MWC: Expansion This Year?

UNT90 · September 5, 2016

15 hours ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I like, if those TX schools came with us. We've been the only TX school in a conference before.

Stop thinking like its 1992. We should go if by some miracle we receive an offer. Even if we are the only Texas school offered.

Always looked to better yourself.

UNT 90 Grad · September 5, 2016

2 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Stop thinking like its 1992. We should go if by some miracle we receive an offer. Even if we are the only Texas school offered.

Always looked to better yourself.

Teams will get better and get worse. Geography won't change. As long as we are living in fantasy land and talking about what we wish for, in addition to wishing for in-state competition within our conference, I also wish we were all ranked. Now tap the heels of my emerald slippers and...

UNT90 · September 5, 2016

Just now, UNT 90 Grad said:

Teams will get better and get worse. Geography won't change. As long as we are living in fantasy land and talking about what we wish for, in addition to wishing for in-state competition within our conference, I also wish we were all ranked. Now tap the heels of my emerald slippers and...

Are you saying inclusion in the MWC is about as realistic as UNT being ranked in the top 25 this year? Because that's...

Right...

Damn you!!!

NT91 · September 5, 2016

I like this!

I think we need to stay put unless we are fairly certain CUSA will be lose some of its better members. The MWC shutdown its network operations 2013 so there is no advantage there. I like the prospects of playing Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Boise State and Air Force regularly. But if the conference loses more than one of those teams and we don't bring 3 teams from the western part of CUSA with us I am not interested.

MWC

EAST

Colorado State

Air Force

Wyoming

New Mexico

UTEP

North Texas

UTSA

Rice or La Tech (worst case scenario New Mexico State)

WEST

Boise State

Utah State

San Diego State

San Jose State

Hawaii

UNLV

Nevada

Fresno State
1
Quote

Edited September 5, 2016 by NT91

UNT 90 Grad · September 5, 2016

22 minutes ago, NT91 said:

I like this!

I think we need to stay put unless we are fairly certain CUSA will be lose some of its better members. The MWC shutdown its network operations 2013 so there is no advantage there. I like the prospects of playing Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Boise State and Air Force regularly. But if the conference loses more than one of those teams and we don't bring 3 teams from the western part of CUSA with us I am not interested.

MWC

EAST

Colorado State

Air Force

Wyoming

New Mexico

UTEP

North Texas

UTSA

Rice or La Tech (worst case scenario New Mexico State)

WEST

Boise State

Utah State

San Diego State

San Jose State

Hawaii

UNLV

Nevada

Fresno State
1
Quote

PlummMeanGreen · September 6, 2016

On ‎9‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 6:28 PM, GrayEagle said:

I would prefer the AAC also but until Wren was hired I believed that we had ZERO chance of ever applying, let alone being accepted, into that conference. So, I set sights on the Mountain West. If they do expand by two I believe that they will choose two Texas teams, which they alluded to when the conferences began changing a couple of years ago.

Since we reside in the largest market and Houston is not far behind, I believe that a team from the two markets would be the favorites. I'd hope that we would see if Rice would be amenable to such a move. I realize that we've never been a partner to cozying up to anyone else but I believe that should we should start now and I believe that we finally have an AD+ who is a little more social in dealing with other universities.

A Manifesto of Sorts??

Agree, Jack.

The MWC needs Top 10 TV markets & probably sooner than later. We can't bring a perennial winner to the MWC, but we can bring the 4'th ranked TV market in America of which UNT has (by far) the largest enrollment/area alumnus combo than any school around.

:pow:

Who do you like at Apogee? UNT vs FIU, FAU, MTSU, Old Dominion, Charlotte, etc, or UNT vs Boise, San Diego St., Air Force, Colorado St. (& other more established & occasional fixtures in Top 25 polls? ✳️ Some might call this a no-brainier, but others who can never project a winning UNT program will be content with the same old thing & world class tail-gating.

