Side Show Joe

I have to agree. 20 wins can't be the goal. We need more wins, conference championships, and conference tournament championships. At this point anything less then winning the SB tournament will be a disappointment for me.

The updated college rankings for 2-7-11 in Golfweek have UNT ranked 28th in the nation, and Carlos Ortiz ranked 68th in the nation. Both lead the Sun Belt. North Texas has one of the best golf programs in Texas. Congratulations to the Men's Golf Team! Go Mean Green!!!

This class is about what I expected for the amount of time the coaching staff had to create a board and recruit players. My only issue is that we couldn't pull any juco DTs. I really think we needed to sign at least 2. I have always felt that teams are only as good as their offensive and defensive lines. People argue that stars are a good measuring stick when they have lots of 3 star recruits. Others argue that they mean nothing, and point to walk-ons like Casey Fitzgerald. I think both points have some validity. At skill positions, I think stars are overrated. Every high school in Texas has some kid that runs a 4.4, and you never know how he will grow in college. On the defensive and offensive lines, I think stars are important. Not every high school in Texas has a 6'4", 330 pound DT that can bench 470 and run a 4.8, 40 yard dash. And not every school has a 6'8" OT, with the wing span of a kid who is 6'10", that can bench 450, and has quick feet and great balance. These talents can't be coached. That is why I think it is essential that we recruit the highest rated prospects we can attract at these positions. Next season I hope to see a few 3 star prospects at the spots heading to UNT. That said, I trust this staff, and believe they will develop our team into a competitive Sun Belt team next season. I just don't know how many wins we are going to see. Maybe 5?

Great news! Thanks for putting my mind at ease.

I haven't thought about La Porte in years. 20 years ago, I played in some fun games against La Porte.

Thanks for the update. Please keep them coming.

Right now, the recruiting rankings on sites like rivals don't seem too high on this class compared to many others in the Sun Belt. That could change by tomorrow afternoon, but probably not too much. I'm not very concerned by that. We all know there are some quality players in this group, and I believe McCarney has a collection of coaches that will develop these players and win. As we do that, we will begin to improve our ability to recruit against most other schools. I like that we are actively going after the same recruits now. Next season, I believe we will be even more successful. That said, I think this is a quality recruiting class considering; the coaching changes gave us a late start, we have few wins over the last 5 years, we play in the Sun Belt, and the success of the 2 other FBS programs in DFW.

Yesterday, I was watching the Farmers Insurance Open, and some of the golfers were wearing gear with their college logos on them. Tiger was wearing a Stanford polo, Vegas was wearing UT, and Anthony Kim had Oklahoma football head covers. I look forward to the day when we will see our golfers on the tour sporting UNT gear. Ortiz might be our best bet right now. It would be nice to see Ortiz and other North Texas golfers wear Mean Green gear on the PGA and LPGA tours.

I couldn't find enrollment numbers for 1890-1891, but North Texas had 294 students enrolled during 1892-1893. Sorry I couldn't find a better answer for you.

I think that is a bad analogy. North Texas, Ohio State, and Boise State are all FBS schools. Texas State hasn't played 1 down of football in the WAC. They are an FCS team, and I hope they stay there, and win many, many championships. See, I'm not against them.

MWC invite, C-USA invite, and, or a few 5 star recruits would make me very happy.

I can't support adding UTSA or Texas State to the Sun Belt. We didn't move up to the FBS level to lay the groundwork for a new Southland Conference. I would be willing to see the Belt expand, but only if it will finally destroy the WAC and end teams like UTSA and Texas State from moving up. If Belt expansion were to happen, I'd be willing to add New Mexico State and maybe Idaho again. No UTSA, Texas State, or LA Tech. If you think keeping UTSA and Texas State out of the Sun Belt and trying to end the WAC, is similar to what other teams do to North Texas, well maybe it is. But, I'm not going to apologize for looking out for the best interest of UNT. North Texas currently has a lead on both UTSA and Texas State, but not a big lead. If the WAC folds and they have no conference to move up to, then they might have to stay in the FCS. That would buy us more time to get our program producing winning seasons, increased attendance, and reduce competiton for recruits in our heavily recruited state. We don't need UTSA or Texas State in the Sun Belt.

Next to a MWC invitation, the is the best scenario for UNT. Hopefully we will have a year to produce a bowl team, increase attendance, and showcase our new stadium. We do that, and we will be in a much stronger position when the MWC looks at expansion again.

If we get passed over for a WAC refugee like San Jose, then no, things will not be OK. 10 more seasons in the Sun Belt is not acceptable, and will not energize or grow our fan base. I don't want to be the "Frado" of college football like LA Tech. I have faith that our leaders are doing everything possible to get us in to a better conference. If that is not the case, then heads need to roll.

