untjim1995

Compete against teams that people have heard of because they have won big time in football and basketball or what we have been doing for the last umpeen years... When the MWC expands into Texas again, and they take Rice, UTEP, and UTSA, we better be with them. Hell, UTEP would feel like they are bringing their new family to a class reunion--they'd get their old WAC pals back + games in DFW, Houston, and San Antonio. I'd do backflips to have Boise State, AFA, Colorado State, Fresno State, SDSU, UNLV, Nevada, and New Mexico as conference mates. I don't care what that looked like in the Big West days, when we are all Sun Belt level programs. Today's MWC, plus three other Texas teams would be a UNT dream come true to me...

The guy who watched over the worst accounting fiasco that a university in Texas has ever had to admit...and yet didn't get punished, admonished, or even his wrists slapped by the BOR, who instead looked at all of this and EXTENDED his contract. He must have the College of Music as aprimary beneficiary of his estate...or he holds pictures of the BOR members in questionable "positions"

The biggest problem that the P5s are gonna have is having somebody getting the rug pulled out from underneath them with nowhere to go, especially when Wake Forest, Washington State, Mississippi State, and others like them have a place at the table while, potentially, Baylor, TCU, Iowa State, and others don't. In reality, the P4 conferences will probably recognize that its better to go to conferences of 18 just to bring them aboard and invite a selected few out of the G5 to be in their club. You could then break things down regionally in this hypothetical, assuming the NCAA mandated this to ensure that certain teams got included: West UCLA, USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Stanford, Utah, Colorado, Boise State, BYU, UT, Tech, TCU, and Baylor South OU, Oklahoma State, Mizzou, Arkansas, A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vandy, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Memphis East Miami, USF, UCF, Florida State, Clemson, Ga Tech, Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, Virgina, Va Tech, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Boston College, Notre Dame, and Uconn North Rutgers, Maryland, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan St, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas, KSU, and Cincy

The ACC will be around, but the Big XII won't--there are too many TV sets in the ACC footprint and too few in the Big XII footprint outside of Texas

I think that is right, except I think that UConn will move up next from the G5, most likely to the ACC. The more I think about it, the more I can see several G5 schools try to go the BYU route and become quasi-P5 by being independent in football. Like it was back before the 90s, we had many independents in football, not just Notre Dame. Miami, FSU, Penn State, Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, etc...I could see schools in the top end of the AAC and MWC try this--including UH, UCF, USF, ECU, Memphis, Cincy, Boise State, SDSU, and Fresno State. Each of those schools could partner up with other leagues around them for the other sports, just as BYU and Notre Dame have done.

I completely agree, but what if Gretchen Bataille and the BOR said to RV, "Absolutely no way we are using any funds for that kind of buyout"?

We never have...we have other windows to the university we prop up. In many ways, it amazes me we even still have a football team after they voted to drop it in the early 70s, dropped to 1-aa in the 80s and 90s, then played in Fouts Field in the entirety of the 00's. As a buddy of mine once told me, if the media ever starts polling music programs or art exhibits, you guys at UNT are gonna beat the absolute crap out of the rest of us that care about football and basketball.

Such a classless move...par for the course, though. In his last few years at UNT, we heard that coaching at UNT was the hardest job in America because he was there EVERYDAY, that the few fans we had were MFers, and that his last game at home would involve wearing Hutch Black Jerseys that most middle schools wouldn't wear. Thank goodness that Mattress Mac made us "honor" him by naming the practice fields after him. By the way, I'd go and change that name on the practice fields today--we won't get a red cent from Mattress Mac again and the practice fields don't need to be named after a loser. Make them the Hayden Fry Practice Fields, since he actually won here, unlike any other coach we've had other than Odus Mitchell in the last 60 years.

No season is a throw away, even if the schedule is daunting and the talent is undeveloped. This year plants the seeds for 2016 and beyond.

Yep--we are trying to build up from the ashes. When you look at where we are as a program, compared to the beginning of 2010, you see us in the SBC, playing at Fouts, with Todd Dodge as the head coach. Today looks like heaven compared to that. But the problem is that we are so far behind in the terms of where a real FBS program should be right now, given our location, size, and history of the program. We literally have started trying to catch up about 35 years later than we should have...that's completely on the BOR and leadership of the university. And Tony Benford is proof positive that our view on athletics hasn't changed much...

