Mike Jackson

With the dismal season so far, I wanted take a look at UNT Men's Basketball history. We have only 3 conference titles in our history. So I would say this part of the athletic program is more worse than any other athletic program at the school. Besides getting rid of Benford was else can be done to this program on the right track? I kind of disagree with Vito's opinion that firing Benford now (midseason ) is a bad idea. Looking that resumes of coaching staff there are at least 2 I would be interested in giving the reigns to just to try them out. I would like to see what Todd Shelton could do as head coach for the rest of the season. Depending on how the team performs under Shelton at least we would know if he is worth keeping around after Benford is dismissed. Don O'Dowd has an interesting resume also. Rob Evans has a great resume but is long in the tooth and too close to Benford in philosophy to Benford. I think they should bring in a young coach and keep the best of the younger assistants on board for continuity. And I think a big part of evaluation to determine if keeping one then is worth it is to make an interim change at head coach. What do you guys think.

Cerebus just listed some those consequences UNT suffered. I knew about the Ole Miss cancellation, I didn't know about Miss State cancellation.

He said he would "look it up"

So last week I was on the TRE Train and the subject of college football came up. An older gentlemen brought up the fact that he always cheered for SMU and Houston cause they were the school to first break the color barrier in college football in this region of the country/Texas. I quickly corrected him I pointed to my alma mater's logo on my jacket. This has always upset me from the moment I found out how this major part of UNT's athletic history is not well known. As a black native of Denton Texas that only found out about it after started rabidly following college football ironically after I left Denton for the Army. This speaks horribly about how UNT honors its athletic history. This is one the aspects that goes beyond just winning that even a "Liberal Arts Commuter School" student body should value. Now it is only pure speculation but I sincerely believe that big part of UNT being left out of the old "blue chip" conferences had to do with resentment of our program for breaking the barrier first in the state of Texas. To summarily dismiss it has having no negative impact in the "good ole boys" decision making rooms of college football in the 50's and 60's is quite naive. If our program suffered the consequences of doing the right thing way back then, our program should enjoy the rewards of doing the right thing all those year ago today. I hope Wren Baker does everything in his power to publicize this positive historical moment for UNT's athletic program. Anyone local that is into college football should know this history and especially natives of this area who happen be black and care about football. Coach Mitchell greatest coach in history and Abner Haynes help break the CFB color barrier. And with Abner on his way to being AFL Rookie of the Year, AFL MVP, AFL Champion, Super Bowl Champion and Kansas City Chief Hall of Fame, its sounds movie worthy to me. And the movie could focus on Coach Mitchell, his staff and the lead up their decision to break the color barrier and the success they enjoyed with Abner and Leon King on the team.

Okay now that is why I was so confused. I thought for sure this quote was much older than 1994 because of the Safeway reference. That is why it be attributed to Matt Simon did not make sense. I don't remember Safeways being in this area after I started junior high school, that is when I discovered that UNT played football.

Since UNT has returned to FBS (Div I-A) Football it seems to me the only offensive position we have been consistently decent at is running back. I wanted to pose the question to the MGB board of why has allowed UNT to be consistent at that position? Perry is the latest departure but it seem that during this run the entire staff has turned over several times but running back play has been a consistent bright spot on offense most years. How does the Mean Green keep the run going? Several other topics inspired this one specifically "Great Mean Green FB You Ever Saw" among others. This definitely concerns me. Seth spent quite a bit of time coaching Running Back at previous jobs but he has a lot more to focus on now. I hope his experience helps him chose another coach to continue the good play we have seen at this position for years to come.

RV did not do a good scheduling job with the new stadium. People aren't going to come to see us beat down (hopefully) Incarnate Word and Houston Baptist. Only hardcore college football fans know that Abilene Christian is a good program. Lamar is a large school but how many people know that? I would much rather seen Texas State, and Sam Houston replace Incarnate Word and Houston Baptist. Texas Southern would been a better (FCS) alternative also. Right or wrong we need to schedule play teams with name recognition from casual fans living in Texas for the best attendance. Rhode Island isn't a great get for the schedule but they have a 'state' name that would indicate they are one of the largest institutions in that state. A casual fan might even think Rhode Island is FBS.

LOL, I assumed you were joking.

You don't need 16 teams you essentially get that by selecting the 4 highest ranked bowl game winners and playing the semi-finals games at the home stadiums of the 1 & 2 seeds the weekend after January 1st. I watched a great Rose Bowl with 2 good teams that meant nothing. Think of the intrigue if Western Michigan had beaten Wisconsin or better yet if the Cotton Bowl was played the next day with the result of the Rose Bowl already known. We are missing out on a great Bowl Season with a lot of interest that does not diminish the regular season. It keeps the bowl games special and puts something big on the line for every P5 team entering a bowl game with less than 3 losses. I don't like the 16 team playoff cause you end up with too many 3 loss team in the playoff. Most "Blue Blood" P5 programs only have 3-5 games a year in which they don't enter a game as less than a 7 point favorite. Look at each P5 conference and even in the bigger super conferences there are only 3 really good teams any given year (the champion from each division and best runner up in the better of the 2 division that year). The best divisional runner up; Ohio State was exposed in the Fiesta Bowl. Is Ohio State better that Western Michigan this year? We will never know. All we do know it that they held their own against the 8th rank Wisconsin Badgers. G5 go undefeated win your bowl game and you are in.