UNT only 2 years ago showed MWC officials what a winning Mean Green football product can do & did all that with much fanfare at the HOD Bowl game. Hellsbells, they "only" saw our greatest contingency of Mean Green fans at the venerable Cotton Bowl Stadium in UNT history! Do not think this was all un-noticed.

Yes, it would also be nice to have the 4 CUSA Texas schools as a MWC package deal & to keep those Lone Star State budding rivalries in tact.

*Time zone kick-off concerns can be worked out if this is important enough to MWC officials to make this all happen. Like the Egyptians say: Where there's a wheel--there's a way."?

*Look at what non-stop TV coverage has already done fo kick-off times coast-to-coast & even with 11:00 AM kick-offs for those who'll bend their schedules to accommodate TV?

*Let's also face the blatant fact that CUSA will continue to look more like Sun Belt Conference 2.0, too, which will only keep us quagmired for just about forever. ➡️ Any of those schools would jump at the same opportunity to move up if they could & like Barry Goldwater once said in his campagin: "In your heart you know I'm right." (Of course, he did get slobber-knocked by Lyndon, now didn't he)?

Still....look at the names of MWC schools? Beat a few of their better known football schools & "WALA"--can you say Top 25 football rankings? Basketball? Same thing.

Of course, as always on this fan's message board, we're projecting & speculating, but we're also trying to create a better future for all of ours favorite school in light of the ever-changing NCAA environment.

➡️ On this subject, do keep your eyes on UT & OU's future "possible" conference moves. IMHO, they will not be permanent fixtures in a revised Big 12 & TAMU will be their model on that subject.

Edited September 6, 2016 by PlummMeanGreen

VideoEagle · September 6, 2016

The conference shuffles of the past ten years have show the actual G5 conference doesn't matter. Teams make a conference, not the other way around. In the last shuffle, the Sun Belt, CUSA and Big East/AAC all became weaker than they were before.

For G5 teams, you need to play most of your games against teams within about 600 miles. That allows your fan base to become actual rivals to the fan bases of the teams you play. When fans want their team to beat their rival, they are willing to spend more money to help. That includes game tickets, purchases of licensed merch and direct donations. Fan money is more important and certainly larger than network TV money for a G5 school. CUSA was the first conference to renegotiate it's TV contract, but the others already know the next deal will be smaller per school.

As it currently exists, the MWC teams aren't a good match for a school just north of Dallas. Adding enough teams for it to be a good match for NT makes it less of a match for teams in the western US. I really think a reshuffle of teams is coming, but because there just aren't that many schools in the Mountain and Pacific time zones that play FBS ball at the G5 level, a reshuffle won't affect the MWC a lot. The only team that really made a was able to sustain "going west" was UTEP which is already IN the Mountain time zone.

Edited September 6, 2016 by VideoEagle

risinggreen · September 6, 2016

The MWC is a definite move up, and I'm all for it if they'll have us. Regardless of time zones.

untjim1995 · September 6, 2016

6 hours ago, VideoEagle said:

The conference shuffles of the past ten years have show the actual G5 conference doesn't matter. Teams make a conference, not the other way around. In the last shuffle, the Sun Belt, CUSA and Big East/AAC all became weaker than they were before.

For G5 teams, you need to play most of your games against teams within about 600 miles. That allows your fan base to become actual rivals to the fan bases of the teams you play. When fans want their team to beat their rival, they are willing to spend more money to help. That includes game tickets, purchases of licensed merch and direct donations. Fan money is more important and certainly larger than network TV money for a G5 school. CUSA was the first conference to renegotiate it's TV contract, but the others already know the next deal will be smaller per school.

As it currently exists, the MWC teams aren't a good match for a school just north of Dallas. Adding enough teams for it to be a good match for NT makes it less of a match for teams in the western US. I really think a reshuffle of teams is coming, but because there just aren't that many schools in the Mountain and Pacific time zones that play FBS ball at the G5 level, a reshuffle won't affect the MWC a lot. The only team that really made a was able to sustain "going west" was UTEP which is already IN the Mountain time zone.

