PlummMeanGreen

College football summer preseason magazines are like the Top 25 polls at the beginning of a new football season; that is, they are still mostly using last years teams to base their predictions on for this Fall. Top 10 ranked teams that lose many players from the previous season still usually get Top 10 rankings at the beginning of a new season it seems. Not taking anything from ULM's win over Arkansas 2 years ago, but it became pretty obvious that the Hogs had been ranked too high at the beginning of that season before it all came tumbling down for them. What ULM does with so little budget is worth putting a high powered magnifying glass on for Coach Mac and staff. You don't just get lucky with recruits that can beat the Razorbacks. "IF"....La Tech does not lose any momentum this Fall after all the players they lost to graduation last season, then we of UNT need to attend their next "Recruiting Seminar" in Ruston. May be wrong, but I think the La Tech Bulldogs lose momentum this Fall merely based on their large number of players who will not be back this Fall. GMG!

I was on the TCU campus today saw one of your froggie statue-ettes, unzipped it and pee'd on that frog And the need for someone you'd think would be comfortable in his TCU Froggie skin to come over here is? ? ? ? ? ? You know, FroggieStyle, that the University of North Texas is a giant, ominous shadow that will always cast a shadow over your small private school over there on Berry Street whether we play each other or not (and we all know the only times TCU would ever schedule North Texas in the past half century, now don't we)? And for TCU that giant shadow begins on Camp Bowie Boulevard at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. TCU can only give out 30 scholarships most recruiting seasons and about 161,000 play Texas HS football. You do the math; that means there will be plenty to go around for schools like UNT, SMU, UTEP, UTSA, Rice and even UH. GMG!

Bravo! Great job, CW ! I never-ever get tired reading about my college alma mater--I really don't. We have one heckuva' interesting most diverse school that has had more than its share of very interesting people who count themselves as graduates of UNT; in fact, many of whom are on this very forum. GMG!

"....just as sure as the turning of the earth" My favorite John Ford western (for obvious family history reasons of which the Making of The Seachers would mention such) and my 2'nd favorite would be the series adapted from UNT grad Larry McMurtry's book.... Lonesome Dove. Trivia: Apparently the late, great Buddy Holly liked John Wayne's "The Seacher's" too, because Texas Ranger Ethan Edwards (the Duke) use of the phrase "that'll be the day" inspired Holly's hit with the same title. Are there are any froggies in either of our 2 noodle ponds near Apogee? Maybe even bull frogs, too? (You all know their legs when fried taste like chicken, right)? GMG!

Wonder what it was? Perhaps the approx. 30,000 co-eds that go to both universities (combined) in Denton was just too much of an over-powering thought for him to endure? Doesn't that come out to about 30 girls to every one male student up in Mean Green Country now? Seriously, our all time W/L series with UTEP suggests that we have had more sniffers come our way than not. Hey! No school is going to be everyone's cup of green tea for certain. Also...........maybe for those who won't play in the NFL the over 200,000 UNT alums in the DFW MetroTex (I like that idea, GrayEagle) might sound like there may be some jobs available in our area upon their graduation and even possibly working for a UNT alum to boot? There comes a time when we of North Texas are going to just have to allow our enormous numbers and constituency to be an asset and work for our advantage. Matter of fact, I think all our ducks are in a row now for that to happen quite soon. GMG!

