keith

Third home game in a row under 3K in attendance and 4th for the season. Now at 2,947, average attendance is down almost 13% (439 per game) compared to the first 7 home games last year. We are now down 1,185 in average attendance compared to last season's full year average. The home conference slate kicks off with UAB on New Year's Eve. Hopefully, we will be able to chip away at this attendance deficit as some familiar foes visit the Super Pit, but it looks like hitting a 4K average and growing average attendance for the 3rd year in a row is becoming increasingly out of reach. Just win and they will come they said. SMH. On the bright side, we're currently sitting at 9-3 and 7-0 at home and own the 2nd best Net rating in the conference only behind Memphis. Unfortunately, the conference is incredibly weak this year so we don't have many opportunities to improve that ranking. Aside from winning on the road at Memphis, holding serve in terms of a Net rating may be the best we can do from here. Actually, looking at the schedule, we do have three Q2 road games (Wichita St, FAU and Temple). They need to keep winning and we will need to win those three to improve our resume.

I hear you, but this is the AD's JOB. It is what they get paid to do to. They should have goals/objectives around these metrics and strategies/programs to achieve them. What are the goals? What are they doing to achieve them? We (the collective fan base) pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $9,000,000 a year in overall AD salaries, compensation and bonuses. Throw in another $4,000,000 or so annually in "overhead and administrative expenses." Fund raising, marketing and promotion is a little over $900K (total for all sports). I wonder how much is going to promote basketball to the local community?

Well, I guess it was inevitable. We have slipped below 3,000 (2,984) in average attendance for the season. The last time we were below 3,000 was 1/6/2022 when our average after that game was 2,999. Since then, we have been well over 3,000 and even finished last year's campaign over 4,000 in average attendance. In six home games this year we have had 3 games under 3,000 in attendance. Compare that to 3 games under 3,000 in the last two seasons combined. It was a fun game last night. A lot of back-and-forth runs and a Mean Green win, but boy have we squandered the momentum built at the end of last season. Very disappointed in the inability of our Athletic Department to promote and stimulate demand, get butts in seats and ultimately generate revenue. Does anyone know if the AD has done anything to try to make up the short fall we all know happens when school is not in session?

There is a mistake on page 12. We have won at least one game against the Big Ten. We beat Indiana 24-21 in 2011. It only stuck out because we've played so few games against the B1G conference. These game notes are produced by the AD and available at meangreensports.com.

The good news is there are 3 current AAC schools and 3 recently (actually 4 if you count UConn, but they haven't been in the conference for some time) former AAC schools on the list. We need to get our act together! re-edit...I was right the first time.

I'm looking forward to the game. In-state bragging rights up for grabs and a good built-in storyline with the two head coaches going head-to-head. Should be a lot of hype leading up to the game. I know we have a couple games on future schedules, but it would be good to rekindle the series. Give me an annual matchup against Texas State over the likes of South Alabama or any FCS opponent. I'm not going to call this a litmus test for coach Morris, but it's pretty close to one. His tenure has not gotten off to the start we were sold on. In fact it's been pretty disappointing. In two seasons, Morris has a record of 11-13 (.458). Those 11 wins have come against teams with a collective record of 45-87 (.341). His signature win is against South Alabama who finished 6-6 in the regular season this year, but did win their bowl game to finish 7-6 to become only the second team with a "winning" record he's beaten (FCS SFA at 7-5 is the other). Ouch. 2 of the 11 or 18.2% of coach Morris's wins have come against FCS opponents. 4 of the 11 or 36.4% of coach Morris's wins have come against teams named Tulsa and Temple. This is going to be an important game for coach Morris. I hate to utter these words, but is this an "opportunity" game? If we win, he will get a little bit of a lift and goodwill for the program and his tenure so far. If we lose or do so in embarrassing fashion, I think his time here is running out. Of course, I don't know how we treat bowl games anymore. They run the spectrum of meaningless exhibition games to the game that defines a coach's legacy. Should be fun.

