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When we started 4-0 and Beat Arkansas we came home to a near sellout crowd against La Tech. (Maybe the largest crowd we’ve had). We were a few hundred away. And what did we do? We got beat. Didn’t capitalize. I say had we won, gone to 5-0. We would’ve been ranked. Then the crowds would’ve kept coming had we kept winning. That’s the “sleeping giant” that gets thrown around. But we’ve never crossed the line. Coastal Carolina is probably at their ceiling given their location, size etc. they don’t have the capacity we have. We just never fill our capacity because every time we get close, we crap the bed.

The Athletics budget is much bigger than it once was. Facilities are all ready to compete at either MWC or AAC level. DFW is huge and can support 2 teams in the same conference (hello AAC). Academics are high (Carnegie Research University) Enrollment is at an all time high, and will likely continue to climb. There are a lot of great things that combine to make NT a great addition to any conference. We just have one glaring issue, and unfortunately, it's a big one that has all kinds of ripple effects. However, thankfully, it's one that can be rapidly remediated.

Yep, these closed and guarded practices have really made a big difference.

Who are you calling "you people"

No one is basing conference realignment on what football teams have done the past year or two. UTSA is getting mentioned, because most people in the media are guessing and they're looking at UTSA saying, "they could own San Antonio!" So they're logical in those writers' minds. Hell, outside of going 7-5 last year, their records for the two years before that are 4-8 and 3-9. Once you peel back the curtain (which will be done by conferences as part of this process), you find an underfunded athletics program with nearly non-existent facilities, and absolutely no basketball program. I feel like after reading several boards, nobody has a bigger crush on UTSA than UNT fans.

The Athletic’s article on this is pretty good if you have a subscription. https://theathletic.com/2826426/2021/09/15/conference-realignments-next-steps-what-im-hearing-about-the-american-sun-belt-and-more-in-the-group-of-5/?source=user_shared_article And what he says about UNT is RIGHT ON compared to other schools like us Bigger budget. Phenomenal facilities. Big coaching salary. All things they want. Just one thing holding us back: We’re not winning football games. It’s why I get so angry about Littrell’s piss poor results on the field. He’s holding us back.

If I understand the article, the AAC has 7 schools on its short list of candidates. We are not on that short list of 7. The AAC is looking to add 4 schools to the conference. If it is unable to secure 4 from its short list, there is an *additional* list of 10-12 schools it would look to next. That makes UNT somewhere between 8th and 19th on AAC's wish list. Hate to be the Debbie downer for people who get excited about a headline that says UNT on AAC list of candidates, but the reality is it is unlikely to happen. The best we can do now is say, "we're number 8!, we're number 8!". In all likelihood, however, we're probably further down the list than that.

There are a lot of longtime posters in this thread who seem to have forgotten that we got “promoted” to CUSA right on the heels of the Dodge fiasco. We were UNQUESTIONABLY fielding the worst performing football team in FBS. It didn’t matter. We had built Apogee and finally appeared to be committed to athletics. Now we have 10 years of history showing continued commitment through facilities going up, coaching salaries that are competitive with the top of G5, new sports that win (softball) and have a basketball program on the rise. Everyone needs to settle down. UNT is more attractive today than it has ever been. Certainly MUCH MORE attractive than we were the last time we were promoted. My bet is we go west, or that crazy total regionalization of g5 finally happens.

The downfall of NT football? You must not have been around in 2015 & ‘16…or missed the entirety of Todge? You could say it was the start of the decline for SL, but beyond that is a bit much.

