untjim1995

This guy is being brought here because he will clean house in the other sports, too. There other revenue sports have really dropped down badly. Football is obviously the king, but I suspect Mack stays if he doesn't lose more than one more game this year. He wants to be the alltime leader in wins at UT and it would take one more year to get there. I think the Big Money Cigars down there will let him have that, unless they fall apart down the stretch. They have WVU this week (W), Okie Lite at home (50/50), Tech at home (W) and at Baylor, which usually is apro-Texas crowd. IF they can beat OSU or Baylor, I think Mack survives. But, as far as basketball goes, Barnes is a dead-man walking (has looked that way for years, literally) and Aston needs to win quick down there or will be led out the door. Augie Garrido is old and will have to be replaced sooner, rather than later, so this AD coming in will have a lot of work ahead of him. To me, the question about UT's future lies more in conference affiliation than it does with coaches and the AD. If A&M keeps going strong in the SEC and the recruiting keeps going the Aggies' way, then it becomes a question of who gets the leftovers, which are still very good. Right now, Texas and A&M are schooling OU in recruiting and on the field, so that will hurt the Sooners big time. To me, this state can keep two of those big three schools floating near the top ten every year. The cycle of those three schools being the top place for Texas HS kids has been in place since the 50s, with one of the three being the clear loser against the other two. Usually, its been the Aggies, but when they are good, usually the Longhorns or Sooners are bad. Now, the Aggies are at the top and don't appear to be falling back anytime soon with the SEC being the recruiting diamond for them and having Sumlin as the coach du jour right now. Texas cannot trump the SEC card--they are pretty much blocked from ever getting into that league. The Pac-12 sounds appealling to the high-brow UT educators, but it will not help football recruiting, especially when A&M plays top-notch competition that is driveable and plays in the same time zone for the most part. UT playing at Washington State at 10pm local time on a Saturday night won't help them in recruiting against the Aggies and the SEC. To me, the perfect option for Texas is to join the Big Ten--they would still play opponents far away, but they are well-known names and would generate great interest to compete with the SEC. But, then you run into the so-called Tech problem and the Baylor lawsuits if you go that route. Patterson is gonna have his hands full trying to push this cart forward, especially in trying to find the right place to move it to.

I stand corrected...thanks for letting us know. I still cannot see Notre Dame playing a team from anything lower than the top end (as in the top 2 or 3 teams) of the MWC or AAC. And, even then, it better have a strong name attached to it.

I'll go one step further--the black uniforms made us look like we could just jump out of the stadium...like we were more urban!!

I don't see the Big Ten or Big XII filling out their bowl slots. The Big Ten will have 7 teams bowl eligible most likely, while the Big 12 will probably get 6-7 teams that will be bowl eligible. The Big Ten has 8 slots available, with the last being the Little Caesar's Bowl game in Detroit against the Mac Champion. The Big 12's last spot is the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in New York against the #3 team from the AAC. The Russel Atlhetic Bowl in Orlando would have the Number 3 ACC team play the #2 team from the AAC. With Notre Dame's tie-in to the ACC, I'm fairly certain they will get to play a team from the ACC (like Miami or Clemson) in this game. There's no way that this bowl game, with the ACC as their main benefactor, will let ND slide so Miami could play Houston...

There is no way this matchup will ever happen--Notre Dame will never play a non-AQ not named Hawaii, Boise State, Houston, SMU, or BYU in a bowl game. There's no way... Besides, ND will get picked up by another bowl before they would slip down to the HoD bowl. If we end up in the HoD bowl game, I suspect it will be against Iowa, unless they just fall absolutely apart in the last month of the season. The HoD Bowl game is the big ten 7th team versus CUSA's 4th, but as with any of these non-AQ bowls, the conferences will use travel to their best advantage. iowa, at 5-4, needs one win against this schedule: @ Purdue (1-7)--highly probable win Michigan (6-2)--possible win (50/50) @ Nebraska (6-2) possible win (50/50) Indiana and illinois are both 3-5, while Northwestern is 4-5. I don't see anyway that Indiana or Illinois get to 6 wins, best I can see for either of them is 5 wins. NW has lost 5 games in a row, including that miraculous loss at Nebraska this past weekend, with games left at home against Michigan and Michigan State, and finishing at Illinois. Again, its hard to see them getting to 6 wins with that schedule, but its more possible than either Indiana or Illinois getting to 6 wins. I will be the biggest Iowa fan there is over the next few weeks. If we cannot win CUSA outright, then I want to play the Hawkeyes in a bowl game, not Texas freaking State or some other SBC team that manages to get bowl eligible playing the absoulte dregs of college football. There's great history between the coaches, both past and present, and it would be a nice preview to our games up in Iowa City here in a few years.

