The First Opponent In The New Stadium...

[Smitty]

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa everyone. What happened to not wanting to play big time teams that will kick the crap out of us? I think for the first home game in the new stadium we need to get some DII school or some team we know we can kill (Calhoun Middle School possibly?) and beat the living crap out of them. Boost some confidence and make the opening of the new stadium even sweeter. Plus, I'm pretty sure it will be a sold out game at the new stadium and we need to let our fans be the majority and be as loud as we can be.

I have no problem with scheduling a I-AA opponent next year, in 2010, and in 2011, just not the the opener at the new stadium. I don't know that a Nichols State would generate a sell out, even in a new stadium. I would hope so, but I have my doubts. And, hopefully, three years from now we will have built up some confidence.

[LAZER]

First off, it needs to be a D-1 school. A Texas Mid-Major like Houston, SMU, TCU, Baylor, Rice, or UTEP would be ok. We would fill the stands, but you do run the risk of not having the home field advantage if we host Baylor or TTU. An out of state BCS team would be great to get our fans excited and bring us more attention. I doubt we should go with a top tier BCS team, ie Auburn, Bama, Colorado, Nebraska, Cal, etc. We should aim for a lower rung BCS team. Ie Vandy (yes they are good this year, but it may just be a one year thing), Baylor, New Mexico, Washington, etc would be good choices. I think the best choice would be a name school from a mid major conference. Ohio, Marshall, etc. Teams from the MAC, CUSA, WAC, Mountain West, ACC would be the best idea. Remember, we want to put butts in the seats and garner more recognition and bring in more and better recruits, but we also want to WIN.

On second thought, I just saw a 3 minute BJ piece on SMUt and June Jones on CBS College Sports. F 'em. Bring in SMUt and whoop their ass for the first game!

Aubeurn a top tier BCS program? have you seen them play this year? They are like number 65 in the nation......

[EastTexasMG]

I thought that RV mentioned that it might be Louisville.

[Green Mean]

I would love to bring in a Big East team. They would get some exposure to Texas and we can show UNT to the conference in hopes that the Big East may want to expand a little westward. I think Louisville would be an excellent choice. Maybe even a UCF or Syracuse would be a great choice to bring in. If we dont bring in the bigger type schools then we need to bring a team that we can beat and crush. That would be a big boost for the school, team and it would give the fans some good and exciting football in my opinion.

[NT91]

Currently only Army is listed as a home OOC opponent for 2011.....

http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/future_...exas_future.htm

Army would be good. We will win!

[H-towngreen]

Louisville would be great. Or I think another team from the Big East or ACC, maybe a North Carolina or something. It's your first game in a new stadium, you have to go with a big name. And I would prefer it be out of state, you dont want a quarter of the attending fans to be wearing the other teams colors.

[kingwoodgreen]

It is hard to tell how good programs are gong to be in the future but...

Big 12 - Iowa State or Nebraska

local - Baylor or Houston maybe utep

Big 10 - Indiana or Minnesota

Big East -Syracuse

ACC - Duke

always smu

I am a litlle conflicted on big names or winnable games

[oldguystudent]

UTEP would be really good. Enough fan base to help fill the stadium, but not make it a "home" game for the other team like Baylor, they've been there with us in the bottom 10, so the game could be winnable, they're in Conference USA, a conference in which we desperately need to start beating some teams if we ever hope to rise out of the Sunbelt, and El Pasoans are just plain nice folk. Every time I meet someone from there, I make a new friend.

(There is a term going around on a blog that refers to people showing up in our parking lot wearing UT or SMU jerseys. You bring in the UTEP fans, and they will not meet the criteria for definition of this term)

Edited October 19, 2008 by oldguystudent

[GreenBlooded1]

I say Cincy or Memphis. just limit the number of visiting tickets. or another C-usa team. Since everyone here seems to want us to be in C-usa anyway.

[UNTLifer]

First game needs to be against a winnable opponent. There will be a big crowd for the Grand Opening, so let's ensure a big win. Abilene Christian or a Texas Southern type of game. Play the big name school for the second home game.

[NT80]

Louisville would be acceptable. I would also like to nominate Iowa, and bring in Coach Hayden Fry to toss the coin before the game.

[Rudy]

Aubeurn a top tier BCS program? have you seen them play this year? They are like number 65 in the nation......

Yeah, this year they suck. Year in and out, they are usually a top tier team. Same reason I proposed Vandy. Yeah they are good this year, but usually they are average.

[NT03]

Looks like UTEP was our 1st opponent at Fouts in 1952. We wound up winning that game 27 -14. We also played North Dakota (55-0W) , Hardin Simmons ( 10-13L) , Trinity (34-7W) , Texas Tech (34-19W) and Carswell AFB (28-14W) to finish the year 7-3 and claim the Gulf Coast Conference Championship.

It would only be fitting to play UTEP again to open up the new stadium.

[ScreamingEaglesFan]

I SAID SILENCE!

NO SOUP FOR YOU.

[Green Dozer]

Here is a suggestion? How about bringing in somebody that we actually have a chance to beat? Denton High School might be available (LOL). Seriously, UTEP, SMU, or surely in three years we could be competitive with Tulsa. If not, then it had better be Denton High.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Here is a suggestion? How about bringing in somebody that we actually have a chance to beat? Denton High School might be available (LOL). Seriously, UTEP, SMU, or surely in three years we could be competitive with Tulsa. If not, then it had better be Denton High.

I would love to do a home and home with UTEP.

[DallasGreen]

How about NMSU or even NM ? There have been some great games over the years with New Mexico State. I miss having them on our schedule since they left the Belt for the WAC.

[trud1966]

My thoughts and things to consider...

Aside from the win I'd very much want, people cant forget, this could very well be the biggest publicized event in UNT's history. The atmosphere of this day needs to be well thought of to take advantage of the event as much as we can. As much as I want a guaranteed win, I think it would be a mistake to schedule an Abilene Chritian for the VERY FIRST game in a brand new venue. I do believe we should schedule those types of confidence building games in the future, but not the VERY first game in that stadium, where we're trying to get alot of publicity. I also wouldnt bring in a gigantic powerhouse (assuming they'd even entertain the idea) and chance getting destroyed. I think it's important that the team we play have a decent contingent of fans. And it's rare, but I love it when the visiting team brings their band. Also, some might not agree, but I love the evening games. I know much of college football is played during the day, but it's just too warm on September 1 +/- to get me in the spirit of things. So if you take all of that crap into consideration, think about this...

1. Alot teams will only do the night games if they dont have to travel too far. (If they come a great distance, they'd prefer the day game so they get back on the road early)

2. Most schools will only bring their marching band with them on a road trip MAYBE 2 games a year. And it's if a very long distance, they just wont do it.

Given that stuff, I like the idea of a UTEP, Houston, Baylor, TCU.