NT80

eBay: North Texas NEW logo cap

UTEP is no where close to the center of CUSA and a large distance to travel for any CUSA conference game. They would take a MWC invite in a minute, and it could happen with TCU needing a bridge to UNM. UTEP is closer to California than they are to Dallas. The thing CUSA bought in UTEP is that they are a SWA city and a 30/10...30K attendance average for football and 10K for basketball, plus nice facilities.

UNT is going to release license plate wordmarks for fans to vote on first, then hire a consultant, then do a study, then form a committee, then ask L. J. what he wants. I figure about 2009 we'll see it. <_<

TCU, SMU do the conference shuffle again By Wendell Barnhouse, Star-Telegram Staff Writer July 1, 2005 Two private universities separated by 40 miles of urban sprawl, TCU and SMU have athletic departments that continue to be cleaved by conference musical chairs. The latest version again leaves the two former Southwest Conference rivals on separate dance floors. Today is New Era Day in Division I-A football. Seven of 11 I-A conferences officially welcomed new members when the calendar flipped at 12:01 a.m. Some of the leagues and teams will party like it's 1999; others will feel hangovers that are most likely to remain private. Today will come and go without much fanfare at TCU and SMU. There will be no ceremonial flag raising, no dumping of letterhead and coffee cups stamped with the former conference's brand. "[Today] is just the technical date when the page gets turned," Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said. TCU moves to the Mountain West Conference, rejoining schools that were part of the ill-conceived 16-team Western Athletic Conference. The Mountain West was formed in 1998 (and began competition in 1999) when eight schools left the WAC. The Horned Frogs become the ninth and newest member of the MWC. "The Mountain West Conference is a terrific move for TCU," said new TCU athletic director Danny Morrison, who describes today as a torch-passing moment. "It brings regional and national visibility. And we're able to maintain our rich heritage and traditions with opponents from Texas and the Southwest. We've got a chance for the best of both worlds. "In a short time, the MWC has positioned itself on the doorstep of the BCS. And I think it brings some stability." Morrison cited the Frogs' first three games -- at Oklahoma, at SMU and at home against Utah (the MWC debut Sept. 15 on ESPN or ESPN2) as examples of attractive scheduling possibilities. SMU moves from the WAC to Conference USA as TCU leaves C-USA for the MWC. The irony is as heavy as the Iron Skillet, the trophy at stake in the schools' annual football rivalry. In October 1999, TCU was invited to join C-USA. The same day the Fort Worth school said yes, the Dallas school was left standing at the altar. An expected and anticipated proposal from C-USA was never made. Now, SMU joins C-USA. "We feel like we've found a home that's just right for us," SMU athletic director Jim Copeland said. Since last competing in the SWC during the 1995-96 season, TCU and SMU have had divergent success. Over the past nine seasons, the Frogs' football team has a 62-44 record and played in six bowl games. TCU's basketball team has won 20 or more games five times and played in the NCAA Tournament once and the NIT three times. Over the same period, SMU football is 33-71 and its men's basketball program has won more than 20 games once -- 21-9, the Mustangs' only postseason (NIT) appearance during that time frame. "We like C-USA from a competitive standpoint," Copeland said. "There are teams that can break into the BCS in any given year, teams that can get into the NCAA Tournament. The geography of the East-West divisions is important." SMU, which plays its first game as a C-USA member against Tulane on Sept. 24, is in the West Division along with Houston, Rice, Tulane, Tulsa and UT-El Paso. Rice reunites with Houston for the first time since the SWC closed. The