Do we need new rivals

[outoftown]

It seems to me, there has been a lot less talk about having a true rival since UNT moved to C-USA and with starting the series with SMU.

 

Still though, for those who think we new and more fun rivalries (you know, because "SMU doesn't see it as a rivalry", or "UTSA is just an upstart" etc) SBnation has the solution:

the random rivalry generator. Try it, it really is fun.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2015/6/9/8754121/create-your-own-rivalry?_ga=1.203756691.209816443.1415363851

p.s. I had to try about 15 times until i fell on UNT:

This season, the Bar Mitzvah Melee begins anew when North Texas squares off against Cal.

And that would have been ok, but the second one I stumbled upon -no kiddin - was this:

Only one game matters this season: North Texas vs. SMU in the Humid Attic Ruckus.

Edited June 10, 2015 by outoftown

[Harry]

Cool site -- thanks for posting that.  Funny stuff!

To answer the topic question, yes we absolutely need to develop more rivals.  SMU is becoming one again with our long term series but in terms of a conference rival I cannot think of a better one than in-state UTSA.  There has also been talk about having a Texas trophy which would go to the Texas C-USA West team with the best record against in-state opponents.

[meangreen15]

"The NFL's fine, but it doesn't have the spirit of Michigan and North Texas going at it in the Orchard Tumult."

Got this on my 3rd try

[wardly]

We need "A" rival with school that considers us rivals. I can't remember one of any length since my freshman year of 61'.I'm an old man,so some one please refresh my memory.

[Cerebus]

North Texas vs. SMU in the Humid Attic Ruckus.

I am 100% willing to go with this.  Someone mock up T-Shirts. 

[UNTnewbie]

 

Nothing says college football like SMU, North Texas, and the Break Room Wrasslin' Match.

[malonish]

 

Nothing says college football like SMU, North Texas, and the Break Room Wrasslin' Match.

​Don't accost your employers

[malonish]

 

Nothing says college football like SMU, North Texas, and the Break Room Wrasslin' Match.

​Don't accost your employers

[NorthTexan95]

UTSA makes sense to be a conference rival but I just can't get interested in them at all.  I think Rice is the most likely choice for an in-division rival.  It looks like they'll be solid year after year and hopefully we can battle with them for the division title.  The game two years ago was the best of the year. 

UTEP would also make a good rival for basketball. 

[Harry]

Let's be honest, going 0-2 against UTSA has taken a lot of the excitement out of that series. 

[UNTnewbie]

​Don't accost your employers

​Currently have 2 SMU grads working for me and none above me! :-o

...and I don't allow them to wear pink polos or topsiders so they're like fish out of water but they're still driving daddys BMW to work so it's all good for them.

[JesseMartin]

That Michigan vs. North Texas one...man, I still wish we'd had a crack at them instead of UNLV for the HOD Bowl.  But that brings up the real issue, and that is this: to develop a real rivalry, we need more wins - CONSISTENTLY - against a LOT of our opponents.  Beat SMU 3 or 4 times in a row, and that might work out.  Actually beat UTSA instead of talking about how their new program doesn't deserve to compete with us, and it might stop sounding so ridiculous (especially if both teams are hitting bowl games and competing for the West title most years).

Really, though, most of all, even beyond those two, it doesn't matter WHO it is...if it's La Tech, UNLV, Tulsa (if we get back on each others' schedules semi-regularly again), or whoever...we HAVE to be winning nearly (or more than) half of the games if the other team will consider us a rival.  I know the counter-argument to this is to go over the OLD rivalries like UM/Mich St that are really one-sided over the years, but the difference is that there are a ton of natural rivalries that developed during the early years of college football and remained as rivalries regardless of how even or uneven they were.  In our case, as we haven't developed a true rivalry yet, the best way for it to happen is to actually be considered enough of a threat and/or annoyance by virtue of spoiling their seasons semi-regularly.

This isn't 1930.  If it was, old-timey trash talk and a wellspring of random hatred would be sufficient.  As such is not the case, we need to be beating a lot of teams - especially conference mates and regional teams like SMU - somewhat regularly or it will still be the case of "UNT considers us rivals, but we disagree..." coming from all of them.  If nearly every year we're considered an automatic win on their schedules (and don't climb out of that expectation more than once or twice per decade), there will be no need for ANYONE to think of us as rivals.

[Green Crazy]

Most of us dislike nutsack and they seem to dislike us...that and smu are the best we have to offer.  We make it a point to play them and start winning every year or at least 80% of the time and they (nutsack) keep playing decent and i like it. 

[malonish]

​Currently have 2 SMU grads working for me and none above me! :-o

...and I don't allow them to wear pink polos or topsiders so they're like fish out of water but they're still driving daddys BMW to work so it's all good for them.

​Twas a joke =0 I'm sure at least one UNT has an SMU employee and at least one SMU has a UNT employee.

 

Edit: Pink polos are gross either way. Screw frat styles.

Edited June 12, 2015 by malonish

[Matt from A700]

I'll be a sophomore this year. Before my freshman year, I learned about UNT's rivalry with SMU although the all-time record is still lopsided in favor of the Ponies. Watching the Mean Green smack 'em a new one last year was great. Plus, I second the notion of the UTSA rivalry. I just wish we could beat them at something already.

