UNT Baseball Renders Appear Out of Thin Air

dmaxel · February 3, 2018

At least I have no idea what the source on these is. Discuss?

NorthTexan95 · February 3, 2018

These were made near the end of RV's tenure when we thought baseball was getting close. Then we ran into the financial issues which caused this to be shelved. Then McCarney imploded, RV was fired, and after a reassessment we decided to put our resources into our current sports before starting up baseball again.

The new overall plan calls for the stadium to be in a different spot so when it does eventually happen it most likely won't look anything like these pictures.

The good news is RV won't be around to force the fans and batters to battle the setting sun.

Edited February 3, 2018 by NorthTexan95

oldguystudent · February 3, 2018

Only tbd days til opening day. That is exactly right. I have completely given up on baseball at UNT. Like not even a remote afterthought in post coital fantasy.

Wren more or less said when he got here that it wasn't a priority, which to me is administrator speak for it ain't f'n happening.

Somebody please correct me because I'm probably wrong, but I thought that when we joined CUSA, baseball was still a priority sport in the conference and our admission was contingent on having a team. We pulled a great wool over then commissioner Banowsky's eyes.

Meh. My old school has stopped paying attention to baseball, leaves a curmudgeonly octogenarian in the dugout as coach, hired a bunch of students as the assistant staff, and the whole thing happens during tax season anyway.

So long college baseball. We hardly knew ye.

(This isn't a sensitive topic for me whatsoever. Nope. No one bit.)

Ben Gooding · February 3, 2018

3 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

Only tbd days til opening day. That is exactly right. I have completely given up on baseball at UNT. Like not even a remote afterthought in post coital fantasy.

Wren more or less said when he got here that it wasn't a priority, which to me is administrator speak for it ain't f'n happening.

Somebody please correct me because I'm probably wrong, but I thought that when we joined CUSA, baseball was still a priority sport in the conference and our admission was contingent on having a team. We pulled a great wool over then commissioner Banowsky's eyes.

Meh. My old school has stopped paying attention to baseball, leaves a curmudgeonly octogenarian in the dugout as coach, hired a bunch of students as the assistant staff, and the whole thing happens during tax season anyway.

So long college baseball. We hardly knew ye.

(This isn't a sensitive topic for me whatsoever. Nope. No one bit.)

Baseball is unarguably the strongest sport in CUSA athletics. It's continued lunacy for us not to try and be apart of it. We are a quasi "P5" conference in baseball with legitimate programs. We have 5 or 6 top 60 programs and typically a top 10-15 program every year.

BTG_Fan1 · February 3, 2018

1 hour ago, oldguystudent said:

Only tbd days til opening day. That is exactly right. I have completely given up on baseball at UNT. Like not even a remote afterthought in post coital fantasy.

Wren more or less said when he got here that it wasn't a priority, which to me is administrator speak for it ain't f'n happening.

Somebody please correct me because I'm probably wrong, but I thought that when we joined CUSA, baseball was still a priority sport in the conference and our admission was contingent on having a team. We pulled a great wool over then commissioner Banowsky's eyes.

Meh. My old school has stopped paying attention to baseball, leaves a curmudgeonly octogenarian in the dugout as coach, hired a bunch of students as the assistant staff, and the whole thing happens during tax season anyway.

So long college baseball. We hardly knew ye.

(This isn't a sensitive topic for me whatsoever. Nope. No one bit.)

Wren has an interest in baseball and he has said it from the start. The only reason we have baseball down the road is because of the piss poor facilities among other things that needed to be done to improve the current sports teams we have.

Baseball on average is a 2 million dollar loss for the AD Budget. Waiting till year 3-4-5 of WB allows for that extra 6-10 million to be invested into areas that are greatly needed (Soccer/Track, IPF, etc). On top of having to create multiple other females sports to comply with Title 9 which will only increase the debt.

The AD Master Plan has the baseball stadium in the 2nd tier of things to be completed, with the 1st tier being half way completed with the start of the Soccer/Track and the IPF being something hopefully started soon (they were taking soil samples it looked like this past week on the practice fields where the IPF would be.)

oldguystudent · February 3, 2018

1 hour ago, Ben Gooding said:

Baseball is unarguably the strongest sport in CUSA athletics. It's continued lunacy for us not to try and be apart of it. We are a quasi "P5" conference in baseball with legitimate programs. We have 5 or 6 top 60 programs and typically a top 10-15 program every year.

I am well aware of CUSA's standing in the college baseball pecking order. The B1G and SEC are slowly but surely eroding away the status of CUSA and the Big West, but they're both still up there for now.

Ben Gooding · February 3, 2018

23 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

I am well aware of CUSA's standing in the college baseball pecking order. The B1G and SEC are slowly but surely eroding away the status of CUSA and the Big West, but they're both still up there for now.

