realitycheck

I 100% agree with you about winning over Denton. I have said for years that North Texas needs to focus on becoming the #1 team in Denton and worry about the rest of the Metroplex down the road.

To be fair, those Tech teams did have winning records and probably would have been in bowl games under today’s College Football landscape.

I almost hate to say this but perhaps at the coaches caravans we should all boo Coach Benford mercilessly instead of applauding him. It might not even be a bad idea for us to get up and walk out of the room. Heck if people wanted to start chanting “fire Benford” I would join in with them. I believe that one reason why the athletic department hasn’t gotten rid of Benford is because they’re not feeling any real heat from the fan base over this decision. A lot of other fan bases of other schools would have voiced their disappointment and displeasure in some way at a game or an athletic event a long time ago.

I think that there is a big difference between a coach being a mean SOB and coach using derogatory language like Rice did in the video. I’m sure that almost every coach in the nation (except for maybe the ones at BYU) has used four letter words at some point towards a player in a practice and/or game. I’m sure most of them have gotten in a players face and yelled and screamed at them. However, when you use offensive terms like the ones Rice said, that is uncalled for and inexcusable.

At least he didn't do a prank about Benford getting fired. That would have cruel and unusual punishment.

It’s interesting because from what I understand he was the highest ranked recruit that Missouri ever had in the history of their basketball program. If this is true then regardless of what kind success the program may have in the future, there is a good chance that we will never see a player as talented as him again.

The fact that his hot seat index is only 4 is disgraceful. I think it's fair to say that he would have already been fired at most mid-major schools.

Overall, your post pretty much sums up how I feel right now. The only thing I would add in the negative column is that Mr. Villarreal hired Todd Dodge as well.

I’ll definitely join your campaign to get rid of Benford.

I'm guessing CBS Sports Network since they show a lot of Conference USA games on Thursday. This means that only a handful of people will get to watch it. Game 7 of the World Series is scheduled for that night which could also cut into our viewers as well.

I concur with you 100%. I think a lot of alumni will not be able to make the game because they will be out treak or treating with their kids.

LOL, Brilliant.

It's towards the end of the show. They're talking about how Craig Miller announced in December that it was a goal of his to go to at least one game for every college basketball team in the area. So far, he has not gone to any.

Does anyone have a link to the audio for this conversation?

To be fair to Cal State Fullerton, they have won five national titles in baseball. As I often say, if there is such a thing as a baseball school, it's Cal Fullerton.

Overall, I agree with you about the “the give it time theory.” Top caliber athletic programs don’t just spring up over night. However, I’ve been saying give it time since 2001. The problem isn’t just one bad men’s basketball season. The football program has not had a winning season in over 8 years. The women’s basketball program has had more downs than ups since 2002. There have been just some extremely poor decisions made in recent years that have had a major negative impact on the athletic program (hiring Coach Benford being one of them). I really feel that the UNT athletic program is at a fork in the road and the decisions made in the year or two will decide what kind of success that athletic program will have for the next 20 or even possibly 30 years. While I fully believe that President Rawlins is committed to making major improvements to the athletic program (along with academics and other aspects of university life) I sadly believe that UNT 90 is correct that Chancellor Jackson does not share that vision when it comes to athletics (quite frankly, I’m not sure he shares it for the other aspects as well). This troubles me greatly because this means that there is not a top to bottom commitment when it comes to athletics at UNT. This is something that has plagued the university for decades. So while it is correct that it will take some time (possibly many years) to achieve the goals we all want to see happen, there also needs to be the proper decision making and the proper commitment to the program during this time to make sure these goals are met.

For part of that eight year period there was four year period (07-10) in which students only saw the team win three home games in football. After we beat Indiana in 2011, I went to watch the Talons light the tower green. There was student there who was a senior at that time who mentioned that was the first home game that he had attended in which the team won. That is not how you build a fan base.

I don't believe it was on Ch. 21, I heard it on KNTU.

If Coach Benford is back for two or three more seasons, we're going to need to get a decent coach with head coaching experience (i.e. we're going to have to spend some money) to replace him because the program will be in shambles by that point.

LOL. You sound like Hank and George doing the broadcast tonight. I had never heard spin like that for such a disastrous season.

I don’t know how many of you caught this but in Coach Benford’s post game interview tonight he said that (I am paraphrasing here) his goals for the rest of the season are to push the team hard, keep trying, and win a game or two. He may not have meant it the way it sounded but if his goal really is just to win another game or two for the rest of the season he should be fired now. If he didn’t mean it that way, he needs to find a much better way to state his goals for the rest of the year.

I wish there was a clause for the team having several technical fouls in one game.

The sad thing is that this year's team is more experienced and probably more talented. Yet the results are worse.

You are the most knowledgeable person on this message board when it comes to College Basketball. Do you believe that Coach Benford will be fired this year?

It's almost like there was some key change in personnel that negatively impacted the team.