GrayEagle

And the winner is....bstnsportsfan3 who guessed 24,675, a difference of 43.
Edit:  Upon further review it was a tie.  RBP79 guessed the same figure.

Here's some food for thought...
The Eastern and Western Division leaders with the best record host the other teams in their division.  The leader (one) plays the winner of four vs five in the second round.  The winner of 2 vs 7 plays the winner of 3 vs 6.  The two winners in each division advance to the final four championship.  Eastern highest rated vs Western lowest rated in game one.  The second game is Western highest rated vs Eastern lowest rated.  The two winners play for the championship.  The location of the championship would be a central location (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or Tennessee).  An alternative would be to have the championship at the university with the best season attendance of the four finalists but that would require a lot of pre-planning by schools that would not be the selected site, since the final four would not be known until days before the championship.
Note:  If the division leaders are tied in conference wins and losses then the university with the best season attendance hosts the division playoffs.

I don't know of a better North Texas fan than Scott Campbell and I've been around this program for 65 years and associated with thousands of fans.

This is indeed the golden age of athletics at North Texas!

I've been here since a few years after Josh Chilton and this is the best. My reasons are:

1. Support by the administration. I thought that we had it when C.C. Nolen was president and he did his best to provide Hayden Fry with what he needed to succeed but the Board of Regents shot him down. However, Dr. Pohl started the support of athletics and with each successor the BOR became more susceptible to funding success. That meant funding the Mean Green Village, the Athletics Building, stadium bonds for Apogee, and larger salaries for all coaches.

2. Better financial support from donors. The Mean Green Club is slowly growing and several million dollar donors have come forth. Financial challenges such as a basketball practice facility, volleyball center, soccer field improvements, basketball floor, lighting and scoreboard, academic learning center, pedestrian walkway, football practice field and others are quickly met. Enough donors have appeared to restart the baseball program.

3. Students have and are stepping up. Face it, there would be no new stadium or increased athletic budget without the support of the students. Their attendance at football and basketball games especially have encouraged other previously non-committed students and alumni to become more active. Even the attendance at the so-called minor sports is holding well compared to others in CUSA.

4. Every sport that we sponsor seems to be in the upper half of the new conference except men's basketball. We are getting better coaches and paying them more. Women's soccer, women's tennis, volleyball, men's and women's golf, and all of the running sports...indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and cross-country all had winning records and swimming and diving should follow suit.

5. Although attendance may still have a few years to go to reach capacity, each succeeding year has edged up a little over the previous. The multi-year scheduling of SMU and Army should help that upward movement.

6. Spirit is really picking up. Last game the crowd of 23K was the LOUDEST that I can recall ever.

This loss hurt about as bad as I've witnessed in 65 years of following North Texas. Two weeks to prepare and we came out flatter than any pancake. Tulane has a good run defense and little else and we play right into their strength. Pathetic!

I came to the party late and I'm not sure what the bone of contention is...

Is it compromising on the athletic fee? Is it mediocre goals? Is it the Board of Regents? Is it the Athletic Department?

Look, I've got damn few years left on this earth and I like to see all athletics leap forward. But, there's been a lot of progress in the past few years and much of that was done sensibly. Have there been mistakes made by RV and the Athletic Department? You bet. Does the good outweigh the bad? It's no contest. So, why not put down the gun and let's enjoy orderly progress (as long as we continue to progress). You can still voice displeasure with hirings, attendance, lack of promotion, scheduling, etc. without constantly nagging.

I don't know that the athletics fee would fall in this category but sometimes there are tradeoffs to get other things accomplished. Reducing one request in order to get another unrelated approval happens all of the time. As long as the athletics budget has increased so that we are competitive with our conference mates...I'm happy. That certainly appears to be the case.

I also believe in setting realistic, achievable goals. When that goal is achieved then you set a higher obtainable mark. I believe that unobtainable goals defeat their purpose. However, making goals too easy accomplishes nothing. Every goal should be greater than, or at least equal to past accomplishments. I don't know what is expected of each sport but it seems that basketball got off easy. Contract consideration or not, give us a decent home non-conference schedule. Three NAIA teams is way beyond unacceptable.

Why the disdain for the BOR? They only act on administration proposals and from what I've seen all have been favorable. They don't propose legislation, They don't say, "I'm sorry, but you didn't request enough". I have, and will continue to be a strong supporter of our Board of Regents. C. Dan Smith has done an outstanding job of getting approvals for athletics. Let's not piss off the group that has done nothing but help us.

Lastly, I saw a post that gave me hope. UNT90 referred to attendance at the last game as the stadium being half-full rather than half-empty. He may be coming around.

In a coin flip you have two variables...heads and tails. In computer rankings there is no such 'evening out'. As an example, if you used computer data for a new product rollout, or what markets are more likely to be profitable to you, and you could only be right half of the time there would be no need for marketing, budgets, etc

Give it a rest...you don't have to be negative about all Mean Green athletics.

We have met the enemy and he is us!

If we are to ever change conferences it will be based on what we bring to the table; not what we have been. We've made plenty of mistakes along the way athletically which were largely due to our administration. We became myopic regarding improving academics. Improving academics was (and should have been) our #1 priority but not to the neglect of facilities, endowment and athletics. In time, we found ways to include these areas and still give strong support to improving academics.

There seems to be a consensus of agreement that the Mountain West Conference has the best athletics (at least football and basketball) outside of the Power 5 conferences. I believe that we want to align ourselves with the best so why wouldn't we consider at least trying to gain membership?

What do we have to offer? Potentially, a large share of the #4 market in the U S of A. Greater access to the #1 recruiting state in the country. Spanking new facilities that Vanderbilt and Tulane have sent delegations to view and emulate. Commitment from an administration that has finally seen the light. The largest student body of any members of the MWC. So, it's not like we dropped the ball thirty years ago and don't even deserve where we are. How long did it take former CUSA members to jump to the AAC?

Regardless of whether we eventually stay or leave, we do the absolute best that we can to advance the conference that we're in. Who knows? By the time we get the opportunity to leave CUSA may have become stronger than the MWC or the AAC. Grow where you are planted but a transplant to more fertile soil can reap benefits.