GrayEagle

I'm amazed at the number of coaches that have left in a short period of time. Breakout season? When you lose your best player (Brittney James) with little to replace her does that make you a candidate for a big turnaround? I hear the sizzle. Where's the steak? Quit laughing, Donna.

The WAC even without Boise is a better conference than the Sun Belt. Look at power ratings. Check Phil Steele. Add them up...last year, this year, whatever. The Belt doesn't even match up to the MAC. Stay in the Belt where we know that no one is leaving because no one else wants them? What is that? Move up! Play what if for a moment. What if Karl Benson extended invitations to Louisiana as well? Also promised Montana and Texas State that they would get invites when the moratorium is lifted? Maybe even promised UTSA that if they were competitive and their attendance looked good that they would be added in a few years? There could be divisions to lessen travel costs and when Montana and Texas State came on board there could be a championship game. It could look something like this: Hawaii San Jose State Fresno State Nevada Idaho Montana Utah State New Mexico State North Texas Louisiana Louisiana Tech Texas State I had still rather be in CUSA because of the closeness of the teams but this wouldn't be that bad an alternative.

The MWC could very well stay at nine. If they take one more I believe that it will be Houston. TCU is pushing them as a travel partner. Their record over the last four years is 36-18 which should definitely put them in the upper half of the conference. I don't see them going to 12 unless they believe that it would help them obtain AQ status or want the revenue from a championship game. I don't have a clue who the WAC might take. It could be an FCS school which can't take place until next year or it might even be us. I don't know the economics of our joining but if it's equal or better it might not be a bad move. That's for others who know the real numbers and recruiting advantages more than I.

That's because they had a huge opening day crowd of 14,499 against Army. Their next largest crowd was 3,364. It appears that you can have any attendance and still stay in the FBS. Attendance is one reason why the MAC has such low esteem.

It looks as if the WAC will add one and the Mountain West will add either one or three. That should be it until the Big 10 makes another effort to get Notre Dame and the Big XII decides to return to 12. This was really a tempest in a teapot.

On their first move the WAC took in the western half of the FBS (16 teams, that is) and to get to CUSA they were aligned with Tulsa and Rice on an all-or-nothing deal. Before Dickerson-James and the death penalty SMU had a great reputation and rightly so. Before most of us were born, SMU was a national champion. They followed that with the Doak Walker and Don Meredith eras. I'm afraid that their popularity gave their students a holier-than-thou attitude and highly selective entrance for players had put them in a 20 year skid. I think that history used to play an important part in conference selection but now it's more 'what have you done lately?'

I look for NT to start a baseball program in 2012 if they can get a park built. They have more than a half-million that was donated specifically for baseball so they have the startup costs if they have a place to play.

No, the writer of that article wins it hands down. There are more errors per inch than any of our posters ever make (ok, maybe there are a few exceptions). Yet to be mentioned is that he said Denton was the longest road trip for most of the Belt members. Fact is, we're a longer trip for Troy only, other than the two FA/IU. Of course some of our really rowdies haven't picked up on this yet.

Don't get me wrong, I'd kill to get into CUSA but as a conference it's not all that far above the WAC without Boise. Conference USA had four teams near the bottom of the heap last year. Ironically, it was a poster from ECU who wrote the article and they will fall the farthest this coming year (if Phil Steele knows what he is talking about). The WAC is fairly stable with Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada and La Tech. Utah State and Idaho were a drag but improved greatly last year. San Jose and New Mexico State are a train wreck and are pulling the conference down. Idaho has serious attendance problems. Still, as a conference they are ahead of the Sun Belt. Phil Steele ranks six SBC teams in the BOTTOM 13 and we barely excape the bottom 20. As strange as it may seem. we could be the savior of the WAC. While we can't begin to replace the power rating that Boise gave them we can reduce their travel costs perhaps (especially La Tech) and bridge the gap between Louisiana Tech and the rest of the conference. The big problem is long range. The only really viable addition is Montana and they couldn't gain admission until next year. If the MWC cherry picks Fresno or Hawaii this conference dies. The Belt has at least two who are, and will continue to be, a real attendance problem. Apparently they cannot be ousted so the WAC acquiring the stronger (and closer) SBC teams is becoming more logical.

I couldn't have said it better myself and I'm a definite "homer".

It doesn't matter. SMU will block us from any conference that we will ever have a chance of joining. TCU is the good guy. They won't play us and they are not about to champion our being in the same conference that they're in but they are the paragon of virtue nevertheless. In case it's not detected **sarcasm** should be injected here.

We spend waaay too much time worrying about SMU.

He'd probably do the manly thing and send Royce West.

A few months ago my choice woul've been Dan Smith. I don't understand his stance on the Gretchen Bataille resignation but he has always had North Texas' best interest at heart. If Lee Jackson goes we'll end up in the FCS.

For attendance you're right on. For media, however, we can't ignore Dallas and Fort Worth. No FBS team survives on ticket sales alone. We need TV revenue. We have the largest group of alumni in the DFW metroplex. In a higher-profile conference I can see us being #1 in viewers for some games if we are competitive. It will also give us more of a national presence as we have alumni all over the U.S.