I'd also like to start something with Rice. I remember in 2013 when we beat the division-leading Owls at Apogee on Halloween and that eight-down stand within the 10-yard line, which I think was a defining moment of the Mean Green's season.

I wish we were able to get Baylor, Texas, A&M, Tech, or TCU every year. And the first team we can manage to beat can be our P5 rival.

[Rudy]

I liked the rivalry we had brewing with MTSU in the early 00's.

[Ben Gooding]

I'll be a sophomore this year. Before my freshman year, I learned about UNT's rivalry with SMU although the all-time record is still lopsided in favor of the Ponies. Watching the Mean Green smack 'em a new one last year was great. Plus, I second the notion of the UTSA rivalry. I just wish we could beat them at something already.

I'd also like to start something with Rice. I remember in 2013 when we beat the division-leading Owls at Apogee on Halloween and that eight-down stand within the 10-yard line, which I think was a defining moment of the Mean Green's season.

I wish we were able to get Baylor, Texas, A&M, Tech, or TCU every year. And the first team we can manage to beat can be our P5 rival.

I'll take Baylor. They'll eventually fall back down to the cellar and I would love to be on their schedule when that happens. I think we'd have a punchers chance most years vs Tech granted we keep improving perception and gain back our 2013 momentum. 

[untjim1995]

Realistically, either UTSA, UTEP, or La Tech are the best hopes for anything involving a rivalry. The UTSA one is budding, since they have beatn us in two close games and they talk a lot of $hit for a startup, but probably because we are just pissed they got to do what we could have never dreamed of doing. UTEP in hoops is a possibility, but we have to get a real coach again and UTEP has to stay up in the standings.

I will always believe that we could have something with Oklahoma State if they were approached for a home-and-home series on the eyars they don't play TCU in Ft. Worth. And that could be a nice P5-G5 type rivalry if we could beat them ever. But assuming this is pie-in-the-sky, our OOC rival will always be SMU because the fans here hate them and its a close deal.

[meanJewGreen]

Only one game matters this season: FAU vs. North Texas in the Wine Cellar Clash.

[untjim1995]

I wish we played FAU--that's a team we can beat...I think

[THOR]

Only one game matters this season: FAU vs. North Texas in the Wine Cellar Clash.

Dude...wine isn't bad...I'll take it if we get to raid the cellars of their fans...

[SilverEagle]

We need "A" rival with school that considers us rivals. I can't remember one of any length since my freshman year of 61'.I'm an old man,so some one please refresh my memory.

​I've looked it up and consulted with a more "experienced" fan than yourself (GrayEagle) and the last time we had an actual long term rivalry was when we were in the Lone Star Conference with East Texas State (now A$M Commerce).  Here is one example of the rivalry from the 1946 Yucca.......http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61015/m1/162/?q=East Texas. And here in the 1949 Yucca......http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61018/m1/129/?q=East Texas State, Rivalry.   

After we stopped playing ETSU in 1952 we never had a real rivalry with any other school. When we moved to the MVC, our closest conference mate was Tulsa. Logistics and other things have prevented us from having a real rivalry.

So, Wardly I agree with you. We need "A" rivalry. And like I've said before, if UTSA wants to get a rivalry started then BRING IT ON. Their money spends just the same in our stadium as any other fan base.

Plus their band could teach ours a lesson or two about being a real football band.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2015 by SilverEagle

[SilverEagle]

​

Realistically, either UTSA, UTEP, or La Tech are the best hopes for anything involving a rivalry. The UTSA one is budding, since they have beatn us in two close games and they talk a lot of $hit for a startup, but probably because we are just pissed they got to do what we could have never dreamed of doing. UTEP in hoops is a possibility, but we have to get a real coach again and UTEP has to stay up in the standings.

I will always believe that we could have something with Oklahoma State if they were approached for a home-and-home series on the eyars they don't play TCU in Ft. Worth. And that could be a nice P5-G5 type rivalry if we could beat them ever. But assuming this is pie-in-the-sky, our OOC rival will always be SMU because the fans here hate them and its a close deal.

​I tend to think that UTSA and La. Tech, because they are much closer, would make better rivals. UNT to UTEP 637 miles, UNT to UTSA 305 miles, UNT to La Tech, 289 miles.

[Eagle1855]

Let's be honest, going 0-2 against UTSA has taken a lot of the excitement out of that series. 

​More than us going 4-100 (or whatever) against SMU?

Rice makes the most sense. They don't get to play UH every year, anymore. UTSA should also be considered a rival. This new incarnation of CUSA is new -- and still somewhat fluid with UAB. I think once it all settles, those will be our chief rivals, year in, year out.  

[Side Show Joe]

Fun Site. But in regard to the topic, I believe Rice needs to be our main conference rival. In sports, opposites seem to make good match-ups. We are a large public university, and they are a small private. Together, we represent the two largest cities in Texas. Houston and SMU make it happen in the AAC. We just need to make sure that we are better then SMU and Rice is better then Houston in most seasons.

I'd like to name UTSA as our second most important rival in the conference, but we are 0-2 against them, so it isn't a rivalry. For this reason I believe LA Tech is our second best rivalry in C-USA.

Out of conference, we need to get Texas Tech back on the schedule. It is hard for me to get excited about a road game with A&M when UTEP is signing a home and home with Texas Tech.