College football realignment over? No way, says MWC's Thompson

[Harry]

Even though the realignment frenzy has slowed in the past couple of weeks, Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson isn't ready to say that all's quiet.

So far in the latest flurry, the Mountain West has escaped changes, but Thompson hasn't closed the door to some possible moves.

"I do not expect status quo for at least a year," Thompson said Thursday in answering submitted questions. "No one knows for sure. Every day dozens of ADs, numerous presidents and almost all commissioners talk to someone about membership in varying capacities."

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_22143008/conference-switches-over-course-not-thompson-says#ixzz2EYv3mvWD

[shaft]

My guess is the MWC doesn't want to expand, but it lining up contingency plans if any more realignment takes place.

They are still holding their breath that the Big East won't work out and they get another shot at schools like Boise, SDSU, and BYU. UTEP is the next logical applicant. NMSU and Idaho will always be available, but if they wanted those schools they would be in by now.

The folks on this board who scream about UNT needed to head West have no idea what they are talking about.

The Big West was a complete failure for us and there is no reason the MWC would be any different. Higher travel cost, no return fan travel, unlevel recruiting, and time zone changes. No thank you. The small uptick in cash and prestige wouldn't be enough to overcome the forementioned obstacles.

A small regional footprint, with games against schools 18 year-olds have heard of is the way to build our fanbase and build our program.

Edited December 9, 2012 by shaft

[wardly]

My guess is the MWC doesn't want to expand, but it lining up contingency plans if any more realignment takes place.

They are still holding their breath that the Big East won't work out and they get another shot at schools like Boise, SDSU, and BYU. UTEP is the next logical applicant. NMSU and Idaho will always be available, but if they wanted those schools they would be in by now.

The folks on this board who scream about UNT needed to head West have no idea what they are talking about.

The Big West was a complete failure for us and there is no reason the MWC would be any different. Higher travel cost, no return fan travel, unlevel recruiting, and time zone changes. No thank you. The small uptick in cash and prestige wouldn't be enough to overcome the forementioned obstacles.

A small regional footprint, with games against schools 18-years have heard of is the way to build our fanbase and build our program.

plus 1

[NT91]

NT should be a Indy?

[shaft]

NT should be a Indy?

No, we beat them last year.

[oldguystudent]

NT should be a Indy?

Something compelled me to look up the 1990 NCAA 1-A football standings a few days ago. I was astonished that there were 26 independent teams. My guess as to why that changed, why independence ceased to become an viable option, was the lifting of the NCAA restrictions on television. Suddenly, everybody was clamoring to crawl inside Craig James' pants and get ESPN television deals.

Big time college football has always been corrupt (cough...Southwest Conference...cough). But instead a a few big conferences, it's the entirety of the sport now. It's off putting, and it's bound to collapse under its own weight at some point.

[Mean Green 93-98]

The folks on this board who scream about UNT needed to head West have no idea what they are talking about.

The Big West was a complete failure for us and there is no reason the MWC would be any different. Higher travel cost, no return fan travel, unlevel recruiting, and time zone changes. No thank you. The small uptick in cash and prestige wouldn't be enough to overcome the forementioned obstacles.

A small regional footprint, with games against schools 18 year-olds have heard of is the way to build our fanbase and build our program.

Everybody seems to keep bringing the Big West up, but it's not a great comparison. When we were in the Big West, they were without question the worst conference in 1A (now "FBS"). At that time, we would have jumped at an invitation from the WAC--another western conference, but on an entirely different level (at the time) from the Big West.

And the MWC is on an entirely different level from what the Big West was. The name recognition of the schools is far superior . . . even among the schools that were in the Big West but are now in the MWC (e.g., Nevada, Utah State), there has been an huge increase in profile. And if you look at conference strength, no one could call the MWC the worst--in football they are continually ranked above the MAC, WAC (this year has been an exception), C-USA, and the Sun Belt. From time to time, they slip ahead of the Big East. They line up about the same in basketball.

The fact of the matter is that the MWC would be a clear upgrade in conference from C-USA if Tulsa and anyone else leaves. TCU did not only look for regional rivalries, although they are nice to have . . . they placed themselves in the best conference they could, and the MWC was an upgrade from C-USA. And now what team is sitting in the Big XII? We need to place ourselves in the best conference willing to take us.

