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I wonder if they'll start crying FIU should forfeit? They should have taken the deal to play here on our dime. https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/2020/11/03/fiu-wont-play-utep-football-saturday/6149620002/

Apogee was built as an attractive home field for NT. I’m not ready to play “home” games anywhere but at Apogee. GO MEAN GREEN

Why in the heck would you want to give up a home game and make your fans travel to Louisiana for this game? It isn't like it would be Texas-OU or Army-Navy or anything. WE need all the revenue we can get from games played in Apogee. I just don't like this idea at all.

So one month El Paso will be ready to host a game? They should just come here and play in December.

Looking back, I think leaving the MVC was a big mistake. The notion was that the MVC was small time. The only conference that got any attention then was the SouthWest Conference. The Missouri Valley Conference, for the most part became the original CUSA. Had we stayed in the MVC we probably would have been a charter member in CUSA. Going independent was tough. We could play anybody the first 4 to six weeks of the season. As the season wore on it was hard to schedule games. There was no "all conference recognition" for individual players and little chance for a bowl game. Of course there were many fewer bowls then. The Hayden Fry lore is lots of fun. But remember he was here less time that at Southern Meth or Iowa. I appreciate what Fry did in regards to organizing the Mean Green Club and he certainly put stars in our eyes as to what could be. But mostly, I believe, North Texas was a stopover on his way up the coaching ladder. Many will disagree. GO MEAN GREEN

That's not to say that some of "us" didn't get it. Some of "us" did. Now, did we contract it in spite of using PPE? Are some of us more immune than others? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it was contracted outside of work. It still is a fact that people in those same demographic as student athletes, are not a high risk group. It will be interesting to hear Treavor Lawrence's story when he returns from quarantine. Chances are, he remains asymptomatic. And there is still hysteria about this disease.

Bruh. What? This is not the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. This is standard testing... The results are anything but "sketchy". For the safety of their hearts and lungs - they should know before going out there for our entertainment if they are at risk of putting themselves in harm's way. Same way they get a physical to play. Or need to pass the concussion protocol.

We will all survive regardless of the outcomes. I liked that they extended early voting a few days earlier this year. It made voting a cinch even with the record turnout.

Man, who could have predicted this? Oh right, everyone.

Assume it would not be both of them for three downs and mostly situational. Also seems to depend on the matchup. UTEP two deep was way different probably based on their running game:

How many are football related? It is my understanding that the spike is not related to the football program. But, who really knows as they can't really say much due to HIPPA rules.

Looking forward to seeing their President's statement on this too, bet she doesn't come with that same energy.

@Hunter Green you will never win this discussion. Be careful or this thread will be locked down

Murphy twins...👀

Adaway back in the mix @ #3.

You can also get a false positive

I see this sentiment often, and it just does not square with the facts. Cincinnati, Louisville and Memphis had all left the MVC when NT departed. The only team of football note that stayed was Tulsa. Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati along with Georgia Tech joined the Metro conference in 1975. I doubt NT was given an invitation, and doubt NT would have taken it if given. I do agree with your point about the difficulty of being an independent. It is tough for football, but it much tougher on other sports. It is interesting to note that Blakeley basketball success was based on recruits from the MVC era. As far as NT being a stopover for Fry, what school doesn't fit that description. The answer by NT to Fry's success was to further cut the budget, no coach with a lot of options is going stay in an University who at that time was content to play division 1 ball on the margins. We will never know how close NT came to SWC membership, but I doubt academics had anything to do with it. They let in Tech and UH over the same academic questions. The problem was that NT couldn't muster the political clout of either of those schools. NT problems in that era had nothing to do with Fry. The critical decision to replace Fry with Jerry Moore and further reduce the budget and then basically sleep through the reorganization process that religated NT to 1aa was what killed NT's athletics for decades.

This is the game I've been waiting for all season. LT has been the most consistent program in C-USA since joining the conference with us in 2013. The Bulldogs have won 6 straight bowl games, against the likes of Miami, Illinois, SMU, and Navy. And, they have done it all with a fraction of our budget. Littrell is currently 1-3 versus the LA Tech program. They ended our incredible 4-0 start in 2018, on the same day we unveiled the Mean Joe Greene sculpture at Apogee. I do not like them.... In my opinion this is a game we must win, and it is a conference series we must begin to dominate if we are going to elevate our program. I cannot wait for Saturday.

