UNT finalizing deal that with Incarnate Word for game in 2018

Harry · November 12, 2014

UNT is in the process of finalizing a deal for a nonconference football game with Incarnate Word, that will be played on Sept. 22 of 2018 at Apogee Stadium, multiple sources with knowledge of the deal said Wednesday morning.

A UNT spokesman said that the schools were in talks, while a spokesman at Incarnate Word confirmed the date. An official announcement is expected to be made in the next few days.

Incarnate Word is a member of the Southland Conference, a Football Championship Subdivision league.

Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/11/unt-in-talks-with-incarnate-word-for-football-game.html/

DeepGreen · November 12, 2014

Can't wait for this game! <_<

Travis · November 12, 2014

I think I just peed in my pants.

oldguystudent · November 12, 2014

This is a detriment to our program. Wait. That's a good thing, right?

NT03 · November 12, 2014

I love the deal. It gives us 3 possible OOC wins that season with Army & SMU. Get a lower level p5 school and who knows what can happen... Now just finalize the 2015 schedule

DeepGreen · November 12, 2014

Like basketball, this type of scheduling should improve our recruiting in football.

Sarcasm duly noted.

UNTLifer · November 12, 2014

YES!

UNTLifer · November 12, 2014

Never hurt Kansas State when Snyder was building his program.

Harry · November 12, 2014

I see this as two separate issues. On the one hand, I have no problem with bringing in a beatable opponent at a reasonable price. The separate issue that UNT90 and others are beating the drum about is bringing in a name opponent who will help us to sell out Apogee and bring a lot of the fence sitters to the game. I agree with this in principle. The response that I have gotten from RV on this is that it takes money to get a Oklahoma State or that type of school to come here. If we were selling out Apogee on a consistent basis or had 10K in the Mean Green Club etc that would provide the AD with the resources to make games like that happen. I think the flaw in that argument is why do other C-USA and Belt programs with lessor resources than ours seem to be able to make it happen.

As a side note, I really do think two things have hurt us in regards to being attractive to the bigger programs wanting to have a game in DFW... the biggest being that Jerry World has become the mecca for schools like LSU and Arkansas to come and get metroplex exposure. I think I read that the Hogs are considering dropping their every game a year in Little Rock because they get more value from playing a game at Jerry World. Secondly, TCU moving to the Big 12 now gives all the Big 12 teams a visit to the metroplex. OU and Texas have the Red River game still in Dallas so what team left from a big conference would see Denton as an attractive game for recruiting or otherwise?

Seriously I pose this question to UNT90, Ben Gooding and the others who keep beating this scheduling drum -- please identify your top 5 teams which you would like us to get a home and home series with? I think if you do that you will find it is not as easy a sell as you think.

Eagle1855 · November 12, 2014

Most times I come to Apogee to watch UNT. I don't much care about the other teams.

I mean, we were in a conference with teams called ULL, ULM, WKU, MTSU, USA, FAU, FIU. Is that really much better in the mind of the casual fan than UIW?

I'm starting to care less and less about who we play, just if we win. Do what Marshall did. Play an entire schedule full of CUSA-caliber (or worse) and win games. Create a culture of winning. Take the recruits who want to win. Then, in a couple years, get that big win that's eluded the program for so many years. Did I say years? I meant decades. Did I say decades? I meant ever.

We've tried it the hard way, matching up with National Title Contenders year in and year out. Why not take a different approach?

Edited November 12, 2014 by Eagle1855

UNTcrazy727 · November 12, 2014

I see this as two separate issues. On the one hand, I have no problem with bringing in a beatable opponent at a reasonable price. The separate issue that UNT90 and others are beating the drum about is bringing in a name opponent who will help us to sell out Apogee and bring a lot of the fence sitters to the game. I agree with this in principle. The response that I have gotten from RV on this is that it takes money to get a Oklahoma State or that type of school to come here. If we were selling out Apogee on a consistent basis or had 10K in the Mean Green Club etc that would provide the AD with the resources to make games like that happen. I think the flaw in that argument is why do other C-USA and Belt programs with lessor resources than ours seem to be able to make it happen.