I completely agree with you on all fronts here. He brought stability to a situation that was unwinding like a tornado thru a trailer park, to a point where 4 wins disappoints us. In the previous three coaches we had since we moved up to FBS in 1995, Simon had one season that was better, at 5-6 in 1996. Dickey had 4 years that were better from 2001-2004, and Dodge couldn't get better than 2 wins. IOW, since 1995, we have had 4 winning seasons, one of which was 2013 under Mac. We have had losing seasons with 4-5 wins 5 times, two of which were Simon's in 1996 and 1997, and three belong to Mac, 2011, 2012, and 2014. No question that Apogee helps him, but he has solidified things to a point where we have gone from 1-2 wins per year between 2005 and 2010 to at least 4 wins per year from 2011-2014. This year's schedule will give Mac some leeway here--we could be waayyyyy better than last year and finish with the same record. As I have said before, a bowl berth should get Mac CUSA Coach of the Year honors, at a bare minimum. There's a reason we are picked 5th in the West--we are low on developed talent and high on difficult games to manuever.

The saddest part about all of this comparison isn't Dodge's HS resume or Morris's pedigree or the salary difference between the two. Its that after Todd Dodge had gone 5-31 in three full seasons as the head coach, the university decided that buying out an extra $332k would be WORSE than bringing him back for a 4th year, which he rewarded that thought by going 1-6 before getting fired in the middle of the season. We decided that buying out an extra year of a whopping $332k contract was too expensive, which saw us go 3-9 the next season, followed up by Mac's hiring that led to a 5-7 year in his first season, which was our best record in 7 years and tied for our 4th best record at the time since we moved back to FBS in 1995. We hired a high school coach because we wouldn't pay for an actual college coach. Then we signed him to a five year deal, but refused to fire him after a 5-31 start. And there are posters on here that actually believe we will fire McCarney before 2017, which is his 4th year out of 5 for his current contract, while making the most money as a coach in the history of the school. Whether its been Vic Trilli, Todd Dodge, or Tony Benford, we don't buy out more than a year of a contract for a major sport.

The HoD BOwl was probably the pinnacle of UNT Football since we moved up to FBS, since it was a huge win on NYD at the Cotton Bowl over a team that people have heard of, UNLV. But the saddest part about it was knowing that season tickets actually dropped after that great season, even when we were picked as the favorite to win the CUSA-West division, and SMU on the schedule at home. The problem, as always, goes beyond the wins and losses here--its about the opponents you play and the brand of offensive football you play to get people excited to watch you play in person (see Dickey versus Dodge attendance). We played SMU, La Tech, Nicholls State, USM, FAU, and FIU at home. By the time we got to the last three home games, we rolled out a bus driver offense that literally wouldn't even throw a pass in crucial parts of games. You give the fans--and recruits--nothing to get excited about, even if you beat Florida International in a beautiful stadium. In DFW, there are just too many options for your time and money. We are stuck with McCarney, no matter what offense he runs, no matter how many wins or losses he brings us, for at least three more seasons. Chico, though, is probably done after this season. And in terms of mens hoops, Benford's days are done if he doesn't post a winning record this season, which gives us another opportunity to see who RV hires. If I was to bet on how tha twill play out, Benford will be gone the moment a winning season is mathematically impossible and Rob Evans will be promoted to interim head coach, with a chance to get the full-time job here. I fear the RV hire, though--I can see him hiring an assistant that wows him from some big school, who has no idea how to be a head coach. As much as I love the Jalie Mitchell hire, since she is actual alum, we have no idea how she will do as a head coach, just as we have seen from Tony Benford. Me personally, I'd be on the phone with Steve Shields at UALR or Scott Cross at UTA offering them the job immediately, but I'm betting that we get an assistant coach from a big school again.

That seems accurate to me. I figure we have three conference games that are 50/50 games for us to win: @‌USM, home to UTSA, and home to UTEP.

UTSA for sure. Otheriwse, it cements them as being a better program than us already--that would be three wins in a row for them over us, with two being in Denton. At that point, you are basically only going to be fighting with Texas State for recruits. Rice and La Tech are tied for second, followed by UTEP, then Southern Miss.

So you're going away then? Like the other 98% of UNT alumni? Its either or, pal...of all people, you should know that.

Why would the BOR give someone else a chance at this point? They love RV--he is the ultimate budget master and nods his head without complaint at their directives. Plus, he gave us tailgating!! He's gonna be here until he wants to retire, UNT90. The Super Pit will probably have a room named after him or a staute of him will be outside of Apogee, since he opened up tailgating here. It is what it is...you just have to accept it or go away.

This is Mac's specialty--developing strength on the lines. Last year's veteran OL really disappointed, but I think that defenses stuffing the box with 8-9 defenders was the undoing of the veteran OL, knowing that the QB wouldn't be able to handle it. I expect that this bunch will get better as the year goes on, but that 2016 and 2017 will be the years to see the OL really shine again.