The MWC ship sailed a while back for us. The MWC will wait out the Big XII falling apart. When that happens, they will go hard for the leftovers--Baylor, TCU, probably UH, and KSU. That will give the MWC teams.

The AAC will get to 16, as well. I think they will have to replace UConn, Cincy, and UH in the years ahead. They will call up Rice to replace UH, then add in teams for additional TV markets, such as NIU, and MUTS. Since Navy is football-only, I can see them adding Wichita State to complement Navy. The other four they will add will be UTEP, UTSA, and two others from the MAC and CUSA.

RBP79 · September 6, 2016

Money..Money..Money.....that's what drives major conferences. There are 3 D1 schools in the DFW area. NT is the largest and it's in a top 10 TV market. Then you look at all the quality HS athletes in the metroplex....l believe this is what will tip the scale for NT. Winning or not! Look at Tulane...how did they get into the AAC...

PlummMeanGreen · September 6, 2016

2 hours ago, RBP79 said:

Money..Money..Money.....that's what drives major conferences. There are 3 D1 schools in the DFW area. NT is the largest and it's in a top 10 TV market. Then you look at all the quality HS athletes in the metroplex....l believe this is what will tip the scale for NT. Winning or not! Look at Tulane...how did they get into the AAC...

??

Again, with a "winning" Mean Green football program who would you prefer to see at Apogee Stadium?

North Texas vs: former SBC schools now in CUSA + Old Dominion & Charleston or...

North Texas vs: Air Force, San Diego St., Boise St., Colorado St., Fresno St. & others?

Only thing that makes this make any sense, though, is if the 3 other Texas schools in CUSA become part of the same MWC division with time zone kick-off considerations for that new division.

Regional OOC scheduling at Apogee (like SMU) gives us traveling fans to our home stadium, but If SMU opts out of our contract we'd still have some impressive (sometimes ranked) MWC teams as a welcome conselation for games at Apogee. What could be the ace in the hole is our current president came from a MWC school.

➡️ Probably not going to happen soon but we have to keep some options on the table & not act surprised or un-prepared when the next NCAA conference shake-up occurs.

Edited September 6, 2016 by PlummMeanGreen

DeepGreen · September 6, 2016

Speaking of the MWC expanding.......

Can we just beat Bethune-Cookman this weekend? Please?

PlummMeanGreen · September 6, 2016

8 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

Speaking of the MWC expanding.......

Can we just beat Bethune-Cookman this weekend? Please?

Click heels 3 times, Phil, & say 'purdy please.?

UNT90 · September 7, 2016

1 hour ago, DeepGreen said:

Speaking of the MWC expanding.......

Can we just beat Bethune-Cookman this weekend? Please?

It's not going to be a walk in the park. UNT better come ready to play. BC knows UNT is beatable and won't be intimidated.

UNTexas · September 7, 2016

Rice & UTSA could easily get picked up in a realignment to the MWC or AAC. Location location location. We could have a shot for the same reasons.

PlummMeanGreen · September 7, 2016

29 minutes ago, UNTexas said:

Rice & UTSA could easily get picked up in a realignment to the MWC or AAC. Location location location. We could have a shot for the same reasons.

It's also like RBT79 posted: "Look at Tulane...how did they get into the AAC?"

UNT President Neal Smattesk who left UNLV for UNT I'd wager would be our ticket into the MWC if we were invited & if we were even interested. ______________________________

POWDER BC & COME BACK STRONG, MEAN GREEN!

UTSA Fan · September 7, 2016

2 hours ago, UNTexas said:

Rice & UTSA could easily get picked up in a realignment to the MWC or AAC. Location location location. We could have a shot for the same reasons.

If UNT 90 is correct, AAC would not take UNT because the media footprint is covered by SMU. If that is true, then MWC is the best/only option.