As a side note, I really do think two things have hurt us in regards to being attractive to the bigger programs wanting to have a game in DFW... the biggest being that Jerry World has become the mecca for schools like LSU and Arkansas to come and get metroplex exposure. I think I read that the Hogs are considering dropping their every game a year in Little Rock because they get more value from playing a game at Jerry World. Secondly, TCU moving to the Big 12 now gives all the Big 12 teams a visit to the metroplex. OU and Texas have the Red River game still in Dallas so what team left from a big conference would see Denton as an attractive game for recruiting or otherwise?

Seriously I pose this question to UNT90, Ben Gooding and the others who keep beating this scheduling drum -- please identify your top 5 teams which you would like us to get a home and home series with? I think if you do that you will find it is not as easy a sell as you think.

What angers me is that the AD swore up and down that building a new stadium would allow us to bring in teams we'd have no chance with Fouts. So far, outside Indiana, that's been a complete lie and it doesn't look like any P5 schools are coming anytime soon. I'd love to hear RV explain how schools with less resources than us are capable of hosting P5 schools, but we can't. There are plenty of schools in the PAC-12, Big10, and ACC that never play in Texas.

MeanGreenTexan · November 12, 2014

I see this as two separate issues. On the one hand, I have no problem with bringing in a beatable opponent at a reasonable price. The separate issue that UNT90 and others are beating the drum about is bringing in a name opponent who will help us to sell out Apogee and bring a lot of the fence sitters to the game. I agree with this in principle. The response that I have gotten from RV on this is that it takes money to get a Oklahoma State or that type of school to come here. If we were selling out Apogee on a consistent basis or had 10K in the Mean Green Club etc that would provide the AD with the resources to make games like that happen. I think the flaw in that argument is why do other C-USA and Belt programs with lessor resources than ours seem to be able to make it happen.

As a side note, I really do think two things have hurt us in regards to being attractive to the bigger programs wanting to have a game in DFW... the biggest being that Jerry World has become the mecca for schools like LSU and Arkansas to come and get metroplex exposure. I think I read that the Hogs are considering dropping their every game a year in Little Rock because they get more value from playing a game at Jerry World. Secondly, TCU moving to the Big 12 now gives all the Big 12 teams a visit to the metroplex. OU and Texas have the Red River game still in Dallas so what team left from a big conference would see Denton as an attractive game for recruiting or otherwise?

Seriously I pose this question to UNT90, Ben Gooding and the others who keep beating this scheduling drum -- please identify your top 5 teams which you would like us to get a home and home series with? I think if you do that you will find it is not as easy a sell as you think.

I think the 2 Big12 North bottom dwellers (KU, IASt) should be do-able. Any MWC/AAC/MAC team. Any bottom dwellers from the Pac12 (CO,WASt,ORSt), ACC (NC, NCSt, Wake), & B1G West (NWestern, IL, Purdue) would do as well. At least home-&-home-wise, if not outright buy. But that's way more than 5.

Top 5 though (in order):

IASt - just for the McCarney factor

KU

CO

Purdue

UNM

Stay away from SEC altogether. And the Big12 big boys, like you said, have no reason to come here anyway...

NT80 · November 12, 2014

Embarrassing to the program. We're not in the SEC where we need a schedule break with these FCS cupcakes.

If you have to dumb-down the OOC home schedule (like men's basketball) with an FCS, get one with more name recognition that would bring some fans like SFA or Sam Houston? Even ACU brought a couple thousand fans each time to Fouts.

Why not more MAC games or MWC series; UNM, Utah St, SDSU? Heck even NMSU would be more worthy of a ticket price. And they are all in the same situation as us.

GOMG2013 · November 12, 2014

Bringing in lower p5 schools like Kansas, vandy, wake...will not sell out apogee. Barely a bump in season tickets.

Bringing in okstate, Texas tech, etc will bring a bump in attendance for that one game, but you run the risk of a loss at home.

