C-USA is our home

Harry · December 24, 2016

After La. tech besting #25 Navy on the field, WKU dismantling the best of the AAC in Memphis, Old Dominion and Southern Miss victorious and fledgling UTSA in a respectable loss, is it not time to put these silly thoughts of moving to another conference aside? I ask @UNT90 @PlummMeanGreen and many others with all due respect, to reconsider your desire for UNT to jump ship when the Mounstain West or some other G5 conference decides to raise her skirt.

The recent hiring of ex Cowboy coach Butch Davis and Alabama's Lane Kiffin should make it very clear that the rest of the world sees the bright future that C-USA has. We need to do OUR part and better North Texas. This is a very good conference that will only get better with time. Let's be the best we can be here and then look at our options.

Let us not repeat the mistakes of our past. Hayden Fry was a great coach, but he made a mistake when he led us out of the Missouri Valley. Let's learn from history. gmg

UNT90 · December 24, 2016

I'll always want better for UNT. The AAC had multiple teams ranked this year, with one team being ranked as high as #5. The MWC also had at least one team ranked, Boise St., just off the top of my head.

CUSA had zero. CUSA is Sun Belt 2.0. UNT should be working their ass off to get to a better conference instead of having a complacent attitude that Harry just trumpeted of just wanting to do ok.

WKU is looking to leave. As is La. Tech. They would JUMP at an offer from either of those 2 conferences. I'd bet both have let the AAC know through back channels that they are interested. EVERY other team in CUSA would bolt for those conferences at this point. Why should UNT, and especially their fan base, want less?

If you don't understand the public perception of the AAC and the MWC as compared to CUSA, well, you have your head firmly planted in the sand.

Oh, and basketball. Not that we have a program currently.

Edited December 24, 2016 by UNT90

UNTLifer · December 24, 2016

Well said, Harry.

shaft · December 24, 2016

And Captain Obvious is board administrator.

NM Green · December 24, 2016

I agree with Harry on many fronts and several in this message. He didn't say to stop looking, only to give credit where it is completely due. The Sun Belt and CUSA are both having stellar bowl seasons. They are outclassing the AAC and MWC by playing smash-mouthed finesse football, and its working.

I don't like the makeup of the AAC. I like the makeup of the MWC but would only want us to jump there with other Texas teams. I actually think Houston and SMU are at a disadvantage having only each other as Texas teammates. We absolutely are in a more favorable position in CUSA West. We have 3 Texas Rivals to their 1. I also don't like all the tiny private schools in their league. They don't get attendance or get me fired up even though they put out some solid programs, like Tulsa.

Is the AAC perceived to be better, yes. Do I like its configuration, no. I like CUSA's configuration and MWC's TEAMS much better.

Build the Program.

Feed the Rivalries.

Pound the Chest.

Beat Army.

Go Mean Green!!!!!

Ben Gooding · December 24, 2016

CUSA annually bodes well in bowl mania. So what.

Put my team in a conference where the TV production doesn't look like an Al Jazeera prototype. Put my team in a conference where we're going to play on an ESPN affiliated network or when we suck (which is unfortunately often) watch teams in our conference on ESPN. Put my team in a conference where we have a real TV negotiation to financially help us. Yes, CUSA has done well in the past and is continuing that same success this bowl season and I am proud of that, but we should not be selling a bunker down mentality inside this conference. We, like most teams in our conference, would bolt at the opportunity.

SilverEagle · December 24, 2016

15 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

I'll always want better for UNT. The AAC had multiple teams ranked this year, with one team being ranked as high as #5. The MWC also had at least one team ranked, Boise St., just off the top of my head.

CUSA had zero. CUSA is Sun Belt 2.0. UNT should be working their ass off to get to a better conference instead of having a complacent attitude that Harry just trumpeted of just wanting to do ok.

WKU is looking to leave. As is La. Tech. They would JUMP at an offer from either of those 2 conferences. I'd bet both have let the AAC know through back channels that they are interested. EVERY other team in CUSA would bolt for those conferences at this point. Why should UNT, and especially their fan base, want less?