That matchup would be the perfect example of the term "North Texas Luck"--as in there ain't much history of having any... We finally have a good team for the first time in a decade. We finally have a local bowl game who is clamoring to have us be in it against a Big Ten team. ANd SMU and TCU are nowhere to be found in any bowl predictions. And this would be the year that the Big Ten, now having twelve teams, cannot place a bowl team here when all you have to do is win 6 games...and that leaves Texas State as the opponent for a 10am New Years Day Game in Fair Park. In keeping with said "North Texas Luck" meme, it will probably be about 25 degrees and sleeting, meaning the big ass Cotton Bowl will have about 250 people in there to watch the game...

Well, next year, we replace Tulsa on your list with Western Kentucky, but your point remains...its still nice to get away from the awful name recognition of the Sun Belt Conference. Even when the SBC has been decent, it still got no respect...

Lefty is a very good OL coach. He left the first time because Steve Kragthorpe took over in Tulsa and the worked together here under Simon. When he came back and left again, under Dodge, it was because he knew that Dodge's tenure was about to be over and he headed back up to Tulsa again. Lefty knew he'd be out of work if he stuck around, so he cut bait and headed north. He did what any coach would've done under Dodge's watch--leave if offered any chance to get out of town to another FBS opening. If Canales didn't have experience with Coach Mac and hadn't had a nice run as the interim coach after Dodge left, he would have been fired, too.

I want Tulane to win this game over UTSA. Rice will beat the Green Wave in Houston because they are a better football team than Tulane. But, that said, we need Rice and Tulane to win as many ballgames as they can. It only makes us look better. That's why I am rooting for Georgia, Ohio, Ball State, Tulane, Rice, and MUTS to win as much as possible. The dream scenario for me is that UGa wins out, somehow gets into the SEC Championship game, and beats Alabama. Also, Ball State wins out, including a win over Northern Illinois and then beats Ohio in the Mac Championship, after they win all their games up to that point. Rice needs to win out, too. So does MUTS. Tulane needs to just lose once, to Rice. That makes us look even better, where our three losses look extremely strong, while our three biggest wins look even better, too. Believe it or not, this scenario is possible...

No, I don't think so...that would cost a lot to give up a home game against a good team.

Doesn't this just confirm how important having a head coach that can "coach up" recruits to perform better than any star rating suggested? Patterson at TCU and Briles, especially when he was at UH, just turned lumps of coal into diamonds. I'm not saying McCarney belongs in their same category, but he is doing what his reputation said he would do--clean up the program, get the kids to take classes seriously, get stronger and faster through a legitimate S&C program that is in sync with a legitimate FBS coach, and getting the fans more involved. I think we will win out here in the regular season, or at the bare minimum, win the remaining two home games. The folks in Dallas with the Heart of Dallas Bowl have to be drooling at the thought of having us fall into their laps for that game, especially against a team like Iowa that brings a lot of people, too, when they travel. That game could have a very large turnout, bigger than anything they have had for that bowl game in Dallas on New Years Day since the Cotton bowl moved to Jerry World.