schools had scheduled a party Thursday night to honor the new look to an old rivalry. "We're going to be able to create some rivalries and also to re-establish some rivalries," C-USA chief Banowsky said. "We feel like we've been together as a league for about a year. We're ready to go. We're just anxious for the teams to get on the field." Boston College, which has endured nearly two years as Benedict Arnold to the Big East Conference, rented Fenway Park on Thursday night to celebrate its official entry to the Atlantic Coast Conference. ""It secures our football future for the next 50 years," Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo told the Boston Herald. "The increased revenue is important to us. We might have had to drop some sports. Of the 12 teams in the ACC, six [including Boston College] are in the top 41 in the country academically. That was important to us. And fourth, we've become a national institution, but our athletic department was a regional one." The move didn't come without a price, however. The ACC botched its expansion in the summer of 2003. Plan A was to invite Big East schools Syracuse, Miami and Boston College to join the ACC. That was vetoed in an ACC presidential vote. Plan B added Miami and Virginia Tech starting in 2004, but Boston College was left hanging as a Big East lame duck for one more season. "With BC now in the league we truly do live up to our name, the Atlantic Coast Conference," commissioner John Swofford said. "Without question we have more clout in the marketplace. When you run from Boston all the way down to Miami there's no question we're looked at in the marketplace like we've never been." For TCU and SMU, those marketplaces continue to be separate. IN THE KNOW Moving day The most recent realignment of conferences and teams in Division I-A becomes official today. Here is what's new: ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE In: Boston College New: Two six-team divisions and a championship game Dec. 3 Atlantic Division Boston College Clemson Florida State Maryland N.C. State Wake Forest Coastal Division Duke Georgia Tech Miami (Fla.) North Carolina Virginia Virginia Tech BIG EAST CONFERENCE Out: Boston College, Temple In: Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida (plus DePaul and Marquette in basketball) New: An eight-team football league, a 16-team basketball league. Football Cincinnati Connecticut Louisville Pittsburgh Rutgers South Florida Syracuse West Virginia Basketball Connecticut Cincinnati DePaul Georgetown Louisville Marquette Notre Dame Pittsburgh Providence Rutgers Seton Hall South Florida St. John's Syracuse Villanova West Virginia CONFERENCE USA Out: TCU, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Army In: SMU, Rice, UT-El Paso, Tulsa, Marshall, Central Florida New: Two six-team divisions and a championship game Dec. 3 East Division Ala.-Birmingham Central Florida East Carolina Marshall Memphis Southern Mississippi West Division Houston Rice SMU Tulane Tulsa UT-El Paso MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE Out: Marshall, Central Florida New: Two six-team divisions (reduced from two seven-team divisions) East Division Akron Bowling Green Buffalo Kent State Miami (Ohio) Ohio West Division Ball State Central Michigan Eastern Michigan Northern Illinois Toledo Western Michigan MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE In: TCU New: A nine-team conference Air Force BYU Colorado State New Mexico San Diego State TCU Utah UNLV Wyoming SUN BELT CONFERENCE Out: Idaho, New Mexico State, Utah State In: Florida Atlantic, Florida International New: Eight-team conference Arkansas State Florida Atlantic Fla. International La.-Lafayette La.-Monroe Middle Tennessee North Texas Troy WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Out: SMU, Rice, UT-El Paso, Tulsa In: Idaho, New Mexico State, Utah State New: Nine-team conference Boise State Fresno State Hawaii Idaho Louisiana Tech Nevada New Mexico State San Jose State Utah State

