UNT's Biggest Rival

[GreenTexan13]

In all seriousness, the school that views us as a huge rival is probably UTA, since we compete with them for Metroplex students and have played several years in basketball. UTSA probably likes us as a "rival" in football, since we are an in-state school that has some name recognition from fielding a team for decades, yet still haven't beat them (sad)...

If we claim UTA as a rival, I'd say we should go for North Central Texas College next...

[untjim1995]

No one at UNT views UTA as a rival. They don't have a football team so that is settled. UTA may see us as an enrollment rival...that's where that stops. Nothing more. Even bringing them, us and rival up in the same sentence is dumb.

And as far as basketball goes...this is Texas. Football rules this roost.

I never posted a syllable about UTA being our rival, just posting about a school that actually looks at us as a rival. Kinda like SMU looks at us, but I digress...but I guess bringing that up is "dumb", which is probably what SMU posters say when we talk about them being our "rivals", the guys who have played us exactly 6 times in the previous 25 years.

And, yeah, football really rules bigtime in Denton, Texas...I mean adding 800 members to the MGC in the same time that 76k graduated, not to mention those who attended the school and didn't graduate, or just moved into Denton in the last 15 years, shows that football is definitely ruling in our fair town.

[Ben Gooding]

I never posted a syllable about UTA being our rival, just posting about a school that actually looks at us as a rival. Kinda like SMU looks at us, but I digress...but I guess bringing that up is "dumb", which is probably what SMU posters say when we talk about them being our "rivals", the guys who have played us exactly 6 times in the previous 25 years.

And, yeah, football really rules bigtime in Denton, Texas...I mean adding 800 members to the MGC in the same time that 76k graduated, not to mention those who attended the school and didn't graduate, or just moved into Denton in the last 15 years, shows that football is definitely ruling in our fair town.

Denton as is wishy washy of a town I have ever lived in.Too many hippies, too many apathetic personalities, too nany fill in the blank. Denton has no real identity and that is its problem. Some claim music, but there's no denying that its dying off as well. 

[Aldo]

Some claim music, but there's no denying that its dying off as well. 

Not true, but there's always craft beer gardens!

[untjim1995]

Denton as is wishy washy of a town I have ever lived in.Too many hippies, too many apathetic personalities, too nany fill in the blank. Denton has no real identity and that is its problem. Some claim music, but there's no denying that its dying off as well. 

I don't think so...music is the window to the university and the town. Always has been, always will be. Maybe that is what brings in the "hippies" as you say, but that is what the entire city is known for. Its a liberal arts university and town.

Again, though, your point was that football is king in Texas...which is very true. Just not in Denton, Texas. It isn't wishy washy on sports at all...they make it real clear that they don't care about them much at all, except for the 10,000-20,000 that show up on a Saturday for the fall, many of who travel from outside the city limits, as well as the 1000-3000 that show up at the Super Pit during the regular season. From a pool of 36k students, thousands of faculty and employees, 100k citizens in Denton, and the 200k local alumni in the DFW area, that 's not wishy-washy, that's pretty damn clear to me...

[GreenTexan13]

As much as I completely Hate/Dislike UTSA and their fans, I hate the city slickers of SMU a hell of a lot more. Just because they have this entitlement attitude and are smug.

I'll throw another one in there, "As much as I completely Hate/Dislike UTSA and their fans, I hate Cougar Queen and the city slickers of SMU a hell of a lot more. Just because they have this entitlement attitude and are smug.

[97and03]

Other. Our only rival is our BOR, Lee Jackson, and past presidents.

[JesseMartin]

I voted for "Other" to signify your choice of "apathy," "internal strife," etc.

[DallasGreen]

I voted SMU, but on second thought Denton and our students are much more long term rivals. With the new coach SMU will become an opportunity/body bag game very soon. See prceeding sentence for the reason.

[Christopher Walker]

Some claim music, but there's no denying that its dying off as well. 

Out of touch Ben is out of touch.

[pastorgrant]

SMUg

[SilverEagle]

If we claim UTA as a rival, I'd say we should go for North Central Texas College next...

You know, U. of Idaho (Vandals) used to have the same dismissive attitude about Boise St. Well let's see, where is Boise St. now and where are the Vandals?

Instead of getting busy looking for ways to be dismissive about UTSA, we better get busy changing our damn culture. Hayden Fry pointed out that need when he arrived on campus 42 years ago, and (in the words of Dr. Phil) "how's that been working out for us so far?"