Went over to the MWC board and read a little about what is going on. It would appear USU is will be the #11 team. Officially the MWC and USU have no comments. The interesting development is that San Jose seems to be in doubt as #12. The MWC claims they have not contacted San Jose, and San Jose says they haven't been approached about the spot. Could the MWC still want a Texas team? One poster claims the T.V. money will be about the same with either San Jose or North Texas as the #12 team. Other factors will be used to determine who gets the spot. Lets hope are new stadium, athletic fee, size, increased coaching salaries, and success in other sports can push us over the top. It looks like the west coast schools are pushing for SJSU, and the mountain time zone schools, who get more Texas recruits, may be pulling for us. We will see.

Nothing is final yet, but if this thing goes down and San Jose gets into the MWC, and we are left out I will be sick. I hope we have our people at the athletic complex running up phone bills trying to get us into the MWC. I can't handle the embarrassment of suffering though another decade in the Sun Belt. The SB has been a fine conference for us while we transitioned back to major college football, but we can't accept the Belt as our long term home. We have to push and demand better. I can't believe we hired these coaches, and are building that stadium to play in the Sun Belt conference.

You hope. Congress tends to look out for only tow interest groups: 1. Congress and 2. Which ever lobby group gives the biggest campaign contribution. Last I heard J.C. Watts was the lobbiest for the BCS. Congressman Hatch out of Utah was looking into the BCS situation, but I haven't heard much from him since Utah got an invite to the PAC 12. Do we really have someone looking out for us? I don't think so.

That won't break the BCS cartel. They will just redefine the divisions again and North Texas along with many other non-AQ schools will probably be casted out of the higher level, and removed from any chance to play in the top tier games. I don't want to see that. I'm not happy with the BCS system in place either, but if North Texas were ever able to go undefeated, we'd at least have a shot at a ranking and a BCS game. If the divisions were redefined, that would probably not be the case. Texas already has 10 FBS schools. We don't need 12. the FBS division already has around 120 teams. We don't need more. I'm not saying we should keep other current FBS programs from advancing, like many AQ conferences seem to advicate. I just want to keep FCS schools from messing up our current situation as FBS members. If that's hypocritical then fine. I'm OK with that.

Not the order I would have put them in. Personally, I think at worst the Sun Belt and MAC should have tied for the bottom spot.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you. And I'd like to say thank you to all our fans who donate to our university. Our dedication will be the key to our success.

I've also thought about this question lately. I keep hoping LA Tech, Utah State, NMSU, and maybe Idaho, will just go independent, and finish off the WAC. Texas State, UTSA, and now talk of Utah Valley moving up to try and save the conference is getting kind of sad. I mean Utah Valley??? Really??? At some point, the few teams in the WAC that should stay at the FBS level need to realize that moving these teams up will do more harm then good. I can't see the AQs being happy about teams like Utah Valley moving up. If the MWC expands and adds two teams, and at least one of those teams comes from the WAC, I say the Sun Belt should go ahead and expand to 12 by pulling from the WAC. I don't really want to expand, but if it will finish off the WAC, and end these FCS teams from moving up, I'd be willing to jump on the grenade and expand. New Mexico State would be my first choice. It is my opinion that the non AQs need to put an end to what the WAC is doing, because if we don't, I think the AQs and NCAA will, and some non AQ conferences will be cast down too. lets be proactive on this issue.

The MWC is negotiating T.V. contracts right now. If they decide to expand, I don't think they will drag the process out too long. I'm not sure the time frame for signing the new T.V. contracts, but I bet they will look for an expansion combination that will maximize the T.V. money. In the end I can't think of a combination that wouldn't include the DFW market. If the MWC decides to expand, I like our chances.

I've been to this event the last few years. It's fun. I'll be there.

I like his size. I believe this coaching staff will be successful at recruiting and developing defensive talent. Like many of you, I'm still waiting to see if we can pull a few juco defensive linemen. Like I said, I like this kid, but we can't expect him to come in and contribute next season. I hope he does, but it's just not probable.

I believe that if the MWC is set on adding a team back in Texas, North Texas has a good chance of being that team. I just can't see any of the C-USA West teams moving. But I can't see the MWC adding a UTSA team that has never played a game. I doubt North Texas would demand a travel partner as an incentive to joining the MWC. TCU didn't get one when they joined. Personally, I think Utah State will still be the other team added. I'd be happy with North Texas in a 12 team MWC. If that happened I'd think Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, Wyoming and one other team, would all be with UNT in the Eastern Division. The MWC is meeting later this month. Maybe we will know more then.