That WAC map with the border outline, from La Tech to Hawaii, is pretty funny.

Marquette keeps Golden Eagles nickname By JOHN HARTZELL, Associated Press Writer June 29, 2005 MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Marquette will keep its Golden Eagles nickname after all. Following months of controversy, the school said Wednesday that 54 percent of voters picked the Golden Eagles while 46 percent chose the Hilltoppers, the school's old nickname. About 23,000 Marquette students, alumni and staff voted. ``We did give the people a choice. They want tradition,'' said Marquette president, the Rev. Robert A. Wild. That suits Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, who led Marquette to the 2003 Final Four. ``For me it's always been about Marquette, but I'm glad people recognized and voted for the Golden Eagle tradition,'' Wade said in a statement released by the university. Last year, two Marquette trustees offered to give the school $1 million each if it returned the nickname to Warriors, which was changed in 1994 because it was insensitive to American Indians. The school rejected the trustees' offer and this spring announced a switch from Golden Eagles to Gold, which was strongly opposed by students and alumni because they weren't consulted. The board relented May 11 and opened the issue to a vote, which was held in two phases. The first phase eliminated eight of the 10 options -- Blue and Gold, which was Marquette's first nickname from 1892-1916, Explorers, Golden Avalanche, Golden Knights, Saints, Spirit, Voyagers and Wolves. Marquette said Wednesday the Golden Eagles name also led the Hilltoppers in the first phase of the voting. Hilltoppers was connected with school athletics from 1917 until it was changed to Warriors in 1954. It was first used because the original Marquette building was built on top of a hill. People cast nearly 5,600 write-in votes during the first round, including 3,264 for Warriors, even though Marquette officials said they wouldn't consider votes for that nickname valid. ``We know this discussion hasn't been perfect, but with the successful vote behind us, it is our sincere hope that we can now move forward together, especially as we enter the Big East Conference on July 1,'' board chairman John Bergstrom said in a statement. Student government president Alex Hermanny, a member of the school's nickname advisory committee, said the university hoped to develop a new logo as soon as possible but probably won't decide on a new mascot until after the school year starts this fall.

I have not been there recently. I was just going by GrayEagle's post and know in the past (probably 2 years) they didn't have any NT stuff. If they started carrying NT stuff recently then I retract the complaint!

Cracker Barrel does support colleges in other locations with school merchandise in their gift shop, we need to get on them about NT.

Joe, what happened on the bid, did you get it?

The last someone with insider knowledge posted was that yes it would be North Texas and Mean Green in the endzones. The center logo was still being debated, not sure what the choices are.

I heard the Vertebras are going to have a good team this year.

Notice that homecoming that year was November 23; probably a little chilly!

Note the use of "NT" on the ladies mum and the game title: NT Eagles "NT" football uniform for 1946