There have been few times in my life as a fan where I have gotten to enjoy some major revenge in a win. I remember feeling this way for the first time when the Cowboys beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship game in 1992, exacting revenge for the Dwight Clark catch back in 1981. I felt that way when the Rangers finally ebat the Yankees in the ALCS in 2010 to finally get past them and make the World Series. And I felt that way back in 2011 when the Mavs finally beat the Lakers in a playoff series, having watched LA run the Mavs into the ground all those times during the 80s on their way to titles. That sweep was so awesome, especially when LA quit in that last game. And, of course, the Mavs went on to win it all, which completed the deal. But I never had anything like this to enjoy for my alma mater, UNT. Sure, I've witnessed a lot of beatings--and there are many teams that I feel we owe a huge butt-kicking back to if/when we play them. ANd I know that opening at Texas gives us another opportunity to right the wrong of 1988 in Austin, which was just pathetic. But this Rice game represented, for me, the first time that I have enjoyed the fruits of revenge over an opponent. I've posted before on this, but I truly believe that losing at Rice in 2008 77-20, when we could have easily lost by 80+ if Rice hadn't called the dogs off of Dodge's 1-11 team, was our low point as a FBS member since 1995. Rice's team was really good that year, but there is no conceivable way that freaking Rice should have beaten us in that manner. At that point, I was convinced we had the second worst program in America, only enjoying Western Kentucky's status as the worst team by being Dodge's biatch for 3 straight years. Yes, we played Rice to a close game in Fouts two years later (typical of Dodge's later teams, they choked at the end), but the amazing embarrassment and sting from that 77-20 loss could always be felt when I saw Rice beat us out for a recruit or get someone that we couldn't even touch because we were so low on the Texas totem pole. Not kids that chose TCU or Baylor or UH or SMU or Tech over us bothered me like it did when they chose...Rice, freaking mathlete Rice, freaking always in last place in the SWC, Rice. I mean if we couldn't even compete with Rice, then why were we really wasting our time at this level. All of that is now over--we pulverized them in a way that was a signal to all these kids in Texas that aren't Big XII or SEC material but can play college football at a strong level at schools like those in the AAC, CUSA, or the SBC. We have a great coach who specializes in rebuilding--and is now showing everyone that he has damn near accomplished a full turnaround in 2.5 years. We have a defense that is gaining a lot of notoriety, all during a time when offenses control college football and tackling is the worst we have seen in maybe forever. Those Mathletes are still a good team, they'll end up bowling at the end of the year, for sure. But we beat their ass by just brutally hitting their entire team ALL GAME LONG!! Revenge tastes very good, a lot like my grandma's Italian RICE... See you guys in Houston next year, Owls...you've been officially warned. Prepare yourselves.

We need UTSA to lose badly every game...because it helps us in recruiting Texas HS kids...because we need to keep the other Texas schools from partnering up with them for a conference affiliation just to gain San Antonio's TV market, tourism, and a possible bowl tie-in...

That wouldn't surprise me at all. I still think FIU made the worst mistake they could make getting rid of Cristobal, He made that program...then suffers a bad year and gets fired. Now, FIU is on the wrong end of the stick. FAU would be very wise to hire Mario Cristobal. I, too, think this has a lot to do with Pelini being cross-ways with the AD. Let's face it--the Pelini's are trash. Bo has embarrassed one of the best fanbases in any sport in Nebraska Football so many times that he is most likely finished up there after this season. Carl Pelini is no different.

This can't just be for weed at a party--otherwise, you'd see the university insist on rehabilitation or drug counseling if it was something as simple as this. Now, if they were doing this with players, then you have problems...

We need a band forum...its no different than the recruiting forum or the Eagles' Nest forum. Make it happen, gmg.com!!

If we are passed over by the HoD bowl and have to go anywhere else, I will be shocked. There is just no way that we will bring enough people to DC for this game. It would be a road game against Maryland, basically. If we played Duke in that game, there might be about 5000 people in attendance. The bowl committees don't want that, if it can be avoided. I expect Marshall to play in the Military Bowl, MUTS in the Beef O'Brady's bowl UNT in the HoD Bowl, ECU in the Liberty Bowl, Tulane in the NO BOwl, and RIce will fill in for a Big XII team and get the Houston Bowl.

Thank you, sir...