If CUSA stays tight with their current roster...I like it. If Baylor needs a home they could take WKU's place. The 'Toppers would be welcome in the MAC so they would survive. I think that it's a great backup plan and would work even if there were no additional movement. It would have to become the WAC because I don't know that we could oust existing members. The WAC would simply take in six from the Sun Belt.

Baylor doesn't even have an all-time winning percentage; TCU does. Baylor won or shared five SWC championships while TCU won nine. TCU had one mythical national championship (1938). Baylor went 50 years (1924-1974) between a won or shared Southwest Conference championship. I'm not a TCU fan, largely because they won't even play North Texas, but they were more deserving than Baylor to be admitted to the Big 12. However, in my opinion the most deserving was Houston. They also fit the Big XII footprint of large state universities. I don't like them but I would have to admit they would have been my pick (but I would have had to hold my nose). You are probably right that TCU would have also had a poor record had they been chosen. Then again, I'd also wager that Baylor would never have had the record that TCU was able to accomplish in the same crappy conferences.

I like Colorado Eagle's thinking. Except that I would add Kansas and Kansas State. Kansas is said to oppose going to the MWC and K-State would go along as well. North Texas and SMU would assure a major portion of the DFW market. Houston and Rice would do the same for Houston. Memphis brings good basketball and a decent-sized market. Each has some good points so just make it a 14-team conference. We could still call it the Big 12 even though it doesn't have 12 members. Another conference did something similar. The NCAA should consider a waiver since five BCS teams were abandoned at no fault of their own.

At least take the name 'Christian' off of your name. That's not a Christian attitude to take. I know because I am one. Yes, I believe that TCU was probably shafted at the formation of the Big 12. Furthermore, Baylor is acting like a spoiled brat that has had his candy taken away. Both traits are antithetic to Christian attitude. The only difference is that Baylor doesn't have the word Christian as part of its moniker so there's nothing to take away.

I would still prefer CUSA but the WAC minus Boise is still superior to the Belt or the MAC. Here are the averages on the all-time list: WAC 85 MAC 91 SBC 93 The conference averages for last year: WAC 80 MAC 85 SBC 97 Notice that last year we (SBC) were the only conference to regress from our all-time ranking. On the all-time list Middle Tennessee, Troy, North Texas and Florida Atlantic are the only teams whose average finish has been lower than 100. We hurt the conference last year finishing #117, just two above WKU's 119. According to Phil Steele this year will no better. We finally move up but are predicted to finish #98. Predicted to finish 4th is FAU at #106. When does it get better for the conference? The WAC may be no jewel but is a cut above the SBC.

It can help in our being invited to the WAC as a safety valve. It's better than the Sun Belt. It doesn't do anything yet towards our getting in CUSA. Someone from CUSA will have to move to another conference before there is an opening unless CUSA decides to go to 16. If they do I don't see that Boise State's movement has any bearing on us.

It depresses me to think that had North Texas had the leadership that we have recently enjoyed they would be in the same position that Houston is now. Al Hurley fostered the improvement of academics but ignored athletics. If he had the vision of Norval Pohl or Gretchen Bataille we could be talking about major conferences at this juncture.

Negative on Lee Jackson and the BOR is reactive not proactive. The best case scenario on Jackson is that he might not hinder the process.

I know that we need all of the positive hype that we can get but this really needs to be looked at in its full context. Steele picks us at #98 in his power poll. Middle and Troy are well ahead of us. All of the other SBC members range from #106 (FAU) to #119 (WKU). So while we are moving up from last year our lofty perch is partially due to the ineptitude of the other members. The Belt is dead last as a conference. We need to do better and the conference needs to as well.

I liked Colorado Eagle's response about winning being a switch that you flip for or against. We all wanted to win and we didn't and nothing will change that. We just have to hope that this is the beginning of a new era. We have all been disappointed with Todd Dodge but to say that he's been the worst hire is foolish. At the time of his hire there was little opposition, even among those who preferred another candidate. Todd had an excellent reputation and that reputation has had a major part in the new stadium, the improvement in the talent pool and cleaning up the mess that was our football program. Those things are forgotten because he didn't win. He underestimated the depth of the problem and overestimated his ability to solve it without the right help. Let us hope that he has finally hit upon the right combination and that there's a dramatic turnaround this year. How did this get to be a rant against Baylor? I can only assume that it's because of the actions of their lobbyist trying to influence the legislature. I condemn his actions but I certainly don't degrade Baylor. That university certainly can't be responsible for every act of every alumnus. Baylor is the oldest (continual) university in the state and has a rich tradition. Trying to bring them down certainly doesn't build us up. Let us be the very best that we can be, do what we can to favorably influence the selectors and let the chips fall where they may. I deplore the politics associated with this selection process but, like most of us, are helpless to do anything about it. We can't match the history of some of our competitors but we have perhaps a brighter future than any, save the Big Three of Texas. We don't have their political clout but we could eventually join them if we all pull together and quit the petty bickering. Call me a cockeyed optimist but I believe that we end up in CUSA when all is said and done. Britton Banowsky certainly knows who we are and I live in hope that we will be treated fairly by all concerned. Other than our recent football record, and women's basketball record everything else is moving in the right direction for North Texas. I hope that other university presidents see that.