untjim1995

If this happened, and if others in the SBC or WAC get invited over us, the howling over spending $78 million to build a stadium for the equivalent of a FCS league will get very intense. This has always been the conundrum for us: build a new stadium and facilities and hope to get into a better league and cement ourselves into FBS competition or don't build a new stadium and go back down to FCS competition. Only problem is that if we don't get into that better league and the shift occurs where we get pushed back down to FCS, especially while SMU and TCU are not only FBS, but non AQ, there will be much complaining in Denton about such an outlay of cash (during a difficult economic time). It goes back to this reality--we have no one to blame but ourselves. Our university just didn't care about athletics for so long that you can't expect there to be no negative ramifications from that kind of mindset that lasted for decades.

I think this guy sucks, but he is going to play at SMU. Maybe June Jones can do something with him--Mack brown sure couldn't.

Vito is dead-on about this. You can accuse him of being a McCarney homer, but I think most people feel the exact same way he does in his blog. I think its crazy that McNulty plays so much, too, but I trust that Coach Mac knows what he is doing here with regards to the QB situation. You can say its sad that any SBC team is waaayyy better than us right now, especially if they have new coaches, too, but the cold reality is that we have a big hole to get out of right now. At least we have made decent progress this season to get back up--if we win just one more game this year, it will be more than in any season since our last conference championship in 2004.

That Rice game was the low point for us as an FBS program. If we lose 79-10 to Oklahoma, well they are ranked in the top 5 and we just made lots of $$$$--it is mostly expected. The Rice game could have been 105-20 if Rice had wanted to that day. That day told me, just like the Tulsa loss at home (54-2) that the current head coach really wasn't going to be the guy for the future. When we lost to Tulsa that bad, you knew that our SBC success was just masking bigger problems. In the end, Dickey just couldn't survive. After that Rice loss, everyone realized that we were just not going to be competitive with ANYONE on our non-AQ level. That's why I give McCarney so much leeway with this mess. He is literally having to try and change all of this as fast as possible: an apathetic culture, losing mindsets for the team, and gameplans for a thin team, while also recruiting new guys that will fit in here. We may not have been the worst FBS program in the country when Coach Mac took us over, but the number of teams that have been worse than us as a program over the last 6 years are very few. This is a true reclamation project.

Who cares about Preseason Rankings in late October, especially for a non-AQ like the SBC? Those are made in July or August based off of some media guy's best guess. Arkansas State and ULL are damn good teams, about as good as the SBC has thrown out there over the last 5 years. I agree we shouldn't get crushed like this, but you act like Arkansas State should just suck because Phil Steele picked them to finish poorly in a conference that most will admit that they only cover because they have to. I think ArkStFan is dead-on about the difference Hugh Freeze has over Dan McCarney right now. Steve Roberts was a good coach--frankly, I am still surprised they fired him--Todd Dodge was the worst FBS coach of all-time. Sure Chico was here last year, but the recruiting here, especially last year with Dodge in limbo, was bad, just as it turned out to be in all of his years and in Dickey's last two. Same goes for ULL's coaching situation. We recruited like we were going to play District 7-5A or whatever Southlake Carroll plays. The SBC gets talent, especially at some of these schools where academics are less stringent (Troy). Our lines are as weak as Coach Mac has ever seen, which makes our Defensive improvement even more amazing. Our QB and WR situation is just awful, and has been for a long time here. The mindset of "this is the highest paid coaching staff ever at UNT, so we should be winning right now" is very short-sighted. We got Coach Mac because we are making a commitment to him to build this thing up from the ashes. Believe it or not, he has already done that, just by winning 3 games. I said it before and I will say it again, if he gets this bunch to 5 or more wins this year, he should be SBC Coach of the Year. He will have done something amazing in a very short amount of time. And if we are going to stick to preseason predictions, let's take a look at the prediction from the guy who sees us everyday--Brett Vito said we would go 3-9. That looks pretty accurate right now.

Nicely played, sir. Just beware of Greek rioting--I saw them do it in Athens when the Big Govt came cracking down on them!!

I just think Denton's eclectic residents don't really care much about sports, unless they have a kid playing or it's someone coming to town that makes them want to show up. SBC schools aren't in that group, and with a faltering economy, dollars just get watched more closely. If you are a typical Denton resident, you grew up being told that UNT should get rid of football, to not support athletics, and to follow schools that matter (I.e., Texas, Tech, OU, A&M). The town truly doesn't deserve what it has--I guarantee you that if UNT were in Wichita Falls or Abilene or Longview, it wouldn't have the issues it has in regards to it's athletics. It's why most of us still question whether we will truly ever get an invite to another conference. The reputation we have really does precede us--the city of Denton is a major cause of this, IMO.