And your AAC affiliation is ? ? ? ? ? ? And how many teams does the AAC need to lose to the MWC and/or ACC before it loses all the splendor you seem this grouping of schools has yet as a group that many outside the AAC will choose to describe as in the next one sentence paragraph? Don't forget: This is an opinion board: You have yours and I have mine. >>> A One Sentence Paragraph (English grammar teachers are falling out of their chairs all over): Lets play Jeopardy............AAC: What is the name of a present NCAA Go5 conference with the largest group of "has beens" or that has members which "used to be members in NCAA Power of 5 type conferences but no longer are?" So to you and yours, croatan, yall just keep on re-arranging your deck chairs on the Good Ship Gang of 5 because for what its worth we all have equal access to whatever the Big Boys are going to allow us to have equal access to and that no matter what some of your schools did 50 years ago. That doesn't matter any more except in someone's dream world of non-realism. Casepoint: When Northern Illinois (who dat'?) went to the Orange Bowl last season did anyone care what UH, SMU, Memphis, Cincinatti and others were doing that same day? Uh..........no, they didn't. And don't forget Boise State who has in the last few years become a better known brand and commodity than most all the schools in the AAC? How badly did Boise State and San Diego State want to stay a member in what would become the AAC? (We're all ears and are waiting for a sensible response to that question). (I do think they stayed longer than TCU did, though, so you have to hand that to them). What did CUSA membership mean to most of the schools that left it while they were still in it? Did it mean sellouts? (no) Did it mean having a BCS bowl buster? (no) So in that regard, both the new CUSA and AAC are equal, now aren't they? So you just keep on living in your little NCAA fantasy and dream world of just really what ain't happening as you see it as a AAC enthusiast. Key phrase of this post is: Good Ship Gang of 5 GMG!

Haven't the Big Boys already showed some of us how important a rivalry is? UT versus TAMU? soon>>> SMU versus TCU? Can you name 1 or 2 other rivalries that have cooled off or may soon not even exist? Our winning cycle is over-due and when Coach Mac turns this thing around (as we expect) every damn school in CUSA will soon be gunning for North Texas which begs the question: How many rivalries will we be allowed to have then? Will there then be a quota or maximum? Some of our new conference mates know we have a history in NCAA D1 that they can't come close to or match and I assure you....some of them who have seen our top shelf venues, complete Denton campus and metropolitan area package probably have the ability to discern that we are on our way back. Many of that group are so-oooo trying to ignore us now with all this rivalry talk, but even they know they won't be able to do that much longer. _________________________________________________________ There are other NCAA FBS level schools with more impressive histories than this, but not so many in the new CUSA. NOTE: Many of our "almost" wins over some Big Boys (and yes, UT, 1988, too) would have really made some of these wins below look even more impressive, of course. Addendum: Not listed in the list below are wins over CUSA members who will remain as CUSA members or Sun Belt Conference schools, too; of which we've had even a few more impressive or key wins with schools form both of those 2 conferences along with some SBC wins that vaulted us to 4 New Orleans Bowl games last decade. Addendum II: Nevermind past bitch'n sessions, gripes and the usual alumnus concerns from many of us BUT....IF YOU CANNOT GET EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN FOOTBALL THEN YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK YOURSELF TO SEE IF YOU ARE AMONG THE WALKING DEAD. 1947/10/04 North Texas 20 - Florida 12 W 1954/11/13 North Texas 20 - Arizona St 13 W * Many Power 5 schools including a few from the Southwest, Deep South and Southwest Conference would drop UNT from their future schedules after we integrated with African Americans, ie, the great Abner Haynes and (now Dr.) Leon King. 1958/10/18 North Texas 12 - BYU 6 W 1959....Lost in the Sun Bowl 1961/09/30 North Texas 41 - BYU 30 W __________________________________________________________________ North Texas was a member of the NCAA Division 1 Missouri Valley Conference during the 1960's along with U of Houston, Cincinatti, Memphis, Louisville, Tulsa, among others... __________________________________________________________________ 1973/10/13 North Texas 7 - Louisville 6 W (All time...UNT: 10 W's UL 7 W's) 1974/11/02 North Texas 14 - San Diego St 9 W (Aztecs were ranked #19) 1975/10/11 North Texas 28 - Houston 0 W (the year before UH joined SWC) 1975/10/25 North Texas 21 - Tennessee 14 W (TN was a decent 7 & 5 team in '75) 1978/09/30 North Texas 12 - Oklahoma St 7 W 1979/10/18 North Texas 29 - Memphis 10 W (Memphis still very much owns this series)! 1985/09/28 North Texas 22 - Kansas St 10 W *4 Yrs. later Coach Bill Snyder (from the Hayden Fry Coach's Tree) would arrive in Manhatten, KS, and (still) operating at the NCAA 1-AA classification North Texas would be his first & only win in 1989 with their last minute drive for a TD which won it for the Wildcats....the rest of his career is NCAA college football history for a program that had been down for well over half a century! I repeat: Well over half a century. 1986/10/18 North Texas 24 - TCU 20 W (While we were playing at the NCAA D1-AA level--I suppose that is why they scheduled us, right)? 1995/09/16 North Texas 30 - Oregon St 27 W (one heckuva' football game at Fouts Field) 1999/10/16 North Texas 17 - Boise St 10 W (All time......UNT 3 W's....BSU 2 W's 1999/09/18 North Texas 21 - Texas Tech 14 W (All time.......UNT 4 W's....TTU....4 W's 2002/12/17 North Texas 24 - Cincinnati 17 W (New Orleans Bowl..UC was CUSA champ) 2003/09/06 North Texas 52 - Baylor 14 W 2006/09/09 North Texas 24 - SMU 6 W (A 14 game H & H begins in 2014) 2011/09/24 North Texas 24 - Indiana 21 W