If you don't understand the public perception of the AAC and the MWC as compared to CUSA, well, you have your head firmly planted in the sand.

Oh, and basketball. Not that we have a program currently.

With all due respect, unless the AAC or the B-12 come calling, I'm perfectly happy with making the best of our CUSA affiliation. Currently we are in a conference where we can build/develop four viable rivalries and therefore promote more interest in the program, both on campus, and in the community. Something we haven't been able to do since the 1940's when our big rival and sworn enemy was East Texas State (now A&M Commerce).

I agree with Harry that leaving the MVC didn't turn out so great. At the very least, by being in the conference we could have avoided dropping down to 1-AA. We would have eventually left it anyway. But the downside to the conference was that we never developed any rivalries in the MVC with the possible exception of Tulsa.....which was kind of a luke warm rivalry at best. The rest of the MVC was not, to use a current phrase "user friendly" regarding travel and the aforementioned development of rivalries. The MWC would put us back into the same situation.

ChristopherRyanWilkes · December 24, 2016

4 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

CUSA annually bodes well in bowl mania. So what.

Put my team in a conference where the TV production doesn't look like an Al Jazeera prototype. Put my team in a conference where we're going to play on an ESPN affiliated network or when we suck (which is unfortunately often) watch teams in our conference on ESPN. Put my team in a conference where we have a real TV negotiation to financially help us. Yes, CUSA has done well in the past and is continuing that same success this bowl season and I am proud of that, but we should not be selling a bunker down mentality inside this conference. We, like most teams in our conference, would bolt at the opportunity.

I'm asking this rhetorically because I know the answer, but you realize al-jazeera is a very large, wealthy, and respected news network right?

Ben Gooding · December 24, 2016

Just now, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

I'm asking this rhetorically because I know the answer, but you realize al-jazeera is a very large, wealthy, and respected news network right?

Think mobile phone uploads to Al Jazeera that they typically inferred as their own production in the mid 00's.

UNTexas · December 24, 2016

The most important thing for North Texas to do is start winning. Sure we are going to a bowl, with a losing record. Football needs to continue to turn it around and basketball, well, clean house. Win win win.

One bowl season doesn't define a conference. AAC and MWC are percieved as better conferences than ours. Ask TCU. We need to win where we are at but if we ever had the chance to play in the AAC I wish we'd go for it. (MWC, not so much for me personally because I remember the Big West days and it wasn't very interesting for fans.)

GrandGreen · December 24, 2016

Back to the Fry thing, simply not true. If you had 100% hindsight, than perhaps it was a questionable decision. The MVC had deteriorated to a horrible football conference. The only benefit to staying would have been if you had predicted that the NCAA would change their requirements to stay in 1a. This is speculation, but I think Dr. Hurley was not at all opposed to NT dropping down. The mistake Fry made was not trying to get into CUSA instead of resting all his hopes on the SWC. NT had both a good football and basketball teams at the time and I think could have made that move if the Administration was behind it.

Also jumping conferences is not the same thing as trying to go independent in hopes of getting into another conference as Fry did.

Having said that, I think CUSA performance in the bowl games proves how little difference there is among the G5's.

As far as 90's comments, there is not a scenario that he wouldn't complain about. He posts to get a reaction, which he once again has done. Almost every team in the NCAA is looking for a better conference situation.

Mean Green 93-98 · December 24, 2016

49 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

WKU is looking to leave. As is La. Tech. They would JUMP at an offer from either of those 2 conferences. I'd bet both have let the AAC know through back channels that they are interested. EVERY other team in CUSA would bolt for those conferences at this point. Why should UNT, and especially their fan base, want less?

This is exactly right. I understand that presently, C-USA is our home; and presently, it isn't a bad place to be. But all these teams you mention as being so thrilled to be associated with, every one of them would bolt without hesitation at an AAC offer. We may be in C-USA for a good while yet, but I wouldn't get so complacent and comfortable here that we wait while all the good teams leave, and we end up in a conference with South Alabama, ULM, Georgia State, Charlotte, and FIU. We need to be proactive and seize/make opportunities.