I spend half my days working with spreadsheets, so I wanted to quantify this in a way that isn't colored in perceptions. I made a comparison in 10 categories. I weighted in the following order: Football - 30% Basketball - 15% Facilities - 15% Financials - 15% Location/Media Market - 15% It Factor/Perception 10%* - *I actually doubled this number just to make a point All categories are a ranking out of a possible 10 with some ties. Highest rank gets 10 points, lowest gets 1. This applies to all except facilities, location, and media market. Those are calculated as follows: Facilities - I did my best to rank these based on prior knowledge and pictures only. Schools could get up to 10 points for a new stadium. 2 points were removed if the school doesn't own the stadium. 2 points were removed (red) if no IPF. I left UAB at 8, despite their IPF not really being an IPF. Basketball arena was pure eyeball and no adjustments were made (eg. IPF with football) Location - If the school is within the footprint, they automatically get 2 (poor UTEP). If they're next to a major international airport, 8 points are added. If they're near secondary airport, 6 points are added. If they're near a regional airport, 4 points. Media Market - This is the only category to go to 100. Schools get a percentage based on their market size compared with the largest DMA of the options (DFW). Just to talk for a moment about the "It Factor" and Perception...I think this is vastly overrated. Short of a team coming off back to back top 25 appearances, I'm not sure why anyone would gravitate towards one school more than the other for a realignment that could last years or even decades. That said, not only did I make it 10% of the ranking, I doubled the points as an added handicap. You'll notice the only school I marked worse than UNT is Charlotte in that category. This is not justification for people's reactions (or my view of UNT), so much as trying to work perceived bias into what will no doubt be an overall picture these conferences look at. So with all of that out of the way... *Quick note for Rice financials. They're undisclosed, so I gave them half a point for each. Could be higher or lower, but not really fair to assume either direction.

He can use whatever tactics he wants if they are winning him games. What SL is currently doing ain't working, and I don't believe injury information is the difference here.

The new RACE facility is purely off donations. The AD is doing a fine job turning those around. They spit out plans the other day for a new basketball and baseball facilities (finally), but dont know when that will be happening. Its a fact, that the facilities are hurting us. Convocation center is terrible and needs to be addressed, same with baseball. I know lots of UNT fans hate the Alamodome, but theres lots that like it. Has the space for attendance growth and is something to hold up until we know what we want on campus. In my opinion, getting a look from MWC or AAC is mostly from being in a big market in Texas and a little recent success. With that said, I wouldn't mind a SBC and CUSA merger if MWC and AAC falls through. Being able to play Texas State, UNT, UTEP, Rice, LA Tech etc... every year at least brings familiarity to fans and helps put butts in seats. Anyways, I got a little off topic. We have same financial struggles like every CUSA school. Donations have just been picking up in recent due to the work or Dr. Compos.

And always take too long to change the sheets.

Aresco (AAC commissioner) used to work for CBS, so I’m willing to bet he is feeding this to a former buddy. Another tweet already shut down the MWC schools being interested in joining (likely now coming from their school’s sources). That leaves UAB and the alternative list, which only mentions FAU, UTSA, and North Texas. Interesting piece is MWC trying to nab North Texas and Tulsa before AAC has a chance to finalize any moves. May be a situation where we have an opportunity to choose, best case scenario. Both are positive pieces of news.

Like you're saying... there are just so many moving parts right now. If Memphis leaves AAC, and USF goes anywhere, then the AAC is basically back to our 2013 C-USA model, which is not awful. Definitely an upgrade over our current setup. And if any of Boise/Air Force/SDSU/COSt get picked off of MWC to the Big12 (...because I really don't think they're going to the AAC), that definitely is not ideal, but I still think if an entire Texas Bloc (and/or LATech) were to join MWC together, it would be better than our current setup in C-USA, and possibly whatever the AAC lands on. If the MWC sticks together and adds some, they will likely be considered the stronger conference than the fake "P6" AAC.

Another reason to join the MW. Now I'm going to say this with the * that it's a 1:1,000,000 chance of happening, but just hear me out. Imagine the AAC doesn't get the MWC schools, and backfill with UAB, FAU, and 2 others other than UNT. UNT goes to the MW with 1 or 3 travel partners. Then things cool on realignment for a decade, UNT goes on a Boise St. style run, dominating the MW. Now realignment comes around again, everyone wants to match the SEC and go to 16. UNT would be smack in the middle of possible the last shuffle for decades. B1G would need 2, Big XII would need 4. We've already talked about it on this thread that pickings are slim in the west and the only place the PAC has to draw from is the MW. Is there a chance UNT would get consideration from the PAC? Having already been in a western conference might give us some consideration. I know that's a pipe dream from another dimension, but we definitely aren't getting that in CUSA.

All things staying the way they are now. I prefer the MWC. Just seems like the leftovers on AAC + some CUSA teams is not as strong as the current MWC. In my mind more prestigious football conference trumps regionalization. If the top teams leave the MWC then I would prefer to go regional. MGT’s “pod” scenario looks pretty dang good to me. I’m not as interested in Rice as some are so a Texas/LA foursome of UNT, UTSA, UTEP and La Tech sounds good to me in addition to the existing MWC.

If the AAC were wise, UNT would be at the top of their list.

