U guys must love the Benford Hire?

[Mike Jackson]

Okay, so... First things first: We used to have a moderator around here (JohnDenver) who did a great job of laying out the point that old arguments and dead horses are fresh material for new members. People don't come on board with an encyclopedic knowledge of the archives, and topics that we've rehashed a thousand times are totally new conversations for some of the participants. 

Now, when I made a very quick, very dismissive response earlier... I didn't really look at the original poster, who in this case ( @Mike Jackson ) has only had a registered account here since April. 

So, my apologies to Mike. Sincerely. I should have paid closer attention to who made the initial comment, and I'm sorry that I didn't before tossing off a very undiplomatic response. 

Now, that said... Mike, this is something that's come up again and again, and there aren't really many (if any) examples of the "basketball is easier to fix because if you just get one guy, then..." concept. There are a LOT of examples of that not being the case, at every level of college basketball. But, rather than jump into a conversation without really understanding what the initial point might be, let's start this over from the top. 

If there's a discussion to be had here (and you don't have to engage in it), please give me an example of what you're talking about having happened at another program. Not a hypothetical, but a tangible historical or current example of the point you're trying to make. Once I have a better understanding of exactly what you're trying to say here, I'll respond (or not) accordingly. And, in any event, much more respectfully. 

GENERALLY, this tends to be a topic that comes up a lot with very, very casual college basketball followers. And, just like some of the other subjects that come up or came up repeatedly throughout forum history, including but not limited to:

- Hey, anyone think we should leave the Sun Belt and join the WAC?

- Hey, anyone ever consider starting a 4 team basketball tournament among the Metroplex schools?

- Hey, wouldn't a baseball team more than pay for itself? 

- Hey, wouldn't it be better to be in the 16 seed playoff game than to go into the tournament as a 14 or 15 seed? 

Things quickly fall into a pattern and people generally jump to their last (usually heated and frustrated) comments on the topic. 

So, again... My apologies to @Mike Jackson. Mike, if you really want to talk through that concept, we'll treat it like it's never been brought up here before and I'll be happy to discuss it with you much more diplomatically. 

Apologizes appreciated and accepted.   I have another older account under that I just rediscovered after I forgot the password to this one.  (On a side note is there a way to merge them?).   I haven't be active between my last post in 2012 in that old account till I established this one. So I will address the question you posed.

1. Leaving Sun Belt for the WAC without TCU, SMU, or Houston is a lateral move in my opinion.  We need to establish a regional rival that we have close to .500 record with so with the possibility of developing that in a new conference, I think we should pass.

2. The 4 team metroplex tourney sounds great, but I would like to add 2 teams outside the metro but fairly close, Tulsa, and Baylor come to mind. Baylor might overshadow the tournament so I am not sure about them.

3. I don't think baseball would pay for itself at UNT.  It might but you need a great location for the ballpark with something like Frye Street right outside the gate.  It has to be a student and community hangout scene since.  Also Rice being the historical powerhouse in baseball that they are it going to be very difficult to win a conference title to get the attention of your casual but loyal UNT supporter.  Anything is possible but baseball paying for itself without a great athletic department planning it is highly unlikely.  And for as much as we may all disagree about RV to varying degrees I don't think anyone would argue that UNT has a great athletic department.

4. Being a 15th or 14th seed would be better than 16th seed.  Just from a perception point of view because more people will watch because they think you have a long shot chance.  As a 16th seed people don't care, they believe you are cannon fodder for a team that has all but earned a pass to the round of 16.   We need exposure and some compelling competitive moments when we get that exposure.  I like you (I suspect) will never forget beating Texas Tech at the Super Pit and the students storming the court.  We need more of those moments on national TV.

And my apologizes for going "all in".  I don't think Benford is a good coach but I think original post was a little silly comparing Football Coaches to Basketball Coaches at any level above maybe Middle School.  We are all very frustrated unless you are a big time soccer fan and even then you only have a women's team to follow.