untjim1995

This. Its almost as if we are a team full of Rudy's... I just cannot see any way we win more than 4 games next year--and I think that is being extremely generous. I really see 3-9 as reasonable. This is really just like the last few years of the Dickey monster--a team that just fell off the cliff, talent-wise and never recovered. I swear if Chico goes after SilverEagle in the stands, and doesn't even get reprimanded, I'm going to Vegas to bet on Florida to win both the football and basketball championships that follow...2006 dejavu...

Since 2012, we have hosted these teams for our fanbase to come and watch: Texas Southern, Troy, Louisiana-Lafayatte, Arkansas State, South Alabama, Idaho, Ball State, Middle Tennessee, Rice, UTEP, UTSA, SMU, Louisiana Tech, Nicholls State, Southern Miss, Florida Atlantic, and Florida International. Now, for 2015, let's add Portland State to this illustrious list. If we get Old Dominion or Charlotte next year as a home game in conference play, that would just be the mayo on the cr@p sandwich we are being served. But at least we have kick-ass tailgating...

I realize that you guys are doing very well in the SBC, but your fellow teams are ULL, ULM, Texas State, Troy, South Alabama, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Appy State, New Mexico State, and Idaho. Since you do have no competition for fan interest, imagine what it would like if your division mates in CUSA West were La Tech, Southern Miss, UTEP, UTSA, UNT, and Rice. You cannot tell me that wouldn't be worth the jump for the costs, from an attendanace standpoint, to outreach of alumni in DFW, Austin-San Antonio, Houston, and Shreveport. With your game against Memphis every year, which is a very nice series to have for your alumni and fans, you'd make up that difference sooner than you think, in my opinion. And I'd argue that you guys bring an entire state and Memphis as potential markets to pull from, versus UAB's place in Birmingham, which was almost nil. Just my opinion--but I think if you got the invite, you should jump on it, assuming the upfront costs are in line with what was previously mentioned. No one would block your entry, either, while I could see Rice, La Tech, and Southern Miss all fighting to keep ULL out. And I believe ULL would be a nice pickup for CUSA, too...

FCS is returning to us, no matter what we do. The P5s guaranteed that with their power grab earlier this year and with their conferences already mandating OOC games against other P5 schools for at least one game each year. They will be gone within 5 years, I have no doubt. Their media, legislatures, and money will make that happen. As for us, we have pretty much always been what we are now--a school that has a football team because we are in Texas and too many people were gonna bitch about losing it back in the early 80s, so we dropped down to 1-aa. We figured out a way to move up to i-a in 1995, but we weren't even ready for that at all, on any level. What will interest me the most is what kind of support a G5-FCS program will get in Denton since we will be playing current SBCUSAAC teams in conference, instead of small Texas universities at a time when the SWC was still royalty in college football. If well supported, we could do well as a program at that level. If not, a lot of old nestors are gonna get after those who ok'd the funds used on tuition and fees for a brand new football stadium...either way, it will be interesting to see.

ULM--you're on notice from the folks in Baton Rouge...monkey see, monkey do...La Tech will support LSU in every way on this, too.

Well, Dickey had one advantage, then...just trails him in wins and PR skills. They are equal in bowl wins and poor use of the QB position, from both recruiting and a playbook perspective.

I hear you, but the other side of the coin is that having UNT alumni on the BOR may very well hurt our athletics funding or direction just because of the cultural history of this place. I really can see it both ways...I do know that a BOR full of UNT alums would be a boon to the music and arts programs, though...

Ohio State has the prestige, budget, and the eyeballs that Baylor and TCU don't have...its pretty much that simple. Replace the two private schools with Texas or Oklahoma and Ohio State isn't even in the running right now.

