North Texas to Mountain West?

UNT Texas Hooligan · June 25, 2019

2 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Now that they have a new President maybe they will do what we have done and invest (Previous President, Dr. Natalicio did not give a crap about the athletic teams). In addition they have a relativity new AD. If UTEP had 7-8 win seasons they would average 40K-45K. Hell, a 9-10 win team might put 50K in the Sun Bowl.

I remember going to games when Mike Price was the coach and they were ranked 24 in the country. Sun Bowl was packed. I also go to the Sun Bowl game every year and that is as close to sell out as you can get for a Bowl Game considering the games around the same days and times. I know that not that there is a new AD and focus on athletics in place, my father has started donating more to them. He used to take pride in them "being all about academics to sacrifice athletics," but I think that kind of stinkage gets old after a while. If they turn things around, El Pasoans will start showing up again. I will give them that, they do care a whole hell of a lot about UTEP, even if they didn't go there.

southsideguy · June 25, 2019

UTEP accepts 99.9% of people who apply, academics?

RBP79 · June 25, 2019

4 hours ago, Green Crazy said:

We would not travel well to those games to say the least.

Do we travel well now. Went to a couple away games last year......if that was traveling well then we have a difference in opinion as to what traveling well means.

meangreenlax · June 25, 2019

58 minutes ago, MeanGreen2019 said:

So is this MWC just talk or are their discussions with UNT if the AAC poaches a MWC team? Can anyone verify?

This is all just shitposting. Nothing has been actually reported

Green Crazy · June 25, 2019

46 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

Do we travel well now. Went to a couple away games last year......if that was traveling well then we have a difference in opinion as to what traveling well means.

No, I was trying to understate the obvious.

Also, I think one of our selling points when recruiting is playing games close enough for the families of players to travel to. This would help our recruiting west of Texas, but that's not our honey hole.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Green Crazy

the green rokemi · June 26, 2019

9 hours ago, TIgreen01 said:

When TCU was in the conference they outspent everyone else by a significant margin. We'll be coming in closer to the bottom. We'd need to upgrade our budget, staff and talent to replicate what TCU did in the MWC. Not saying we couldn't be competitive, but TCU DOMINATED that conference (at least on the football field) and used it to leap-frog out.

Tcu...leap frog....I see what you did there. Really jumped out the way you wrote it

Edited June 26, 2019 by the green rokemi
Didn't finish

untbowler · June 26, 2019

19 hours ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Yeah, I can blame them. Most of them haven't been to Denton in years, if at all. They have no idea the trajectory of the program, the city we're located in and probably even the proximity to DFW. Let alone our stadium and current facility upgrades. They are just talking out of their ass because we don't have a crimson A on our helmet.

you think these fans really give 2 s**ts about what our facilities look like... maybe a small minority, the rest look at results and the most recent score on their mind is Utah St embarrassing UNT in NM, one year after Troy did the same thing in New Orleans.

Wins are what matters in the game of perception

RBP79 · June 26, 2019

If there is an opening in MWC, does Neal Smatresk still have points of contact since he came from UNLV? That might influence any invitation into that conference.

untjim1995 · June 26, 2019

1 hour ago, untbowler said:

you think these fans really give 2 s**ts about what our facilities look like... maybe a small minority, the rest look at results and the most recent score on their mind is Utah St embarrassing UNT in NM, one year after Troy did the same thing in New Orleans.

Wins are what matters in the game of perception

I guarantee you that the Arkansas win and the publicity we got from that trumps both of those bowl calamities.

But your point stands about needing to keep winning. Beating SMU, UH, and Cal this fall would go a long way into convincing the MWC that we are definitely a program they could see getting value from if they were in the conference with them. My fear has always been that the MWC and AAC will just wait to see what happens with the Big XII's probable demise by 2025 and see what spare parts they could add from the leftovers instead of adding in a CUSA program.

One other possibility that seems to be growing is that the Pac-12 is a clusterfruck right now, when it comes to revenue. They are clearly getting nothing from their network and you are hearing grumblings out West from the southern Pac schools about not getting $$$ anywhere close to the Big XII right now. If the Big XII survives and somehow adds in some of their schools, then the Pac 12 leftovers would probably look at MWC pieces to poach, like Boise State, UNLV, SDSU, and Fresno State to name a few.

