Who is UNT's football rival?

UNTLifer · August 28, 2016

23 hours ago, GM1998 said:

Dallas Morning News called UNT one of 4 in-state rivals. At least that is the piece I read. I don't live in Dallas so perhaps I am missing some in-depth piece into the rivalry. I would bet the students and alumni don't share that opinion. At least last year at Ford Field the rank and file SMU crowd could care less that we were there.

They don't show up for anybody. They "boulevard" and go kill hookers.

Aldo · August 28, 2016

Troy

Side Show Joe · August 28, 2016

SMU is our rival. Just because they live in denial doesn't change the facts.

We certainly aren't their only rival, but I believe we are the best one they have right now. They have lost most of their old rivals since the death penalty. TCU has moved on since joining the Big12. Now Houston is trying to make a move and seems to be viewing SMU as being beneath them. Sure they still have rivalries with the likes of Tulsa and Tulane, but our battle in DFW certainly means more to their fans then games against those private schools. I can't remember any SMU coach stepping down after a loss to Tulane or Tulsa.

SMU needs to realize they have a unique football history. They need to learn to separate the pre-death penalty years from the post-death penalty years. They just are not that program anymore. They want to pretend they are still that old Southwest Conference program, with rivals like TCU, but they just aren't.

In the past 10 seasons North Texas is 2-2 versus SMU. We compete with them for attention in DFW. And, we also target many of the same recruits.

SMU is our biggest rival, and we are theirs, regardless of what they think.

southsideguy · August 28, 2016

our rival changes year to year, the team i love to hate is Middle Tenn unicorns.

greenminer · August 28, 2016

If you claim 4 different rivals, you and I have a different definition of rival.

casual fan · August 28, 2016

I did a little research: What 10 schools have we played the most in football?

39 Texas St 29-7-3

35 smu 5-29-1

33 New Mexico St 22-9-2

30 Sam Houston St 18-11-1

29 SFA 22-4-3

29 La Monroe 13-16

27 Trinity 16-9-2

26 A&M Commerce 19-6-1

24 Abilene Christian 15-8-1

24 Tulsa 7-17

GM1998 · August 28, 2016

1 hour ago, casual fan said:

I did a little research: What 10 schools have we played the most in football?

39 Texas St 29-7-3

35 smu 5-29-1

33 New Mexico St 22-9-2

30 Sam Houston St 18-11-1

29 SFA 22-4-3

29 La Monroe 13-16

27 Trinity 16-9-2

26 A&M Commerce 19-6-1

24 Abilene Christian 15-8-1

24 Tulsa 7-17

I would like to see us play SWTS (I still can't seem to bring myself to call them Texas State). It could be a fun home and away series that could perhaps build into something more. Most rivals are in conference, but Pitt and WVA have a good thing going and they aren't in the same conference.

Silent Eagle · August 28, 2016

When we win next week, we need to capitalize in the media ON A MASSIVE SCALE. Get into the media and start talking about how after two of the last three years we have crushed them, it's rumored they wish to terminate the series like the cowards that they are and they can't beat us. Start spitting some serious venom and get nasty with it. Next year, get a banner flying over Ford Field on game day welcoming everyone to the UNT home opener. Go Jackie Sherrill on Peruna and mutilate it (maybe a bit too far). If we really want to build this into a heated rivalry, winning and never letting them hear the end of it is what it will take. Time for some serious PsyOps.

Reality of the situation- Middle Tennessee kind of started a nasty rivalry with the bounties on our players. So, I would go with them. Talking to a buddy of mine that went there, the students actually did get into it pretty hardcore.

Hunter Green · August 28, 2016

If, in your mind, a team is a rival, then so be it. I hate smut with a passion. They have hurt us in more ways than just football. They really have nothing to offer a conference other than an opportunity to recruit the Dallas area. Yet they have been a thorn in our side when we have tried to better ourselves (SWC; CUSA). The fact that they don't acknowledge us as a rival (when we really are ) fuels the fire. So, yes. In my mind they are a huge rival and beating them is very sweet indeed.