I never questioned Mac getting an extension for what he put together last year. It was well-deserved, if for nothing else you tell the fanbase that winning will be rewarded here. However, IIRc Dickey got two-year extensions after our bowl win, not a five year extension. That is the issue here, since we know that if you don't perform well, it doesn't matter because we put the value on cost, not winning. There is zero doubt that Dan McCarney will be our head coach in 2017, unless he resigns, which would only happen because of health. Not likely... As some have posted, what football games have become at UNT is the chance to tailgate with your friends and family. Tickets are cheap and easily available. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg to attend and setup a tailgate for a full day, like it does at most other places. It is by far the smartest decision that the university (see RV) ever instituted, as you have seen attendance increase dramatically since it was instituted back in 2001 when RV got here. And I think that with Apogee having been built with this tailgating phenomenon that has grown at UNT, that has more than easily checked the box for athletics funding and promotion for these leaders. McCarney is a good coach, albeit stubborn and boring. He knows how to speak in public (unlike Dickey). He knows how to coach college football (unlike Dodge). He is better than either of them, by a long ways actually. In 4 years here, he has amassed a total record of 22-27, which is way better than his predecessors, who went in four years here 13-33 (Dickey) and Dodge (6-37), obviously. Again, to the leaders here, that is just fine with them--it shows progress, which is unarguable in their minds, especially for the increased costs of Mac and his staff, as compared to the previous two. Dickey's bad mouthing would never have gotten any major extension from the BOR, and Dodge's losses were the only reason he finally got fired in the end (since he never really bad-mouthed the school). At this point, all we can do as fans is to pray that the positive and upbeat Dan McCarney shows back up and that his pride has been damaged so much from this season that he will be singularly focused on turning this thing back around. The problem is that 2015 isn't going to be that season--we have a poor QB, a brand new OL, and a Defensive front seven that is still undersized and young. And all this is in play while we have the hardest schedule we have had in a long time here. To me, the best hope for us to be a winner again is at best 2016, since 2017 will have a schedule that is identical to 2015 (nice job on the Iowa 2 for none!!). Even with a new OC next year, the best you can really hope for with McNulty as the QB is 4-5 wins, IMO, since his line will be worse than this year from an experience perspective, and the defense will still have a lot of work to get back to the form of 2013, which is the only way you can win at UNT when you run a boring offense (see 2002-2004, and 2013). But that's best case scenario, to me. I don't see how you can expect anything better next year. We aren't going to be better than Rice, UTSA, UTEP, La Tech, USM, or UAB in division play. Maybe we get an F_U underachiever on the schedule from the East again, maybe SMU is still so bad that they cannot even beat us in our "alternative" home game, and maybe we buy another Nicholls State type of opponent to beat down. Again, I just don't see more than 4 wins in that bunch, with a real possibility of 1-2 wins again. If we only win 3 games or less, that will be the 11th time since we came back up to Division 1-A in 1995 to finish with that number of wins in a season, out of 21 years. When that is your track record, you obviously understand why its almost impossible to convince many of us who have been around here for decades to believe that we will ever demand having a winner in revenue sports from the higher ups. Instead, that demand from those folks is to have a budget maker who doesn't complain out loud. Guys like RV, Trilli, Dodge, and, so far, Benford and McCarney have been rewarded with this rule to follow. And that's why its not gonna ever change here. The people that make the hiring decisions know that the UNT Family don't want major funding to go at UNT Athletics for the cost of "winning"--they want it to be as minimal as possible so it doesn't take away from the areas of the university that are considered as the preferred window to the school. As I have pointed out several times, that may be the correct way to do it, but literally no other FBS university in Texas or in the region of the country does it this way. Your ideal alum everywhere else comes back to the university for athletics because of the many opportunities they provide. And, for me, that is why I have watched so many of my friends and fellow alums follow UT, OU, LSU, Arkansas, A&M, Tech, Baylor, TCU, and other P5 giants--this place literally told them that the area that they care about most as a supporter of the university doesn't matter here as much as you want it to, that there are other schools that offer what you want, so go follow them instead--and take your dirty, unrefined dollars with them. We don't want that kind of "support" here.

This is all so Dickey 2.0, it's not even funny...we are a MF'er rant away from DMac being the Buick again. Their game plans are identical, as is their use of the QB position. Right now, McNulty is our version of Richard Bridges, but he gets to start even more than Bridges did.

I see us winning 3 games next year--the presumed bought FCS win, then another two against the CUSA games and SMU. McNulty starts all 12 games...and our real attendance is about 14k, although it will be reported as much higher. Gotta pray that we find a better bus driver for 2016, not to mention a defense that can actually stop someone besides the offensive juggernauts that were SMU, F_Us, and Nicholls State.

FFR, what is the area that does bother you the most? I bet we all feel the same way...for me, it's the fact that we just don't care about winning here. Never has, apparently never will...

That play just described our whole season in one instance...

What a give up call, Mac

He's gone, no matter what...DW knew it was clear that Mac didn't want him around anymore. I'm sure Mac told him McNulty is the starter next year, no matter what....

That should do it--McNulty looks he can barely move and the blitz is coming every down now.

How in the world did Marshall not get that fumble?

We heard all of the same things when they hired their last "best assistant coach in the land", which was Phil Bennett. He had Texas ties, he was a great DC, and he was gonna resurrect the Hilltop...then promptly got fired after going 1-11 and never went to a bowl game. I'm not too worried about SMU being relevant ever again in football. Their day had passed. I'm more worries about La Tech, Rice, UTSA, and USM than I am the Ponies and their dozens of fans...

How's the crowd tonight?