Big10 is typically stagnant and nonproductive in baseball. The top conferences in front of CUSA are SEC, ACC, and Big12.

meangreenJW · February 3, 2018

I'm for adding baseball but do wonder why everyone always assumes we'll be competitive automatically. What advantages would a UNT baseball team have over other UNT teams? I've always wondered that when people advocate for it.

If we add baseball, I'd be in the front of the line for tickets but I'm not sure it would just sky rocket like some seem to believe.

GreenN'walinsVet · February 3, 2018

5 minutes ago, meangreenJW said:

I'm for adding baseball but do wonder why everyone always assumes we'll be competitive automatically. What advantages would a UNT baseball team have over other UNT teams? I've always wondered that when people advocate for it.

If we add baseball, I'd be in the front of the line for tickets but I'm not sure it would just sky rocket like some seem to believe.

Baseball is a much more level playing field due to the team only allowed to give out 11.3 scholarships i believe it is. Add in the location (can play just about year around) weather wise, location to talent and coaching and you have a recipe for success that doesn't equate to other sports.

oldguystudent · February 3, 2018

21 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

Big10 is typically stagnant and nonproductive in baseball. The top conferences in front of CUSA are SEC, ACC, and Big12.

B1G has been whining for years to get rule changes to their advantage. The most prominent has been pushing back the start of the season from the last week in January to mid February.

Ben Gooding · February 3, 2018

8 hours ago, meangreenJW said:

I'm for adding baseball but do wonder why everyone always assumes we'll be competitive automatically. What advantages would a UNT baseball team have over other UNT teams? I've always wondered that when people advocate for it.

If we add baseball, I'd be in the front of the line for tickets but I'm not sure it would just sky rocket like some seem to believe.

There is no reason whatsoever to believe that we would be competitive right from the start. But....90%+ of college baseball programs in Texas have had recently or are currently having sustained success, regardless of conference affiliation.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Ben Gooding

DeepGreen · February 3, 2018

Like the topic of another thread, "Time To Open Up Your Wallet". If you want baseball.

And for the record, North Texas should have baseball.

Mean Green 93-98 · February 3, 2018

2 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

Somebody please correct me because I'm probably wrong, but I thought that when we joined CUSA, baseball was still a priority sport in the conference and our admission was contingent on having a team. We pulled a great wool over then commissioner Banowsky's eyes.

No, that's not at all correct. When we were looking to get into the old C-USA, back when Houston, SMU, etc. were still members, many thought it would have been a plus to get us admission. But it was primarily our facilities--mainly Fouts--that kept us from getting in when we were being considered ca. 2004. Perhaps SMU's presence in the conference had something to do with it as well. By the time we actually were added, we had Apogee, and SMU's departure required a DFW add, so we were getting in above pretty much all other candidates, baseball or no baseball.

15 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

B1G has been whining for years to get rule changes to their advantage. The most prominent has been pushing back the start of the season from the last week in January to mid February.

In fairness, that is not a rule change to their advantage. It is flat-out impossible to have baseball in January through mid-February in Big 10 country. That is a rule change that could let them approach something remotely akin to level footing with schools in warmer climates.

Edited February 3, 2018 by Mean Green 93-98

oldguystudent · February 3, 2018

As long as the 11.7 scholarship limit is in place, baseball has a parity that football and basketball will never have. (Of course the B1G and SEC are both whining and lobbying HEAVILY to get that limit removed)

My school made it to the CWS in its sixth year of existence after reinstatement and sustained remarkable success for about a decade.

Oregon made it to the tourney in its second year of existence after reinstatement.

I'd have to go digging, but there are plenty of other examples.

There basically aren't any bad teams in D1 baseball in Texas. They're all pretty good. Rice, Texas, TCU, and Dallas Baptist (Dallas Baptist!) are generally the powerhouse programs in the state, but even UTSA fields a decent team.

A new program would be primarily freshman and juniors, so the second year would have nearly the entire roster returning. Things get good quickly.

oldguystudent · February 3, 2018

1 minute ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

No, that's not at all correct. When we were looking to get into the old C-USA, back when Houston, SMU, etc. were still members, many thought it would have been a plus to get us admission. But it was primarily our facilities--mainly Fouts--that kept us from getting in when we were being considered ca. 2004. Perhaps SMU's presence in the conference had something to do with it as well. By the time we actually were added, we had Apogee, and SMU's departure required a DFW add, so we were getting in above pretty much all other candidates, baseball or no baseball.

In fairness, that is not a rule change to their advantage. It is flat-out impossible to have baseball in January through mid-February in Big 10 country. That is a rule change that could let them approach something remotely akin to level footing with schools in warmer climates.

I don't know how to clip quotes.

To the first point on CUSA, ok. I knew I might be wrong on that one.

Prior to the rule change, the B1G was playing the first couple weeks on the road. The bigger factor was that they couldn't practice before the start of the season like the warm weather schools could. They've been pushing to make it even later, holding the CWS in July, but southern schools are balking at the idea -- baseball pun intended.

greenjoe · February 3, 2018

I’ve only been to one college B.B. game. Texas A&M when my son was there. Do TCU and Dallas Baptist draw well ? By that I mean do the sell, say as much as 75% of their home games ?

