untjim1995

They don't have much of a choice but to kiss up to Texas, just because they don't bring much of a market with them and their academic pedigree isn't bad, but it's not great either (not an AAU member). The school with UT balls in their mouth is Tech. Talk about being desperate...Tech is hoping that they can keep riding those coattails into the Pac sunset. If not, they will get to join New Mexico as old Border Conference rivals in the MWC. Tech's problem isn't UT appreciating their "love", its the fact that everyone else sees them as a STD-ridden joke that would never get into the club without the powerful date (UT) they are trying to weld themselves to. Tech thinks UT will marry them, but UT has a wandering eye...and they know that Tech is an STD-infested piece, but they just can't unload her just yet.

Sadly, you are dead-on about the Dickster. He sucked as a communicator, glad-handler, and as pitch man for your university. His offensive gameplan was the pure definition of boring, eliciting the funniest cheer of all-time by a bunch of UNT fans at a game that was very winnable at TCU--"Throw the Ball!! Throw the Ball!!", since we basically ran the ball up the middle every down of the game just to get it over with, even though we were only losing 13-3 going into the 4th quarter. But, amazingly, got some great recruits by our standards to come here and play at a toilet bowl in a toilet conference, and he got some solid results. How those results cannot be exceeded is just beyond most sports fans, but it hasn't even been close. I guess that's why we have the Darrell Dickey Practice Fields here, when he left here with a 42-66 record...so you are right, until then, and I cannot believe I am typing this, Darrell Dickey's tenure represents the best we can do until proven otherwise. I thought Dan McCarney's 2013 team would springboard this thing, but his lack of new recruiting in his first 4 years on the job killed that from happening. So the Dickster's reign as best football coach at UNT since we moved back up in 1995 to FBS still stands.

I've been saying this for awhile. The Big XII is just the SW version of the old Big East. In time, the best parts will get bought off, leaving behind leftovers that cannot keep enough prestige to make it a power league anymore. It will be another version of the AAC or MWC and those three leagues will still stay at the level of play that can be allowed to play the power conferences in OOC and get a spot in a non-playoff BCS bowl. That will completely protect the biggest schools from government intervention or punitive damages because they will say they still allow these schools to compete and its up to those leagues to determine if another school can get admitted into their leagues. We blew our chances a long time ago. Even if you don't want to blame it completely on allowing the program to fall back down to I-aa in 1983 for 12 years, the fact that we brought our program back up to I-A in 1995 only because we could make more money from the whore games and we kept our budget woefully low, causing us to continually play in our toilet bowl of a stadium was the death knell of the program's chances at FBS legitimacy. From 1995 until 2008, SMU literally sucked ass at football...and we couldn't do one thing to move up above them in the eyes of the sports media or college football fans. It was there for the taking and we blew it, allowing SMU to STILL be able to dictate what conference affiliation we could and couldn't be a part of. If we jump over them, as we should have, the MWC takes us when TCU leaves. Or we move up to the now AAC before they did. Instead, they go into CUSA and block us from ever having any chance of joining a league with teams that people have heard of over the years, keeping us in the dreg of FBS, the SBC, until the Big East calls them to join their league with everyone else that we always wanted to join with in what is know the AAC. Now, we move up to SBC 2.0, and the league just isn't good enough to garner any mention or interest in being like the AAC or MWC anymore.

I love baseball. Its my favorite professional sport, by a lot. I enjoy college baseball when the postseason begins and its on TV regularly enough to watch it when things really matter. And I think it is just crazy for us to even consider baseball being added here anytime soon. We suck so bad in every revenue sport right now that I cannot even fathom how truly awful we would be at baseball here. We don't draw well to the popular sports, how in the world are we gonna get people here for a baseball game, especially when RV hires his next spare that leads us to 5-28 record? We can't even afford to buy out the last year of a horrible basketball coach in his 5th season as a loser, all because it costs $325k. We have already shown everyone what moving up in a revenue sport when you aren't financially ready to do so (see football in1995). What should be done is that football gets an indoor facility that can be used by the other nonrevenue sports, as well (i.e. track and field and soccer). We need to have "buyout fund" setup for never allowing the Benford situation to ever happen again. Then, and only then, if the football program and hoops programs can bring in more funds, that's when I would work on starting up baseball with a legitimate stadium being ready for our first season and having a legitimate college coach already hired two years ahead of time to get the program up and running. Otherwise, you are setting up for failure at a sport that does cost money to have, money we obviously don't have or just won't spend.