Yeah, all of those teams are new FCS schools in the scheme of things, including UH-Third Ward... You got owned by Ben Gooding...you might want to consider quitting the internet forever. You don't have any fanbase at all

It won't matter because the costs for being in a conference will make this all moot anyway in a few years. But for arguments sake, the MWC sent its champion or a current member who is now in the MWC to a BCS Bowl game in 2005 (Utah won), 2007 (Boise State won), 2008 (Hawaii lost), 2009 (Utah won), 2009 (Boise State beat TCU), and 2010 (TCU won). Since then, the MAC sent NIU in 2012 (lost) and the AAC got their only automatic bid they will ever have in 2013 and won when UCF beat Baylor. So, in earning non-guaranteed bids, the MWC contingent of old and current teams got 7 bids. The MAC got the one that was guaranteed to a G5 if it finished in the top 16 and ahead of another AQ conference winner in the polls. AAC, CUSA, or the SBC have never gotten one. And it appears that in the first season of having a G5 champion being included in a big money bowl game, a two-loss MWC team in Boise State will earn the bid over the others, including Marshall who will probably go 13-0 before their bowl game in The Bahamas or Boca Raton or Hawaii... As for hoops, which is completely different because everyone is included and you can get hot in a flash, UConn rode two hot guards all the way to a championship. And speaking of UConn, they may be stuck in the AAC right now, but they are a Big East team, which is completely different from being an old CUSA team, such as UH, SMU, ECU, Tulane, Tulsa, etc...UConn, because of their Big East basketball program, is about 10 rungs above most of the other AAC teams right now. Although the MWC champion has only made it as far as the Sweet 16 in the last 10 years or so, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Colorado State, Utah State, and Nevada all ahve wins in the NCAAs, plus their league always rates higher than the old CUSA did. If it weren't for Memphis under Calipari and just after he left, that league would have been a one-and-done league often in the NCAAs. I cannot remember anything special from the MAC in hoops in the tournament recently, and aside from Western Kentucky's run in 2008 and 2009, the SBC didn't win anything in the NCAAs either. All I know is that the Pit in Albuquerque, as well as the venues in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Logan, Utah are all regarded as very hostile places to play in the country, especially The Pit. Its all moot, though. We are in a very fine conference setup for us right now in CUSA, which I totally agree with you on. And travel costs will continue to get more manageable as the G5s and the better FCS schools come together to form their own division down the road. Its feasible to have a conference setup in the near future that will look like this for us: UNT, SMU, UH, Rice, Tulane, ULL, La Tech, ULM, UTSA, Texas State, NMSU, UTEP, SHSU, SFA, Tulsa, and Arkansas State Each school would be a travel mate for conference games in hoops and other non-revenue sports. Those schools that look down on others near them (SMU, UTEP, La Tech, and Tulane) will have to deal with this new reality or they will have worse options to consider.

Boise State has gone to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2013. I don't know how (or care) how they've done in non-revenue sports, but that's not bad to have two NCAA apperances in the last 6 seasons, as well as their football success.

Hanging out with RV and some BOR folks, laughing at how awesome it is that he can rub elbows with the AD and the BOR at his school...I mean, its just like knowing Deloss Dodds and a BOR member at UT, right?!! NOT A CLOWN SHOW AT ALL AT UNT!!

I have stated for many years that the MWC as a league is the best G5 league--and it really isn't close in my opinion. The other 4 are below it, in some form or fashion. You really know its true when a 9-2 Boise State team gets ranked ahead of unbeaten Marshall for the top G5 spot. In the old days, before it was obvious that the P5s will pull away on their own, I was a huge advocate of getting into this league if at all possible, even after TCU, BYU, and Utah left. I'd take Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, Air Force, Colorado State, SDSU, UNLV, New Mexco, and Utah State for conference mates in football and basketball over what we have now--but only if FBS football wasn't going to change. Since it will, these G5 conferences will have to consolidate regionally, which means Marshall, Old Dominion, F_U, Western Kentucky, and Charlotte will not be in a conference with us, UTEP, Rice, UTSA, or La Tech. Same will go for the AAC and the SBC, too. Travel and cost containment will matter way more than it does today when G5s and FCS schools merge into their own level of play. But I've always thought that a Texas school could duplicate TCUs methodology for becoming a big time program by playing and beating teams that are well known and recognized out west, whether it was us, UH, SMU, Rice, or UTSA. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jerry-palm/24840440/cfp-rankings-comittee-finally-weighs-in-on-group-of-five

The more I think about it, although I agree we will probably pay 400k or more for a FCS game, I could see a big time P5 powerhouse coming in and offering us a $750k to $1 million to come play them. Someone who has had a school bail on them for an OOC game or a school like Baylor, who may drop a FCS game in Waco to play us, just so it doesn't look as pathetic for them next season as this year's OOC has, since they played SMU, Northwestern State, and Buffalo. I could easiily see them dropping Incarnate Word or someone like that for us, just so they can say that they can say that they aren't playing a FCS school in OOC so that they won't get publically bashed the way they have been this season for their ridiculously easy schedule. And even more ridiculous will be the AD's stance that we will then play the equivalent of two "alternative" home games, since they aren't that far away in Waco and we can use the extra money to pay bills for the rest of the department.