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Waiting on SMU is hyperbole and not a mindset I will fall in line with.

I’ve said it for 20 years now, if SMU is playing the Taliban I’ll take the Taliban and the points.

Let’s call this what it is. This is “let’s bring them to us (unlikely) before they take the best of us (far more likely)” Still, I gotta commend the American Airlines Conference for trying to be proactive as opposed to the CUSA’s “let’s hope for decent leftovers” approach.

Are we in anyone’s conference re-alignment discussion ? Is North Texas being mentioned in some boardroom with conference decision makers ? I hope so but I haven’t heard so. I’d like to hear of XYZ school wondering if NT would come aboard. We are 30 minutes from on of the busiest airports in the country. Easy to get in and out via I-35E and I-35W. Good academics and pretty good attendance numbers. Are we on anyone’s radar ?

Anyone who has ever had to spend more than 24 hours in Lubbock can understand their being irritable and abrasive

Antonio Brown didn’t practice today so Darden was getting so reps with the starters.

Must be true, I saw it on the internet.

Cody Fajardo, who is entrenched as the starting quarterback, completed six of nine pass attempts for 56 yards and was intercepted by Marshall, according to unofficial statistics tabulated by the Leader-Post. Isaac Harker was good on five of eight pass for 48 yards. Paxton Lynch, a first-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, completed seven of 10 passes for 67 yards and was intercepted by Harris. Mason Fine was good on six of 10 pass attempts for 48 yards. Tom Flacco connected of four of six passes for 29 yards and was intercepted by Gates.

For simplicity let's look at it like this: UT and OU are going to the SEC period end of story. A&M may not like it but they are one vote. The remaining Big 12 leftovers are going to try their very best to land in a P5 conference. They are all in a disasterous situation but landing in a P5 at least gives them some semblance of hope. Kansas has a great basketball program but their football sucks. Could they be in the Big 10 for hoops sure - they would fit in fine but not in a million years for football. Texas Tech is talking PAC12 but does the PAC12 want their sub par academics? Do Tech fans want to travel out west? Baylor is talking ACC, and the ACC may like an entre into Texas but do Clemson and those types of programs want to travel into Waco? TCU and Baylor may want to be in the PAC 12 with Tech but the PAC 12 in the past has shunned religious programs. Would they make an exception? Iowa State and K-State seem to be on an island as Iowa does not want ISU in the B10. KState is interesting but not sure the B10 is dying to add them. Big 12 could try to get on the offense and add some programs asap to keep alive. Say Houston, UCF, USF Memphis, Cincy, SMU -- all of their top targets would be in the AAC. This is how things look to me now but there are rumblings that the SEC may try to add more like Clemson and FSU... if that happens wow this whole thing could blow up and we would just have one major conference. I tend to doubt that the SEC will go there yet because I think they teeter on monopolistic practices and it would involve a lot of political wrangling but at this point who knows. As is typical for UNT, we have to wait and see what happens with SMU. If SMU were able to convince the Big 12 to take them (don't kid yourself they have money and political power) and the Big 12 was able to survive it could mean that the AAC adds UNT. The problem is what is the AAC after being robbed by the Big 12? Another C-USA?

The best move, for college football as a whole, is for the B12 to try and stick together and add 4 - 8 strong teams, while the remaining conferences figure out what to do with their remaining members (which includes us, and very likely the rest of CUSA). From there, we may see larger G5 conferences (perhaps it combines to 4 conferences) along with something like flexible scheduling, to try and compete with the P5 conferences for viewership and SOS. This would be the best solution as it would involve the highest number of schools and fans and continue to create college football fans for life. If any information about the SEC taking more than Texas and OU is true, then we can kiss college football as we know it, and the NCAA goodbye. At that point, the SEC essentially becomes a 3rd tier sports league behind the NFL and NBA, and absolutely becomes an NFL-lite, which will generate more money and viewership than the rest of college football (combined) and any other league like the XFL when it comes back. As it stands right now, we are most definitely on the outside looking in (so is SMU, and quite frankly, many P5 schools). And the best we can hope for, I think, is for existing conferences to stay in tact, reload, "expand" the total number of schools in P5 conferences, and hopefully have some reorganization and realignment at lower conferences to try and compete as strong as possible. Unfortunately, I'm not optimistic about any of this, and I think we're essentially seeing a larger breakup of college football than we've seen in the past, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

Is this “Breaking News” a joke or did the SEC extend a invite to join ?