So many cool destinations, and pretty neat stadiums. Anything would be a step up from this

Even though it's all rumors.....MWC eyes are gonna be on us Saturday...…playing a team the AAC may be looking at. Sure would be great if Littrell had them ready to put on a good showing.

Exactly. And I think that if the MWC doesn’t lose anyone to another conference—think Big 12 more than AAC—they would be extremely smart to go west. If they got UTEP, UTSA, UNT, and Rice, you get 4 huge TV markets that you don’t have now. And you get inroads into bowls in El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Frisco, and Ft. Worth. That’s a win/win for all parties, in my opinion.

I'm sorry, but I would rather play in the AAC with Tulsa, SMU, Memphis, USF, Tulane, ECU, etc... and whoever they can sway from the MWC. If that falls through, then I would like to go MWC. I like the aggressive nature of the AAC.

OMG! Another "next game" uniform discussion. Can't we just worry about winning the game? It's funny, we longed for the "stylized" Eagle on the helmets. Chrome, green, white. You name it, we had it. Now we long for the '60's, 3rd grade NT helmets. I give up.

Honestly don't know what our regular uni is anymore.

Two weeks to flatten the curve (of our season imploding), if you will.

Packers adding former North Texas DE LaDarius Hamilton from the Bucs P-Squad https://www.profootballrumors.com/2021/09/minor-nfl-transactions-9-17-21

And here is the reason The Packers signed OLB LaDarius Hamilton off the Buccaneers practice squad to take Smith's roster spot. Hamilton was an undrafted free agent with the Cowboys in 2020 but was claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay last offseason. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32225184/green-bay-packers-place-olb-zadarius-smith-ir-lingering-back-injury

This, this, this, and this. 2013 was another example of this.. Held our own against Georgia for the first half of the game, Beat Rice/La Tech when they were the conference top dogs, even the game with Ball State we were supposed to lose we won. Then UTSA comes to Denton and we lost.. And the crazy thing is, I think that season was the last time we won a bowl game.. Which SL was not our coach. The sleeping giant almost wakes up, but then rolls over and goes into a deep sleep.

Actual butts in seats: 12,000 Announced: 18,000 Percentage of North Texas fans overestimating the crowd: 95%.

Nice "what color is the sky in your world" post. At the risk of sounding a bit anal/picayune, we've actually hired three High School coaches. Odus Mitchell was head coach at Marshal HS when he was hired to coach the re-started (on hiatus during WWII) NT program in 1946. SO. We have hired two HS coaches from Marshal (Mitchel and Parker) and one from Southlake....Dodge.

Dude Seth is going to destroy in the Southland.

When we were in the Sun Belt, it was pretty suffocating. A bunch of schools that were never able to get over the hump, and it severely limited recruiting. That conference made smart decisions in bringing up FCS powers to shake up that perception and limitation. Since we've been in CUSA, it's not been the conference holding us back. All our wounds are self-inflicted.

Because they do not have

Their enrollment is 1/4 of ours

HIPAA is only about healthcare providers disclosing personal health information. The HC is not a medical doctor, so we are good here. It is personal choice to not disclose.

Why would the author of this speak specifically about North Texas if they weren’t interested. I am not following your logic.

Yes! If MWC jumps to a 16-team format, they would ideally move to a "pod" style with 4 4-team pods, in which the 4 Texas schools would obviously be our own pod. Something like this: "Texas Pod" UNT, UTEP, UTSA, Rice (or, if Rice joins their old C-USA buddies in AAC, then LATech) "I-25 Pod" or whatever... UNM, Air Force, COSt. Wyoming "NorthWest Pod" or whatever... Boise St, UTSt, SJSU, NV "SouthWest Pod" or whatever... UNLV, Fresno St, SDSU, Hawaii The "Texas Pod" would play crossover games with the "I-25" pod of UNM, COSt, Air Force, & Wyoming, as well as just 1 game against one of the far-west teams (and that would be a home game every other year). So ideally, there would be just 1 game every other year on West Coast Time. And there would be only 2 games per year on Mountain Time. Meanwhile, we still get to keep the nearby "rivalries" we built up with our C-USA Texas peers. That is MORE THAN DO-ABLE. I wish people could understand this. Moving to the MWC is not a bad thing for UNT. As long as Judy is at the helm of C-USA, we're doing nothing but getting worse. We have to get her out, or get out ourselves, and honestly, the latter would be best.