I get the sentiment and have no problem with testing, but The University is not asking these guys to do anything. These guys choose to play football. The University is providing them an opportunity to play football at the highest level if choose to and have the athletic ability to compete, but let's be clear...no one is forcing anyone to play football.

Are all these tests (and results) going into the general population of tests for positivity calculations? For example if 100 athletes are tested twice a week and they are all negative, do those 200 tests go into the same formula as the one guy that goes in for one test because he has symptoms and tests positive? If so, all these multiple precautionary tests may be artifically skewing overall test results. I was thinking about this because my son and his fiancé live in NYC have to be tested multiple times a week for their jobs regardless of symptoms and have always tested negative. Multiply that over several months plus others in the same situation along with the worried well that take multiple tests and that's got to affect the over all positivity rates that get published, right?

Not sure if this is what you were looking for?

Yep, but I do enjoy the Horseshoe lol.

I don’t think we have a true rival. In the traditional sense we lack 1. Consistently playing the same opponents. Since 1995 we have been in three conferences. 2. Being consistently competitive since we have only had about 6 winning seasons in 20 years. If we played MUTS yearly you might be able to make a case for them. Over time it could be UTSA 🤢 but only if the series stays competitive. LaTech would be a great rival but not there yet.

This. Or 7 home games.

Yep...leave it to Judy to screw something up...has to be the absolute worst commissioner in any conference. Period.

It's interesting to analyze the options NTSU had around this time. As has been noted in the thread already, one of those options was to stay in the Missouri Valley Conference. Let's dig a little deeper into that situation ... By 1975 (the year NTSU decided to go independent), the big three schools of Louisville, Cincinnati, and Memphis State had all left the conference. If NTSU had stayed in the Missouri Valley Conference (rather than going independent) the following schools would have been football playing members: North Texas State Drake Tulsa Wichita State New Mexico State West Texas State Non-football members of the Missouri Valley would have been Bradley and Southern Illinois. In 1976, Indiana State would be added to the football ranks. And Creighton would be added as a non-football playing member. In 1977, Southern Illinois would be added to the football ranks. So for the second half of the decade (the 1970s), the Missouri Valley football conference would basically have looked like this: North Texas State Drake Tulsa Wichita State New Mexico State West Texas State Indiana State Southern Illinois This is a pretty good lineup for basketball. After all, North Texas fans would have gotten to see the Mean Green take on Larry Bird and the Sycamores of Indiana State. But if football is what matters the most, maybe NTSU made the correct decision in going independent.

As is Shreveport

Lol!

https://utepminers.com/news/2020/11/3/utep-football-game-versus-fiu-cancelled.aspx

CUSA added one extra week to have for makeup games and they now have two games to make up.

I can tell you that we healthcare workers who take care of Covid patients everyday are not required to be tested unless we become symptomatic. I, personally have been taking care of these folks since February and have had both the antibody test and the nasal swab (both routine tests)with both being negative. I have been provided with adequate PPE during that time as well. I believe this testing at our institution and others is because of the hysteria being generated and because it's the PC thing to do. Our student athletes, statistically speaking, are not in the high risk category.

Rare but they do happen. Just proves that these tests aren't always accurate. False Positives, False Negatives, it happens

False positives are very rare. False negatives are more common.

https://247sports.com/college/north-texas/LongFormArticle/How-2021-North-Texas-Mean-Green-football-commits-played-last-week-Oct-29-31-2020-154110141/#154110141_3 As the group and their teams have begun to hit their strides, the wins have started to roll in. The 11 commits in action finished with a combined 10-1 record this weekend and the lone loss was in overtime. The commits continue to make plays on both sides of the ball and find ways to win, which is a big factor when teams evaluate players.

