NT80

It would be worth $500K in instant media exposure, not to mention doubling season ticket sales the first year. Just do it!

Unfortunately at North Texas, basketball is even more about "who are we playing?" than football used to be. People show for Indiana and Okla. St., but debate about NW Missouri and NC-Somewhere. Football has been helped by improved tailgating activities. What can basketball do? Basketball also includes more weekday games, fewer weekends, and more games in general, so they're not as special to the average fan. Still, I'd like to see what a good winning streak does for attendance.

Thanks for the report. Here's the current roster from the Athletic site: 54 Barnett, Justin C 6-10 240 Sr. Arlington, TX (Martin HS) 03 Brown, Lionel G 5-11 165 Jr. Ardmore, OK (Eastern Oklahoma St. Col.) 12 Davis, Kendrick G 6-4 181 Jr. Houston, TX (Arkansas) 15 Edwards, Harold F 6-6 215 Fr. Mobile, AL (LeFlore HS) 23 Hines, Isaac G 6-0 175 Sr. Dallas, TX (Collin County (TX) CC) 34 Howerton, Justin C 6-10 240 Fr. Howe, TX (Howe HS) 20 Ray, Coby G 6-1 190 So. Plano, TX (Prestonwood Christian Academy) 10 Ruffin, Jared G 6-0 175 So. Omaha, NE (Creighton Prepatory) 45 Simpson, Jeffrey C 6-8 210 Sr. Spiro, OK (Eastern Oklahoma State Col.) 21 Stewart, Harold F 6-8 185 Fr. Fort Worth, TX (Crowley HS) 11 Sturns, Michael G 6-4 175 So. Fort Worth, TX (North Crowley HS) 33 Watson, Calvin G 6-5 215 Jr. Houston, TX (Madison HS) 32 Williams, Quincy F 6-8 215 So. Forest Park, OK (Carl Albert HS) 02 Wooden, Keith F 6-9 245 Jr. Lawrence, KA (Arizona State) 13 Young, Rich F 6-5 205 Jr. Farrell, PA (Eastern Oklahoma State College)

If Smuu can pay players, they wouldn't hesitate to invent attendance numbers.

I may join you.

Thursday 7:30 pm SL Carroll at Denton Ryan Fox Sports Net (FSN) National broadcast from 12,000-seat Denton ISD Stadium

C-U-S-A membership......facilities, it's all about the facilities.......

I want to see the big highway up ahead again. One season does not make or bust a trip, but it does say if you're on the right road. The Buick seems lost this year and has taken a steep side road which has quickly turned to dirt and gravel and loose traction. We need back on concrete, with a good map. We also need better accomodations than the SunBelt Champions Motel again. It was nice for a visit but after 4 years here and no nice parting gifts I want a better establishment. CUSA is not the Hotel BCS but it is in larger towns, and thus advertised more. Some say a New Stadium is our plane ticket out of Hooterville. I think maybe so, SMUt has one. They didn't really need it, but it got them where we want to be. So while we gloat or gloom over our SBC ventures, I say watch the road ahead, that's where we need to keep our eye on. And if our Buick won't take us there, then it's time to trade it in!

I believe Marshall received it's reputation and image from it's OOC wins, not MAC wins. They beat some quality teams out of their conference and played an exciting brand of football, mostly passing.

One of the better written Daily articles. I agree with the play Phillips argument, why not??

One positive, if nothing else, was our media for the ESPN2 game. A non-football friend was in Las Vegas on that Tuesday night and said when they went into the MGM Grand that the giant Big Screen and most smaller screens were all showing UNT fans and the game. The same at other casinos; all had UNT on alternating TVs with playoff baseball, and most were watching the football!

Good post. The respect we built through conference championships was equally dimished by the lack of success outside the conference.

My standard phrase to co-workers razzing me about UNT lately is: I know we didn't play well on the field, but our tailgating beat theirs!

Exactly. I don't mind UNT losing to a Top 25 team, if we have to play them, but we are losing to FAU, Baylor, Tulsa, and USF before they were really good. The false sense of accomplishment in the SBC has now been replaced by even worse play and losing within the SBC, as well as the average OOC games.

Agree. I've known new fans to come because of the tailgating and game atmosphere (RV), and new fans that won't come back because of the lack of quality of the product on the field (DD).

I'll never be happy with this season. 54-2 in front of 23,000+ home fans and 54-7 are beyond trying to rationalize. We are not that young in key positions like RB, K, PR, WR, OL, LB, and DB to get beat like we are. Something is amiss in the organization and not being addressed correctly.

Tulsa is 3-3, killed by Minn., hung with an average OU team, lost to an average Houston team, won over down USM and in OT over a down Memphis team this year. Nothing special that we should have lost by 52 points at home to.

Vanderbilt was not ranked; this is the highest points they received during week 5. 2005 weekly rankings Missouri finished 2004 with a record of 5-6 ranked #66, nine spots below North Texas.

The SunBelt has served it's purpose to give homeless 1-As and upward 1-AAs a home, even providing a pre-set Bowl for the champ, but it is mostly false glory compared to the total 1-A landscape. OOC games are the REAL barometer of where our program is, and right now it is pitiful (7-40). We should never get beat 54-2 to a Tulsa...at Home no less! And this week we are ranked #147 in college football. We are ONLY a 1 point favorite to beat FIU, a new program. How low have we sunk?

I would guess that none of those teams you mention were in the Top 25 at the time of their SunBelt defeat and that the entire record of those teams at their loss was well below .500. I will also guess that we've played 5x that number of those same middle-of-the-road teams and lost. The SunBelt is still a young football conference compared to others but I don't see the progress in the programs that should be there by now.

Just plain sad.

Photo of stadium courtesy of Scottie on the M&G Board...... WT Stadium crowd photo

I agree; youth is no excuse for poor play.

There are deserving winners, then there is Leach.

Any chance DD goes Pro????