untjim1995

That would sure be a nice change and a good start... HIs point was that to really get the attention of the DFW fans and media that would give us interest and coverage requires us to have a huge winning season that includes winning our G5 conference AND beating an P5 powerhouse that college football fans and media care about. Tha's why that effort at UGa, even though we ended up getting beat pretty good, gave us more interest from the local media and fans than a win over any SBCUSA team.

BOwls make money--either by network space for advertising or from attendance or both. Until they dont, expect more cities to clamor for a bowl. The CVB of each city that hosts a bowl game love it--you are getting peiople to come to your town during a very sparce time for tourism--generally. Does Austin need a bowl game? No, but it makes money.

These startups never have had to deal with the stigma of dropping out of sight for 12 years, crushing what remained of any reputation we had. By the time we moved back up, we were seen as nothing more than a "bought" program by the media and fans around here. Coaches and parents have only known us as a losing program and one that very few people care about. Texas State and UTSA don't deal with this. Neither do any of the other CUSA or SBC schools we recruit against, except for Louisiana-Monroe. Recruiting, save for a great Dickey "stealth" class (one in 9 years) and Dodge's first one, which saw most of them leave, has absolutely stunk here in Denton. Obviously, Mac cannot believe it hasn't been easier to get kids here, like it was at USF when he went there to coach after leaving ISU. Frankly, after the Dickey run thru the SBC and then Mac's 2013 season, I've always believed that the corner would get turned here. I'd like to think it might finally get turned if we had a string of winning seasons together while we are in CUSA and playing in Apogee, but I don't think I'd be willing to bet on it. The late, great Richard Durrett always told me it would take a conference championship AND a win over a big time program to grab the attention of the local fans and media about UNT. I am guessing that he will eternally be correct...

Are you talking about the BOR and RV again?...

Did UH vote to keep Rice from joining CUSA when they left the WAC with SMU, UTEP, and Tulsa? I really don't know. If they did, you're right--that's not a great example, but the fact that they did co-exist for all of those years in the same conference is really what UNT and SMU should have been able to do during the last few conference realignments. I find it amazing that small private SMU has more pull with conference alignment than a huge public school in Texas does, but there is absolute no doubt that they do. Rice would never be able to outpace UH in today's college athletics landscape, just due to size.

La Tech looks down on the other Louisiana schools, not named LSU or Tulane. SMU looks down on us. UTEP looks down on NMSU. Its the stupidity of trying to make your G5 program look attractive still, when its lost its appeal years ago (see SMU). These schools would rather pay exhorbitant travel costs than be affiliated with the schools deemed "beneath" them. What's even more maddening is that, in each case above, all three combos have played or are scheduled to play each other in football series, since they can help each other beef up attendance. Its just dumb. UH and Rice showed everyone how two schools in the sme markets could easily mesh within a conference for decades. But TV gets in the way and the schools who are higher on the totem pole won't let those below them move upward if they can do anything about it.

Its just the cost of admission at a university that plays college football at the FBS level. No different than the cost of admission for a university that chooses Art as its primary window and charges a fee per semester hour to help that school to get the best future artists and make sure they can compete with the best artists at other universities. Ask yourself this. Why do Texas State, UTSA, and UTEP all charge the full athletic fee that is allowable under state law for their programs? Every single principle applies to their student body as it does here. If Austin came out and said that they have to follow a UNT model for funding, then so be it. We bitch on here about the P5 Texas public schools with such an unfair advantage, as well as UH just because of their SWC inclusion, but UTEP, UTSA, and Texas State don't have any problem charging this fee because they have chosen to use football as the primary window for their school. As a matter of fact, only one school in the region, that plays at FBS chooses to keep funding low for their program, at the administrative level...and this is why my argument of increasing the fee has exactly zero chance of happening. In the end, the argument is really one-sided--it ain't gonna change here. It was done with gritted teeth to have to institute this fee to begin with, because of the student vote in 2009--and it was watered down as soon as it could be.