I know re-alignment is all about a bunch of "what if's" and jumping on board with schools that some might even perceive are going to be what they once were but will never be (again) at the Go5 level and those schools and their alums know they won't. And worse for a handful of that group who still have Big Time aspirations, the Power of 5 conferences have almost closed its membership for the unforeseeable future. But for the AAC.........."what if" SMU and UH actually do get a very sweet package from the MWC so they can get into the Texas TV market, ie, such a package too tough for both of those schools to turn down and then they decided "To Go West Young Man? Then what does that do to Tulane and Tulsa who also made very quick decisions to jump to the AAC w/o thinking about that SMU/UH/MWC option which would probably not be available for those 2 schools? Sorta' has them hanging out west from the AAC rest on a very thin limb making those crackling sounds by the second. The other thread I posted which had a Big 12 Froggie Guy get so pissed had this very MWC scenario for SMU/UH in mind albeit I didn't post that scenario. Still for those who think re-alignment talk is dead don't be too hasty with such a thought. And I still see the new CUSA as a long term better situated deal once all the possible conference-jumpings elsewhere play out. The AAC not being done losing members could very well be the moral of this post, matter of fact. GMG!

Living by myself (and enjoy it) for a few years, I often do just that. "Now shut up! Jim! OK, I heard ya' already!" (See? What did I tell you)? I don't have turret syndrome so I guess there is always a silver lining for everyone, right? GMG! PS: Great crowd! Great Pic! And UNT Athletics hits a grand slam with thousands of potentially new fans. Out of 6--7 million in the DFW Metroplex, all we need is just 31,000 out of that total, folks, and we already have a pretty big head start in getting that with our huge UNT constituency.

Upon further review of the above sudden burst of smack board political flatulence and how some words are considered code in this era.....I will say that my first understanding of the term ghetto probably came from the old "World At War" series (which I watched as a kid on Houston's PBS station--KUHT back in the 60's) with narration by Sir Lawrence Olivia. So the link below describes the kind of ghettos I first became aware of as a kid from the big metropolitan city of Danbury, Texas. Yet no matter how you slice it, a true ghetto-existence cannot be a good thing no matter one's race, creed or religion; especially for those millions who were forced to live in them in Germany, Poland and Czechoslavakia back in the 1940's. http://www.krakow-info.com/ghetto.htm

Everything we do in this country is politics, pal! Maybe what I said doesn't fit your agenda? And what happened to Freedom of Speech? Did that go away, too? Seems it did in some quarters. P.C. will turn America into a 3'rd world ghetto before it's all done. THERE! I SAID IT (and millions upon millions believe it). GMG!

EDIT: no politics. Leave the Star Spangled Banner alone! If all these soloist and groups are going to embellish or be creative with something musically, do it with bubble gum rock and roll music....not our national anthem. GMG!

That pic would make many of our UNT's version of a Pulitzer photo prize (so to speak). WOW! Wonder what our 2 or 3 chief UNT critics would say about that pic? Maybe....."Look how dark the clouds are in the background, just shows how dark the school's agenda has been since 1890?"

