawaii) at 100, 101, 110, and 117. The MAC has 6 ( Buffalo, Akron, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ball State, and Eastern Michigan) at 102, 104, 113, 115, 118, and 125. CUSA adds in 8 (Rice, FIU, ODU, UTEP, UTSA, FAU, Charlotte, and UNT) at 99, 105, 106, 107, 111, 114, 124, and 126. The SBC has 6 (ULL, USA, Troy, Georgia State, Texas State, and ULM) at 103, 108, 109, 120, 122, and 127. And the independents are 4 (Army at 119, Idaho at 121, NMSU at 123, and UMass at 128). I'll let you resident College Football experts analyze this as to where each conference currently sits within the hierarchy of our current FBS system and where things will go in the future.

okay?

Just to back up what MGT is saying, the other day while watching the Rangers game, they are doing their "university days" promotion and the one for us comes up. The girl starts the promo for getting a baseball cap in green for UNT's day at the Ballpark by saying the names (paraphrasing) "Roy Orbison, Don Henley, and Norah Jones...all former students of the University of North Texas. Come celebrate your school at the Ballpark for North Texas Night!!" I just shook my head--that's what you get with Cheap Tuition and a Focus on Music and Arts as the only Primary Window to the school for decades. That ad above may be posted as sarcasm, but it is far closer to what the university would advertise at a NFL game than anything about our athletic program. Otherwise, it would probably be the other ad, "The Creative Heartbeat of Texas".

I know this: Fact--that university allowed a basketball coach and its AD to perpetuate a story that was all about covering up a murder of a basketball player by another one, who happened to be getting paid illegally. Fact--that university allowed its star hoops player at the time, LaceDarius Dunn, who sucker-punched his baby momma in the jaw, breaking it in several places, to be suspended for all of three OOC games, opponents that even Tony Benford could possibly defeat. All to be able to go to the postseason... Fact--a football player that transfers to Baylor from Boise State after getting kicked off the team because of bad behavior rapes a soccer player and takes her virginity. Baylor's officials meet this crisis head-on by making the victim change her schedule to avoid being near the football player who got to stay on the team, earn his degree, and be ready to play in that fall, which would have happened if the authorities didn't arrest him and convict of this rape. In the meantime, this fine university took away her scholarship, forcing her to transfer away. None of this is Duke Lacrosse stuff--its all real, actual stuff that was proven to occur, covered up by Baylor's administration and coaches, watered down the disciplining of the violators, and got the police and media in town to help them. And, just to make this a true UNT90 thread--I don't believe that RV had anything to do with this...

I think the biggest unknown in all of this is what kind of fan support will we get when the next relegation occurs. Before, in the 80s, we played a bunch of no-name, podunk schools in a conference, while the SWC and Big Eight were at the top of the college football world. Today, and looking forward, the lower G5s in the SBC, MAC, and CUSA, as well the Top FCS schools will get realigned into the new 1-aa. Will UNT's attendance still be around 13k in football then or will it drop even further? The AAC and MWC will stay above us, but they will add the leftovers from the Big XII to get more Texas exposure, so it very well could mean that even schools like Rice and UTEP won't be going anywhere higher anytime, as well. If we play at the new I-aa level, with a conference made up of UNT, UTEP, UTSA, Texas State, Rice, La Tech, Arky State, ULL, ULM, SHSU, SFA, and McNeese State, would you continue to follow the team? Would you still attend games? Would you still buy season tickets and remain in the MGC? Those are the questions that nobody knows the answers to right now, especially if Baylor, Tech, UH, SMU and TCU are still playing in leagues that are a cut above ours, which isn't even counting Texas, A&M, and OU being in the power conferences that get almost all of the media's attention already.

I will say that if Baylor was still a dreg of that conference, the media in the state wouldn't know a damn thing about this. Remember, Texas Monthly brought this all out into the open. That's a UT rag if there ever was one. But none of that excuses Baylor, their administration, their coaches, or the Waco PD and a complicit Waco media from the far worse crime of allowing all of this to go unreported, un-prosecuted, or un-covered. Its as if the whole town decided that winning football brings in so much money that we are just going to turn a blind eye to justice because its better, monetarily, for their town and their university. That university espouses Christian virtues that are very conservative in nature--yet allows murder and rape to be covered up so they can win at revenue sports. No amount of conference championships, NCAA Tournament bids, or major bowl bids will ever be worth what has been condoned and covered up in Waco. Its just amazing that it took Baylor winning to get any attention of this stuff from outside of Waco. And I believe Cr1028 is correct on one thing--if Baylor sucked ass like they usually did in the first dozen years of the Big XII's existence, none of this stuff is even in the public light today. UT owns the media in this state--when they want to investigate a program, it gets done in a very hard fashion. Every SWC team based in Texas will easily attest to this.

What is amazing is what that piece of crap university will cover up just to be able to say we are winning at revenue sports...as TFLF/MGMailbox will tell you, there is never anything that we will ever have to worry about here with this ridiculous mindset. A mindset that has a long history of major violations, covering up a murder, and now blatantly covering up multiple rapes on campus by their football players--all accepted because they are winning at a great level. Baylor might be a Baptist school, but Satan himself couldn't be more proud of the way they are handling this...again.

This is exactly why this scenario will never happen as long as the school's belong to the NCAA. Lawsuits from lower G5 and FCS schools will go nowhere--they have zero pull within legislatures and in the media. Networks won't pay anything of major note for lower G5 games, but they will for leagues higher up the food chain. Legislatures are full of grads from schools outside of those 24 listed in Mandel's article, as well as fan bases that are very loud and vocal. That's where your real legislative threat would come from--and the Top 24 schools listed aren't stupid. They need that next 40-60 schools to play with and beat regularly--they will never fall into a setup like Mandel gives in the article. Schools like Baylor, TCU, Wake Forest, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas State, etc.. are in the situations they are in because they are either small or provide no TV market to go along with athletic or academic success. That's why they will end up in the MWC or AAC when it's all said and done, still able to play the Power Conferences, but left out of the playoff.

McCarney's downfall here is really do to three things: 1.) He couldn't recruit talent here because we played an offensive style that was in vogue in the 40s. 2.) He believed and trusted McNulty as his starter at QB to run said offense, when it was obvious that most FCS schools had a better starter than him 3.) His stroke and his overall health sure didn't help him--it actually made recruiting against us easier than taking candy from a baby...