Could you illuminate some of those reasons? I am anxious for UNT football to develop some good relationships with some of the more successful programs in the DFW area.

Anything we can do to continue having legitimate national champions, with meaningful bowl games, and a pressure packed regular season the better. And simplistically I just think that means selecting teams after the bowl games.

There are 10 conferences all together. That does not give a G5 an honest shot at the playoff. Look at this years rankings 8-4 Auburn is even ranked ahead of Western Michigan. If you never get a chance to play the big boys at home or on a neutral field you virtually have no shot if your a G5 team ranked outside the preseason top 25. Your preseason ranking G5 status should not exclude you from earning your way in through a bowl game as an undefeated conference champion. If Houston plays Western Michigan's schedule this year and they go undefeated they are in the playoff based on preseason ranking and to me that is garbage. No other major North American team sport operates this way.

Today I heard debates about prominent NFL prospects sitting out their final Bowl Games and I got me to thinking. There is a lot of interconnected greed hurting college football as a whole and the bowl games and playoffs are symptomatic of it. There has always been an easy win vs win for all FBS level programs when it comes to the post season. And I wish I knew the real reason (or rather the power player would admit what I suspect) why this simple solution has not been implemented. First let me identify my 3 biggest gripes with college football. 1. Non Power 5 programs have virtually no shot at ever proving themselves worthy to even compete for a national title. 2. Throughout the entire history of College Football Bowl games are mostly irrelevant. (At best maybe 4 mattered before the implementation of the BCS) 3. P5 power teams almost never play G5 teams on the road My simple solution (many have thought of it before) is a 4 team playoff after the bowl games. There are some minor tweaks that would need to be implemented to make sure an undefeated G5 team like Western Michigan would get a shot in getting into the final 4 after winning their bowl game. [That tweak is that an undefeated G5 team or maybe one ranked 12 or better with only 1 loss gets a top 6 ranked team in their bowl game]. First of all with all apologies to Ohio State fans who might run across this, but I believe it is utter bullshit that they are the 3rd rank team in the playoff and the other teams in the playoff won their conference. Best case OSU should have been 4th if you they were determined to put them in over Penn State. Conference champions deserve better bowl games than their conference mates that they beat head to head. In post bowl playoff this would not be an issue because they would have to win their bowl game to get into the post-bowl game playoff. The post bowl game 4 team playoff would ensure that almost any bowl featuring a top 10 team would be highly contested. Also this post bowl playoff would make winning your conference critical so give your team the power to select the best bowl possible to give you a shot at the playoff. The semi-finals of the playoff would be played at the home stadiums of the 1 and 2 seeded teams and that national championship game would rotate between the New Year's 6 bowl game sites. My question to the my fellow GMG members is what are the road blocks to this? And is this plan the best plan to balance the considerations for the bowl game committees, playoffs, and fair competition?

Although I think it is distinct possibility that the Big 12 dies along with the LHN deal but I wouldn't be so sure. Especially if Texas stops being so greedy and accept that they can't function as an independent program within a conference. A Big 12 network deal at the end of the LHN contract might save the conference. With the recent moves Fox to acquire more college football programing, I think NBC would be interested in a Big 12 package if their current deals come to an end around the same time as the LHN. Houston needs power partners in a post LHN/Big 12 landscape and SMU doesn't count.

When guys break the rules here there should be consequences. I am not interested in wining the wrong way and getting busted by the NCAA as soon as we win a few CUSA titles. Losing sucks but there are too many good athletes in this region and UNT has too many resources not to have tough standards for their student athletes. I hope he learned a valuable lesson and is better off for it.

Just because I am not buying this game as great positive. I don't see it as negative either. (But if they show up like they did in El Paso that could be negative.) The program's core problem is that people do not show up in Denton for games. This game is not going to help in that area unless we get (what I believe) an unrealistic bump in recruiting by having this bowl game. Recruits are young immature men with a lot to consider or their plates. A commitment to the Army is at a totally different level than a commitment to UNT or any other FBS school that requires military service upon graduation. Those are the reasons that we don't really "recruit" against Army, Navy or Air Force in my opinion. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade but people gushing an unrealistic hope for positive impact coming from this game are quite naive. And attacking GMG_Dallas or me isn't going change those fact or get butts in Apogee seats in 2017. And the explanation why this bowl game is so much better than playing a game during the State Fair in better weather, against an opponent we pick, that actually means something, and has the more potential to influence fans to come to Apogee in the following week were weak. Of course we shouldn't not give away a home game every year. But if is set up with the right opponent that we alternate being the "home" team in the game that would be great. Attending this game does not define me as UNT Alumni or MGC. And a direct financial donation to the MGC in an amount greater that these inflated ticket prices helps more than attending this game in my opinion. My not attending is not going to change the pub and "soft" rewards you guys are touting about this game anyway.

