10 random thoughts regarding the HOD/UNLV

[Harry]

1). Bowls especially non BCS bowls are all about winning and recruiting. Sure, you'd love to have a big name opponent in here with a big fan base but at the end of the day we need an opponent that we can match up with and have a decent shot of winning against. When it became apparent that the Big 10 didn't have a team to give us this year I think the focus was on the match up and not how many fans they would bring. OK so UNLV isn't a big name but you have to figure they think the same about us. It's almost comical to see the comments on each side with fans expecting to dominate the other team. The truth is it is probably a very evenly matched game and either side could win.

2). I can't help but think that C-USA's relationship with the Mountain West came into play here. Do we bend over for a program like Syracuse or Boston College or do we work with Craig Thompson to the benefit of both the Mountain West and C-USA. MUTS is likely thrilled to have a game against Navy and we were a better fit for Dallas and the Cotton Bowl. Two teams in C-USA come out with winnable bowl games. I think in the end we decided to work with the Mountain West as opposed to some of the other conferences and it makes sense, we should help each other.

3). TV Market - Vegas is a top 50 TV market and of course DFW is top 5-6. So I think they got some decent TV market coverage.

4). Recruiting -- I cannot overemphasize how big this game will be for UNT recruiting. In some way, I can tell you that the old New Orleans Bowl games were actually a detriment to recruiting because of the timing. We will have 3-4 weeks to prepare, recruit and bask in the Jan 1 bowl date. I can remember a couple of New Orleans bowl games when the mid term juco signing day occurred on the same day we were having a pregame party with all of the coaches in New Orleans.

5). TV coverage -- people are complaining about ESPNU but most people I know have that now. What people are missing is that as the early Jan 1 bowl game your highlights get played ALL DAY on ALL THE MAJOR NETWORKS.

6). With TCU and SMU out of the bowl picture it will be awesome to own Dallas Fort Worth as the local team for coverage. Navy and MUTS won't detract from that.

7). Penn State not being bowl eligible probably hurt our chances for landing a Big 10 team.

8). The Pirate would have been a big attraction for the bowl but honestly I don't know how well we would have matched up against that offense.

9). There is an interesting sub plot with the new UNT president coming from UNLV. I'm sure he wishes it wasn't playing out like this but I would assume he would be willing to do some interviews and talk up both schools.

10). Potential tie in with New Years Eve and New Years Day in Downtown Dallas.... I just have to think we will have some Mean Green fans showing up at the various events especially the Victory Park celebration and I hope that our band and cheerleaders will be given an opportunity to show their stuff. I expect a good amount of fans who otherwise wouldn't be heading downtown will be planning on it this year and that can't hurt our visibility.

[NM Green]

This is a great situation for us. The story about both these schools rising from the ashes to a New Years Day bowl game is juicy. Further you have Smastrek who will definitely be the charismatic charming guy he is talking up both programs and futures. UNLV was a few losses from canning Bobby H, but he is a great coach who I am glad turned it around. UNLV basketball is down right now so football will take center stage at a basketball first school over the next few weeks.

UNLV will get a lot of pub about this game in Vegas leading into New Years which is the place to be on New Years Eve. All those folks pouring into Vegas are going to be hearing and reading about this matchup everywhere.

UNLV will not bring many fans. But if we win and finish this season strong that is how you get some pre-season love in 2014. I also like building our relationship with the MWC. I would like to see us spin this into some games against the MWC in football home and away in places like Vegas, Albuquerque, San Diego and Boise.

GMG

[Green Mean]

Well said.

[JesseMartin]

Steve the Pirate, or Mike Leach?

But I do agree that this is great timing with Smatresk, and kind of wonder if it was intentional. He could come out "guns blazing" so to speak in terms of showing some love for both schools, which is of course a great way to show leadership through cooperation.

[GreenFlag]

I think this staff turns this into a recruiting boon unlike Dickey and company. We went to 4 strait N. O. Bowls and actually recruited worse. I think so much of that was our facilities issue.

[UNTeagle88]

  On 12/9/2013 at 2:58 AM, Harry said:

1). Bowls especially non BCS bowls are all about winning and recruiting. Sure, you'd love to have a big name opponent in here with a big fan base but at the end of the day we need an opponent that we can match up with and have a decent shot of winning against. When it became apparent that the Big 10 didn't have a team to give us this year I think the focus was on the match up and not how many fans they would bring. OK so UNLV isn't a big name but you have to figure they think the same about us. It's almost comical to see the comments on each side with fans expecting to dominate the other team. The truth is it is probably a very evenly matched game and either side could win.

2). I can't help but think that C-USA's relationship with the Mountain West came into play here. Do we bend over for a program like Syracuse or Boston College or do we work with Craig Thompson to the benefit of both the Mountain West and C-USA. MUTS is likely thrilled to have a game against Navy and we were a better fit for Dallas and the Cotton Bowl. Two teams in C-USA come out with winnable bowl games. I think in the end we decided to work with the Mountain West as opposed to some of the other conferences and it makes sense, we should help each other.

3). TV Market - Vegas is a top 50 TV market and of course DFW is top 5-6. So I think they got some decent TV market coverage.

4). Recruiting -- I cannot overemphasize how big this game will be for UNT recruiting. In some way, I can tell you that the old New Orleans Bowl games were actually a detriment to recruiting because of the timing. We will have 3-4 weeks to prepare, recruit and bask in the Jan 1 bowl date. I can remember a couple of New Orleans bowl games when the mid term juco signing day occurred on the same day we were having a pregame party with all of the coaches in New Orleans.

5). TV coverage -- people are complaining about ESPNU but most people I know have that now. What people are missing is that as the early Jan 1 bowl game your highlights get played ALL DAY on ALL THE MAJOR NETWORKS.

6). With TCU and SMU out of the bowl picture it will be awesome to own Dallas Fort Worth as the local team for coverage. Navy and MUTS won't detract from that.

7). Penn State not being bowl eligible probably hurt our chances for landing a Big 10 team.

8). The Pirate would have been a big attraction for the bowl but honestly I don't know how well we would have matched up against that offense.

9). There is an interesting sub plot with the new UNT president coming from UNLV. I'm sure he wishes it wasn't playing out like this but I would assume he would be willing to do some interviews and talk up both schools.

10). Potential tie in with New Years Eve and New Years Day in Downtown Dallas.... I just have to think we will have some Mean Green fans showing up at the various events especially the Victory Park celebration and I hope that our band and cheerleaders will be given an opportunity to show their stuff. I expect a good amount of fans who otherwise wouldn't be heading downtown will be planning on it this year and that can't hurt our visibility.

Agree 100%

[GrayEagle]

I believe that Pittsburgh was the only P5 conference team that we should have had priority for. They took the Little Caesar's Bowl which had the Big Ten pick behind the HOD. So, with the factor of working with the MWC and Smastrek having connections to both this was the smart thing to do.

It will lower ticket sales from some of our alumni and Las Vegas won't travel as well. What scares me most about the ticket sales is the cost. The HOD is the priciest ticket of all CUSA bowls. I know that covering costs is a must but 50-60,000 attendance would make a great statement about CUSA and North Texas.

We also got some help on the Cotton Bowl pairing. Some models had predicted Texas vs. Texas A&M which would have greatly detracted from the HOD two days earlier. Having two out-of-state schools is a blessing.