Same goes for UTSA. They have been given everything in a very short span of time, while we have had to scratch and claw for everything we have. We should put them in their place every time we have the chance. So yes, beating them is very satisfying. Admittedly, it's more fun when they hate you back, but for me, this is what makes a rival.

untcampbell · August 28, 2016

By given everything, I assume you mean their fans have been given everything. UTSA football was a well-funded, community supported program from the start. It's reason for being was purposeful from its inception. The athletic department and administration have been coordinated from day one. Being born with these advantages means you're are evolving from a higher starting point.

NT is evolving also. It has had its moments but you get the feeling its "moments" were by sheer luck. We have a reputation to overcome. It is reflected in the answers given to the question of "Who is UNT's football rivalry?" And it costs a lot more (monetary, building trust among alums, students, donors, and a myriad of other costs) to overcome a century old reputation. Evolution takes time, and we started from the football equivalent of amoeba.

GMG

Edited August 28, 2016 by untcampbell

Ben Gooding · August 28, 2016

1 hour ago, untcampbell said:

By given everything, I assume you mean their fans have been given everything. UTSA football was a well-funded, community supported program from the start. It's reason for being was purposeful from its inception. The athletic department and administration have been coordinated from day one. Being born with these advantages means your are evolving from a higher starting point.

NT is evolving also. It has had its moments but you get the feeling its "moments" were by sheer luck. We have a reputation to overcome. It is reflected in the answers given to the question of "Who is UNT's football rivalry?" And it costs a lot more (monetary, building trust among alums, students, donors, and a myriad of other costs) to overcome a century old reputation. Evolution takes time, and we started from the football equivalent of amoeba.

GMG

They were given everything as in if it weren't geographical location they would be playing in the Southland, at best. But, instead, they got bumped up because of where they happen to be. What if we played at CH Collins and got a jump up from CUSA to the big12 (kind of a similar comparison in jump)? The big12 would resent us.

But @Side Show Joe answered the question to the thread with definite accuracy.

GreenTexan13 · August 28, 2016

12 hours ago, Side Show Joe said:

tSMU is our rival. Just because they live in denial doesn't change the facts.

We certainly aren't their only rival, but I believe we are the best one they have right now. They have lost most of their old rivals since the death penalty. TCU has moved on since joining the Big12. Now Houston is trying to make a move and seems to be viewing SMU as being beneath them. Sure they still have rivalries with the likes of Tulsa and Tulane, but our battle in DFW certainly means more to their fans then games against those private schools. I can't remember any SMU coach stepping down after a loss to Tulane or Tulsa.

SMU needs to realize they have a unique football history. They need to learn to separate the pre-death penalty years from the post-death penalty years. They just are not that program anymore. They want to pretend they are still that old Southwest Conference program, with rivals like TCU, but they just aren't.

In the past 10 seasons North Texas is 2-2 versus SMU. We compete with them for attention in DFW. And, we also target many of the same recruits.

SMU is our biggest rival, and we are theirs, regardless of what they think.

This should be hung up and framed. Well said!

UNT90 · August 29, 2016

On August 27, 2016 at 9:27 PM, Side Show Joe said:

SMU is our rival. Just because they live in denial doesn't change the facts.

We certainly aren't their only rival, but I believe we are the best one they have right now. They have lost most of their old rivals since the death penalty. TCU has moved on since joining the Big12. Now Houston is trying to make a move and seems to be viewing SMU as being beneath them. Sure they still have rivalries with the likes of Tulsa and Tulane, but our battle in DFW certainly means more to their fans then games against those private schools. I can't remember any SMU coach stepping down after a loss to Tulane or Tulsa.

SMU needs to realize they have a unique football history. They need to learn to separate the pre-death penalty years from the post-death penalty years. They just are not that program anymore. They want to pretend they are still that old Southwest Conference program, with rivals like TCU, but they just aren't.

In the past 10 seasons North Texas is 2-2 versus SMU. We compete with them for attention in DFW. And, we also target many of the same recruits.

SMU is our biggest rival, and we are theirs, regardless of what they think.

SMU is the one living in denial?...

This has the same tone of the "Houston will never be anything and sucks just like we do" posts. At least SMU is trying to be better and get back to where they once were, and they are light years ahead of UNT in that regard.