Thank you. I don't have the money the true bowl game experience but when I do, I will. More power to everyone that goes. I hope we win and I hope everyone has fun. Oh, about those ticket prices. I found cheaper tickets to the Cotton Bowl (Western Michigan vs Wisconsin). Tickets are as low a $12 on Stubhub. However tickets for our game on Stubhub start at $60. (Yes, yes I know you should go through the North Texas ticket office). it just isn't good value and if I am going to be charitable to my alma mater I would rather be direct about it instead of helping line the pockets of bowl committee members.

Yes, sounds reasonable make bad financial decisions to "support your school" The schools will get more financial benefit from direct donation to the school or attending a game in Apogee. The bulk of the ticket revenue goes to the Bowl Committee. UNT might be in the black for HoD Bowl trips but a lot of schools loose money on Bowl trips. I am going to take my $50 and donate it to the MGC.

1. That is nothing to celebrate that is a HUGE problem. These fans didn't come to Denton the following year and they won't come to Denton in 2017 season regardless of what happens in the game. I am often lectured about how having a game the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair is a bad idea but for this bowl it is great all the sudden. I don't understand that. If these fans don't come to Denton in the future then what point? I hope they have a good time and UNT get some good pub but it is a flash in the pan if you don't win big. 2. I don't have a retort. It is great that you are excited but I believe you are in very small minority of local UNT Alumni. (Most who don't even know gmg.com exist) 3. I don't think Army Academy really "recruits" (at least for sports) like this comment seems to suggest. As a veteran from a family of veterans seeing military hardware is not exciting for my family or me either. I hope you have a great time. Go Mean Green.

I hope SMU is the school you are referring too. UNT is not recruiting against Army a lot. If you are considering Army football is probably not your biggest concern and if you qualify for the Army Academy academically. UNT is tougher to get into these days but it isn't at that level yet.

Did I say that? No! If you win you should always go to a bowl game no question. If you win your conference or even a division within your conference you should go. But going to these newly created bowl games isn't the same as going to even an Independence, Liberty, or Citrus Bowl. If they were playing a team we haven't played this year and had at least a 7-5 record I would be right there with everyone else critiquing everyone "complaining". That isn't the case. This is purely about money and these student athletes aren't paid so I am not filling the pocket of bowl organizers for the right to sit in the cold to watch a meaningless rematch. No offense to the people who want but the people who don't should not be attacked as disloyal scolded for not "understanding".

I only missed Southern Miss game and that was not by choice. I also went to 2 watch game parties this year for road games. And I went several meaningless games at Apogee last year. Maybe I should be more specific; I am not interested in the meaningless rematch in the same season. No when you count parking or use DART. (Dart cost minimal but when you car is broken into like it was for the SMU game when I used it last year...) And $50 seats are end zone seat in stadium that pales in comparison to Apogee. I find it ironic that people piss all over the idea of having a meaningful annual rivalry game in the Cotton Bowl in season during the State Fair think a "bowl" game there in bad weather with nothing going on in Fair Park is awesome. Also to duplicate the view I purchase for Apogee home games the cost for this game is more than double $35 Apogee Sideline - $75 HoD Bowl Sideline.

Not buying this. The local FBS fans that don't care about UNT football aren't going to pause for this. It might help in the "extended" local area outside of DFW. With all that said I would rather donate $50 to the MGC than go to this game, sorry. The goal shouldn't be just to have the HoD committee fleece fans that won't come to Apogee next the season. That is what happened last time. And I will donate instead of going. Wow 30+ down votes for telling the truth.

Bowl games used to be exclusively for conference champions or teams that had really good seasons. When more than half of FBS teams now go to bowl that is no longer the case. Just like playoff stats in MLB now. The only reason that we have 6-6 G5 teams in bowls now is because they have spaces to fill in bowl games. Most except the top 10 bowls are glorified participation awards.

That is great Wardly however you can't classify everyone not excited about attending this game as "fickle". UNT is the only program I support financially whether professional or college. Not excited is not the same as "bitching". I think you would have liked another opponent also. If you have the money and can take vacation day at relatively short notice more power to you. I wish more of us did. The first HoD Bowl should have had even more fans that it did because there was more to be excited about. Even during the 1-11 season I wore my UNT stuff daily and attended half the home games during that dismal season last year. It is counter productive to be attacking long suffering fans who care enough to even be on gmg.com to read these comments. Save this critique for when we are coming off a 9-4 season and can't sellout the home opener against SMU the following year.