I can't speak for everyone on this board, but the only school that I hope burns in hell is smut. Death to SMUt! GO MEAN GREEN!

AAC is going to get leftovers, this is going to solidify conferences for a very long time. We are not getting in the AAC with SMU involved. The only step up is the MWC! If schools move to the PAC 12, there should be no reason we are not pursuing this option. Or we could play FIU and FAU the rest of our lives. GMG

Rant wrap up: bottom line here is marketing, donors, attendance, facilities….all important. But it falls squarely on Seth Littrell’s shoulders. WIN. just win. Every game. Go win. I don’t want to hear “even when we win they don’t come” YES they do. We’ve never REALLY won. We’ve shown Flashes. But we have to get on ESPN…big wins. Then this sleeping giant we’ve been talking about for years will finally show. This is what was at Apogee after 4-0 with a win against Arkansas. We showed. Coaches didn’t.

As for green colored glasses, I threw mine away a few years ago and started looking at UNT from an outsiders perspective and It has made me more realistic. (I know….not fun) For UNT to fulfill the dream we all have for it. 9-3 doesn’t cut it. We have to go 12-0. 11-1. Get ranked, knock off a RANKED P5. Challenge for a NY6 Bowl. If we don’t do that, we are not in the conversation from a big picture college football POV. No one outside of UNT fans cares if we go 9-4 in the worst conference in the country once or twice every 15 to 20 years. To care about that, the thinking has to come from a subjective view of the program based on our past instead of what we’re ACTUALLY doing today compared to today. It’s also what gets a coach that has won ZERO big games and pads stats against weaker teams extensions and raises. It’s not that 9 wins is great. It’s that 9 wins is great HERE. That thinking has to go away if we want to climb the ladder. Someone blamed the fans for not showing up after starting 4-0 a few years ago. But ignores the crapping the bed the coaches did that next game at home against La Tech. I remember thinking walking back to the parking lot. “That was our chance. We blew it” And we did. That’s not on the fans. In the playoff era, as for national recognition, There is big time college football in the playoff and champ game (Bama, Ohio St, Clemson) big college football knocking on the door (Washington, OU, Penn St) big brand historic college football (UT, A/M, Michigan) little big college football (where we want to be now like Cincy, UCF, Boise) and then everyone else. We’re in the bottom of the everyone else group. Today, a 10 win season is expected and average for the Cincy, UCF, Boises of the world. It’s not a program changing number or an all time record that deserves a raise. They beat big boys. Play in big bowls. Get ranked. Not #24 once in a blue moon…..but top 10-15. That’s what it will take in my mind for this program to reach its potential. But we have to have the right guy as the HC. That’s going to be Wren Bakers challenge….Probably after this season. I’m not saying it’s easy but that’s what it will take. As of now, We are light years away from that. Green glasses are the only way to not see that.

The article was good and accurate. A lot of the Daily sports articles are error filled and just poorly written, this was not one of them. Though I have been part of the recent flood of comments about SMU, I am now ready to move on to other topics. You would think SMU is a national sports juggernaut with all the attention we are giving them.

Why doesn't CUSA become the "aggressor" and poach some Big 12 castoffs? I mean, Commissioner Judy McLeod could actively, uh, umm, maybe try, umm..................oh, never mind.

If all this crap goes down would it be worth trying to form a geographical conference. There will be no money left for anyone else so travel could be very costly for conferences that are spread all over the country. I hope when the music stops were not left standing.

do you think Vandy will get the "it is not you its me call"?

Honestly, I have more hate in my heart for Texas Tech. Worst fans I've even dealt with.

SEC: "Sit down and shut up, Gomer. You're gonna make a lot more money."

Scrimmaged today

I was at a seminar in Austin when the Dodge hire was announced. As everyone introduced themselves and mentioned our hometown, people I don’t even know came up to me to say what a great hire Todd Dodge was. It was a good move right up until we took the field for the first time.