Our alma mater has specialized in the "near miss" games. One only has to wonder if winning such games may have advanced our program to much higher conference environments. UH's 1967 win over Duffy Daugherty's Top 10 ranked Michigan State Spartans did very much for the Cougar football program--gave them the legitimacy they never had. Had Fry's team had only beaten DKR's UT team in 1976, for instance? Few in the lower rung of the SWC ever beat the Texas Longhorns and North Texas almost pull it off first time we ever played them. Final score: 17 to 14.... This I posted on the CUSAbbs board on their P5 wins for CUSA schools thread... Not listed are any wins over SBC schools or present CUSA schools who will still be in CUSA after 2013. Also listed are our most recent wins over schools listed below albeit there were some other UNT wins with some of the same schools during the same decade or era: 1947/10/04 North Texas 20 - Florida 12 W 1954/11/13 North Texas 20 - Arizona St 13 W * Many Power 5 schools including a few from the Southwest Conference would drop UNT from their future schedules after we integrated the Southwest and South with African Americans Abner Haynes and (now Dr.) Leon King. 1958/10/18 North Texas 12 - BYU 6 W 1959....Lost in the Sun Bowl 1961/09/30 North Texas 41 - BYU 30 W NOTE: North Texas was a member of the NCAA Division 1 Missouri Valley Conference during the 60's along with UHouston, Cincinatti, Memphis, Louisville, Tulsa, among others 1973/10/13 North Texas 7 - Louisville 6 W (All time...UNT: 10 W's UL 7 W's) 1974/11/02 North Texas 14 - San Diego St 9 W (Aztecs were ranked #19) 1975/10/11 North Texas 28 - Houston 0 W (the year before UH joined SWC) 1975/10/25 North Texas 21 - Tennessee 14 W (TN was a decent 7 & 5 team in '75) 1978/09/30 North Texas 12 - Oklahoma St 7 W 1980/10/18 North Texas 29 - Memphis 10 W (Memphis owns this series)! 1985/09/28 North Texas 22 - Kansas St 10 W *4 Yrs. later Coach Bill Snyder (from the Hayden Fry Coach's Tree) would arrive in Manhatten, KS, and (still) operating at the NCAA 1-AA classification North Texas would be his first & only win in 1989 with their last minute drive for a TD which won it for the Wildcats....the rest of his career is NCAA college football history for a program that had been down for well over half a century! I repeat: Well over half a century. 1986/10/18 North Texas 24 - TCU 20 W (While we were playing at the NCAA D1-AA level) 1995/09/16 North Texas 30 - Oregon St 27 W (one heckuva' football game at Fouts Field) 1999/10/16 North Texas 17 - Boise St 10 W (All time......UNT 3 W's....BSU 2 W's 1999/09/18 North Texas 21 - Texas Tech 14 W (All time.......UNT 4 W's....TTU....4 W's 2002/12/17 North Texas 24 - Cincinnati 17 W (New Orleans Bowl..UC was CUSA champ) 2003/09/06 North Texas 52 - Baylor 14 W 2006/09/09 North Texas 24 - SMU 6 W (A 14 game H & H begins in 2014) 2011/09/24 North Texas 24 - Indiana 21 W

Double yippie ki yay (or however Bruce Willis says that in his movies). Me'thinks our guys over in athletics are doing this CUSA introduction to thousands of the populous of Greater Denton with the right touch. Build on this kind of fervor and we'll need that stadium expansion sooner than later. GMG!