Edited August 3, 2015 by SilverEagle

[Side Show Joe]

You know, U. of Idaho (Vandals) used to have the same dismissive attitude about Boise St. Let see, where is Boise St. now and where are the Vandals?

Instead of getting busy looking for ways to be dismissive about UTSA, we better get busy changing our damn culture. Hayden Fry pointed out that need when he arrived on campus 42 years ago, and (in the words of Dr. Phil) "how's that been working out for us so far?"

I have to agree with you about UTSA. They are in the club now. The time for being dismissive of them is over.

As for changing our culture... we need to be looking at what Houston is doing. I believe they are a fairly good blueprint for us to follow.

 

 

[Cr1028]

Until that University off Mockingbird Lane is shuttered for cruelty to hookers, I don't see how there is any other acceptable answer.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Cr1028

[cogido]

smu is a little PUSSY (sorry I meant pony) school that UNT needs to beat and leave behind, just like last year's drubbing of the little pus... I mean  pony. They are no rival,  just an irritation like mosquitoes.

[VideoEagle]

I'm pretty sure A&M was bigger rival to Texas than OU.  Now they don't play so not so much.

I was basing it on an admitted small sample size - a group of about 12 UT alums with whom I drank a lot of beer at the Dallas Gingerman. One of the  group was a former UT cheerleader from '69. Back in the mid-2000s they were all VERY vocal that OU was THE game. A&M mattered but no more than Tech or OSU or KState - conference games but no more. The entire group had season tickets to games in Austin although they lived here so they were very dedicated although they'd all graduated in the 70s. 

 

[GreenTexan13]

You know, U. of Idaho (Vandals) used to have the same dismissive attitude about Boise St. Well let's see, where is Boise St. now and where are the Vandals?

Instead of getting busy looking for ways to be dismissive about UTSA, we better get busy changing our damn culture. Hayden Fry pointed out that need when he arrived on campus 42 years ago, and (in the words of Dr. Phil) "how's that been working out for us so far?"

???

I never said anything about dismissing UTSA. We were talking about UTA, as in UT Arlington, which doesn't even have a football team, because UNTJim1995 was talking about them claiming us as their rival.

I do agree with you on your point though. Especially since we haven't beaten a team born 2 or 3 years ago. That is hard to take in, when we have a program over a century old. That is why we should never dismiss a conference mate in our recruiting grounds, and especially one we have not beat yet.

Edited August 3, 2015 by GreenTexan13

[SilverEagle]

Mea culpa fellow alumni. I don't scan as well as I used to. But then, who would have thought that our FORMER rival from the Southland conf. would have been part of the discussion. I will say that being dismissive about them might be a bit out of line too. What has been our record of late vs their BB team? Plus, they get more "pub" in the ST than we do.

It's too bad that UTA dropped Football back in 85. We were building up a pretty good rivalry with them and they didn't have a bad football history either....they beat TCU back in the 70's. Considering who their head coach was at that time (Chuck Curtis), I used to say that UTA would either consistently win championships or consistently be on probation.....or both.

Anyway, there are many on this board that take a "dismissive" stance toward UTSA, and until such time as we even the series record with them, we have little room to be doing that. 

[Cr1028]

I was basing it on an admitted small sample size - a group of about 12 UT alums with whom I drank a lot of beer at the Dallas Gingerman. One of the  group was a former UT cheerleader from '69. Back in the mid-2000s they were all VERY vocal that OU was THE game. A&M mattered but no more than Tech or OSU or KState - conference games but no more. The entire group had season tickets to games in Austin although they lived here so they were very dedicated although they'd all graduated in the 70s. 

 

I think it is largely based on where you are from. Longhorns from Dallas tend to hate OU and Longhorns from Houston tend to hate A&M. The rest of the state is a mixed bag.

[Fry Guy]

So, I've been thinking a lot about this. I believe the one thing that all great sports rivalries have in common is tradition. This is especially true in college football, where all of the best rivalries have been built upon decades-and-decades of history. Army and Navy have played 115 times since 1890. Michigan and Ohio State have played 110 times since 1897. Texas and Oklahoma have played 109 times since 1900. Notre Dame and USC have played 86 times since 1900. Alabama and Auburn have played 79 times since 1893. The list goes on. Following that line of thinking, I started to wonder if there was any basis for determining an historical rival for UNT. To that end I decided to list all of our opponents, from three significant time periods, and put them in order by total number of games played. Please click on the links below to review the results. Is there enough evidence to support any historic rivalries?