Through 5 home games, attendance is down 11.6% or an average of 400 per game compared to last year. Out of conference scheduling miscues (opponents and timing) will likely put us in a significant attendance hole prior to conference play. As there doesn't appear to be that 7K+ game on the schedule, not sure if we will be able to pull ourselves out of it by the end of the season. Sorry, but home slates against Wayland Baptist, Texas Wesleyan, Mississippi Valley State and Houston Christian will have that effect. Plus, 3 games in 5 days during our normal low time (students off campus) may exacerbate our attendance woes. Let's see if the upcoming Friday and Sunday games help or accelerate the slide.

It will probably be structured as a charitable contribution that will go in part to offset his income for tax purposes.

Isn't the the House vs. NCAA settlement / revenue sharing agreement thingy? Doesn't it only apply to P4 Div I schools event though all Div I schools have to pay into the settlement fund or am I thinking about something else.

Have to admit, it was definitely hard to process!

Hahaha...Vito only trades in bad news for the program. If there is anything negative to report, he'll be on it like a fly on.....

Sure, but after self-employment tax, medicare tax and income tax, it will be a lot less 🤣. All this NIL money floating around has been a nice windfall for the taxing authorities.

Except the ones that ultimately come to UNT, right?

The current system, as it is currently implemented, is definitely stacked against us. Unfortunately, it's unlikely to change materially in the foreseeable future. We can bitch and moan about it or take action. There is a way to use it as it's currently defined to our advantage, attract talent, win championships and eventually claw our way out of the situation we find ourselves in. I shared that in another topic, but unfortunately the entire topic was deleted.

Really? The QB is the most important position on the team. If Chandler Morris wasn't playing for us this year we would have trotted out one of the two freshman and would have been lucky to win 2 games and could have easily gone 0-12.

What's our fascination with short QBs? He's listed as 5'10", but I've also seen 5'9", so he's probably 5'8". Of course, our last 5'8" QB was pretty good.

They have had a year of development under the tutelage of our QB whisperer, so we should be fine, right?

We were an SBC team when we beat Cincinnati in the New Orleans Bowl and look at them now. So maybe there is a faint silverish lining if we are not able to pull off the win. Hahahaha.

Free throws are gonna win it or lose it.

We'd be selling shirts that said we beat #14 USU (now #13) if we had actually pulled off the win, but alas we didn't so need to poo-poo their ranking. Now, part of that ranking is based on their win against a quality opponent in your's truly, so there's that.

Just 23 months ago we went toe-to-toe against BSU in the Frisco Bowl. Now they are actually looking at a first round bye in the CFP and we're sitting at #97. Crazy to think about what can happen in such a short amount of time.

Before adding my thoughts, I have some questions about the band that maybe current or former band members or someone in the know can answer. 1. Who gets to be in the band? Is it an open try out or only available to students in the school of music? Is there a try out at all? 2. Do band members have to pay for (or rent) their uniforms or are they provided by the school? 3. Do they play their own personal instruments or are these provided by the school? 4. Where does any funding required for the band come from (Athletic Department, School of Music, somewhere else)? 5. Do band members receive any credits (elective or otherwise) for being in the band of it is purely voluntary? 6. What (if any) is the relationship between the Green Brigade and the pep band that plays at basketball games?

We are starting to cut into the deficit created by the first game compared to last year. Now only down 8.72% in terms of average attendance. Last night was the highest game 4 attendance of the last four years, but to be honest, I was a little disappointed it was only 3,292 for a "name" opponent (yes, even during Thanksgiving week). November 25 was our earliest game 4, but a much stronger opponent. The previous 3 years it was 12/4 (LSU Shreveport), 12/3 (Omaha) and 12/2 (Miss Valley State) respectively. I mentioned this during the in-game thread, but the ESPN+ broadcast sounds like the commentators are off site in a soundproof room or something. Not hearing the crowd noise and the excitement in the arena really detracts from the game experience. Need a better audio production. I switched to the radio stream and it was much better from that perspective.

There is something wrong with the way we produce ESPN+ content. The audio is such that you hardly know there are any fans in the stands. You can kinda hear them making noise, but it’s so muted.

Something tells me we may struggle against Memphis 🤪. That was a fun game to watch. Great win for the conference.