Cooke County Kid · June 26, 2019

We need to be in a better conference period. I would gladly travel to UNM, Air Force, CSU and Wyoming. They are all on IH-25 and near the mountains. What could be better, the beach, got that too. Love me some Spirit Airlines. AAC would be better but I would take the Mountain West.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES

Wag Tag · June 26, 2019

2 minutes ago, Cooke County Kid said:

We need to be in a better conference period. I would gladly travel to UNM, Air Force, CSU and Wyoming. They are all on IH-25 and near the mountains. What could be better, the beach, got that too. Love me some Spirit Airlines. AAC would be better but I would take the Mountain West.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!
WIN GAMES

This is our season with a Conf MVP and the best talent around him since he has been here. An oversold Champ game at the Ap on Natl Tv would be huge on conf decisions! GMG

Travis · June 26, 2019

3 hours ago, untbowler said:

you think these fans really give 2 s**ts about what our facilities look like... maybe a small minority, the rest look at results and the most recent score on their mind is Utah St embarrassing UNT in NM, one year after Troy did the same thing in New Orleans.

Wins are what matters in the game of perception

BSU's stadium is really crappy with sight lines similar to that of Fouts Field. It is an old stadium with the stands set back because of a track that was around the field. There isn't anything nice about BSU's stadium at all, but they win. You are right, that is all that matters.

UNTLifer · June 26, 2019

19 hours ago, MeanGreen2019 said:

So is this MWC just talk or are their discussions with UNT if the AAC poaches a MWC team? Can anyone verify?

It's the off-season.

MeanGreen2019 · June 27, 2019

6 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

It's the off-season.

One can dream though.

UNTLifer · June 27, 2019

1 hour ago, MeanGreen2019 said:

One can dream though.

That's what this time of year is for.

Aquila_Viridis · June 27, 2019

Yes to MW. Only home games matter; those are better brand opponents.

FirefightnRick · June 27, 2019

On 6/25/2019 at 1:30 PM, meanrob said:

I used to be a firm no to the MW but after a few years in CUSA I’ve switched to a limp yes.

However I don’t see it happening.

Right there with ya. I always enjoy being able to travel to conference games. And we’ve had that for all of about 4 of the past 35 years or so. But now I think we could make the leap?

Still, ...damn it I wished we could dominate coosa just once before we start looking down our noses at it. I wished we could be the team that P5 programs grow nervous over at the thought of having us on their schedule.

“We got got North Texas this year???”

relationship words GIF

Rick

UNT 90 Grad · June 27, 2019

21 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

I guarantee you that the Arkansas win and the publicity we got from that trumps both of those bowl calamities.

I dunno. The Arkansas game was exciting at the time, but that team didn’t win a single conference game last year any went 2-10 overall. That was a very bad Arkansas team. I’m proud of the win, but it shouldn’t be looked at as an upset. Much more publicity was from the punt return than the win.

LongJim · June 27, 2019

Some of my thoughts on the MWC:

UNT needs to be in a conference with in-state/interstate rivals as much as possible. This program is fighting 100+ years of apathy because they never played anyone the public gave a crap about in conference play. Look at the home schedule attendance from last year. Top 3: La Tech, SMU, Rice. By a wiiiide margin. Heck, even Incarnate Word outdrew SoMiss, and Flantic doesn't travel at all.
You want UNT recruits and their parents to be able to travel as easily as possible to away games. Mama wants to see her baby play. Cannot underestimate how important that is in recruiting.
You want travel costs to be as low as possible for your entire program. MWC will be a strain on the AD.
You want opponents with name recognition in the state of Texas, which is where UNT draws most RECRUITS. For perception purposes, and ideally, UNT NEEDS to be mentioned in the same breath as the SMU's, Tulsa's, and Houston's of the world on Saturday and Sunday morning. MWC game times and opponents hinder that.
You want OPPOSING teams fans to TRAVEL as much and as many as possible to Apogee. Attendance will suffer with MWC. UNT will not play BSU at home every year. When will the phrase "...before a sellout crowd at Apogee Stadium..." be uttered by a broadcaster or printed online?
I think UNT should continue to build and WIN. Play the long game. Set sights a bit higher than the MWC. I think--at this point in UNT's progression--it's at best a lateral move, and at worst, a total momentum killer and a step backward.

UNT needs to play a long game. MWC jump would be premature and a move sideways at the most.