There is nothing left in the AAC that makes it appealing for UNT. Do we really want to be associated with small private schools or ECU or Temple? Really? Memphis, I get, sort of, but for how long. Historically we have some sort of unnatural desire to be in the same conference with SMU. We need to get over it. We cannot let ourselves be defined by an association with “that school in Dallas.” The best thing to happen for UNT in this phase is for the AAC to go after UTSA and the MWC to come after us. The sooner we separate ourselves from UTSA and forget about SMU, the better we will be. It will be a much better spot for us.

Getting away from Judy? I'll take it.

Agree. And I’m not opposed to the MWC. However my concern is if Boise and the top teams leave the MWC, it’s not really the MWC anymore. We’re just left with Tulsa and a bunch of teams in another time zone. We’ve been through this before. sure we got to go to CUSA but it was CUSA In name only. It wasn’t the same without SMU, UH, Cincy, Memphis, etc. If Dennis Dodd is reporting it….I’m guessing Wren has talked to them and conversations are going on. Which also tells me the AAC could be falling through. I just don’t know what being in the MWC gets us if the MWC isn’t as prestigious a conference. Sure it will be better than CUSA but without the top teams….is it good enough to offset extra costs?

yeah, i wish we just did gimmick unis once... MAYBE twice a year give me a green white green home combo and a white green white away combo who knew that i would be the old man yelling at the clouds one day?

Come by our tailgate before the game. We are in the NE corner of the BLACK across the parking lot from the Pavilion. we have FREE BEER. Our sponsor is 3 Nations Brewing. UNT Alumnus owned. Hurry before we run out!!!

Players should take it 1 game at a time....fans don't have to. I'm still not completely sure what to make of this team yet. Predictably handled the FCS team and then played 1 half of improved football vs SMU. We have a QB that hasn't been here very long and is probably drinking from a fire hose playing catch up. Is he better than he's shown the first two games? Will he get better the more he plays? I don't honestly know. So we have 2 games before our bye week and then we hit MIzzou, Marshall and Liberty. TOUGH stretch. Even though UAB is at home and La Tech is on the road...I still feel like UAB will be the tougher game. This UAB game could really go a few different ways. They could blow us out, could win a close one or we could win a close one. But big picture....if we do beat UAB, this season starts to look A LOT different. Because now we have a confident team headed to Ruston and I'm not sure this is one of La Tech's better teams. Come out of Ruston with a win....and now we're headed into the bye week to heal up and the next 3 games look better. They're going into Mizzou with a little swagger. If we beat UAB at home and slip up at La Tech or vice versa, 1-1 is not a bad outcome and there is some hope for the season. If we grab 1 or 2 of the next 3, we're in the thick of it again. However....if UAB pounds us and then we limp into Ruston and get beat.....that's a snow ball that is going to begin to roll downhill because we go to Mizzou next then have 2 tough teams at home. 2-0 the next two games.....we're starting to cook. 1-1 the next two games......there is some hope. 0-2 the next two games.....I don't see how we recover Huge 2 game stretch in front of us

Just about anything is better than this CUSA setup we have going on.

The AAC as it is now, is not going to lure any of the MWC big dogs. MWC is stable. AAC is volatile. So they're going to hit that "alternate" list very quickly. Now, if the MWC decides to be proactive, and grab several of us C-USA Texas schools (or maybe LATech), That "alternate" list shrinks as well. If I'm UTEP, I'm sweating bullets right now possibly watching all of these schools leave me behind.

I can’t see the American taking more than 2 AT MOST MWC teams. If they were smart, they take Boise and the MW takes NT Tulsa and UTSA (maybe even Gonzaga for basketball only, although that would make it an odd number)

Here's another thought (man I need to get some positive vibes going for my Mean Green....) But again....what worries me is we jump to the current MWC. Yea! Then a few months later, Boise and three more well known programs bolt. And then the MWC puts the equivalent of ODU in. I seem to recall that exact scenario happening when we went to CUSA. (not that ECU is Boise, but....) Point is, I hope Wren is getting assurances that Boise and the rest are staying. Whatever "assurances" are worth.

Thoughts: 1. The Big 12 is stronger now than when they had OU and UT. 2. The Big 12 should go after Boise, AFA, Liberty and one more school. 3. CUSA should try to expand to 16 teams.

College football has gone down the toilet.