Ryan Munthe · December 24, 2016

1 hour ago, Ben Gooding said:

CUSA annually bodes well in bowl mania. So what.

Put my team in a conference where the TV production doesn't look like an Al Jazeera prototype. Put my team in a conference where we're going to play on an ESPN affiliated network or when we suck (which is unfortunately often) watch teams in our conference on ESPN. Put my team in a conference where we have a real TV negotiation to financially help us. Yes, CUSA has done well in the past and is continuing that same success this bowl season and I am proud of that, but we should not be selling a bunker down mentality inside this conference. We, like most teams in our conference, would bolt at the opportunity.

So what?

So it just proves that CUSA consistently is one of the strongest conferences in G5.

UNT90 · December 24, 2016

I mean, we could also rehire Rick Villarreal as AD... ?

Cr1028 · December 24, 2016

AAC maybe, MWC would be a mistake, I'm perfectly happy in CUSA until there is another massive reshuffling of the P5 deck.

ntmeangreen11 · December 24, 2016

Getting into the MWC or AAC would mean more money, higher competition in every sport, more TV exsposure, and a better perception. CUSA has done well in bowls the past couple years, we've also played...No one.

CUSA as its setup now is fine, but the next time teams start moving if one of or all of UTEP/UTSA/Rice leave we won't be singing the same tune.

Quoner · December 24, 2016

56 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

I mean, we could also rehire Rick Villarreal as AD... ?

Imagine what he could do with the base already put in place by Wren Baker.

PlummMeanGreen · December 24, 2016

Manifesto #667

Only way a move to MWC would work for North Texas is if 3 or 4 other "traveling partners" from this region moved with us to form the majority of a MWC East division. Such a new MWC division would be as close travel-wise as most oF the CUSA East which are largely start up programs or moved up from another NCAA classification.

AD WREN B. WOULD BENEFIT THE MOST BECAUSE OF SCHEDULING

Boise State is not the BSU of the old Big West because they have been ranked in the Top 25 most years since they left the Big West.

❓How many schools in MWC have been ranked in the Top 25 the last 10 years compared to SBC 2.0? I will find out & get back but the difference I really believe would be dramatic. You want to play un-ranked start-ups of schools with no tradition at Apogee or schools who could come into our football palace ranked in the Top 25? You become a Top 25 football program when you beat Top 25 programs. I think we all know what kind of fellow conference schools Wren Baker could market to sell season tickets & have better walk up sales than we have now.

Honestly? I don't see UNT leaders being proactive in any of this because that is just not our culture, but it is our culture to be re-active when the re-alignment gods are looking down their noses at us (again) in a not so positive way. Fact is, we would still be in the present SBC if SMU hadn't left CUSA (& that is a no-brainer).

➡️✳️➡️ I don't want our favorite school to be in any conference that SMU & Houston want to have no part of whatsoever. I think we offer as much or more than either of those schools & that comes from a former UH Coog fan from long ago.

Fry? He was not around when the best of the Mo' Valley had plans to depart or had departed that league. ➡️Look at the present membership of the Missouri Valley Conference to see what they would become. Sorry to you who were in swaddling clothes or were but gleams in your father's eyes at the time, but Hayden Fry was one of the few true visionaries this school has really ever had & is still...

✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️THE LAST MEAN GREEN HFC WE HAD AT UNT TO FINISH ABOVE .500 WHICH I GUESS MAKES HIM 100% INELIGIBLE TO EVER HAVE ANYTHING NAMED AFTER HIM UP THERE.??

When you have a bunch of NCAA D2 employees in Denton trying to be NCAA D1 you might end up getting what we've gotten up there for way too long. One barometer you can used to determine such an employee is mostly this: Can they get a job at the next level after having years in Denton to prove themselves?