I just read TCU, Baylor, and Texas Tech had made an offer to join the PAC 12. Buckle up boys and girls. This is gonna be crazy

There are of many speculations that we could push out but I think a highly possible one is: BYU, Boise State, Cincinnati and either Houston or Memphis for the additions to the B12. That leaves Smut where they are and we push for Boise’s slot in the MWC. It puts us in a better football/basketball conference. It is definitely viewed is a much better conference overall than conference USA. It also gives the MWC a major TV market and stronger recruiting ties to the DFW metroplex which would be a plus for the member schools. Remember this was TCU’s path.

Gee, I don't know, but I am sure SMU student rag is just full of NT articles. I must have read the wrong story, because I didn't see any support for SMU; but rather a narrative that NT needs to up their game to compete with the ponies.

Does the Big 12 lose it's P5 status because UT and OU leave? Seems to me the B12 could cherry pick the AAC rather than the other way around. I'm sure UH, smut, Memphis et al would love to become a P5 school. Besides, TT, TCU, and Baylor ain't chopped liver.

Lovely take and well said. I’ll pick up where you left off. Similar to the last round, it’s about leveling up. The weakest get left behind (e.g. Troy didn’t move up to CUSA, even though the argument that Sun Belt is better (it is football wise) it certainly isn’t as politically powerful). Moving up along with some of our peers into the AAC that is still home to Tulsa, Tulane and ECU is still a positive for us. That seems to be a pretty clear path for how things wind up but things may get weird and wind up entirely different. I do feel like our fan base is really going to need to rally and finally donate $ if we are going to maintain a positive trajectory. Could be that if we don’t, we relegate to whatever new level the galaxy between FCS and G5 becomes.

All of AB’s past issues have either been dismissed or settled out of court. There is nothing that he could be suspended for at the moment. Darden is WR6 right now so even if something happened to AB, he would share that role with 2 other WR.

I also love my kids’ daycare but don’t really think their drawings are great. Both things can be true at the same time. I do hate Subway’s sandwiches.

I like the move by the AAC. But at the end of the day, I still say no way TTech or Ok State looks at being in a conference with Tulsa, Tulane, Temple or ECU and says “ok sure let’s do that” Those are teams they pay for body bag games now they’re gonna be in the same conference? I don’t see it.

The MAC should aggressively go after ISU, KU, KSU, and Wichita State (basketball but no football) if that is the case. The AAC is a shadow of the Big East and it’s current geographic footprint is nonsense. Of all former big boy conferences that broke up they had the most resources and messed up the worst IMO. A restructured conference built from western, AAC, Sun Belt and CUSA schools should aggressively go after Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU and OSU. The ideal conference from UNT perspective: Baylor TCU SMU Rice Oklahoma State Tulsa Houston La Tech UNT Tulane Texas Tech Southern Miss UAB Louisiana (ULL) This conference has interesting games every weekend for everyone.

Scratch that. TCU has never played in the Holiday bowl. It was ut.

No, you're standing under an oak tree and acorns frequently drop.

The SEC is reportedly targeting multiple historic powerhouses for expansion. According to Barstool Sports’ Jack McGuire, the SEC has been in contact with Ohio State, Clemson, Florida State and Michigan amid massive expansion talks. https://dailycaller.com/2021/07/24/report-sec-targeting-ohio-state-clemson-michigan-florida-state-expansion/

Hey if this keeps up….UNT will be in the SEC eventually

SMU yes probably doesn’t out draw us by much but I can see those “bogus numbers” are so bogus when I watch those other G5 games in person or on TV. And TV is what counts. In have to negotiate good TV rights deals to partners when after halftime in a close game they routinely have to avoid HUGE empty spots in our stadium. The fact is that in all but the opening game at Apogee against Houston, the Halloween game against UTSA, and the La Tech game I mention the attendance is pathetic. Hell the student side is never full and their tickets are paid for, just register and walk across campus. 🤷🏽 We should be averaging 25,000+ easy in 0.500 seasons and we aren’t even close. If we are going to move up the attendance numbers have to improve. I think CUSA, AAC, and Sun Belt need to come together Realign geographically and Negotiate one big TV package together maybe with Bally Sports. With this new P4 super conference structure I don’t know how many “money game” slots will be available going forward if they opt to play more conference games or have semi final conference championship games. The SEC might opt to only have one non-conference game per team and play 10 game conference schedules to maximize the number of games they sell to TV with no rights conflicts. Regardless of the below P4/P5 conference we are in revenue will be poor. We already out spend most of our conference rivals but have generally not lived up to that financial investment on the field or in fan support. (Also those 3 G5 conferences could eliminate a lot of staff and overhead cost by working together. Keep the historical names of the conferences but one collective business with 3 regional offices. The more the “little guys” adopt the collective NFL model the more likely they will survive. The cut-throat history of Big 8, SWC, and Big 12 left every school from it somewhat wounded. They all might have deeper pockets from leaving but on the field success took huge steps back for all of them. Maybe you could argue about Johnny Football’s TAMU. Oklahoma might be fine but UT is in for a rude awakening.)