UH has brought in decent names over the last few years. Barely an impact on season ticket sales and sellouts. And UH is right in the middle of a big city.

Only winning and growing a die hard fanbase will work. Getting students to buy in over an extended period of time will grow a rabid fanbase. Also bringing in more locals. Anyone who is attending because of opponent is not a die hard fan.

Eagle1855 · November 12, 2014

Embarrassing to the program. We're not in the SEC where we need a schedule break with these FCS cupcakes.

If you have to dumb-down the OOC home schedule (like men's basketball) with an FCS, get one with more name recognition that would bring some fans like SFA or Sam Houston? Even ACU brought a couple thousand fans each time to Fouts.

Why not more MAC games or MWC series; UNM, Utah St, SDSU? Heck even NMSU would be more worthy of a ticket price. And they are all in the same situation as us.

I agree with you 100% about SFA and SHSU. Or ACU.

But do you really care that much about Utah State or NMSU? Is there ever a time when someone's like, "who is UNT playing this week? Oh, UTAH STATE? I WILL BE THERE!"

I mean, unless it's a regional rival (SMU, UH, et al) or a power conference also-ran (Vandy, Kansas, Illinois, Washington State), who really cares? It's a home game and it's your team. And it's probably a win.

I seem to remember a lot of people being really jazzed about that win over Nicholls State -- even if they do suck. Why? Because actual victories will ALWAYS be better than moral victories.

Cerebus · November 12, 2014

If we were selling out Apogee on a consistent basis or had 10K in the Mean Green Club etc that would provide the AD with the resources

I am tired of # of MGC members being used as an excuse AND NEVER AS A RESPONSIBILITY.

Oh there isn't 10k of them? How many of them are there? How has that number changed over the last ten years? We might as well ask China for their nuclear codes, it's such a state secret.

The only conclusion I can reach is that MGC and season ticket holder info is not released because it's a huge embarrassment. Not the overall number, the growth in the overall number.

Ben Gooding · November 12, 2014

I am not opposed to this game. I don't really care too much about scheduling like 90 does. This fits the recipe for winning...

OOC-

1 FCS

2 G5

1 winnable P5

My only beef on the scheduling issue is that the years past and the next 2 years we are going to be and have been sacrificial lambs, twice next year and at Florida in 2016. We need to set ourselves up for wins, not beatings. I understand the budgetary issues this would cause, but this is again pointing back to raising the student fee. The raise of the student fee will not free us up entirely but what it would do is not force us to jump on any piece of meat that is dangled in front of us and on some years possibly avoid the body bag game altogether. That's my issue. We are in a financial stranglehold and some of it could be avoided.

Eagle1855 · November 12, 2014

Go ahead and give me all the -1's you want. The truth of the matter is, not a single person that roots for the Mean Green would be complaining about the schedule if we were in Marshall's position, right now. BTW, their non conference home games were Ohio and Rhode Island. SEXY! They're doin it wrong! They should have Oklahoma State or Purdue!

Edited November 12, 2014 by Eagle1855

NT80 · November 12, 2014

I am tired of # of MGC members being used as an excuse AND NEVER AS A RESPONSIBILITY.

Oh there isn't 10k of them? How many of them are there? How has that number changed over the last ten years? We might as well ask China for their nuclear codes, it's such a state secret.

The only conclusion I can reach is that MGC and season ticket holder info is not released because it's a huge embarrassment. Not the overall number, the growth in the overall number.

I agree, and I don't see Athletics caring much about pushing MGC or season tickets either. They put the selling off onto fan-reps and contractors. You either want to buy-in or not, it doesn't really matter.

Who is the MGC top staffer now? I couldn't tell you. Membership numbers? We've never known. It has to be an embarrassment for the size school and program otherwise they'd make the effort to get up to new benchmarks with membership each year.

It happens when the staff has been there for so long. There is no emphasis on freshness of the sales plan or new ideas. Just do enough to keep a job.

oldguystudent · November 12, 2014

I am tired of # of MGC members being used as an excuse AND NEVER AS A RESPONSIBILITY.