What if the ticket office ddi put a surcharge on tickets, above the MGC donation that is needed for certain season tickets, to support the AD? What if the indivual tickets were sold at $3 or $5 more, just to cover these extra costs? Would attendance get crushed below what is already is or would we even really notice? That way, the fans share in the needed increase of funds, too? What if funds to join the MGC are increased by $25 a year or $50 a year at the minimum? I'm not advocating any of it, just wondering if it would have merit.

That's the law there --and here now. You gotta follow the law and pay the taxes that your leadership drops on you, whether you agree or not. Same thing applies here, just as it does to take care of our precious College of Music. If the university wants a fee to support this, than you gotta pay for it. I had to pay several fees at UNT that I couldn't care less about nor saw any benefit for me, but I also know the university used those fees to either better those particular programs or the whole university.

Then go to UTA or UTD, schools without FBS football that you don't have to pay for. If kids and parents pay for this fee in San Antonio, San Marcos, El Paso, and Beaumont, it shouldn't be too big of a deal to pay it in Denton. But it doesn't matter--it will never get increased here. The "tax w/o representation" won't have to get argued on in Denton--the protest and outcry from the university's family would be severe. It already got loud enough just because we built a new football stadium that was actually voted on by the students. Our leadership actually let the fee get sunsetted and have kept it lower than other schools just to appease the folks in the UNT Family. And probably that will be rewarded, honestly, when the G5s are the full equivalent of FCS schools in the upcoming years and the leadership will get to give everyone on this site a very loud, "I told you so" by not funding athletics anywhere close to other universites our size and in this area of the country.

This is a complete joke--the teams you listed at the top of the list are giants in the P5 world or are funded by a national following in BYU. What else are they gonna support in Hawaii, surfing? Of course they get strong commitment from the local fanbase and alumni. You can argue about the Michigna schools, I suppose, but who cares what they do? If the state allows a fee that is upwards of $20/hr and other state schools that you are competing with like UTSA, Texas State, and UTEP charge the full amount, yet you charge a third of it, that is like fighting one handed. We don't charge as much because we simply don't want to. It is not in line with being a top "value" school.

When we had the opening after Dodge was fired, I really wanted either Franchione or Steve Kragthorpe. Obviously, Kragthorpe's illness wouldn't have allowed this to happen, so we probably dodged a bullet there. And when McCarney was hired and with his positive attitude and excitement, I felt just fine with him getting the job--and still do. But I thought it then and I still do today, the true comparison will be ebtween he and Fran in how things go over their time here. We have one very good season in 4, but Texas State has the better overall record. Texas State will eventually get into CUSA--whether its to replace UTSA as they get to move up because of their market or because the G5s finally figure out that geography matters more for cost containment than any benefits you get from staying away from school sthat are close to you. It will continue to be interesting to see how we fare against those two schools in the years to come. Texas State has to deal with being compleltely ignored in their market because of UT and to a smaller degree, A&M, as well as being a school aligned with the SBC. But their alumni and students seem to really like FBS football and they haven't ever experienced a dropdown in level of play, unlike us. Whether they can keep that momentum growing and can stay away from the apathy that we have is yet to be seen, but its definitely available for them to keep building forward if Franchione continues to guide them in the right way.

I thought the '03 team was the best one we fielded since Fry was here, even better than '02 and '13. But the '02 and '13 teams were both very similar. I just think '03s team would beat both of them--probably very easily, too.

I'm a MWC guy, for sure, but only because it is playing teams way above what CUSA offers. If TCU could go out west and turn it into a huge success, I think we could, as well. Boise, AFA, SDSU, Fresno State, Nevada, and Colorado State are better than any CUSA opponent, including the Texas teams and La Tech. The MWC is a huge stepup from CUSA, in my opinion. Meanwhile, I think that the MAC and CUSA are equals. The SBC is below them, while the AAC and MWC are above them. And, as far as being in the MWC, if it was with UTEP, UTSA, RIce, and ourselves, I think we would immediately have stepped up big time. But what I truthfully expect to happen is that the unreasonable expenses related to AAC travel will catch up to that league, especially when UConn and Cincy eventually leave for P5 pastures, is that the MWC will target UH, SMU, UTEP, and UTSA to go west.