Can we just try to be like La Tech, Southern Miss, Arkansas State, or ULL? I mean, these guys all win fairly often as lower G5 programs like we are without the violations. Hell, seeing Benford in that picture just makes me want to have a basketball program that can compete year-in and year-out with freaking UTA...and realizing we can't even get over that curb-level hurdle with this guy, who gets a 5th year to spare everyone else to death...

That Portland State loss will sting for awhile. Homecoming is the one time (game) that gets some long lost folks to wander back to Denton for a weekend game. Its why the attendance for that game is usually better than the other spares on the schedule we play at home. There are a lot of people who will not attend another UNT football game for years after that embarrassment. You don't receive the worst loss in modern college football history and not suffer even more repercussions--the attendance will be down this year, and last year saw us average 13k at the 30k seat Apogee Stadium. Littrell was a very solid hire, IMO, but he has zero name recognition to most fans, so its not like people will flock to Denton to see how he's gonna do here as a coach. I figure SMU will be a good crowd--because Dentonites turn out for former SWC teams--so I'd expect the crowd to be around 23k or so. But the other games probably won't touch 18k. The big key for any changes to be made here regarding RV is actually pretty simple--it'll take the UNT 17 losing a few donors and blaming it on RV's incompetence. Otherwise, he's gonna be here for a while. The only way the BOR allows RV to leave is if he does something criminal (not in the eyes of the remaining fans, but to the police) and he is too smart for that to lose the easiest AD job (by miles) in America.

Obviously, Rice in CUSA and Tulsa, Tulane, and SMU from the AAC would all be higher on this list, as well. That would put us at 10th of 14 teams in CUSA and ahead of only Texas State in the G5 Texas schools... And, rather clearly, the MWC and AAC are showing that they are a cut or two above the rest of us in the G5. Its why I think those two leagues will get to stay at the FBS level when the future culling occurs again in the years to come. The rest of us will combine with the top end of FCS and form a new I-aa.

UNT 17 Puppet...or maybe he's the UNT 17 Puppeteer (mind blown)

Similarly, before the 2005 season got up and running, SI had their complete FBS rankings for the upcoming year. In the mid 50s, you would have found TCU and UNT back-to-back in rankings, somewhere around 55 and 56. We lose to unranked Tulsa at home by only 52 points, while unranked TCU goes into Norman and beats Top 5 ranked OU. We finish 2-9, they finish 12-1, and neither school has ever looked back...TCU has finished in the top 10 several times since then. We have finished in the bottom 10 several times since then, including this past season where we finished as the worst FBS team in America. Two cars passing in the night...one went north to College Football Heaven, one went south (as in College Football Hell).

You run an awesome website...and I love reading and posting on it. And everything you just posted is dead-on... All I want is for the university to show us that they will commit to winning--an investment into personnel by US, not by a few moneyed alums, but by US. I get it that Benford is here because we bought off Mac's extended contract. But you can send a very solid message by reassigning RV to fundraising only for the university, not leading the entire athletic department or by allowing him to lead in hiring our revenue coaches AFTER his previous hires have completely tanked. Nobody else does that in college athletics--except us. To me, getting an ass-raping against a team from the SEC or the Big XII is better than paying FCS Podunk State to come here and take away precious dollars from a budget that could have been used to pay for buyouts that are literally killing our program. I damn sure know that the $425k we paid to Portland State would have been better used somewhere else...

I think we should just play at name-your-P5-giant this upcoming year or next if it means that we would be able to get rid of Benford and RV now. Besides, you all can enjoy Apogee with hundreds of other people when Butt Cookman, Incarnate Word, Lamar, and Abilene Christian come to town, taking dollars away from us that could be used better if we are just so poor that paying off Tony Benford's last year of a contract worth $325k is not deemed "feasible". Trust me, we would be better off taking an extra whore payment if it improved our personnel. Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to Portland State, who then ripped us a new one to the point of costing somebody $2.1 million dollars, was not a good use of our funds, to put it mildly. And our awesome AD gave us that PSU debacle as THE ONLY OOC GAME IN A BRAND NEW STADIUM THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BRING IN BETTER OPPONENTS... Not a dime, not another second until RV is gone...and we are totally prepared for that day to be a loooooonnnnnnnggggg time from now.

