Lane Rawlins: New Conference USA membership to begin in 2013

[Harry]

Direct Link: http://inhouse.unt.edu/new-conference-usa-membership-begin-2013

May 4, 2012

Dear UNT community,

UNT’s been making headlines lately with good news from our athletics program. The latest is an announcement I’m proud to make - we are becoming members of Conference USA in the 2013 season.

Moving our competitions to C-USA will be great for our fans because of the many natural, regional rivalries it will create. Having conference members in Texas and in nearby states makes this a logical move so that Mean Green fans can more readily attend games.

We’ve been part of the Sun Belt Conference since 2000 and have experienced great success there, including 20 conference championships and four bowl games. We have enjoyed our time in the Sun Belt and look forward to our final season with the conference teams we’ve played for so long.

We're also excited about this great opportunity, which will mean a higher level of competition for our teams, more national media exposure and better name-recognition for our university. Raising the level of competition will make our athletics program stronger. We will compete against many successful teams, which will help us raise our level of play. And competing with the other C-USA institutions better reflects the true academic quality of our university.

This conference change comes at a time when UNT’s athletics program is on the rise. Since 2003, we have developed more than 12 new athletics facilities. After opening our world-class, first-of-its kind green Apogee Stadium last fall with a $20 million sponsorship, we hosted record crowds - breaking an all-time single-season attendance record with more than 113,000 fans - and had our best football season since 2004.

I know it’s only going to get better. We’ve got an even stronger team going into this fall, and Coach Dan McCarney is fired up to make this another winning season. We’ll continue to have great matchups as a member of C-USA. This is a great time to buy season tickets because football at UNT will be more exciting than ever. The Mean Green is your home team!

There are great things happening in basketball, too. Tony Benford, the former men’s basketball associate head coach at Marquette University, joined us as the new head coach of men's basketball. We were sorry to lose Johnny Jones to his alma mater, Louisiana State University, but we wish him great success as its new head coach. We’ve also welcomed Mike Petersen, the former head coach of women’s basketball at Wake Forest University, as the new head coach of women's basketball. He replaces Karen Aston, who joined the University of Texas at Austin as head coach. We also wish her continued success. Both Tony and Mike bring plenty of experience and great track records to UNT, and they are taking over winning teams with a lot of talent. We expect a great basketball season this year.

There are plenty of other Mean Green milestones to celebrate. The Mean Green tennis team and the men’s golf team won 2011-12 Sun Belt Conference tournament championships, while our Mean Green soccer team won the regular season championship. Our student-athletes continue to excel academically, thanks to the dedication of our athletics staff members and others at the university in ensuring they get the benefits of a first-rate education.

These advances are part of UNT’s overall momentum and reflect our ongoing commitment to uphold the three A’s: academics, the arts and athletics. We’re intent on being great across the board because providing a top-quality experience enriched by knowledge, culture, competition and community is what makes great universities stand out.

Sincerely,

V. Lane Rawlins

President

[DallasGreen]

Great words by a great man. Only wish the "community" would awaken and realize that the biggest employer in town is a decisive factor in growing Denton into an active college town and permit it to be viewed as an integral part of a rapidly expanding DFW metroplex. The enthusiasm of the " community" might even awaken some of the Greeks, Geeks, Potheads, and Jazzheads in the student body!!!

[PlummMeanGreen]

Great words by a great man. Only wish the "community" would awaken and realize that the biggest employer in town is a decisive factor in growing Denton into an active college town and permit it to be viewed as an integral part of a rapidly expanding DFW metroplex. The enthusiasm of the " community" might even awaken some of the Greeks, Geeks, Potheads, and Jazzheads in the student body!!!

Amen, bro'!

GMG!

[oldguystudent]

Makes demands that the community wake up. Insults greater than 50% of the community before end of sentence. I am duly impressed.

Denton, what a great place it would be were it not for those rascally Dentonites.

No matter what you do, UNT will always have a significant population that will not be into sports. Acknowledge that and let it go. Then work on the growing student population and alumni base from the colleges that are more likely to care, and more likely to graduate into careers that afford alumni contributions.

Be active, not bitter.

[island eagle]

Great words by a great man. Only wish the "community" would awaken and realize that the biggest employer in town is a decisive factor in growing Denton into an active college town and permit it to be viewed as an integral part of a rapidly expanding DFW metroplex. The enthusiasm of the " community" might even awaken some of the Greeks, Geeks, Potheads, and Jazzheads in the student body!!!

I agree....good news from the Prez, however, you stereotyped just about every possible student type at the university and you want the community to be "enthusiastic". People rarely conform to these easy characterizations. I've known business majors who didn't have the slightest clue who the football or basketball teams were playing and music majors who attended every game they could. Some Greeks support the team well, others don't. The same could be said of every "type" of student you could classify. How about just saying.....we invite all students to help elevate the university?

[Huff]

We are very fortunate to have this man as President of our university. A lot of good things have happened at North Texas since he arrived and I do not think that is a coincidence.

[SilverEagle]

Makes demands that the community wake up. Insults greater than 50% of the community before end of sentence. I am duly impressed.

Denton, what a great place it would be were it not for those rascally Dentonites.

No matter what you do, UNT will always have a significant population that will not be into sports. Acknowledge that and let it go. Then work on the growing student population and alumni base from the colleges that are more likely to care, and more likely to graduate into careers that afford alumni contributions.

Be active, not bitter.