To clarify, I'm O.K. with staying in the present C-USA. But I hope R.V. maintains close communication with Thompson, and with the folks at Tulsa to see what they're planning on doing. If there is going to be an exodus from C-USA to the MWC, we need to be the first over there.

[Green Dozer]

NT should be a Indy?

We have been there and done that.

[Eagle1855]

The biggest problem UNT faces is that no one in Texas even knows (or cares) that we exist. Have we ever had another major Texas school support us in any conference move?

We are the isolated stepchild of Div 1 football in Texas. Don't believe me? As I said in a post last week, look no further than Texas Monthly linking to articles about importance of a UTSA-Texas State rivalry in the absence of Texas-A&M. Are you kidding me? We've played DECADES of division one football and we're never mentioned outside of DFW (and I don't know if we are much of a topic of conversation locally, as I no longer live there).

If a proud alum such as myself can see this through his own foggy green haze, I feel confident officials in other conferences can also see as much... and that's why a C-USA invite took so long. And it's why no one cares about a HUGE University in the middle of a major market.

All that being said, winning can cure much of what ails us, but even that won't get any easier with (now) 12 Texas teams in 5 different conferences- 7 of whom/which have landed in "major" conferences.

I'll always root for the Mean Green above everything else. And my money will continue to support my University. But I'm not holding my breath over the awakening of this alleged "sleeping giant."

Edited December 10, 2012 by Eagle1855

[NT91]

You go Honey Boo Boo

Edited December 10, 2012 by NT91

[ragpicker]

Part of our problem may just be marketing and promotion. I don't ever recall seeing ads in either the DMN or Star telegram promoting or advertising our football or basketball games. There are UNT billboards around town from time to time, but they are generally lackluster and uninspiring, as are our pathetic promos during televised games. Other schools do a much better job in this area. (Texas State for one.)

It has always seemed odd to me that North Texas was competing in sports long before such schools as Texas Tech, Houston and even SMU existed and yet, except for brief little periods of success every decade or so, we simply have not been consistently successful. We certainly have not developed the kind of fan base one would expect from the alumni we have in the Dallas- Ft worth area alone.

I also think we missed a great opportunity for fan support by not even attempting promote and take advantage of the "A" Train inauguration when Apogee opened. More about that later.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Everybody seems to keep bringing the Big West up, but it's not a great comparison. When we were in the Big West, they were without question the worst conference in 1A (now "FBS"). At that time, we would have jumped at an invitation from the WAC--another western conference, but on an entirely different level (at the time) from the Big West.

And the MWC is on an entirely different level from what the Big West was. The name recognition of the schools is far superior . . . even among the schools that were in the Big West but are now in the MWC (e.g., Nevada, Utah State), there has been an huge increase in profile. And if you look at conference strength, no one could call the MWC the worst--in football they are continually ranked above the MAC, WAC (this year has been an exception), C-USA, and the Sun Belt. From time to time, they slip ahead of the Big East. They line up about the same in basketball.

The fact of the matter is that the MWC would be a clear upgrade in conference from C-USA if Tulsa and anyone else leaves. TCU did not only look for regional rivalries, although they are nice to have . . . they placed themselves in the best conference they could, and the MWC was an upgrade from C-USA. And now what team is sitting in the Big XII? We need to place ourselves in the best conference willing to take us.

To clarify, I'm O.K. with staying in the present C-USA. But I hope R.V. maintains close communication with Thompson, and with the folks at Tulsa to see what they're planning on doing. If there is going to be an exodus from C-USA to the MWC, we need to be the first over there.

+1

Upgrading in today's NCAA is the name of the game. Those who don't play that game will eventually not be happy with the results for each of their respective schools.

Since 1973 I count only 3 revenue producing (football and basketball) head coaches from North Texas who have moved up to better jobs than the one they had at UNT. So we're to be thankful so many UNT coaches well under .500 in career wins after spending years in Denton "hung in there" with North Texas" showing such loyalty while someone else could have been doing better in that same job and maybe even in a shorter time?