I totally agree...and we are clearly in the minority on this. Look at the posters here who want nothing to do with the MWC--they like CUSA, they like being able to travel to games, and they like the time zone. Even if the MWC wanted us, I'm not sure that our leadership or our fans would want it, which sucks mightily. I can sell people on coming to Apogee to watch Boise State, AFA, Fresno State, or Colorado State play us. I can sell people on coming to the Super Pit to see us play UNLV, New Mexico, or San Diego State. But its a moot point--we aren't even on the MWC's radar for Texas schools.

He was the Nick Saban of the league from 2001-2004. It just fell apart for him and for us when he didn't parlay his SBC success into another job, while his assistants got hired away, and recruiting to a toilet bowl went back to what it normally was. Dickey--and UNT--had perfect timing to get into a league with other teams that were also in a bad way...Idaho, NMSU, Utah State, Arkansas State, ULM, and ULL were all pretty bad teams, while MUTS was also a program that was ready to play at this level from the get go and Troy was just moving up to FBS in 2003 as a full member.

UNTADforlife

That's not hard to fix--at all. If the Big XII wants BYU, that won't be a problem. Neither us, nor Arkansas State will ever get into the AAC...but they do run a solid athletic department up in Jonesboro.

Texas avoids any lawsuits and or political baggage by doing one of two things: 1.) They take tech with them to the Pac or 2.) They go independent until the LHN money runs out. The B1G won't take Tech, no matter what. Hence the "Tech " problem email that the B1G commissioner sent to UT's leadership back in 2010. But the Pac will, if it means getting UT. However, if the B1G is what UT wants, they can decide to BYU-it, going independent for a few years, until a slot opens up where they want to go, which would be the B1G. Tech better hope that those Texas coattails are strong...otherwise, they are gonna enjoy playing conference games in the MWC with Baylor and TCU.

Southern Miss did what almost every single athletic department does when they have failure in a revenue sport--they fixed it as soon as possible by firing the coach and letting go of the AD as soon as it was also feasible to do so. I think there are a lot of people on this site that are gonna be sorely disappointed and shocked when RV is still the AD here beyond 2018, when his current contract expires. He's gonna figure out a way to extend Benford, Jalie, or Littrell and get an extension of his own. And the BOR will be just fine with it, as long as the UNT 17 keep paying the bills above the budgeted allotment that the athletic fee provides.

Texas will always have consideration for the playoffs, whether in a conference or not. Their name is too big within the college football world to be excluded. Just like Notre dame, they will always have a chance because of their name. The biggest question they will have is keeping the LHN money for as long as possible worth staying out of a better conference setup that you won't have control over...the LHN is an ender for every other power conference as it currently stands. ESPN is on the hook until 2031 for this calamity at $15 million per season. Texas isn't giving that up anytime soon. The only way that they can keep the LHN money train rolling as it stands as the Big XII GOR agreement approaches expiration in the next 10 years or so is to keep the Big XII intact somehow or to go independent until the agreement is not renewed by ESPN and then they go to the Power Conference that will take them without the LHN. If they join another conference, I'll peg odds as this: Pac--60%, B1G --20%, ACC--20%, SEC--0% The Pac needs them the most, the other two would like to have them for the eyeballs and cachet of the name, while the SEC already has the TV sets of the state for their revenues that A&M has given them. The SEC has made it clear that they will no longer go after multiple teams within a member's state, so no more Ole Miss and MSU type situations again. Teams like Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, and Georgia Tech have no chance of ever gaining SEC membership with the way that revenues are set from their SEC network, getting more for in-state subscribers of their network from the various providers. If/when that changes, then something else could come into play, but for now, the TV sets and new markets will drive that bus. The SEC's next move will be to gain a foothold in NC and VA, most likely. They'd love to add Va Tech and NC State to their leagues, schools that fit their model really well and would culturally fit with the members in that league rather effortlessly, like A&M has so far.

They will if it means that OU can continue to be a huge giant of the sport. Same with KU and UT. None of those schools are going to get held back because their in-state brethren aren't as attractive as they are to these other conferences.