Before enrolling at North Texas in the early 70's I remember being asked by someone in my hometown about where I was going to attend school. When I told him NT, he said "so, you're going to go to school with all those "weirdos?" . North Texas has had a non-sports reputation for a very long time. Sometimes I think that that is what grew it's student population because all of the students in High School who were very active in their school activities (student body elections, cheerleaders, pep squads, various other organizations) made the decision to go to other schools. Even though they might have been much better served academically at North Texas. Because they wanted their college experience to be more UT, A$M, T-Tech-like.

Maybe many of those "weirdos" have changed their views "down the corridor of years" and would be more open to attending sports functions, and we should keep trying to reach out to them. But I tend to agree with you oldguy, the major "culture change" at North Texas will happen at the front door.

Edited May 14, 2012 by SilverEagle

[UNTexas]

Before enrolling at North Texas in the early 70's I remember being asked by someone in my hometown about where I was going to attend school. When I told him NT, he said "so, you're going to go to school with all those "weirdos?" . North Texas has had a non-sports reputation for a very long time. Sometimes I think that that is what grew it's student population because all of the students in High School who were very active in their school activities (student body elections, cheerleaders, pep squads, various other organizations) made the decision to go to other schools. Even though they might have been much better served academically at North Texas. Because they wanted their college experience to be more UT, A$M, T-Tech-like.

Maybe many of those "weirdos" have changed their views "down the corridor of years" and would be more open to attending sports functions, and we should keep trying to reach out to them. But I tend to agree with you oldguy, the major "culture change" at North Texas will happen at the front door.

I enjoyed the weirdos. I had a blast in Denton. To bad the Fry Street Fair went away. That was awesome. Denton is great.

[greenminer]

There are plenty of other Mean Green milestones to celebrate. The Mean Green tennis team and the men’s golf team won 2011-12 Sun Belt Conference tournament championships, while our Mean Green soccer team won the regular season championship. Our student-athletes continue to excel academically, thanks to the dedication of our athletics staff members and others at the university in ensuring they get the benefits of a first-rate education.

NOTED!

[island eagle]

I enjoyed the weirdos. I had a blast in Denton. To bad the Fry Street Fair went away. That was awesome. Denton is great.

I agree. If weirdos and football didn't mix, UT Austin would be perennial bottom dwellers.

[greenminer]

I agree. If weirdos and football didn't mix, UT Austin would be perennial bottom dwellers.

And we wouldn't have Necessary Roughness?

[SilverEagle]

I agree. If weirdos and football didn't mix, UT Austin would be perennial bottom dwellers.

I used to hang (when I had the time) with the weirdos more than any other group at North Texas. I truly enjoyed being with them. But I also really liked football, which made me a "tweener" at North Texas. To a certain extent, I still am.

Just a guess, but I would be willing to bet that UT had it's "rah-rah-sports-school spirit" culture in place long before it's counter-culture crowd became so .......... noticeable. But still small by comparison.

Historically, probably the same at North Texas. But our sports culture was kept at such a minimum level by our administration that the "counter-culture" caught up, and (numbers wise) was almost the same size as the "rah-rah-sports-minded" at North Texas.

Edited May 14, 2012 by SilverEagle

[oldguystudent]

As one of very few people in this world who hold degrees in both History and Accounting, I definitely identify with the tweener status. I was also in a fraternity! I refuse to view any of these sides as wholly bad, dispassionate, or not of value to the university. They just typically have different interests and priorities. That's why it's a UNIVERSity, not the Denton College of Football Zealots. It's actually good for all of is to have to interact with such a wide range of students, alumni and community residents.

[El Paso Eagle]

As one of very few people in this world who hold degrees in both History and Accounting, I definitely identify with the tweener status. I was also in a fraternity! I refuse to view any of these sides as wholly bad, dispassionate, or not of value to the university. They just typically have different interests and priorities. That's why it's a UNIVERSity, not the Denton College of Football Zealots. It's actually good for all of is to have to interact with such a wide range of students, alumni and community residents.

Before we can make a vaild comment on this mix - Which degree came first?

[unt_rocket09]

You have to get the kines dept full blown on bleeding green. I can remember going to kines classes and seeing tech, ag and ut stuff and getting pissed off. Can't imagine how pissed I would have been if I were a player.

[ntmeangreen11]

I became a fan in 2004, so I've only been through one good season of football, but still enjoyed every season. However, where we are now compared to 2004 is night and day. Across the board from budget to administration to coaches to support we have improved, and it will only get better. I am still amazed that we have had not one, but two great people representing UNT in Gretchen Bataille(Can't remember the spelling) and Lane Rawlins. We are incredibly lucky to be where we are today given how bad football got to be at one point. The conference move, some basketball press, maybe a bowl game in the next two seasons and who knows how far we can go. It is imperative that we have strong attendance this season though, a 6-6 football season or better would do wonder for the perception of the program when it comes to students. I have sat in the student section the past 8 years and know the type of people that come and go there. It had been disappointment after disappointment at home until last season, I'm surprised we stayed over 15k in some years. I think the conference move won't be a massive factor, but will motivate some around the area to come to more games, I'm pretty confident of that. I've heard a few students around campus talking about it, but I'm not sure most really know about the conference. I think when 2013 rolls around we'll see North Texas athletics in a light it's never been before and with two winnable at home OOC games(Ball St. & Ohio) on the slate could be our breakout year, I think a return to a bowl game and the fact that people still talk of our bowl run would really get the students out, it's only a matter of time. I'm Still just amazed how far we have came in 8 years without any major football success.

Edited May 15, 2012 by ntmeangreen11