UNT All-Time Results

UNT Results 1957-Present

UNT Results 1995-Present

 

[SilverEagle]

So, I've been thinking a lot about this. I believe the one thing that all great sports rivalries have in common is tradition. This is especially true in college football, where all of the best rivalries have been built upon decades-and-decades of history. Army and Navy have played 115 times since 1890. Michigan and Ohio State have played 110 times since 1897. Texas and Oklahoma have played 109 times since 1900. Notre Dame and USC have played 86 times since 1900. Alabama and Auburn have played 79 times since 1893. The list goes on. Following that line of thinking, I started to wonder if there was any basis for determining an historical rival for UNT. To that end I decided to list all of our opponents, from three significant time periods, and put them in order by total number of games played. Please click on the links below to review the results. Is there enough evidence to support any historic rivalries?

UNT All-Time Results

UNT Results 1957-Present

UNT Results 1995-Present

 

Frequency is certainly one of the hallmarks of a rivalry, but how you refer to your opponent is also important. In this summary of the game between NT and ETSC in 1947 (from the 48 Yucca) we call it a "traditional grudge battle". 

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61017/m1/134/?q=east texas rival

In the 49 Yucca the 48 season is summarized. All the Lone Star conference games, and their scores, are listed. The last one is the ETSC game where we refer to them as our "traditional rival".

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth61018/m1/118/?q=East Texas, Rival

I don't know what the name of the ETSU (A&M commerce) yearbook, so I could not look up what they called us.

I did a search at the portal to texas history in the Yucca in the decades of the 50's and 60's using the two words "traditional rival" . I could not find any reference in any of the Yucca's of that decade about a traditional rival. In 61, Cincinnati is called our conference rival.  

North Texas has not had a traditional rival since the days of the Lone Star conference when our traditional rival was East Texas State.

So if SMU wants to call our scheduled 10+ game series a "rivalry", then great. But knowing that they could buy out the series at any time and drop us, I'm more in favor of developing a rivalry with someone in our conference. If for no other reason than logistics, the two most practical schools are UTSA and La Tech. 

Edited August 8, 2015 by SilverEagle

[Cougar King]

The Rice board tend to ban UH posters on sight. Been playing those clowns for decades and the Bayou Bucket has been renewed once again starting next year. 

 

A true, historic rivalry is that one game you CANNOT lose NO MATTER WHAT or your season is a failure; even if you go 11-1. At UH, losing to Rice will put you on the hot seat.  Hell we even have a statue of a cougar swiping at an owl while jumping on a longhorn bull on our campus.

[Fry Guy]

Great post @SilverEagle! I think your point about traditional rivalries also relates to another common element of college football rivalries, which is the geographical relationship between schools. In the earliest days of college football, the logistical difficulties associated with long distance travel confined most schools to play within a limited geographical region. During that time (and mostly prior to World War II), North Texas played East Texas State and Southwest Texas State, twenty-six and twenty-nine times each. It was only natural that we developed grudges against our most familiar opponents of that era. Later, when advancements in technology began to allow easier travel across larger distances, these "regional limitations" on football play naturally began to lessen. Then, one year after the NCAA first created divisions in 1956, North Texas joined the Missouri Valley Conference, began play at the University Division level, and left behind many of the traditional rivalries from their Lone Star Conference and Gulf Coast Conference days. That being said, It is my own personal opinion that there exists more than enough historical precedence for a legitimate in-state rivalry with SMU. And, if you go for the "border war" scenario created between schools in states adjacent to one another, why not rivalries with New Mexico State and Arkansas State? Each school has been our most frequent opponent since we began, and then re-began, play at the Division I level. If familiarity truly breeds contempt, then there's definitely a case for these three schools.

[dodgefan]

Why no mention of top 10 team TCU? They are CLOSER than SMU and would fill the stadium. Media folks say, SMU losing to UNT last year changed the program's focus. June Jones was out, two day's after the UNT loss, maybe SMU fans will thanks NT in the future.

[GMG24]

The Rice board tend to ban UH posters on sight. Been playing those clowns for decades and the Bayou Bucket has been renewed once again starting next year. 

 

A true, historic rivalry is that one game you CANNOT lose NO MATTER WHAT or your season is a failure; even if you go 11-1. At UH, losing to Rice will put you on the hot seat.  Hell we even have a statue of a cougar swiping at an owl while jumping on a longhorn bull on our campus.

back again. . . . 

 

 

 

 

Closet North Texas fan.