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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

North Texas will soon be hiring a third permanent head football coach since 2006 and a number of vocal university stakeholders don’t want athletic director Rick Villarreal making the hire, citing his history of choices to lead the school’s major sports programs since taking over the athletic department in 2001. “Under the leadership of athletic director Rick Villarreal, we have become birds of pray,” reads a postcard sent to school president Neal Smatresk. The card shows an imposing eagle representing the school’s mascot overlooking the words. Another alum said he was part of a group that has purchased an airplane banner that will circle Apogee Stadium preceding today’s 6 p.m. home game with UT San Antonio. Its message: Fire Villarreal. Their list of grievances are headed by a record in football and men’s basketball — the “money” sports — and women’s basketball that is 133 games under .500 under Villarreal-hired coaches. In football, following the controversial firing of Darrell Dickey in 2006, the program is 28-74 under Todd Dodge and Dan McCarney, who was fired five games into this season. The Mean Green enters today’s game 0-7 overall and 0-4 in Conference USA. UTSA is 1-6, 1-2. View full article Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/football/article41992233.html#storylink=cpy

So, how good is the Mean Green when measured against other FBS programs? UNT landed at No. 76 in this week’s Sagarin college football rankings, which are used as part of the BCS formula. Among other teams, the Mean Green finished ahead of Syracuse (77), Wake Forest (78), Kentucky (86), Colorado (88), SMU (89), North Carolina State (90), Colorado State (91), Virginia (94), San Diego State (95) and Kansas (101). In relation to fellow C-USA contenders, UNT is ranked behind Rice (74), a team it defeated on Halloween night, but ahead of Tulane (98), which beat UNT on Oct. 5. Read more: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/colleges/2013/11/bowl-eligible-north-texas-is-no-76-in-sagarin-ratings-ahead-of-many-teams-from-bcs-leagues-unt.html