IN CLOSING???THIS: It was the move down to NCAA D1-AA that kicked our athletic program & our NCAA social standing in the nutsac & that was 3 years after Fry left for the Big 10. It was not a total disaster except for the way alums back then felt like we'd moved from the penthouse to the trailer park. Fact is, it was about that time our UNT leadership started what seemed like a multi-year/multi-decade series of Keystone Cops modus operendi; that is, beginning with the (then) UNT A.D. (God rest his soul) who missed a deadline (as the story goes) & didn't come up with what I understand was a reasonable fee that would have kept us out of 1-AA. It seems 2 others schools from the state of Louisiana had taken care of business with theirs with one of those schools that presently gives us hell in recruiting & shows all how to do much with little as our school has continued to do little with much.

Edited December 25, 2016 by PlummMeanGreen

DeepGreen · December 24, 2016

CUSA? Remind me again of our new TV package value......was it $200,000 a season??? Call me not impressed.

UNTLifer · December 24, 2016

3 hours ago, Harry said:

After La. tech besting #25 Navy on the field, WKU dismantling the best of the AAC in Memphis, Old Dominion and Southern Miss victorious and fledgling UTSA in a respectable loss, is it not time to put these silly thoughts of moving to another conference aside? I ask @UNT90 @PlummMeanGreen and many others with all due respect, to reconsider your desire for UNT to jump ship when the Mounstain West or some other G5 conference decides to raise her skirt.

The recent hiring of ex Cowboy coach Butch Davis and Alabama's Lane Kiffin should make it very clear that the rest of the world sees the bright future that C-USA has. We need to do OUR part and better North Texas. This is a very good conference that will only get better with time. Let's be the best we can be here and then look at our options.

Let us not repeat the mistakes of our past. Hayden Fry was a great coach, but he made a mistake when he led us out of the Missouri Valley. Let's learn from history. gmg

The bolded is what I completely agree with in the above post. This does not state that we should be complacent or accept where we are, but states that we need to improve, be the best we can while in CUSA and look at our options when they arise. There isn't much else we can do.

Ben Gooding · December 24, 2016

14 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

The bolded is what I completely agree with in the above post. This does not state that we should be complacent or accept where we are, but states that we need to improve, be the best we can while in CUSA and look at our options when they arise. There isn't much else we can do.

Doesn't have to state, it infers.

Wag Tag · December 25, 2016

Win,fill the stadium and build an IPF!

Then we will have better opportunities!

PlummMeanGreen · December 25, 2016

Sunday Morning Breaking News! (updated)

LA TECH IS BEING COURTED BY THE AAC TO REPLACE UCONN WHO JUST ACCEPTED MEMBERSHIP TO THE ACC & SMU WILL BE THE RUSTON SCHOOLS SPONSOR.

What was your first thoughts or response to that headline which, of course, is fictional for the time being? Probably about the same as mine if it had been real such as..........here we go again as in...

North Texas with its largest contingency of fans ever at the 2016 HOD Bowl and it's #5 ranked TV market being treated like chopped liver with conference re-alignment.

If the above headline were true, anyone think LaTech would turn that down? Anyone think we would turn that down? So you who live & die CUSA suddenly have a change of heart now?

I'm sorry, I'll go to Mean Green hell for such lagniappe as all this, but we've seen similar things happen when the winds of conference re-alignment blow & those winds are never going to stop in today's NCAA.

_____________________________________________

The only ones who can determine what & where North Texas future will be are 3 fold:

(1) UNT President Smatresk

(2). UNT AD Wren Baker

(3) UNT Board of Regents

Otherwise this (like any subject on GMG.com) is mostly all Hot Sports Opinions from those from every decade & the experiences we all had in our respective decades as North Texas Mean Green fans. HSO's from all of us who have unquestioned passion for North Texas along with all of our concerns as to where a school our size, academic scope and prime location should eventually cast its lot whether that be CUSA or elsewhere.

Whatever conference we hang our hat for now & that being CUSA, North Texas has all the key ingredients to where at some point we should eventually aim our ship toward being in a Power-5 conference. Why not the best for North Texas? We're no 2'nd Hand Rose!!!!!

GMG!

BEAT ARMY!

Edited December 26, 2016 by PlummMeanGreen