GO MEAN GREEN

oldguystudent · February 3, 2018

11 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

I’ve only been to one college B.B. game. Texas A&M when my son was there. Do TCU and Dallas Baptist draw well ? By that I mean do the sell, say as much as 75% of their home games ?

GO MEAN GREEN

I have no idea about Dallas Baptist, though they did recently unveil a shiny new stadium.

TCU sells pretty well. I've been there several times where it's standing room only, but those have been series between two top ranked teams and post season games. Friday nights are the premier night, so those are more crowded. Sunday and mid-week games are mostly just parents at virtually all programs not names LSU.

Ben Gooding · February 4, 2018

5 hours ago, greenjoe said:

I’ve only been to one college B.B. game. Texas A&M when my son was there. Do TCU and Dallas Baptist draw well ? By that I mean do the sell, say as much as 75% of their home games ?

GO MEAN GREEN

Both DBU and TCU draw well in baseball. TCU drew #1 in 2017 in Big12 at 4,954 per game. DBU pulled 1,952, in 2017, 2nd in their conference. Also, DBU had the 5th most players in the country drafted in this years draft at 6 players.

4 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

I have no idea about Dallas Baptist, though they did recently unveil a shiny new stadium.

TCU sells pretty well. I've been there several times where it's standing room only, but those have been series between two top ranked teams and post season games. Friday nights are the premier night, so those are more crowded. Sunday and mid-week games are mostly just parents at virtually all programs not names LSU.

I understand the sentiment given that LSU has led college baseball in overall attendance for 22 straight years, but this isn't quite true. There are several programs within earshot of LSU's attendance. To add, CUSA has 3 programs, SoMiss, Rice, and LaTech that were top 30 attendance pullers in the country in 2017. Baseball can be fruitful if erected correctly and funded properly.

Salsa_Verde · February 4, 2018

Forgive me for my ignorance but is there a specific rule in college baseball that prohibits an indoor staduim? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen or heard of any school having one.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Salsa_Verde

oldguystudent · February 4, 2018

Just now, Salsa_Verde said:

Forgive me for my ignorance but is there a specific rule in college baseball that prohibits an indoor staduim? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen or heard of any school having one.

Outside the SEC, a "Big" stadium might have about 4-5,000 seats. This of course does not decrease the size of the field itself.

So you would have to build a large domed structure for a sport that doesn't get even basketball demand in the seats.

Salsa_Verde · February 4, 2018

Just now, oldguystudent said:

Outside the SEC, a "Big" stadium might have about 4-5,000 seats. This of course does not decrease the size of the field itself.

So you would have to build a large domed structure for a sport that doesn't get even basketball demand in the seats.

That makes sense.

greenjoe · February 4, 2018

So would a baseball stadium with 4,000 to 5,000 seats be adequate ? That roughly half the size of the seating capacity in the Coliseum.

oldguystudent · February 4, 2018

17 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

So would a baseball stadium with 4,000 to 5,000 seats be adequate ? That roughly half the size of the seating capacity in the Coliseum.

UNT would be wise to put in a little over 3,000 reserved seats for post season hosting purposes.

Capacity across CUSA:

Charlotte: 1,110 seated 3,000 SRO

FIU: 2,000

FAU: 2,000

LaTech: 3,000

Marshall: 6,200, 300, 2,500 (They apparently have three different places they play)

MTSU: 2,600

ODU: 2,500

Rice: 7,000 (Averaged 2,903 home attendance in 2015)

Southern MIss: 4,300

UAB: 1,000

UTSA: 9,500 (Like football, they don't have a stadium of their own and play in the local AA Texas League minor league stadium)

WKU: 1,500

Top ten average attendance for 2015:

1. LSU -- 10,815

2. Arkansas -- 8,291

3. Ole Miss -- 8,014

4. Miss. St -- 7,449

5. South Carolina -- 7,355

6. Texas -- 5,557

7. Texas A&M -- 4,857

8. Florida St. -- 4,278

9. Clemson -- 4,251

10. TCU -- 4,093

Continuing down the list, the top CUSA was Rice, coming in at #21 with 2,903 and Southern Miss coming in at #25 with 2,709. No other CUSA schools are listed in the top 50.

MrStrange18 · May 16, 2018

Here to bring out a stick to continue to beat this dead horse... but it is so frustrating to have UTSA with a team and not us.

I know, I know... theres a lot that goes into making this happen. Yes, I know we have a list of things that needs to be done first...

BUT... I would love to be able to see some Mean Green baseball in CUSA!

greenjoe · May 16, 2018

We had some reps from the Athletic Department speak at my Kiwanis Club this morning (W). When asked when we could expect baseball, they said 10 years. Put the tarp on the field.