Tulsa

[untjim1995]

Just got ranked after beating SMU this weekend, knocking the Ponies out of the rankings, too.

Remember when we said they should just drop out of the AAC and we should get in their place? I think they are making some AAC folks happy today.

They are yet another program that proves that you can win and get ranked with players around here in this region. I feel like they do a better job of taking advantage of a weaker UNT than anyone, going back to the Kragthorpe days, when they would kill us on the field and in recruiting. 

[Harry]

7 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Just got ranked after beating SMU this weekend, knocking the Ponies out of the rankings, too.

Remember when we said they should just drop out of the AAC and we should get in their place? I think they are making some AAC folks happy today.

They are yet another program that proves that you can win and get ranked with players around here in this region. I feel like they do a better job of taking advantage of a weaker UNT than anyone, going back to the Kragthorpe days, when they would kill us on the field and in recruiting. 

Not going to lie, I felt like we had surpassed them the past couple of years and to have Phillip Montgomery battle back and save his job with this type of season is a little discouraging if you are a UNT fan.

[untjim1995]

7 minutes ago, Harry said:

Not going to lie, I felt like we had surpassed them the past couple of years and to have Phillip Montgomery battle back and save his job with this type of season is a little discouraging if you are a UNT fan.

I think the reality is that SL went in and got Mason Fine and some other nice pieces from Oklahoma for the program and it perfectly coincided with Tulsa falling back some. But Fine is gone and we are now left with a bunch of guys who haven't gotten the chance to really click yet on offense because of the issues 2020 has presented to a team introducing a new QB, a new OC, and losing their QB coach, all while having little defensive interest. Its a tough road and the only hope we can have is that SL makes 2021 look like Montgomery's 2020 at Tulsa. I feel like we are much better off to have SL show he can get things rebuilt here and stick around for a few more years than the alternative, which is him continuing to flail around and getting fired, costing us quite a lot in a buyout that is very high in these crazy times.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

Seeing Tulsa’s money problem makes it even more discouraging. 2 top 25 wins this year and some really good talent, but plays in a dump and is scraping rock bottom money wise.

Very disappointing that we couldn’t jump on the opportunity to keep succeeding...

[greenjoe]

A good example of a program that doesn’t have much money (apparently) and outdated facilities and still manages to put a good product on the field.  The BeaTles said, “Money can’t buy me love.”  I guess it can’t buy wins either.

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, greenjoe said:

A good example of a program that doesn’t have much money (apparently) and outdated facilities and still manages to put a good product on the field.  The BeaTles said, “Money can’t buy me love.”  I guess it can’t buy wins either.

Look at La Tech and Tulsa - Sure we all like the "shinny toys" UNT has added but are these things really important to building a G5 program? The players at UTSA don't seem to mind not having a stadium.

Of course most of us here have the green-tinted glasses, but I wish someone could do a study on players we recruited and went elsewhere to places that don't seem to have near what we do to offer and find out "Why Not" UNT.  How do we change the culture?

[UNTLifer]

Let's put this in perspective:

Tulsa hired Montgomery in December 2014.  His yearly records are as follows:

2015: 6-7

2016: 10-3

2017: 2-10

2018: 3-9

2019: 4-8

2020: Currently 4-1

By comparison, Littrell was hired in December 2015:  His yearly records are:

2016: 5-8

2017: 9-5

2018: 9-4

2019: 4-8

2020: Currently 2-3

Are they really in that much better shape than us?  Many fans, if we were at Tulsa, would have wanted their coach fired after his second year and definitely his third.  Montgomery is a year ahead of Littrell in his tenure yet he has an overall record of 25-37 compared to Littrell's 27-25.  Plus, Tulsa had a history of some success through the years.

[DeepGreen]

Is the fact that Tulsa has-

Great academics?

Private school?

Belongs to a better conference(AAC)?

Where do the majority of their players come from?  Oklahoma? Texas? Arkansas?  All over?

Just throwing spitballs out there to see if something sticks.

[GrayEagle]

23 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

Is the fact that Tulsa has-

Great academics?

Private school?

Belongs to a better conference(AAC)?

Where do the majority of their players come from?  Oklahoma? Texas? Arkansas?  All over?

Just throwing spitballs out there to see if something sticks.

I can answer where their players are from.  The vast majority are from Texas and Oklahoma with Texas having the larger number.  The only other state with significant numbers is California.  

Tulsa is a private school with great academics but with the smallest number of undergraduate students in the FBS.  They have a pretty large endowment but are losing significantly with their athletic programs.  Tulsa spends about $2 million more per annum than we do but their administration makes up about a $7 million dollar deficit and we have about a million dollar surplus.  We average roughly 5,000 more in average attendance currently.  Lastly, the AAC may not be P6 but they are G1.

Edited November 17, 2020 by GrayEagle