TCU, by itself, and even with Ft. Worth's help, won't ever average more than about 30k in attendance, as evidenced by their MWCUSA days. But now that they get Texas, OU, Texas Tech, Baylor, and Okie Lite every other year to visit FW, they will continue to see bigger attendance figues, especially if it means getting into the playoff. Add in biannual visits from SMU, which their students,alumni, and the citizens of FW still care about and hate, they get about 3-4 home games a year against teams that either bring fans or get the public's interest in going to AGC Stadium. Winning is obviously the first part of the equation, but the second part is who you play. They get revenue just from all of the other conference school's fans coming into town. I like TCU--I grew up in FW, watched them struggle mightily in the SWC, then watched them rise from the SWC ashes to prominence that miraculously got them in the Big XII. How long that lasts, who knows. But they are the poster child, along with Utah, of how winning big in football can truly change the entire university's status among the public. Without question, they are the two biggest winners in conference realignment, along with Rutgers and Louisville. I've always felt that their MWC halcyon days could be duplicated again by a Texas school playing teams out west that are respected names in college football but don't have the talent on their rosters that a Texas school would have. I guess it remians to be seen if that is true or if it was just a perfect situation for TCU only to take advantage of back then.

I think that USM is a sad tale of what happens to a G5 program once the winning goes away, particularly for those in small markets. I give them credit for absolutely not settling for a coach who managed to go 0-12 in his first year. But USM fans have watched them go from being CUSA Champions, when that league actually had teams in it that they considered as true peers, to seeing that coach get hired away by UNC, and then seeing the big market teams leave to the AAC. They got left behind, not just because of their TV market being small, but also it coincided with going 0-12, meaning the AAC had no interest in adding them over the other CUSA teams. Even if they improve greatly, I still don't think they will ever get that mojo back of where they were, which was one of the most respected G5 teams in the country, right there with Boise State, Fresno State, UCF, and others. To me, and its not really even close, they are the biggest losers in the conference realignment game. They have watched their program go from being an original CUSA member, with teams like Louisville, Cincy, UH, UAB, Memphis, USF, UCF, TCU, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane, and ECU having been in the conference at different points, to now looking at Marshall, UAB, and Rice as their only compadres that got left behind--and UAB may be completely gone very soon. Its very possible that we have seen the glory days of USM come and go, even if they do start winning again in this version of CUSA. Their fans hate being stuck in the league, knowing they cannot do anything about it, for no other reason than they are in a podunk market. I guess we will see--they have had higher expectations in the past, but we don't know if that is going to continue or if they are just going to be resigned to their place in today's college football world.

Compare us apples to apples, basically against teams in our conference or near it, like Texas State, which aren't SWC royalty. Look at ULL, La Tech, Arkansas State, ULM, Texas State, UTSA, and UTEP, all public schools with similarities to us. Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, and UH aren't comparable, in my opinion. The private aspect alone changes the dynamic, then in the case of UH, their history and funding is way beyond ours. The others, though, are ones we can examine to see about recruiting comparisons.

I don't know that Denton would support a winner anymore than they did in the Fry years or the Dickey SBC run or even in 2013. Each season had one game that drew a pretty nice crowd, but the others were fairly average to below average in attendance. Of course, we don't know until we do win, and maybe the CUSA teams will bring more folks out if we were to ever win consistently. We certainly know it didn't happen in the SBC. But again, at the G5 level, it all really boils down to who you play at home that drives attendance. You get a local or state school in here, we draw well. You get a small time, directional school from the Southeast, not so much. Until the entire G5 realizes this, you are going to continue seeing teams chasing the P5 carrot that probably isn't ever going to be caught. What I think is that the G5s will eventually get some Big XII teams added to their mix--probably Baylor, TCU, and ISU, with KSU, OSU, and Texas Tech as possible additions, as well, although not probable. I can see the Big XII conference staying around, just not as a Power League anymore, but siphoning off teams from the AAC and CUSA. A conference up of TCU, Baylor, Houston, Iowa State, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, UTSA, UTEP, Memphis, Cincy, USF, UCF and any other leftover(s) from the old Big XII. It would be a great non-power league and cut down on the travel that the AAC and CUSA teams face. You'd probably see the AAC and CUSA combine after this, to split between two divisions, and UConn will probably get added to a Power League, while Navy would probably go back to being independent. AACUSA would like this: American Division Marshall, Temple, ODU, ECU, Charlotte, FIU, FAU CUSA Divsion UAB, USM, MUTS, Rice, UNT, WKU, La Tech Possible additions would include Texas State and ULL, which would move MUTS and WKU to the American Division.

All of this...while watching a home game against our old bitter rival, Abilene Christian, at an 11am kickoff in early September.

Yeah, those 10 typos are really the embarrassing part of the list...certainly not having zero points with the stellar company with are grouped with.