I bet you that their fans would be thrilled to have us on their schedules, just like we are when we play any old SWC team. I think the big key in all of this will be WHEN the AQ status basically becomes the new Division 1 and the rest of us get knocked back down to the new I-aa (officially). I will say it again, but I truly believe that our new palace of a stadium saved our program, but it probably won't get us into that next level of play. We don't have the success, money, attendance, media support, alumni support, or tradition to get traction with either CUSA or the MWC, apparently. If we do get knocked back down, while TCU and SMU get AQ status, I am just going to cringe at the NT Daily and DRC reports that are going to follow--all the bitter Denia-ites and old nestors bitching about putting so many resources into a new stadium for (gulp) FCS football. I would not want to be the leader having to deal with that mess. I'll follow UNT football even if they are FCS because they are mine, but would most of the folks here who are coming to games now also be that way or would that be too much to take for continued support? I know that we would see crowds of around 10k for matchups with Texas State, ULM, or Arky State on a good weekend if this happens.

If we win, then we are probably going to finish in the tope third of the league. If we lose, we are probably still on our way out of the bottom third of the league, which would be an accomplishment. I still say that when we get out of the bottom third of the SBC, it is solid progress. Next year, you work toward getting into the top third of the SBC, then follow that by contending for the SBC Title. We are definitely on target--Coach Mac is keeping this all together with duct tape and bailing wire. Give him time to get depth and talent on the lines and at QB. This thing will turn around when that last part gets in place at UNT.

I love Johnny Jones and the improvements we have made, but the Big East is one of the premier leagues in basketball. We are nowhere near being ready to compete at that level, nor is anyone in the Belt. Our hoops program would be much more competitive in CUSA or MWC. Obviously, if an AQ league is interested that would be beyond awesome, but that ain't gonna happen. As a matter of fact, I am with wardly on this. I think that the BE will fill their league with service academies, Temple, Villanova, UCF, and/or ECU. I suspect that any CUSA vacancies are to be filled by SBC eastern teams, such as MTSU and FIU. If we lose those two programs, I don't know who will replace them--probably more FCS move-ups, which does nothing for us at all. I am afraid that it will get worse for us before it gets better in all of this mess.

And it really doesn't show up very well at the bank, either.

You must not have been around during our i-aa years. The answer is, sadly, yes.

TCU got that Sun Bowl bid, ironically, because they were a part of the old WAC and the folks in El Paso picked them because some of the other WAC teams that were more eligible for the pick were leaving to create the MWC. Obviously, the ironic part is due to the fact that TCU left for CUSA a few seasons later. Thus, TCU lucked out because of it--and the fact that they could get a Texas team out there. Then, TCU upsets USC and the rest is history.

Yeah, but winning and community support at Boise got them upgraded twice to conferences that have propelled them to where they are today. You can bet your house that if Boise, Idaho was closer to the Big XII right now, that they would be in. Further, if this thing does turn into 4 or 5 superconferences, which I believe it will, Boise State might very well be in a new "pac-18" or whatever it might be known as down the road. UNT90s point is right--winning in football is the only thing that matters right now if you are not already a part of the privileged class. Hell, look at Kansas--they have probably the best basketball program in the country over the last 5 years and they could very easily get left out because their football program stinks and their conference is built on sand. Meanwhile, Indiana will be just fine taking their Big Ten payout without earning a single dime of it. It is sad, it is stupid, and it is simple--win big at football and you get a guaranteed spot at a bigger table. Don't win and your seat at the little kids table is secure, even if that table gets you back into the FCS room instead of the FBS room.

I think the Aggies never really did that well during that decade because they were directly recruiting Texas HS players while OU, Texas, and LSU all were winning MNCs, and Tech and TCU were having success bigger than anything they had ever experienced in modern college football. As this was happening, their old coach (Slocum) saw the game pass him by, their replacement for Slocum (Franchione) was supposed to be can't-miss, but turned out to be an unmitigated disaster there, and then Sherman was having to rebuild from those ashes. Its true that they will continue to recruit against them all, but I think Sherman really does have something building down there. I also think that it will be really interesting to see if their recruiting to the SEC with Texas HS kids will pick up big time. If it does, then I think they can compete very well in that league. If it stays where it is, which isn't bad, but not as good as Texas, OU, or LSU, then they will get clobbered over there. I think what will actually have the biggest effect on A&M's future recruiting is what Texas does when Mack Brown leaves. If Texas falls backward, like they did from 1985 through 1997, then A&M has a chance again to get ahead of them in recruiting.

TCU beat Texas once in 25 years during their last 3 decades in the SWC, IIRC. TCU did beat OU twice, though, since the Big XII formed. I think TCU will do ok, as long as Patterson is there, but I think the Big XII is just desperate now. TCU doesn't add anything they didn't already have. TCU is the big winner here, but I feel like the rest of that league is built on sand now, especially when Mizzou leaves. To me, in all of this realignment so far, the big winners are: Utah, TCU, Nebraska, Colorado, A&M, Pitt, and Syracuse. Missouri will soon follow on this list. Even if the Bevo remainders somehow fall apart down the road, TCU will still be better off $$$$ and prestige-wise than they were. Other winners in this will eventually be UConn and Rutgers, too.

