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So the AAC commish was quoted in an article I just posted as stating he KNOWS that some of his AAC schools will leave: “I’ve been talking to the (athletic directors) and the president of the schools that might leave, and it looks like some of them will." So, whether the AAC loses 2 or 3 (assuming BYU is one of the 4)... you do have scenarios that could play into UNT being involved. I think most agree Houston will get in. If that happens, you leave SMU on an island in Texas. I just do not think SMU wants that and they wield a LOT of power in the AAC. If they went with that it would be used against them in recruiting. C-USA for all its faults still can boast that we have 4 schools in Texas (UNT, UTEP, UTSA and Rice). So assuming AAC would not leave SMU on an island, who would they take? They have two UT system schools, one in a good market (San Antonio) and another with good basketball in the hinterlands. Neither bring AAC level budgets. Rice is a great academic school which would immediately replace the Houston market but is not the most attractive from a TV contract standpoint. Rice also has a billion dollar endowment but won't spend it on sports so their budget is not AAC level either. And then you have poor ole UNT who is in the same market as SMU and on the other side of the tracks. My thinking is, with the past relationships Rice has with SMU, Tulsa and Tulane, they would have to be the favorite choice as a travel partner for SMU in Texas.

Enjoy.

Tough road game to start the conference slate. Early start at 10:50am. C-USA Video (pay) here: http://conferenceusa.com/watch/?Live=1865 Radio: http://www.kntu.com Chat: http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/chat/

There is no good time to bag on the fans if you are the head coach of a football team that just finished .500, with a losing record in the Big 12. It helps, though, when you have your own statue. Nonetheless, Gary Patterson selected just that time to charge forward and politely rip the thousands who wisely elected not to show up in the cold and the rain for TCU’s snore blowout home loss on Saturday to Kansas State. But, good news, TCU fans — the Horned Frogs are going to the Liberty Bowl to play Georgia. That should inspire them. After the loss to K-State, GP was understandably disgusted with a crowd that did not show up from start to finish ... kinda like his team. The announced attendance was the laughably inflated 42,746. Call it a major upset if 20,000 showed at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday. And those people deserve medals for sitting in that muck to watch that boring game. “I was happy with the student section that was here. I wasn’t happy with the rest of it. Didn’t finish the deal. When we win championships we want TCU to be along but rain or shine, everybody’s got to be there. You’re all in or all out,” GP said. “I promise you, if we were in Manhattan, Kansas it would have been packed.” Start with the reality that there is less than absolutely nothing to do in Manhattan, Kan., and move to the fact that TCU is a private school with an enrollment of 10,000 located in a major metropolitan area. This transparent shot from the head coach at TCU fans is long overdue. It is also pointless. This is one hill not even GP can conquer. This is simply a numbers game. While the support has grown exponentially for TCU athletics, and specifically TCU football, since the school was dumped during the original creation of the Big 12, there are not enough alums and T-shirt fans to create a demand to consistently fill a 45,000-seat stadium. Especially when the team is average or bad. TCU attendance is the ultimate “It is what it is.” read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/the-big-mac-blog/article118889263.html

I just received a call from a good fan who shared with me some of his thinking in regards to the Heart of Dallas Bowl in 2013/14 and how we could potentially improve upon it this time around if that is indeed our destination. I would like to get your feedback on this. One thing it appears that Wren is already on top of is ticket delivery. It appears that they will use UPS to deliver tickets this time as opposed to the fiasco we experience when it was done through the AD last HOD bowl. Three cheers for Wren and the decision makers for proactively putting this in place. Another idea this fan had was in terms of selling tickets. His idea was to have everyone on here that has a facebook account to send a request to ALL of their friends (not just UNT) that contains a good picture and link to the UNT ticket office (not Ticketmaster). The message should be that whether you can attend the game or not, buying a ticket through the AD will help the University as a whole. Perhaps even set up some type of webpage that has a goal listing how many tickets they want to sell which is updated with each ticket sale. He also brought up a great thought in regards to how can we best compile data on the attendees at the game. If you recall from 2014, there were many, many new faces that most of us had never seen before in that 40K group of loud Mean Green fans. My guess is that many of them have never made it to Denton for a game but were willing to attend one in Dallas. What could we do to get their information and possibly lure them to attend a game in Denton next season? People will not give you their name and phone number unless they get something in return. Perhaps we could get that through the ticket purchase process. Or perhaps, have some type of free plastic commemorative UNT football give-away that includes a free ticket in the Wing Zone to the Lamar game in 2017? However they do it, there is a big group of good prospective UNT fans that will attend who we have to figure out a way to connect with. Give the students an easy way to make this game. Get a hip band, hit them up on their unt email, set up shuttle busses, get the greeks and student organizations a carrot. Let's make this economically feasible for every damn student of UNT to attend this game. This is our future folks, we will potentially create 20-30 year supporters if we play our cards right on this. Lastly - this game could have huge implications for recruiting. We ought to figure out a way to invite every damn good prospect in the DFW area and their family to get to this game and roll out a red carpet (within the rules mind you) to make it a great experience. Let them walk out on the field, give them some type of special VIP pass, take pictures and put them on social media. Don't give me any horseshit about our recruiting budget is too low. You have to invest money to make money. Sorry for the novel but I am very passionate about this. Make it happen! gmg