They consider TCU their rival. That is the metroplex game they focus on and their fans come out for EVERY year. They don't care about the UNT game. Period.

Its desperate and sad for people to keep dreaming that this is a 2 way rivalry. Telling SMU to just embrace their suckiness so they can be on UNT's level says a lot more about UNT fans than SMU.

#expectmore

Edited August 29, 2016 by UNT90

UNT90 · August 29, 2016

22 hours ago, untcampbell said:

By given everything, I assume you mean their fans have been given everything. UTSA football was a well-funded, community supported program from the start. It's reason for being was purposeful from its inception. The athletic department and administration have been coordinated from day one. Being born with these advantages means you're are evolving from a higher starting point.

NT is evolving also. It has had its moments but you get the feeling its "moments" were by sheer luck. We have a reputation to overcome. It is reflected in the answers given to the question of "Who is UNT's football rivalry?" And it costs a lot more (monetary, building trust among alums, students, donors, and a myriad of other costs) to overcome a century old reputation. Evolution takes time, and we started from the football equivalent of amoeba.

GMG

UNT has real life problems to overcome, not perceptions. And they are problems of UNT's own doing. However, once those problems are overcome, UNT will have EARNED wherever they end up, and earned it the extremely hard way.

Craphole gets to start at a level we had to earn. All because CUSA loves media markets and they are the only FBS in SA. Not because of anything they have built. Ever.

Thats extremely off-putting to me.i wish them nothing but failure forever because of it. But we can damn sure do better when it comes to a rivalry.

untcampbell · August 29, 2016

In my mind, UTSA started at a level we haven't yet attained. They benefit from a city whose residents have no other football, college or pro. They are a rabid sports town with a chip on its shoulder, whose one dalliance into the perfumed inner thigh that is professional sports is basketball, which they support with vigor.

I don't think UTSA is "San Antonio's football team," but they support it and have since day one. UTSA has a monied set of businesses, most hometown or regional, i.e. HEB, Frost Bank (I believe), etc, that fill every break in every game with some fan contest or promotion or other distraction (shhh, its called entertainment...don't tell anyone). The games feel more like Cowboy games than college football, and that is not a compliment. The Cowboys and UTSA have bad acoustics and a cavernous indoor playing field in common. Frankly, both are sensory overload in my mind, but what the students and city folk in San Antonio were given was a plug-and-play football environment and the AthDept took advantage, bringing in a recognizable and legitimate coach (with some stains that lowered his price), while plugging in home and homes and 2:1's with high profile college football teams and filled in by affiliating with a conference with higher perceptions that it deserved, but provided a number of opportunities to play Texas teams. The fans, students and citizens, responded.

It is a one-off set of circumstances, a perfect storm. It happens to be a team in our state and our conference. We didn't respond when it happened for reasons that permeate every thread this board publishes.

I believe we are learning how to put together a program now. It's encouraging.

GMG

Army of Dad · August 29, 2016

2 minutes ago, untcampbell said:

dalliance into the perfumed inner thigh that is professional sports

One the better lines I've seen on GMG.

untcampbell · August 29, 2016

Full disclosure: Stolen from the Ticket. A Mike Rhyner line, I believe.

GMG

Magic95Fan · August 29, 2016

Well, I usually can only make the road trip up to Denton once a year (I go to more road games than home) and when the schedule came out, there was no more must-see game then the SMUg game. To me, I wanna see and celebrate us beating them more than anyone else. So for me, they are my rival.

Ben Gooding · August 29, 2016

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

SMU is the one living in denial?...

This has the same tone of the "Houston will never be anything and sucks just like we do" posts. At least SMU is trying to be better and get back to where they once were, and they are light years ahead of UNT in that regard.

They consider TCU their rival. That is the metroplex game they focus on and their fans come out for EVERY year. They don't care about the UNT game. Period.

Its desperate and sad for people to keep dreaming that this is a 2 way rivalry. Telling SMU to just embrace their suckiness so they can be on UNT's level says a lot more about UNT fans than SMU.

#expectmore

TCU could care less. No way to make that a rival. TCU will punish them every game they play for the foreseeable future and beyond. Funny how you apparently agree with that being a rival, but deny unt/smug rivalry. Smug fans admit or not, but unt n smu are way closer to similar playing fields than smug and tcu. I mean, you know at least...right?