As I have stated before if we don’t move up we should be calling the MWC!

I think that is the easy out. Let’s look at September 29, 2018 a 4-0. A Mean Green Team with UNT enrollment larger than the Apogee stadium capacity coming off beating SMU and Arkansas with hands down the best QB and WR talent combination we have ever had could not sellout Apogee stadium. If the standard here is that you have to be legit in the national championship picture to sellout a stadium under 35,000 in capacity what is an AD supposed to do? The independent route I suggested is a hail mary cause nothing else reasonably achievable without a huge increase in support. I was more disappointed that it wasn’t a sellout than by the close loss. So you can point fingers at current leadership if you want but thousands of Alumni and fans gave the middle finger to them before kickoff that day by not buying every available ticket.

Why don’t they deal with real issues like keeping Texas asses from freezing this Winter?

I don't believe that...

On a warm September night at Apogee Stadium, an offense led by then-junior quarterback Mason Fine put up 46 points for North Texas compared to Southern Methodist University’s 26. The aforementioned game was in 2018 and it is the last time North Texas had a significant triumph versus SMU on or off the field. Starting with its on-field performance, football has not found a way to make the annual Safeway Bowl close in the last two years, losing 49-27 in 2019 and 65-35 in 2020 — the latter of which was on the Mean Green’s home turf. Giving up a combined 114 points in the last two contests, North Texas’ defense has failed in stopping the likes of sophomore running back Ulysses Bentley IV who posted 19 carries for 227 yards and three touchdowns in 2020. It was the same story in 2019 when former SMU running back Xavier Jones tallied 16 carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns. To make matters worse, however, the damage is not just being done on the ground. The Mean Green were likely ecstatic to see former SMU quarterback Shane Buechele enter the NFL draft this year. In two career games against North Texas, Buechele threw for a combined 636 yards and seven touchdowns while dismantling the Mean Green defense. The lone standout performer for North Texas in either game was former running back Tre Siggers who in 2019 rushed for 164 yards and a touchdown versus SMU. This offseason, Siggers joined the Mustangs via the transfer portal. Read more: https://www.ntdaily.com/column-smu-is-beating-the-football-team-on-and-off-the-field/

What has become apparent over the past 48 hours is that the AAC does not expect to sit back and wait for its best teams to field interest from elsewhere. The AAC plans to act as an aggressor, multiple high-ranking sources within the conference tell The Athletic. It will try to poach the Big 12’s leftovers, perhaps as a group. …“The Big 12 appears to be weakened and in a state of panic because their two anchor schools are gone and can’t be replaced,” one AAC source said Friday night. “I do think we can be an aggressor. I feel like our league is pretty stable.” …After Oklahoma and Texas officially declare their intention to leave the Big 12, the source expects the remaining eight schools to gauge interest from the Pac-12. The AAC could get its own crack at the eight leftovers if the Pac-12 opts against making any additions, or it could try to grab whoever is left if the Pac-12 does pick off a few. Multiple sources believe [Mike] Aresco, the AAC commissioner, is committed to trying such a tactic.LM read more: https://awfulannouncing.com/ncaa/aac-big-12-expansion-espn.html

Nope, there needs to be a win or two on the schedule. You would think most of the 2nd level SEC teams will be looking for OOC games they fill they can win to get to 6

The fallout for the Big12 leftovers is immensely entertaining. Welcome into the mud with the rest of us bros! Enjoy!!!

Lmao same here. They have the most historically worst takes, mainly in sports.

I know and I'll tell ya: He was an amazing coach - established as an assistant - but made the disastrous decision to hire his HS staff when he became a college HC.