Houston Coaching Candidate Wish List: 5 Replacements For Tom Herman Seth Littrell, North Texas Head Coach The Mean Green won just one game in 2015. Enter Littrell, who has North Texas at 5-6 entering its regular-season finale and on the cusp of a possible bowl bid in his first season. The former Oklahoma team captain, who won the 2000 national championship in Norman, coached under Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2005 to 2008 and was at Arizona from 2009 to 2011. He really started to turn heads after he moved on to work under Larry Fedora at North Carolina in 2014 and was part of the Tar Heels’ 11-3 team in his final season before he moved onto UNT. He has only been there a year, but he has already started to re-establish himself in the Lone Star State. He is bound for a bigger job sooner than later. read more: https://campusinsiders.com/news/houston-coaching-candidate-wish-listreplacements-for-tom-herman-11-26-2016/

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your family and friends everyone. We are very grateful for your continuing support of this site and we appreciate each and every one of you for it. The Mean Green Family has much to be thankful for this year. We will not be doing our podcast tonight but will be back loaded with carbs next week and sincerely hope to have some new and exciting things to discuss and be thankful for. For now let us beat the hell out of Texas El Paso and as always, GO MEAN GREEN!

Call out your bold 2016 sleeper before everyone else. Guys like Ivery and Goree don't count. I will go with Thadd Thompson. He's big, strong, and aggressive at the LOS and I liked his JUCO tape. He's got one year under his belt at the FBS level, and hopefully with a good QB. He can function well as an outside receiver. O/U at 40 rec 600 yards 4 TDs. (which I think is an ambitious prediction of the passing attack)

The first part of a two-phase residence hall and tour center project that will add 500 beds to the University of North Texas campus will begin in February, according to school officials. The project, which will remove nearly two-thirds of the parking south of Kerr Hall, is expected to be finished by June 2018. The new residence hall, at the corner of Eagle Drive and Avenue A, will be approximately five stories tall with an area of 122,000 square feet. The total budget for the first phase of the project, which includes the new tour center, is $49 million. The second phase, potentially beginning in spring 2017, will cost $44 million, according to school officials. Daniel Armitage, associate vice president for Auxiliaries Services, said the project will help UNT keep up with the growing population of students. “As the student population continues to grow, so does the demand for students who would like to return and stay living on campus,” Armitage said. Many of the lessons learned in the planning and construction of the Rawlins residence hall two years ago greatly informed the work on the new residence hall, said James Maguire, vice chancellor for Facilities Planning and Construction. He said the primary lesson learned was how to structure the building in a way to properly suit student experience. read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20161119-unt-to-add-tour-site-dorm-on-eagle.ece

Should be a competitive conference race https://thedailydragon.com/2016/09/20/2016-17-preseason-all-cusa-basketball-awards/ From a UAB perspective

Is it just me or do these "payday" games seem to suck the energy level out of our entire fanbase? On the one hand we want to support the team and hope for a good showing against a superior (on paper) opponent. On the other hand we are scared to generate too much enthusiasm about the game because we have been disappointed so many times on the road in these scenarios before. Sort of avoiding the "Big" letdown. Of course all of us hope and pray that someday we can look forward to a game like this against a #23 ranked opponent in such a storied setting. However, based on our history, not to mention the prognosticators -- this game seems to mirror watching the execution of a loved one. RV used to say we need to play these types of games against big programs because of the opportunity it presented. I never really bought that. Maybe if we had a program hitting on all cylinders you could make that case. We haven't had one of those in a decade. There are signs that may be changing. My hope is that Littrell will do a better job coaching on the road. Not just in a game against the #23 program but against teams in our conference. The honest truth is that it will take a long time to rebuild that "road-game" trust amongst the fanbase. I remember the pain I felt when I attended the FIU game on the road to start the Mac area. We were absolutely demolished in the rain. The Houston trip to play the Coogs 3 years back when we felt like we should be able to give them a game and they ran away with it. The Tulane game when they came back to win with a field goal in the last seconds. The Texas game where we faced one of the most beatable Texas programs in their history... the list goes on. there have been so many road disappointments over the years. Hopefully Littrell and company will be able to build back the ability to show something on the road. Hopefully Wren Baker will figure out a way to get us out of these unwinnable situations UNTIL such time that we have a fighting chance to win them. But for now, all we have is hope and that is why I think things are fairly quiet heading into this Florida game.