GreenTexan13 · August 29, 2016

2 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

TCU could care less. No way to make that a rival. TCU will punish them every game they play for the foreseeable future and beyond. Funny how you apparently agree with that being a rival, but deny unt/smug rivalry. Smug fans admit or not, but unt n smu are way closer to similar playing fields than smug and tcu. I mean, you know at least...right?

The only thing UNT90 has to go on, is the "iron skillet". However, I agree... If there was a rivalry between TCU and SMU, that rivalry is long dead. TCU can pick and choose their rivalry between OU, TT, UT, or Baylor now.

I think SMU lets the fact that they play A&M, Baylor, and TCU at their stadium get in their head. You have to win or at least be on somewhat of an even playing field to have a legitimate rivalry.

MeanGreen01 · August 29, 2016

On August 26, 2016 at 8:58 PM, GM1998 said:

Dallas Morning News called UNT one of 4 in-state rivals. At least that is the piece I read. I don't live in Dallas so perhaps I am missing some in-depth piece into the rivalry. I would bet the students and alumni don't share that opinion. At least last year at Ford Field the rank and file SMU crowd could care less that we were there.

That's due to the fact that they could careless about their own awful program. They don't show up for any games, their home game attendance is laughable and embarrassing! NT has looked better in this latest series and I love it.

Edited August 29, 2016 by MeanGreen01
Typo

casual fan · August 29, 2016

Who should be UNT's rival or rivals?

1. A team that we play every year.

2. A team in our region. (driving distance within 300 miles or so)

That's smu, UTSA, Rice, La Tech.

Texas State should be on that list.

We have history together by playing 39 times - more than any other school.

It would help attendance both ways. And unlike UTSA , they have paid their dues by playing football since 1904.

UNT90 · August 29, 2016

29 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

TCU could care less. No way to make that a rival. TCU will punish them every game they play for the foreseeable future and beyond. Funny how you apparently agree with that being a rival, but deny unt/smug rivalry. Smug fans admit or not, but unt n smu are way closer to similar playing fields than smug and tcu. I mean, you know at least...right?

No, I'm saying that's who SMU VIEWS as their rival. They are idiots for doing so. BUT, at least those two programs have a long history of being in the same conference and playing each other on an almost yearly basis for the last 100 years.

Now, change TCU to SMU in your above post and you hit the freaking nail on the head. No common conference history. Played each other only 28 (?) times the last 100 years (only 4 times over the last 30 years), and you guys are so desperate to hate someone, anyone, that you believe this is a rivalry. It's just... Sad.

Take a good look around at the 200 SMU fans that are there on Saturday. Realize that they only had to drive 30 minutes to see their "team" play a rival, yet only 200 of their fans did so (out of the 15k that regularly attend SMU home games).

So, you wanna be SMU to SMU's TCU?

Texas Tech to Texas Tech's A&M?

A&M to A&M's Texas?

Go right ahead. I'll wait to win and build a rivalry that matters.

Edited August 29, 2016 by UNT90

Ben Gooding · August 29, 2016

8 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

No, I'm saying that's who SMU VIEWS as their rival. They are idiots for doing so. BUT, at least those two programs have a long history of being in the same conference and playing each other on an almost yearly basis for the last 100 years.

Now, change TCU to SMU in your above post and you hit the freaking nail on the head. No common conference history. Played each other only 28 (?) times the last 100 years (only 4 times over the last 30 years), and you guys are so desperate to hate someone, anyone, that you believe this is a rivalry. It's just... Sad.

Take a good look around at the 200 SMU fans that are there on Saturday. Realize that they only had to drive 30 minutes to see their "team" play a rival, yet only 200 of their fans did so (out of the 15k that regularly attend SMU home games).

So, you wanna be SMU to SMU's TCU?

Texas Tech to Texas Tech's A&M?

A&M to A&M's Texas?

Go right ahead. I'll wait to win and build a rivalry that matters.

Moot point. They don't even show up in Ford vs anyone. They are outmanned in their own stadium vs ANY regional opponent. What makes you think that would change away from their own campus?