Edited June 27, 2019 by LongJim

untjim1995 · June 27, 2019

31 minutes ago, LongJim said:

Some of my thoughts on the MWC:

UNT needs to be in a conference with in-state/interstate rivals as much as possible. This program is fighting 100+ years of apathy because they never played anyone the public gave a crap about in conference play. Look at the home schedule attendance from last year. Top 3: La Tech, SMU, Rice. By a wiiiide margin. Heck, even Incarnate Word outdrew SoMiss, and Flantic doesn't travel at all.

You want UNT recruits and their parents to be able to travel as easily as possible to away games. Mama wants to see her baby play. Cannot underestimate how important that is in recruiting.

You want travel costs to be as low as possible for your entire program. MWC will be a strain on the AD.

You want opponents with name recognition in the state of Texas, which is where UNT draws most RECRUITS. For perception purposes, and ideally, UNT NEEDS to be mentioned in the same breath as the SMU's, Tulsa's, and Houston's of the world on Saturday and Sunday morning. MWC game times and opponents hinder that.

You want OPPOSING teams fans to TRAVEL as much and as many as possible to Apogee. Attendance will suffer with MWC. UNT will not play BSU at home every year. When will the phrase "...before a sellout crowd at Apogee Stadium..." be uttered by a broadcaster or printed online?

I think UNT should continue to build and WIN. Play the long game. Set sights a bit higher than the MWC. I think--at this point in UNT's progression--it's at best a lateral move, and at worst, a total momentum killer and a step backward.

UNT needs to play a long game. MWC jump would be premature and a move sideways at the most.

TCU didn’t look at the MWC that way

MeanGreenTexan · June 27, 2019

39 minutes ago, LongJim said:

Some of my thoughts on the MWC:

UNT needs to be in a conference with in-state/interstate rivals as much as possible. This program is fighting 100+ years of apathy because they never played anyone the public gave a crap about in conference play. Look at the home schedule attendance from last year. Top 3: La Tech, SMU, Rice. By a wiiiide margin. Heck, even Incarnate Word outdrew SoMiss, and Flantic doesn't travel at all.

...

If you're shocked at Incarnate Word being higher-attended than Southern Miss, you probably weren't at the Southern Miss game for the same reason as everyone else who skipped it.

LongJim · June 27, 2019

13 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

TCU didn’t look at the MWC that way

No, but the school's situations are different in many ways.

LongJim · June 27, 2019

4 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

If you're shocked at Incarnate Word being higher-attended than Southern Miss, you probably weren't at the Southern Miss game for the same reason as everyone else who skipped it.

It is what it is.

RBP79 · June 27, 2019

1 hour ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I dunno. The Arkansas game was exciting at the time, but that team didn’t win a single conference game last year any went 2-10 overall. That was a very bad Arkansas team. I’m proud of the win, but it shouldn’t be looked at as an upset. Much more publicity was from the punt return than the win.

That beat down by NT started their fall. They never recovered from that loss mentally.

Edited June 27, 2019 by RBP79

meanrob · June 27, 2019

11 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Right there with ya. I always enjoy being able to travel to conference games. And we’ve had that for all of about 4 of the past 35 years or so. But now I think we could make the leap?

Still, ...damn it I wished we could dominate coosa just once before we start looking down our noses at it. I wished we could be the team that P5 programs grow nervous over at the thought of having us on their schedule.

“We got got North Texas this year???”

Rick

I don't look down on the other schools, I don't like the leadership and organization of the conference. Tell me which conference commissioner you would rather have?

No doubt we have to continue to improve our own house but as someone who used to live down Denton way but now lives out west, comparing the towns and coverage of CUSA to MWC isn't even close. CUSA has Hattiesburg, Ruston, Huntington, Murfeesboro, Bowling Green and those likes. I don't count coverage of teams who are the fourth tier in their market like us, Rice and the Florida schools. Meanwhile MWC has Reno, Albuquerque, Boise, Las Vegas, Fresno and even Utah State and CSU get big coverage and have a good footprint in their areas.

That's certainly not the only reason to change but in my opinion the MWC comes across as professional. CUSA comes across as holding things together with ducktape. I didn't really see it that way until the last few years and the way CUSA does things half ass. Just one man's opinion.

Having said all that if Wren and the coaches were to say that being in CUSA is in best interest of the program and gives us the best chance to be successful, that would trump anything else.