Old fool, maybe---but senile? That's hitting below my sansebelt and polyester slacks pulled up to my belly button, Froggie Guy. ____________________________________ Addendum To Froggie-Style: TCU has reached its destination...now leave us alone and allow us to enjoy our journey; of which sometimes such journeys are as exciting and meaningful as those who've finally reached their destination of choice. I also wonder how soon the squirming would begin in Cowtown when UT and OU see the Aggies success removed from the present Big 12 underlings and bail out--Aggie Style)? Nothing in the NCAA is set in concrete, Froggie Guy--yall should know that more than anyone as when yall got jump-kicked out of the Southwest Conference and were not given a forwarding address to the (then) new Big 12.................again....nothing is set in concrete in today's NCAA. And 2 just for you: Pride cometh before destruction or....boast not lest ye fall? Ol' blue eyes also said it best...riding high in April--shot down in May? (Cognitive skills not as sharp as they used to be but after all, I'm a senile old fool, right, Froggie Guy? ___________________________________ And this from Silver E's research department: TCU: The F.A. "Dry" Years? 1978......2-9 1977 .....2-9 1 1976..... 0-11 1975..... 1-10 1974 .....1-10 1973..... 3-8 Jumpin' Jehosophats! No wonder yall wouldn't play North Texas in the 70's (or the 50's and 60's for that matter). In the spirit of true intercollegiate competition TCU would only schedule North Texas when we were in a losing mode--so that mean't for well over 3 decades of the NCAA's modern era TCU wouldn't think of scheduling the Mean Green. ? ? ? ? During that span of decades, had they only played us just 20 times wouldn't we have added close to 20 "W's" to our all time series with the HornyToads? Here you go, Froggie Guy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOGWbzUM-y8

Ring in the New...Wring' Out the Old! (like inside one of those old wringer washin' machines) FACT IS: All our newbie schools want to be here (in the new C-USA) and are excited about it. In fact, much of our excitement & enthusiasm has spilled over to CUSA veteran mainstays if you read many of their alums and fan's posts. All the newbie CUSA schools want to be (honest to goodness) positive contributors while theirs (ex C-USA'ers who I assure will soon be going to AAC meetings once they see what they've done with basically the same crowd for almost no additional bucks) yet.......... ........aren't many of that group most always looking over their shoulders ready to jump at the drop of a hat while leaping on top their travel partner's shoulders to get a good view of what they perceive is a "grass is greener" scenario? And would some of their group standing on their travel partners shoulders to get that good greener grass view have no problem jumping off their good buddy's shoulders after using them for their purpose and saying something like.........'see ya' later--and hang all that travel partner malarky! Can you really build a good, strong, viable conference's foundation with those who are constantly always looking elsewhere and are never satisfied to bloom where planted? Seems to me we have a bunch of real, bonafide bloomers in the new CUSA while the AAC has a bunch of bloomin' id---s who would sell their mother's soul to the devil to leave their present conference behind to make a couple extra bucks. Any other ideas on this thread's subject title from our "thinkers outside the box crowd"' as to other reasons the new, vibrant C-USA trumps the new AAC? *Erma Bombeck said all that "grass is greener" many times because its growing on top a septic tank. GMG!

If North Texas had had a Terry Bradshaw type of talent (not saying we do now) who (in a stroke of major luck and a most rare smile from Lady Luck) would have transferred to UNT would we have analyzed, de-analyzed, and di-sected him completely all but pronouncing him unfit to play for us before he even took one varsity snap of the ball? I can't wait till August 31'st so we can start getting some answers to all our questions and themes of much speculation over here. GMG!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E

Just responding to the Tennessee game comments but after what ULM did to a Top 10 ranked Arkansas last Fall, I will rarely bring up our Vols win on my own anymore but.............I think we'd all take a lack-luster 7 & 5 season any time at North Texas. The link below shows Tennessee's 1975 W/L record. The Vols would have been a bowl elgible SEC team back then had there been as many bowls as today. It disappoints many of us how we just never built on such positives as we've had in eras even besides Fry's. We must change that.....yesterday. letsgiveacheer, try not to buy into some of the revisionaries we get at North Texas from time to time. 'Fore long, they will having the 1975 Tennessee Vols with "no" wins to fit some kind of on the far side of the moon agenda. When a progam is not winning, there are all kinds of creative and fictional reasons as to why I suppose and at North Texas, we've seen someone's elses past success gets diminished in order to make someone elses failures not seem so bad. I think that that approach falls on its face everytime, though. http://mcubed.net/ncaaf/1975/tn.shtml

Actually, I agree. If Chico had been at USM, UH or even La Tech the last few years, he would probably already have that HFC's gig. GMG!