Also, upon further review..........there are probably less than 5% (+/-) of those registered on this forum who have actually seen a football program at UNT that had its head coach leave Denton with a at least a .500 W/L career record. That alone tell us how slim the pickings have been for fans of the Mean Green.

In a nutshell, this UNT alum just does not want in what is left of my lifetime to see even one more school pass North Texas on the NCAA FBS totem pole that we were either above at one time or at least their equal. That is what my posts have been about from the git-go and not one time have I mean't to offend anyone, ie, fellow UNT alums or Mean Green fans. Not wanting to get mushy here, but too many of you I've known for years (and decades) who I appreciate what you have done for dear old alma mater dwarfing anything I've been able to do most years, especially of late, but for North Texas...... "it really does take a village" to make all this work in Mean Green Country and our village (or constituency) is so much larger than most at the NCAA FBS level, but for too many year that just hasn't translated in the areas it should to give us a better position in what is going on in today's NCAA. Right now having any semblance of athletic success on the playing field would give North Texas a much better position in future re-alignment which we've seen up to the present bite us in the butt because of the way this most recent re-alignment scenario has suddenly developed; that is, with what appears to be a Sun Belt Conference 2.0 in the making. And if Tulsa and Rice U leave now or in the near future, what else could you call it?

GMG!

Edited December 12, 2012 by PlummMeanGreen

[untjim1995]

Everybody seems to keep bringing the Big West up, but it's not a great comparison. When we were in the Big West, they were without question the worst conference in 1A (now "FBS"). At that time, we would have jumped at an invitation from the WAC--another western conference, but on an entirely different level (at the time) from the Big West.

And the MWC is on an entirely different level from what the Big West was. The name recognition of the schools is far superior . . . even among the schools that were in the Big West but are now in the MWC (e.g., Nevada, Utah State), there has been an huge increase in profile. And if you look at conference strength, no one could call the MWC the worst--in football they are continually ranked above the MAC, WAC (this year has been an exception), C-USA, and the Sun Belt. From time to time, they slip ahead of the Big East. They line up about the same in basketball.

The fact of the matter is that the MWC would be a clear upgrade in conference from C-USA if Tulsa and anyone else leaves. TCU did not only look for regional rivalries, although they are nice to have . . . they placed themselves in the best conference they could, and the MWC was an upgrade from C-USA. And now what team is sitting in the Big XII? We need to place ourselves in the best conference willing to take us.

To clarify, I'm O.K. with staying in the present C-USA. But I hope R.V. maintains close communication with Thompson, and with the folks at Tulsa to see what they're planning on doing. If there is going to be an exodus from C-USA to the MWC, we need to be the first over there.

Great post--I guarantee that you can get better attendance for a game against Air Force or Colorado State than you can for UAB or MUTS. If the MWC gets back any combo of Boise State, BYU, and SDSU, that league would be awesome in both $$ sports. I'd love to go to a basketball game in Albuquerque or Las Vegas. I'd love to go to Hawaii or San Diego for a football game. A home game against BYU or Boise right now would get well over 25k to Apogee. No way that La Tech or Southern Miss can do that. If you had a Eastern Division of UTEP, UH, UNT, UNM, Colorado State, AFA, Wyoming and BYU, you cannot tell me that we wouldn't draw better and get more attention than playing in CUSA's Western Division. No trip to Tulsa, Ruston, or San Antonio would convince me otherwise.

[CurveItAround]

Does our best opportunity to end up in the MWC require the nBE to stay together and probably invite at least Fresno?

[trussbussdad]

Winning cures all the above mentioned ailments.....Mark my words today, 12/12/12, when the earth is supposed to end....

"There is a storm coming"

Edited December 12, 2012 by trussbussdad

[SHOSS]

Winning cures all the above mentioned ailments.....Mark my words today, 12/12/12, when the earth is supposed to end....

"There is a storm coming"

so, is it supposed to be over at 12:12 pm? I wasn't sure if the mayan calendar(or whatever it is) had a specific time and method to the end of things....

go mean gr.......fade to green.....

[trussbussdad]

SHOSS..heck who knows....i will be at a lunch meeting. maybe that will be my way of getting excused from picking up the tab

[UNT Five&Dime]