What we’ve learned

[untjim1995]

Our reputation in the college football world is about as low as you can go. How the folks at the Independence Bowl decided to invite USM over us to play FSU in their game tells you all you need to know. 

But we have to use this as motivation, as a program and as a fan base. We have to win, we have to start scheduling better, we have to support the program more in $$$ and attendance, and we cannot let the conference we play in run us over ever again. Frankly, this is another reason I’ve always believed the MWC is a better conference for us, to get away from the southern minds and their fixed beliefs about our program and it’s poor history.

 No way that CUSA officials should have allowed USM in that game versus FSU—that game should have FAU in it, to be honest. If they wanted to play at home I front of tens of people, then put UNT in there instead. It does CUSA no good to have it’s 3rd or 4th best team playing Florida State. Just poor leadership.

We got screwed hard here. But a loss to troy only makes it worse—gotta hope that we can get it together and win the NO Bowl and beat the team who got recognized this year for winning at LSU. This is the first step in fixing what happened to us today.

[MCMLXXX]

1 minute ago, untjim1995 said:

 No way that CUSA officials should have allowed USM in that game versus FSU—that game should have FAU in it, to be honest.

My guess is that FSU did not want to play FAU and they probably had input. FAU would beat FSU.

[kingwoodgreen]

My money would be on FSU not willing to play fau. Their are teams here in Texas that would not play us this year if we were at fau level or possibly even now 

[Monkeypox]

Had nothing to do with FSU not wanting to play them, IMO. Had everything to do with the fact that FAU has zero traveling fans. Bowls want butts in seats, and FAU struggles to get that in Boca. 

[MattMakesLoans]

Someone else getting something is not a dig on us.

USM is a consistently good G5 team.  They have consistent attendance, make it to bowls 75% of the time, and travel well.  In short they’ve built their brand.

Now it’s our time to do the same thing.  

[UNT Mean Green]

9 hours ago, kingwoodgreen said:

My money would be on FSU not willing to play fau. Their are teams here in Texas that would not play us this year if we were at fau level or possibly even now 

Bingo.

[TreeFiddy]

If you don't think that FSU influenced the bowl committee on which opponent they faced, I don't think you fully comprehend how things work.  They are the big draw and have to sell tickets to their fanbase in a year when they are 6-6, have no coach, and will have to face a G5 team 700 miles away, two days after Christmas, for a mid-day mid-week game.  If I am the FSU AD, I am looking for something, anything, I can sell to my fanbase so I use any influence I have to encourage Indy Bowl to invite what I believe to be the best option.

I doubt North Texas wants to come out and publicly admit that the Indy Bowl didn't want us.  That would be kind of bad for the brand and could be used against us, but getting snubbed for a team from our own conference we beat earlier in the season seems to be what happened.  It just speaks to the unfairness sometimes.  Even when you beat teams, it doesn't matter.  For example, Auburn out of playoffs, Alabama in playoffs.  Ohio State in a similar boat.

Keep winning.  Grow the show.  Onward and upward.

[MeanGreenTexan]

5 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

If you don't think that FSU influenced the bowl committee on which opponent they faced, I don't think you fully comprehend how things work.  They are the big draw and have to sell tickets to their fanbase in a year when they are 6-6, have no coach, and will have to face a G5 team 700 miles away, two days after Christmas, for a mid-day mid-week game.  If I am the FSU AD, I am looking for something, anything, I can sell to my fanbase so I use any influence I have to encourage Indy Bowl to invite what I believe to be the best option.

I doubt North Texas wants to come out and publicly admit that the Indy Bowl didn't want us.  That would be kind of bad for the brand and could be used against us, but getting snubbed for a team from our own conference we beat earlier in the season seems to be what happened.  It just speaks to the unfairness sometimes.  Even when you beat teams, it doesn't matter.  For example, Auburn out of playoffs, Alabama in playoffs.  Ohio State in a similar boat.

Keep winning.  Grow the show.  Onward and upward.