It's an early Christmas gift.................and Nirvana compared to where we've been for almost forever. Independent status (with more bowl games today) would have been fine if we would have only advanced our program with the normal progression which growth usually complements and had we kept the momentum going that Fry started (but apparently took that to Iowa, too); thus leaving with UNT the KCCMO management style; that is, the Keystone Comedy Cops Modus Operendo of how to run an NCAA college football program and how it was run for many on this board's entire adult lifetimes. This conference will work as long as we have the Houston area in it as to go to for all our varsity sports, specifically football; not sure what we'd have if CUSA ever lost Rice U, though, but funny thing is how I don't think CUSA will lose Rice U. They are smarter than the average bear down there off South Main, Houston, Texas. I honestly think now that 1 or 2 schools who left for the AAC if they had to do it over again would have stayed put in CUSA, especially if that league starts getting raided again. For instance, what if 2 from that league from its West Division take the MWC bite and 1 or 2 go with the ACC? Where does that leave the others in the AAC who jumped the CUSA ship then? I think this CUSA trip for North Texas is bigger than most realize at this point and if we only add winning to the recipe then many more will then realize it, but winning in top shelf facilities (which we now have) will eventually be a nice combo for UNT. Coach Mac from what he inherited from Coach TDodge probably needs Year 4 to turn this thing around completely but many of us hope it will be Year 3--as in this Fall. We cannot run this ship the way it was run last several years in the Sun Belt or for some there will be hell to pay. (I don't post trying for little green numbers or to win some smack board popularity contest, folks, and you should know that by now). Yet the glut and lack of players on scholarship Coach Mac inherited seems to have been the main problem for him and our program up to this point. I think our staff realizes by now that Texas HS football players are not going to (like us) genuflect everytime they see Apogee Stadium, either; it will still take some evangelistic fervor style of selling against the recruiting competition we have--even in CUSA. Our Past Is Way Too Long Past--I've Forgotten Way Too Much of It Myself: Not one Texas HS potential recruit who visits our stadium today even knows (or cares) who Hayden Fry was, what Hayden Fry did at Iowa, least of all North Texas since nothing on our campus is even named after him up there--after all why would you want name anything after the only coach who left Denton over .500 the last half century?

North Texas problems right now I don't think are HFC related; they seem to be more related to this: Are a few of our assistant football coaches not selling UNT and Apogee to the fullest extent for what should be positive recruiting results? Year 3 for Coach Mac will answer much of that question. I think Coach Mac's background with experience as an NCAA FBS level head football coach even at Iowa State with several bowl appearances while there ;and that at a school which may have had as tough a football history as Kansas State's may have been what clinched the UNT job for McCarney. His being a product of the Hayden Fry Coach's Tree didn't hurt his chances, either, at UNT. Seems most schools still usually go outside a program that has been a perennially losing program to get a new head football coach. GMG!

I count 4 of the CUSA keeper schools; that is, those who will still be around this time next year as CUSA members that have been in Top 20 or Top 25 polls in the modern era of the NCAA and I list those 4 alphabetically. (If I've missed one please let me know). 1. La Tech 2. Marshall U 3. North Texas 4. Southern Miss Not one school left in today's Sun Belt Conference has had 1 Top 25 ranking...just a few votes here and there and that's it. La Tech'sters...yall were right all the time about avoiding the 'Belt & many on this board knew it, but "we" wouldn't admit it at the time, of course ! C-USA's 'movers & shakers' over in their Irving, Texas, headquarters should find a way to also cultivate much of the Midwest media who have no problems giving Top 25 votes to some of the MAC's better schools. Maybe that another good reason for UNT to schedule some of the MAC's better schools from time to time? Of course would North Texas or CUSA wins over the MAC's best school(s) translate to CUSA Top 25 votes from those Midwest media poll voters would be the next question. Maybe commish's from both CUSA and the MAC should get together, break bread, drink a little wine and discuss this idea about the voting media from each of their respective regions? Hey folks, we are a Go5 conference and need every possible angle to get our top teams ranked in the Top 25 polls. IMO, such rankings for CUSA's best 1 or 2 teams each Fall will be the main criteria of success or non-success of the new CUSA--along with C-USA bowl wins, too, of course. GMG!

And did I read that they are only going to open the west stadium press box side only? Back in the day years ago (the 80's) Fouts Field would be packed with 20,000 plus for some of these Kiwanis fireworks shows and that even before that stadium was expanded. GMG!