I'll be interested to know how much the Chronicle, Houston TV, and Houston talk radio cover this matchup. Surely, the fact that it is on Thursday night by itself should help to at least ahve some coverage. That's what I expect up here in DFW, at least...

The only thing missing from this thread is hearing how awful and mean that DFW suburban families are...

A game between a Dickey coached team and a Mac coached team would be the fastest game you've ever watched (in time), all while feeling like it was the slowest game you've ever watched (boring snoozefest). Someone would have to win, so I'll take Mac's team (better head coach) at Apogee over Dickey's team in a thriller, something like 9-6 in 7 OTs where each team misses several field goals and causes simultaneous death for June Jones, Mike Leach, Art Briles, and Kevin Sumlin from falling asleep and never awakening during a game that featured about 5 completed passes, none of which went for a first down...And FroggyStyle, CougarQueen, and GL2Greatness will die from an accidental mass auto-erotic asphyxiation when they decide that this is the worst moment of their lives, but want to try something for the first time together... After the game, in which Dickey's team showed up in Hutch black jerseys, he will complain that this was the worst situation to coach in, since he coaches here EVERYDAY. But, in full confidence of his OC, Ramon Flanigan, who fought a fan before halftime and then punched a few players in the locker room, will get an extension on the spot for running the ball up the middle ever single play of the game, except for two Hail Mary passes at the end of each half that got intercepted, causing Dickey to summon Diet Coke boy over for a caffeine boost. Meanwhile, Coach Mac will say after the game that we have turned the corner, that we have finally built back up from the ashes, and that the Grey Goose will be flowing at his place in celebration of the biggest win in his lifetime!! He will then say that this is what he dreamed of when he came aboard as our head coach!! KRAM and PMG will fight on just how highly ranked UNT will be to start the next season and what BCS bowl we will end up in. UNT90 will post about how this game sent the program backwards for decades and that we blew an opportunity to fire Tony Benford. I will post about how terrible it is that RV got another 5-year extension for doing nothing. And Emmitt and FFR will talk about the lack of Talons at the game and the fact that Boomer never got fired off when the FGs went thru the goalposts. Harry will report that gmg.com got the most visits of all time and that it was now going to cost to visit the site so that their servers won't crash anymore. Finally, in the DRC on the next day, Brett Vito will run a column on how Todd Dodge wouldn't let him ever watch practice and how awful it was to cover the team during his tenure--and finish it with an "Oh by the way, Coach Mac's team won a hard fought game the night before"...

Most of these bowls have these tie-ins on paper, but when push comes to shove, and several AQ spots open up, then these bowl committees start negotiating deals, especially the non-AQ bowl spots. There's no way that the HoD Bowl won't take UNT unless we win the conference. The Hawaii Bowl has to get teams that Hawaiians want to watch, which means Hawaii versus anyone, a MWC team versus SMU and June Jones, or that you get BYU or Notre Dame to play there. UNT and Troy will not ever play each other in Hawaii, ever. Maybe New Orleans, for sure, or Tampa, but not Hawaii. I think the HoD bowl wants UNT badly to be there against a Big Ten team, especially Iowa, since they travel well and have lots of DFW alumni. I guarantee that the HoD bol committe is looking at this as their chance to have their game look like the Motor City Bowl when a Big Ten team plays Central Michigan in Detroit. They have had 70k attendance figures when CMU has played there against a Big Ten team. Not saying the Cotton bowl would be that full at 10am on New Years Day for a UNT-Iowa game, but it would surely be a big crowd of over 40k in actual attendance for this game that usually is lucky to have 30k in attendance. I will say this, if we get invited to the HoD Bowl and don't have strong attendance numbers, it would be an absolute killer for North Texas Football. Literally, we couldn't ask for a better scenario for a bowl game than this, as far as location goes...if it plays out like so many think it will, we cannot blow it by not showing up.

I think that there will probably be a real attendance of around 18-19k. Maybe announced at 21-22k.