Leadership. CUSA's lack of leadership is going to continue driving this conference to the bottom. It still gets me how some people talk about this team or that team is not good enough for CUSA, when the truth be told, most of the teams would bolt in a heart beat. Are there any teams in the Sun Belt who would leave to come to CUSA? Right now it would be hard to say that, at least if your talking football, we made a good choice moving out of the Sun Belt.

UNT recruiters needs to plant a flag in Louisiana (as LaTech has done in Texas) & recruit the hell out of the Pelican State. 2 or 3 key recruits from there could take us over the top & keep us competitive annually in CUSA. GMG!

The MVC was a tough conference but Blakeley had to play an independent schedule and nobody (Top 20) wanted to play them.

I’d rather watch them than the crappy Cowboys.

Graduated in 1970, Dan Spika was very underrated as a coach. I don't think I missed a home game, fantastic atmosphere at the old Pit. There was no comfort just hard wood bleachers, that were hardly ever sit in. All the night times games were sellouts and students had to get tickets in advance. Joe Hamilton, Leroy Winfield, Crest Whitaker and others, the best team ever at NT. Hopefully, they will get competition this year for that honor.

I was very young, but remember going to the games. I even remember where we always sat. The thing that stands out to me was the noise and they used to hand out these "clickers" to everyone. We would leave the games and your ears would ring the remainder of the night.

Article says most are NOT football related. I don’t know where the cases lie, but got me to thinking that it sure wouldn’t take much to wipe out the basketball team.

Well, if you believe Saint Vito of dread, we will not even play this game.

Well my expectations are at the bare minimum, which means I hope we score a TD and make them punt at least once and that’s all. Right now, I’m going to games for tailgates, talking to friends, and trying to watch the football on display... Now I hope we can pull off a win, but I just don’t see it mainly after 2 weeks off. Hope I’m wrong...

LOL I'll eat my crow, I just hate the idea of offering a kid in MS with no HS tape or production. To each their own lol

It is an interesting exercise thinking about what could have been. A few remembrances... Texas is a football state and while we never set the MVC on fire, it was obvious that our campus' attention was on basketball. Many believed in those days that the Valley was the best overall conference in the nation. You could not get a seat in the Pit unless you came early. I am sorry that most of you never had a chance to see a game there as the atmosphere was unbelievable. When the MVC imploded, four of our former conference mates, Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, and St Louis, went on to form the Metro conference along with two others. It was basketball only and I understand it was an attempt to form a super conference, without the weak links of the Valley such as us, Drake, West Texas, NMSU, Bradley, etc. They also wanted a metropolitan footprint, hence the name. I have no idea if we were extended an invitation to join or not but my guess was that we were not. I am not certain we were left with any alternative than to go independent in all sports. As has been said many times, Fry is a world class raconteur. One such tale is that Roy Orbison was a student of his at Odessa High School! Fry and Orbison were in Odessa at the same time but Orbison had already been a student at NTSC before moving to Odessa!

The SWC was not worried about academics at NTSU in the late 70s. Back then, NT and A&M were roughly equal academically. Neither would be called "elite." IIRC, we had slightly higher SAT scores but not every year. Back then, UT was still harder than most state schools to get into. But getting into A&M was not hard at all. I know A&M started working to upgrade their academics in the early/mid 80s. They started a program to try to get as many National Merit Scholars as possible from across the country to go to A&M. That's how a friend of mine ended up coming to Texas from Detroit - the Aggies offered him a full ride with room and board along with any other NMS who would come. With a higher class of students, A&M found it easier to get better faculty to come without having to get into a bidding war. All of that helped them start raising their admission standards as well.

Funny the SWC was worried about the academics of NTSU when corruption was the name of the game in the SWC.

I believe this is the book where he talks about resenting having to get involved in petty disputes between some coaches over locker space. Because he claimed that he had just raised 26 million to help build the Super Pit and he had better things to do than settle petty arguments. Well, I love what Hayden Fry did (and tried to do) for this school, but he had nothing to do with the funding for the Super Pit. Hayden Fry used to play very fast and loose with the truth. The concerns (lies) about academics at North Texas go back to when we achieved University status (1961), and filed a bill to change our name to THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS. A very ugly chapter in North Texas history. You can read about it in the book The Story of North Texas, by Dr. James Rogers.