What QB in their right mind is gonna come here to play in this offense? Doesn't matter who the OC is if the head coach says that the offense will be a run-first, run-second, run-last mindset. McDickney's offense never has gotten a big time throwing QB in here. Only Dodge's spread offense got us Vizza, but the lack of an OL and a real college gameplan got him beaten so bad that he quit after one year. Your only QBs that have had any "success" have been busdrivers with tremendous defenses and outstanding special teams. Scott Hall, Andrew Smith, and Derek Thompson had moments of success here for longer than a few games, but the rest have not. Chico isn't that great of an OC to me, but him trying to recruit anyone here in 2015 when we run an offense that ran out of vogue in 1975 is almost impossible. McCarney is going to have to adjust his offensive mindset, just like Gary Patterson did last year for TCU if we ever want to get in on decent G5 offensive talent. Otherwise, we have at least three more years that look a lot like the majority of the last 10 years.

Those MAC schools really like their tight knit league and their rivalries within that league. Except for Buffalo and UMass, the remiander of the league is a nice Midwestern base league. To be honest, the SBCUSAAC could really have learned from the MACs success for cost containment and geographic rivalries that are easy to get to for games.

Dickey might have killed for them, but none of it even remotely happens without Dodge being here. Dickey's persona was horrible to fans and the media--plain, boring, generic, etc...Todd Dodge came here with a flashy record in Texas HS Football and a promise from the admininstration--that he reminded the media about often--that new facilities were coming. Obviously, that was proven to be a stretch until UNTFlyer took over and made it happen thru the SGA. Coach Mac has been refreshing and positive, up until the losing got to him in the middle of last year. I've posted it before and I will again. I completely believe that Mac saw this place as a USF or UCF starter-kit, that talent abounded around him and that we were a huge school in need of a leader to bring them up from the doldrums. He never imagined that recruiting here would still be this hard, especially after winning the HoD Bowl in 2013. BUt the history of apathy and losing has been too much for McCarney to get over, at least so far. So the Dickey-like quotes started popping up late last year. People want to blame Mac for being negative, but they forget that for his first three-plus seasons, all he did in public or with the media was act like a motivational speaker about this place. The real question is whether the negativity has set in for good now or if the positive and motivational Mac will show back up here--because the latter is what is badly needed here, just to convince a few of the newbies that are in school or just graduated to stick around and feel good about this place still, not to mention the very few alums from the lost decades that might be willing to come back around if they feel like they have someone and something worth following, maybe even for the first time ever in some cases.

Name one who you could get to change and take on the additional travel costs? Its not NIU or Ohio, I can tell you that. It isn't any AAC team. The list of replacements is only SBC teams...