First, let me say that this Runner guy is very much the equivalent of Cougar Queen and is trolling at a very FroggyStyle level. Funny how that FroggyStyle poster just died, huh? I'm sure it has nothing to do with TCU crashing abck to earth. That spare never would answer my question on a record prediction and who they would beat...I guess he didn't have as much confidence in the Frogs as he wanted us to believe. Secondly, I think UTSA is genius for their marketing strategy. You get anyone who wants to go and watch the local team play--no matter the cost. A lot of San Antonio area residents have a lot of pride in being from San Antonio, so them having a local university to root for is a fairly easy attraction. Having 1.5 million people to pull from combined with a local media that treats you with great hope for your athletic teams is a strong combination. No matter how bright things are looking for us right now--and they are for the first time in a decade--we have never had that combo that UTSA has, so kudos to them for taking advantage of it. It is smart, no matter how they get it accomplished. UTSA will benefit greatly because of two things: the city of San Antonio and the fact that the AAC Texas teams have no issues with being associated with UTSA in a conference. The MWC will eventually come calling for Texas teams again, too. Its my guess that UH and SMU will be at the top of that list WHEN they get tired of being in a league that will be well behind the MWC. I think it will be terrible if the MWC grows by 4 teams and they take UH, SMU, UTEP, and UTSA, even if we could easily replace UTEP and UTSA with NMSU and Texas State. It will just keep us lower on the pecking order than two schools we have been perpetually below in UH and SMU, one school (UTEP) that we have basically been able to get close enough to on the ladder to recruit evenly with, and one school (UTSA) that we have been above just because of their status as a new program. What I want to have happen is for SMU to decide that the AAC is their final home, since they will be with their other buddies from the old CUSA. The MWC decides to come to Texas again, and we get in with UH, UTEP, and UTSA. We get to be with three other large metropolitan state schools in a league with other great names, plus a division that would include New Mexico, Colorado State, Air Force, and Wyoming. That's my hope for where things end up for us in the next 5-10 years.

With so many teams coming over from the SBC to CUSA this year and next, it will be interesting to see who will keep moving upward and who will fall backwards. I have a real belief that La Tech, UNT, MUTS, and WKU will have a lot of room to move upward. Even though La Tech has fallen back down this year, they will get back up soon, just as USM will, too. I suspect that Rice and Marshall will hold solid as the years go on, but teams like UTEP and UAB don't seem to have much to look forward to, in my opinion. And the newbies, UTSA, ODU, and Charlotte, they are all wildcards to me--I can see any of them becoming great or becoming the dregs of FBS, too. What I want to see is how we compare to the AAC schools going forward--they will continue to lose teams, too. Louisville and Rutgers are out after this season and I suspect that UConn, Cincy, USF, and UCF are gonna be the next pieces to move upward to the ACC or the Big XII in coming years. When their league becomes AACusa, I hope that they will see how stupid it really is to try and and get away from your regional competition for the sake of staying "above" them, as opposed to looking at how much these closer rivalries help non-AQs out from a travel standpoint, as well as a coverage standpoint. I still think that a conference made up of SMU, UNT, Tulsa, Rice, Tulane, La Tech, UTEP, UH, UTSA, Texas State, Arkansas State, and ULL would be the ideal travel conference for the western schools of these three leagues. Let Marshall, Temple, ECU, FAU, FIU, Memphis, UAB, USM, MUTS, WKU, Charlotte, and ODU would be the league for eastern schools. Then you have Troy, ULM, NMSU, and all the other startups that are in the current SBC be the schools you can pluck if anyone leaves to go to the MWC. What absolutely none of these schools in the AAC think about is that their fans could care less about SMU and Temple playing each other or UH playing UAB--they never have and they never will. Those teams are too far away and don't have enough fans to increase your net receipts at the stadium, just like WKU or MUTS bring nothing to Apogee when they play here. One day, this will all get figured out, but I just don't know when or how it will play out. Maybe SMU and UNT playing 8 times in a row will change some of the mindset down in Dallas toward UNT as a potential conference mate down the road. It just makes too much sense for schools at our level of play for football and basketball.