Oh there isn't 10k of them? How many of them are there? How has that number changed over the last ten years? We might as well ask China for their nuclear codes, it's such a state secret.

The only conclusion I can reach is that MGC and season ticket holder info is not released because it's a huge embarrassment. Not the overall number, the growth in the overall number.

I know that somewhere along the line I found and posted annual donations for the past ten years. It may not necessarily be a direct correlation to MGC membership, but I'd say there is at the very least a loose correlation. It's been on the upswing since Apogee opened.

Found it. Go here, and find North Texas at #78, then click on the school. Annual donations are:

2005: 2,610,062 <----I'm guessing this include Mattress Mac

2006: 1,494,883

2007: 1,272,637

2008: 1,934,748

2009: 1,841,254

2010: 2,102,019<-----Dodge goes away

2011: 2,496,081<-----Apogee opens

2012: 2,830,658

2013: 3,968,989<-----165% increase over 2006, or, adjusting for 3% inflation time value of money, a 116% increase over index adjusted 2006.

Mean_Green09 · November 12, 2014

Seriously I pose this question to UNT90, Ben Gooding and the others who keep beating this scheduling drum -- please identify your top 5 teams which you would like us to get a home and home series with? I think if you do that you will find it is not as easy a sell as you think.

1. Kansas St.

2. Iowa

3. Fresno St

4. North Dakota St.

5. TCU

Eagle1855 · November 12, 2014

My Top Five (In No Particular Order) for Home and Home's:

1. Texas State

2. TCU

3. Texas State

4. UH

5. Texas State

I don't think we can play too many games in front of Texas eyes to reinforce in the minds of players and fans alike that we are a force in the state and that we matter. Because of that, I see little value playing an historically bad Big 12 team. If you beat them, people say "well they're a bad team -- everyone beats them." And if you lose to them, you're now definitively worse than the worst Big 12 team.

Lastly, if you substitute KU/Iowa St (or similar) for RI on Marshall's schedule ... they still don't make it to the playoff. People still don't care.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Eagle1855

untjim1995 · November 12, 2014

Most times I come to Apogee to watch UNT. I don't much care about the other teams.

I mean, we were in a conference with teams called ULL, ULM, WKU, MTSU, USA, FAU, FIU. Is that really much better in the mind of the casual fan than UIW?

I'm starting to care less and less about who we play, just if we win. Do what Marshall did. Play an entire schedule full of CUSA-caliber (or worse) and win games. Create a culture of winning. Take the recruits who want to win. Then, in a couple years, get that big win that's eluded the program for so many years. Did I say years? I meant decades. Did I say decades? I meant ever.

We've tried it the hard way, matching up with National Title Contenders year in and year out. Why not take a different approach?

Marshall is playing a cream puff schedule and isn't even ranked by the committee that actually has sway in the college football world right now, the CFP Board.

The Boise State model everyone talks about is not even one we could emulate, aside from playing weaklings, because they ALSO played a P5 team every year, usually beating them (see Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Geaorgia, Va Tech, etc...). Those wins got them the attention of the college football world. Marshall winning like they are this year isn't swaying anyone their way, especially if they do what I think they will in their big bowl game, which is fold up like a cheap tent like the last weak-ass non-AQ did with that kind of schedule (Hawaii under June Jones against Georgia in the SUgar Bowl).

Eagle1855 · November 12, 2014

Marshall is playing a cream puff schedule and isn't even ranked by the committee that actually has sway in the college football world right now, the CFP Board.

Fully aware of this. And Im fine with it. Because you know what's easy to sell? A 12-0 season.You know what's harder to sell? A 9-4 season with a third-quarter moral victory and a couple of "if we had just" losses.

Actual victories beat moral victories every time.

It's about creating a winning culture at UNT... and I think that's what we lack most. Create a winning culture and the big upsets may follow, down the line.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Eagle1855

DT 90 · November 12, 2014

Baylor just signed a contract with UIW earlier this year. Maybe the downfall of Baylor in the National Championship thing this year scheduling FCS Northwest LA too.