I think the reality is that is that as long as enrollment is high, the music and arts schools are in good shape financially, and the many teachers we educate are still being graduated, the status quo in Denton will hold. We don't care about winning at revenue sports. Never have, never will. Its that simple. The culture in Denton is apathetic to hostile toward UNT athletics. It shapes the direction and funding of the operation. RV's job, McCarney's job, and Benford's job are all base on one criteria: affordability. I still think that when the great schism occurs in college sports and the P5s go their separate ways, we are either going to hear the UNT leadership scream to anyone who will listen just how smart and strategic they were in not spending heavily on athletics, that we would just have wasted money. Sadly, to us on gmg.com, it will be true, too. The UNT Family has made it abundantly clear that they don't want it, either. Oh sure, the HoD Bowl had close to 40k MG fans and the NO Bowls regularly saw 10k or more UNT fans travel down, but the majority of those people couldn't have identified Fouts/Apogee on a campus map if they tried. Otherwise, we know that Apogee would have sold out at least once by now, or our attendance would average well over 25k for a school with a huge enrollment, huge alumni base, and is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people. It really hasn't been a decade of silence--its been more like a century of silence, with a few roars intertwined (Fry years, Dickey's SBC golden years, and a few one-year wonders sprinkled in)... We like music and arts here--that is what the university's culture points to as being the important and cool angle for people to get interested in. Its not even a bad thing, either. Its just completely different than every other FBS school in the region. And for guys like me, who couldn't care a bit about music and arts, its what causes so many of them to find the nearest Wal-mart and support the P5 power of your choice and follow them. Very few of us still follow UNT sports with any vigor, since the university doesn't put any more emphasis on it. If an alum or student cares more about it than the leadership does, how long before those people leave for good? Well, the answer, thru the decades, has been rather obvious...

Actually, I'd take three tams from the SBC to replace UAB: Arkansas State, ULL, and Georgia Southern. I would then see how that goes from a competitive standpoint. The East would have ODU, Marshall, WKU, MUTS, FIU, FAU, Charlotte, and Ga Southern. The west woul be UNT, Arky State, La Tech, ULL, USM, Rice, UTEP, and UTSA. Play seven division games, two non-division games, and then three OOC games.

We have the BOR to thank for it...the AD just does their bidding. RV is nothing more than a puppet to them, a very useful one...

You'd be joining the hundreds of thousands of alumni and students who already don't give a rats ass about this place, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of DFW metro residents who don't give a damn about UNT sports, either. And we are already on par with the Michigan MAC teams--those of us in the MAC, CUSA, and the SBC are all pretty much left behinds in the new world order of college football, just like most teams in the AAC and the MWC, too...

I don't think McNulty is starting because he is his son's friend. I think he is starting because McCarney trusts him more than he does anyone else on the team. And its not close. As for your view on Damarcus Smith not being able to gain eligibility and Mac probably knowing that, I believe that possibility, that going after Damarcus satisfies the very few fans that actually care enough about the team to question how a FBS team could be in this spot at QB. He doesn't qualify, Mac just says, "We tried, but we are going with my guy, McNulty..." He finishes the year as the busdriver du jour, porbably leads us to all of 3 or 4 wins, then graduates. And Canales leaves, since his contract is up. We bring in a new OC, one that Mac deems qualified to run the Buick offense, then next year, the battle is between any QBs not named Dajon Williams. That guy is buried so far back in Mac's doghouse that he will leave the program, eventually, probably sooner rather than later, when he leaves the fall camp as the third or 4th string QB. I'd bet that Means will be the starter, by then. To me, 2016 isn't the season to point to at getting back to the 2013 level, its 2017. That would give you a QB with multiple busdriving years and hopefully a defense that is finally built back up to a size and style that was similar to 2013, not to mention great special teams. And 2017 would also be Mac's make-it-or-break-it year in his contract, meaning he either gets extended with a great season, announces he is going to retire at the end of the 2018 season, or gets terminated since he will have just one year left to be bought out. I hate to say it, but I see 2015 as just being brutal, due first to the schedule, then to the QB play, and a defense that still needs more time to develop up to a good unit. 2016 is what I am hoping is the year we can get back to 5 or 6 wins, then 2017 to get to 7+ wins and a bowl berth again.

It turned out ot be a huge loss (credit to you for calling it), but really, it wouldn't have been at most FBS schools. We literally replaced a guy who was a Senior level busdriver with inexperienced busdrivers, who, for multiple reasons, couldn't command this incredibly complicated offense that requires you to hand the ball off 2/3rds of the time and then throw the very difficult bubble screen pass or short five yard pass... All of the above is exactly why Andrew McNulty will be your starter for most of the season. His coaches think he drives the bus better than anyone else, which is, amazingly , probably true.

This is your best post, ever...spot on!!