I have no doubt FSU threw some weight around.   But they really didn't have that much clout in this particular instance.
If C-USA/Indy Bowl had any backbone, they'd pull FSU's card... because I bet, at the end of the day, it came down to FSU either playing in the Indy Bowl (the very last-ranked bowl for the ACC conference, for the very last-ranked bowl eligible team from that conference), or staying home.  I don't think they'd stay home over playing against UNT over USM. 

C-USA has a contract with the Indy Bowl to fill that missing SEC spot.  They are in the position of power there.   FLEX & get the team you want in there.  If FSU doesn't like it, they can stay home (they wouldn't).  If Indy Bowl doesn't like it, CONVINCE them.

As stated elsewhere, I'm starting to think UNT took the NO Bowl invite before the Indy Bowl shook out because it was in-hand, and WB was afraid he may pull a 2012 LATech if he waited around too long.  Whereas USM had nothing to lose in waiting around.

[PlummMeanGreen]

20 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

Our reputation in the college football world is about as low as you can go. How the folks at the Independence Bowl decided to invite USM over us to play FSU in their game tells you all you need to know. 

But we have to use this as motivation, as a program and as a fan base. We have to win, we have to start scheduling better, we have to support the program more in $$$ and attendance, and we cannot let the conference we play in run us over ever again. Frankly, this is another reason I’ve always believed the MWC is a better conference for us, to get away from the southern minds and their fixed beliefs about our program and it’s poor history.

 No way that CUSA officials should have allowed USM in that game versus FSU—that game should have FAU in it, to be honest. If they wanted to play at home I front of tens of people, then put UNT in there instead. It does CUSA no good to have it’s 3rd or 4th best team playing Florida State. Just poor leadership.

We got screwed hard here. But a loss to troy only makes it worse—gotta hope that we can get it together and win the NO Bowl and beat the team who got recognized this year for winning at LSU. This is the first step in fixing what happened to us today.

Agree. 👍👍

🌂TCU had a vision of better things & a temporary stint out (Mountain) West was part of it.  Lordy, how many conferences did TCU zip thru before they landed the Big 12?

 🌂🌂TCU also saw a big need to separate itself from the rest of the Texas schools that they were getting stuck & pulled down with in the Group of 5 swamp. UNT should consider doing the same in the near future if anything that appears even perceptively upwardly mobile should open up & even if we have to open some things up ourselves. 

✅UNT needs to get in bed  with schools who are still better known & closer to a P5 existence than CUSA (Sun Belch 2.0) will ever give us.  The Re-alignment Train is coming around the mountain again & we have yet to be ready for it in the past.  Will we ready this time?  (All should know by now UNT's invite to CUSA happened only because SMU left for AAC).

✅✅ We have a fabulous football stadium which happened under Rick V's watch & his continued  villainization should really cease at some point.  Look at the heap of crap 💩  he inherited?  

✅✅✅ We have a pearl with Wren Baker no matter how all this bowl'gate negotiation thing plays out.  I think very much was out of his hands the more this looks.  I also sense CUSA officials planted a big hickey on UNT truth to be told.   Seems winning the West Division was completely de-valued by those we thought were our friends & should have made a bigger deal out of it by going to bat for us. ❇️ Last 2 HOD Bowl games we did CUSA proud at the Cotton Bowl Stadium turnstiles.  Not sure that favor was returned the last 48 hours.  HOD?  One TCU alum told me he couldn't believe all that Sea of Green.  

✅✅✅✅ We are in a bowl game 2 years in a row in SL's 2'nd year on payroll.   Seth didn't inherit the kind of team Lane Kiffin did but he & staff have done some serious coaching with who they did get in spite of our prior coaching staff's last 2 years insufficient numbers of quality recruits.

💚❇️💚❇️💚❇️ 

Good still far outweighs the bad at the largest university in the Lone Star State this side of UT-Austin.  It always will no matter how grumpy some of us get on a few things that get our dander up & usually don't mean a hill of beans in the grand scheme of things.  Guess that's why we're  the fans &.....the taxpayers (to quote a Dallas Maverick of years past).

GMG!

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by PlummMeanGreen