TreeFiddy · September 7, 2016

9 hours ago, UTSA Fan said:

If UNT 90 is correct, AAC would not take UNT because the media footprint is covered by SMU. If that is true, then MWC is the best/only option.

You should strongly reconsider the basis of your hypothesis.

UTSA Fan · September 7, 2016

9 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

You should strongly reconsider the basis of your hypothesis.

I need an alternate proposition to reconsider. What do you propose?

MeanGreenTexan · September 7, 2016

On 9/4/2016 at 2:26 PM, NorthTexan95 said:

I feel much better with Wren helping to make this decision (assuming there's a decision for us to make) than I was with RV.

As far as MWC goes, I don't think WB will mean as much to the equation as our president and former President/VP at two current MWC schools. Remember how instrumental Rawlins was in getting UNT into C-USA, a conference he helped pioneer.

Smatresk is the one with the connections out West. He would be the one to drive entry there.

If the MWC is looking to Texas, I think UTEP is a no-brainer (especially if they're bowl-eligible this year), but after that, it would either be us or UTSA. We have to do better than UTSA this year... we just have to. However, even if the MWC were to extend an invitation ONLY TO North Texas, we must take it.

Especially if...

...Houston is admitted to the Big12 (and they probably will be). The AAC will simply backfill with Rice, which is a huge step down in competition, but will make several of their former-C-USA-private-school friends happy (Tulane, SMU, Tulsa). This will water-down C-USA even more than it already has been.

UNTexas · September 7, 2016

9 hours ago, UTSA Fan said:

If UNT 90 is correct, AAC would not take UNT because the media footprint is covered by SMU. If that is true, then MWC is the best/only option.

Possibly. However, the MWC could just as well call SMU in which case the AAC could be an option. The AAC isn't what they signed up for. I could see them leave it.

UTSA Fan · September 7, 2016

24 minutes ago, UNTexas said:

Possibly. However, the MWC could just as well call SMU in which case the AAC could be an option. The AAC isn't what they signed up for. I could see them leave it.

Wouldn't that be a lateral move? It's expensive to change conferences.

Eagle-96 · September 7, 2016

The DFW TV market and the fact that schools want to play a game here every other year in the DFW recruiting hotbed are our only crutches in expansion. We certainly don't have anything to offer from an athletic standpoint. Baker must push the market size and recruiting angle to the MWC and AAC every chance he gets.

NorthTexan95 · September 7, 2016

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

As far as MWC goes, I don't think WB will mean as much to the equation as our president and former President/VP at two current MWC schools. Remember how instrumental Rawlins was in getting UNT into C-USA, a conference he helped pioneer.

Smatresk is the one with the connections out West. He would be the one to drive entry there.

If the MWC is looking to Texas, I think UTEP is a no-brainer (especially if they're bowl-eligible this year), but after that, it would either be us or UTSA. We have to do better than UTSA this year... we just have to. However, even if the MWC were to extend an invitation ONLY TO North Texas, we must take it.

Especially if...

...Houston is admitted to the Big12 (and they probably will be). The AAC will simply backfill with Rice, which is a huge step down in competition, but will make several of their former-C-USA-private-school friends happy (Tulane, SMU, Tulsa). This will water-down C-USA even more than it already has been.

To be honest I didn't mention Smatresk because I was on my smartphone and couldn't remember how to spell Smatresk. However, when it comes to any decision made by UNT I feel better with Smatresk being in charge than with any other previous President.

Edited September 7, 2016 by NorthTexan95

untjim1995 · September 7, 2016

17 minutes ago, Eagle-96 said:

The DFW TV market and the fact that schools want to play a game here every other year in the DFW recruiting hotbed are our only crutches in expansion. We certainly don't have anything to offer from an athletic standpoint. Baker must push the market size and recruiting angle to the MWC and AAC every chance he gets.

Why would the MWC do something so short-sighted to invite any Texas CUSA teams when they can just wait and get the best Big XII leftovers when the conference falls apart sometime between now and 2025?