State puts the brakes on some college plates 09:57 PM CDT on Monday, June 27, 2005 By TONY HARTZEL / The Dallas Morning News Many Texas colleges and universities simply don't make the grade when it comes to specialty alumni license plates. Dwindling support for the program at some colleges and universities has led the Texas Department of Transportation to phase out 24 of the 49 higher education specialty plates. Texas Woman's University will be gone. So will be the University of Texas at Dallas. And the one person each who currently sports Brookhaven College or Richland College license plates should be prepared to turn them in at their mandatory replacement age. "We haven't heard from the universities yet," said Christina Flores of the Transportation Department's vehicle titles and registration division. "We may be hearing from some alumni soon." Specialty plates, which tout and support things like universities, organizations and veterans with special logos directly on them, have taken off. In May, more than 356,000 of almost 19 million Texas vehicles had some type of specialty license tag, up from 342,000 a year earlier. Statewide in May, 16,647 cars and trucks sported collegiate plates. They and most other plates require an annual fee of $30, generally with $8 going to defray production costs and $22 going toward programs associated with the plate's theme. Faced with $15,000 in production costs for every new plate issued, the Legislature passed a law several years ago that established criteria for eliminating many low-performing plates. And though stricter criteria went into effect in September, the state is now beginning to look at the plates issue. According to the state transportation code, specialty plates should be allowed only if: •3,500 sets of plates have been issued during the plate's life span; •the Transportation Department has made $15,000 from the issuance of the license plates; •a university or other sponsoring group deposits $15,000 to start a new plate, keep existing plates available or restart a plate in the future. That money would be returned once the minimum number of plates, including annual renewals, had been issued. The rules, which the agency is not required to enforce, eventually could affect other plates, such as the United States Olympic Committee plates (195 in use statewide). The state has no plans to discontinue any noncollegiate plates, said David Pyndus, a spokesman for the vehicle titles and registration division. For universities, the $15,000 requirement is the same, but the threshold for plates issued during its lifetime was lowered to 1,500 sets. "Quite a few of the smaller colleges and universities didn't even come close," Mr. Pyndus said. It wasn't a difficult decision to eliminate the program at TWU, where 78 university supporters have a specialty license plate. "It just wasn't economically feasible," said university spokeswoman Amanda Simpson. "There wasn't enough demand to warrant the cost. We're a public university, and our No. 1 priority is to our students." On the opposite end of the spectrum stands Texas A&M University, which outpaces all other colleges and universities in specialty plate registrations. With 6,346 plates in May, Aggie pride easily outdistanced its closest license plate competitor, the University of Texas, which has 3,121 plates. Taking the bronze medal in the competition is Texas Tech University, with 2,764 registrations. Texas Christian University (472) has the most specialty plates of any North Texas school, and the University of North Texas (320) draws the second-highest local support. Although the bumper-based measure of school pride is sure to warm the hearts of Aggies everywhere and frustrate Longhorn supporters, the money raised goes to a good cause. This year, the plate helped raise enough for $156,000 in need-based scholarships, said Mike Huddleston, the university's executive director for contract administration. "We're very thankful for the program, and we're very proud of the success we've had with it," he said, adding that it does give College Station a certain measure of bragging rights. "That's always fun. This is the friendly part of the rivalry." A&M doesn't do much special with its license plate programs, placing brochures at spots including the university visitors' center and the parking garages. "Most of it is the camaraderie our students feel to each other," Mr. Huddleston said. "They like to be associated with the university, and they like to show pride." E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com PHASING OUT Universities whose license plates are being phased out by the Texas Department of Transportation, and the number of vehicles registered with those plates in May: St. Mary's University – 101 Texas Woman's University – 78 Tarleton State University – 61 Lamar University – 39 Abilene Christian University – 36 Texas Lutheran University – 36 University of Texas at San Antonio – 32 University of Texas at Dallas – 30 Texas A&M University-Kingsville – 23 Midwestern State University – 22 Texas Wesleyan University – 22 Howard Payne University – 21 Houston Baptist University – 18 McMurry University – 18 Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi – 16 Incarnate Word College – 15 University of Texas at Brownsville – 12 Huston-Tillotson University – 10 East Texas Baptist University – 8 Texas Chiropractic College – 7 North Central Texas College – 4 Brookhaven College – 1 Richland College – 1 Parker College of Chiropractic – 0 PLATES IN 1. Texas A&M, 6,346 2. University of Texas, 3,121 3. Texas Tech, 2,764 4. University of Houston, 571 5. Texas Christian, 472 6. Baylor, 446 7. University of North Texas, 320 8. Rice, 269 9. Prairie View A&M, 253 10. Texas State, 228

I know one thing, we really need to put a pounding on Tulsa and La Tech this year to show our CUSA worth....and get that new STADIUM started ASAP!

I'm not sure about that line of the "R" into the "O". I think I'd prefer a Star inside the "O". Is it too late to change that??

Toby Gowin's Cowboy jersey

Hope that actually happens. Their baseball stadium fundraising seems to be in the "silent phase" just like our football stadium fundraising. <_<

One of us needs to buy it to insure it stays in the Mean Green family. Go for it Joe, unless Adler wants it first since it appears he found it. Just be careful of snippers within the last minute of the auction.

hummm........

I wish NT was joining CUSA...maybe someday. As for the CUSA contract back into the New Orleans Bowl, I know it fits, but what if we took the SEC # 6, 7, or 8 instead?

Bring it! Seriously, I've heard your admins don't want to jump to 1-A yet. What's the timeline for that? We do need a 9th football school now but our Conference Commish says we won't add a 1-AA at this time...we have one in WKU that won't committ to 1-A. Move to 1-A then apply!

This article never mentions WKU playing 1-A football in the Sunbelt, in fact the only Sunbelt mention is that it's not as good as the MAC in basketball. It does talk about a change to 1-A and move to the MAC in the same sentence, as if that was the only way for it to happen. I'm sick of hearing about WKU's decision and their ~8,000 football fans wanting to be bigtime in the MAC. Let 'em move!

I'm going, and there better be another 5,000 Mean Green fans in Ruston that day too! (BTW, it's a 3pm kickoff and it's their homecoming... )

I believe I read they are trying to get Coach Fry to come to the Troy (ESPN2) game....