Yeah, and how much money has Baylor made in the last 15 years versus TCU? On the field TCU >>>>>>Baylor. At the Bank, BU>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TCU. In 2008, TCU finished in the Top Ten, after beating an undefeated Boise State in a bowl game. Baylor stayed at home for the 14th year in a row during bowl season in 2008 after having another losing season. Baylor got more than double the bowl money that TCU got. It is really simple to understand what TCU wants and why Baylor has sued everyone to keep their spot on the teat.

Possible...Texas likes having lots of control. I kid....I think.

We literally didn't have funds available to hire Dan McCarney as a head coach back then. What did Dodge get, less than $250K as a head coach? It has been said that we couldn't even meet Jim Harbaugh's salary desires, and he was looking to leave D-II San Diego, not San Diego State. Buying out Dickey's contract, which was also low by most standards just killed us. I think we can all agree that the student fee for the new stadium and having a somehwat pro-athletics BOR now has seemingly moved us out of the outhouse!!

You know how lots of posters hate conference realignment talk or uniform talk? My kryptonite is discussing the band's look and sound. I know the Green Brigade is great, I just never go to a game to hear the band--I go to watch the game. As long as they play the alma mater and the fight song at the appropriate time, I am cool with them. Now, if we create a Band Forum, I am gonna tear them to shreds and talk about how they are a sleeping giant that the Big XII really should invite based on their superior potential.

And/Or Houston

OU scheduled TCU for a game back in the 90s and has a visit to FW, I believe, scheduled for next year to TCU's new stadium. Here's the deal, though. When OU came to play TCU in FW in the 90s, it was because OU was bad--real bad--but so was TCU. Now that TCU is really good, OU has agreed to play them down here, even though they already play here in the metroplex every year because it helps their SOS, especially now that the Bevo 9 has lost so much prestige. If/when we ever get that good, as in top 15 regularly, there will be lots of schools that would entertain coming here. But until that happens, you get Indiana here, not Iowa--or anyone bigger than this. If I were RV, though, I would be on the phone with Nebraska or Colorado--telling them we will gladly take a 2 for 1 deal so that they can get some Texas exposure again.

This is exactly why we should do whatever we can to get into the MWC. That conference needs Texas exposure, we provide them an institution that looks just like every other current member of the MWC, and we get to also have our name in new markets, too. Plus, TCU showed how a Texas team can make it far in this world in that conference of non-Texan programs--we could copy that plan very easily with the facilities and coaching we now have in place here in Denton. In the end, CUSA is no different than the Bevo 9 or the Big East. It has become all about TV markets. The entire Bevo 9, even the North schools, don't want another Texas team to battle for recruiting or on the playing field. Now, it wouldn't surprise me if the Big East did try to get Houston, since that is far enough away from DFW to really hurt TCU. But SMU isn't going to get a look from either of those AQ conferences, which is why we won't get an invite from CUSA anytime soon.

What will really be interesting is to see what number the MWC wants to get to. Do they stay at 10, or go higher. It seems most likely that 12 would be a good start, even get to 14 if they can. Two assumptions that must be made first are that 1.) BYU will never go back there, that they probably go to the Big XII before this is all over. 2.) The Big XII stays together for a while and that they hold true to the "No more Texas teams" mantra that all of the schools in that league seem to believe in. That means that the only school available to get in the Utah market, which is growing, is Utah State, which would be a good fit for the MWC. So that leaves the MWC looking at who be the best fit to be that 12th team--obviously, the only options out west aren't really that good--San Jose State, Idaho, and New Mexico State. So, if you want in Texas, which makes sense, your choices right now are UNT, UH, SMU, UTEP, and TCU. As it stands now, CUSA is a better fit for UH, SMU, and UTEP. Now, TCU is the wild card here--if they believe the Big East isn't going to make it as a legitimate league, they may decide to stick with the MWC, but I doubt it. This is why I truly believe that we are the right fit for this league if they stop at 12. However, if they decide to try and go to 14, here is where I think that the MWC could pull a coup on CUSA--get UH, UTEP, and UNT over there with Utah State. That gets you to 14, gets you three big TV markets in Texas and three big public schools that will fit perfectly with the other public schools in the league (no private schools). Then, you get a league with UTEP, New Mexico, UH, UNT, SDSU, Utah State and Hawaii in a MWC-Southern Division, and Boise State, Fresno State, UNLV, Nevada, AFA, Colorado State, and Wyoming in the MWC-North. If AFA leaves, then look at a school like NMSU for the South and move Utah State to the North. This all would work very nicely for everyone, especially if CUSA gets raided by the Big East down the road.

The Tulsa butt-whipping we took in 2005 at Fouts (54-2) still stands out to me as the game that made us realize that we were not really making the progress that a 4-time conference champion suggested. Since then, we have been smacked by them 2 other times, as well. I still like playing them, though. Its a good OOC game for a lot of reasons (travel, regional opponent, usually good team)--of course, it will be even better when this is a conference game one day!!