Absolutely. I've posted this same thing a number of times. USM is our blueprint. TBH, SMU is following their pattern, too. USM--In 2013, one of the worst teams in the country, wins one game, wins three in 2014, wins 9 games, the CUSA West, and a HoD Bowl berth in 2015, program on solid footing and coach gets hired away SMU--In 2014,worst team in the country, coach leaves, they win 1 game, hire new offensive minded coach, win 2 games, ready to see what happens in Morris' 2nd season, if successful, will get a huge raise at SMU and will get hired away by the end of season 3 on the Hilltop. UNT--worst team in the country in 2015, fires coach, wins 1 game, hire new offensive minded coach, hope to win a game or two this season and show progress on field and in the locker room

BTW, I meant to congratulate on this...if ever there were a snowflake on this board, here he is in all of his Safe Space glory.. Ryan Munthe 447 Mean Green Eagle Members 447 1,247 posts Home:H-Town, TX Posted Friday at 5:26 PM (edited) · Report post I'll be straight up honest. I went full troll because UNT90 made this board unreadable. My goal became to push him and the mods who wouldn't do anything to the point of losing their marbles in anger at me. 90 is legitimately the reason I have a low interest in UNT athletics in 2016. Because I realized that a majority of the fans were like him. Love this school and the teams of UNT. But I can't even enjoy them anymore. My life has literally been less depressing since I stopped posting here and reading 90's misery. UNT sports were an escape. This board was how I indulged in my escape. The attitude made it tedious. Chalk the ghost town that GMG is up to poor play all you want, the reality is that 90 has ruined Harry's forum. And for some freaking reason beyond my belief, they won't ban him. Stunning. Guess they want to go down with the ship. Edited Friday at 6:08 PM by Ryan Munthe

I agree on KU--they are appealing to all four conferences because of academic standing within the AAU, good TV market in KC, great basketball, and in an ironic way, just putrid football, which could appeal to leagues that don't want another football behemoth like OU to join in and make their league even harder (see the SEC West). The B1G makes sense, the Pac makes sense, the SEC makes sense, and the ACC makes sense. Not even Texas can say that, due to the LHN and A&M being in the SEC. I figure that KU ends up in the B1G with OU, in the Pac with some combo of UT, OU, OSU, Tech, and KSU, in the ACC if the Big XII breaks apart and the B1G/SEC take pieces from the current ACC, or if the SEC adds an Eastern team, such as Va Tech, but cannot get a school in North Carolina to break away from the ACC and they add KU to the west to get to 16 and to join UK as a conference with two giants of the sport. The ironic part of this all was that in 2010, when the Big XII almost dissolved, KU was about to be left out and forced to join the Big East. But after Colorado and Utah joined the Pac and Nebraska joined the B1G, these conferences figured out real quick that TV markets mattered ALOT more. And that any major sports revenue and strong academics would play in realignment's favor for your conference membership going forward. Now, KU will get a spot at the table, ironically, easier than when realignment first started. The SEC added A&M for the Texas TV sets and Mizzou for the TV sets that St.Louis and KC provide. The B1G adds Maryland and Rutgers, just to get Baltimore, DC, and NYC TV markets. The ACC adds Pitt, Syracuse, and eventually Louisville to get solid teams and markets. Meanwhile, the dumbass Big XII adds West Virginia, who collectively have about 4 TVs in the state, and TCU, a small private school already in their TV market, choosing them over both over BYU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston, UCF, or USF. No wonder the conference is about to crash and burn...

Ryan Munthe hates Frisco people, too...

OSU's only hope is that the Pac takes the Texoma Four. OU already got sent packing when they went to the Pac with OSU and said they were interested in joining their league, only to hear the Pac Leadership that they were interested in OU with UT, not without them and certainly not with OSU as the add-on. T. Boone's cash can only carry itself so far...OSU, KSU, ISU, and Tech have the same problem--big brother(s) that make them worthless unless big brother's coattails can get them into the party. Right now, the Pac is the only place that looks like they would take Tech and/or OSU if it go them UT and OU. The only other possible way I could see OSU going out west is if UT goes independent, the Pac still wants to expand to the CST to get to 16 and they invited some combo of KU, KSU, OU, OSU, Tech and UH, but even that seems incredibly remote as a possibility.

It really is. If gaining no new members causes OU and KU to jump ship, UT can easily go independent, which they may do just to keep the LHN. If UT does go independent, Tech will be just as screwed as Baylor and TCU are. Those three schools will be future members of the MWC or AAC. UT could easily join another conference and play its other sports there, such as the AAC. Its not scheduling would be hard for the to setup--they can easily set up annual games with OU in Dallas, Baylor, TCU, and Tech, then sprinkle in ongoing series with ND and BYU. Then play three bought G5/FCS games, as well as three other P5 games each year and you will see them having 7-8 home games every year.