+100 tonight. Fun, fun player to watch. I wish we could get him the ball more as a receiver.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unt-east-oak-alumni-season-ticket-package-tickets-26765993808 The great @John Williams strikes again! Even cheaper this year!

Let's use this thread to keep everyone up on games. Houston OU is a battle. 10-3 OU 1st quarter 5:28.

Sept. 2, 2016 As a part of new Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker's outreach to Mean Green students, alumni and fans, the North Texas Athletics Department is asking fans to participate in an online survey to provide feedback on the gameday experience in and around Apogee Stadium. "We want to provide the best gameday experience possible, and we understand the importance of continuous improvement," Baker said. "To accomplish our goals, we need our fans to tell us what they like and where we can improve. As we go throughout the season, we will work to implement changes on any issues we identify through the survey collections." The survey can be accessed at meangreensurvey.com. The survey will begin accepting feedback at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, when the Mean Green football team kicks off the 2016 season against SMU at Apogee Stadium. Responses submitted prior to that time will not be recorded. Members of the athletics department, including Baker, will greet fans at the gates to Apogee this Saturday and hand out cards to fans, asking for their feedback. Fans who complete the survey have the opportunity to give their name to be entered into a drawing for prizes, including Mean Green apparel, unique VIP game experiences and tickets to upcoming athletic events. http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090216aac.html https://unt.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0wkiSR2mjjR9tYh

Hello board, Well, its not a secret or anything at this point, but I did want to make sure that a few things fell into place before making the official announcement. Episode one will premiere tomorrow (Thursday) at 4:00 pm on Fox Sports Southwest. I'm extremely excited to be producing this series again. This message board has always been very supportive of this series and really understands the value it can have on an athletic program. I greatly appreciate that support and its great that the series has a strong fanbase (as long as my color balance is on point). I'd especially like to thank our President who played an integral part in the show's return. I hope everyone enjoys following around the new regime this season and I'll do my best to bring an inside look at what's going on to rebuild this program and the changed that take place. It was very cool to see people inquiring on whether or not the show was returning. Keep an eye out for a website and other social media as I plan on doing more this season to promote and raise awareness. I will keep everyone posted as there could be a few time slot changes during certain weeks. Thanks for the support and GO MEAN GREEN!!! -Ashton

East Carolina's bid for membership to the Big 12 Conference has ended for now after being formally notified it is no longer an expansion candidate. ECU chancellor Dr. Cecil Stanton was informed of the decision late Tuesday afternoon by Big 12 officials. Since the Big 12 announced plans to pursue expansion by a vote of its board of directors on July 19, ECU athletic director Jeff Compher has strongly promoted his school as a candidate. The school's athletic teams currently compete in the American Athletic Conference, but joining the Big 12 would put the Pirates in one of the Power of Five leagues that have the highest profiles, especially in the sport of football. read more: http://www.fayobserver.com/sports/college_sports/ecu-formally-notified-it-s-no-longer-candidate-for-big/article_d37edec2-6f7d-11e6-a010-a7e31db3535f.html I just want to add this development -- it appears very possible that the Big 12 will add one of the Florida schools. The thought process is it place the Big 12 in talent rich Florida, similar to what the SEC did when they added Texas A&M.

I don't post this to take anything away from our starter and the main man Alec Morris. He's the guy and I'm thrilled to have him here. After watching the Littrell press conference though, I remain extremely intrigued by true freshman QB Mason Fine. Littrell is an honest read, and I felt like his description of Fine was sincere. Litrell has seen some good QB's in his time and today for him to say "I was as impressed with him as I was any freshman quarterback I have been around in a long time" speaks volumes. This is a kid who has really made an impression on Littrell and the rest of the staff. It's exciting to think of his potential in this offense especially in 2-3-4 years. In fact, it's damn exciting. Went back and looked up some old articles from when Fine committed. There was one that really jumped out from an Oklahoma paper. John Hoover of Tulsa World wrote, "Sooners interested in Locust Grove QB Mason Fine, but he says 'no thanks'". The articles verifies that his dream school OU came in late with a preferred walk-on offer, and OSU had done the same prior. So maybe it was the right thing for them to do. He was of course a repeat winner of the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year. Or perhaps, OU and OSU thought he had a little something. I know from watching him in the scrimmage, he's a fun player to watch. He knows this offense cause he ran it in high school. His UNT teammates say he is a "worker". He is also an honor student. I look forward to following his career at UNT.

100. Jeremy Combs – North Texas Mean Green 2015-16 Stats: 14.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.7 spg The double-double machine for the North Texas Mean Green is the leader of a team who is poised to make a big jump in the Conference USA standings this season. Combs recorded 14 double-doubles last season, including seven straight in the month of January. Oh, and he shot 60.1% from the floor. Did we mention he’s only a junior in 2016-17? read more: https://collegecourtreport.com/2016/08/15/top-100-players-in-college-basketball-for-the-2016-17-season/