TIgreen01

Seriously?? Have you been to both schools? Have you seen their budgets? It's not even close. A&M has trouble succeeding b/c they are still viewed as a back woods cult by the masses. Go to a game and watch their yell leaders. Obviously there are those that like it and love the atmosphere, to everyone else it is F'ing creepy. THAT is what keeps A&M from becoming a national football power...it certainly isn't for lack of resources. As for TFLF's ongoing rant and the implosion of the Big 12-2....how have so many in this thread overlooked LongJim's post about UT, ND, OU, Miami, etc joining up and expounded on that scenario?? To me, that has the look of the creation of the first-ever NATIONAL conference---or, possibly yet another split similar to the creation of D-IAA. Texas is a sinister MFer of a school. I don't trust a damn thing they do....but letting A&M throw a public nit-fit while bolting for the SEC seems like a brilliant move if their ULTIMATE goal is align themselves into a NATIONAL conference. If Texas were to align with Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Miami, you are talking about the absolute top level programs in the nation. I don't know what it would take to lure programs like USC, Michigan, Ohio St, Florida, etc into the fold...but now you're talking about a level of school that could legitimately represent an entire region/state and as far as ESPN's involvement, legitimately anchor a regional tv channel/network. It's not going to be easy for Texas and A&M to split, especially with all of the political ties in the state...but Texas has always thought of themselves as a NATIONAL brand, first. Pushing this LHN crap down everyone's throats to force A&Ms hand, all while looking a few steps further down the line seems like a much more plausible scenario (given their history and arrogance) than both them and ESPN getting backed into a corner b/c they were too stupid to think these other schools wouldn't go for it.

FIU - 20 UNT - 21 Game 1 = win.

"The coaches want our defense to be hard-hitting." Thank God! It's about time we put the MEAN back in Mean Green!

This. There is not a team in this conference that we cannot beat.

Thank God. Glad the original rumors were correct. Plain, simple, kept the Kelly Green ... and I love it. Football uniforms should not look like designer clothing.

We have been one of the 5 worst football teams in the country over the last 6 years. That has taken a toll that not even the grand opening of our beautiful new football palace will be able to overcome. Do not worry, though. Sellouts will come in the coming years as DMac gets this program turned around. In the past Fouts field was so shockingly underwhelming that it helped perpetuate the "small-time" perception that hung over this program. Our home schedule isn't going to do us any favors (it never has), but fans and casual observers will have no choice but be impressed by the gameday presentation that they find at UNT and Mean Green Stadium. Our tailgating scene has been the main draw for most of the 18-25 crowd and it has the potential to be even better across the highway, under the shade of the big oaks that cover what's left of the old golf course. The accoustics at the new stadium are going to help even a small crowd "FEEL" like they are much more involved in the game. That will help draw a few more of the tailgaters into the stadium, regardless of the opponent. Of course, maybe I'm just dreaming. Spot on. Also, as long as our home schedule is what it currently is, we are going to struggle to sell season tickets. Houston is a much better comparison than most of our peers in the Sun Belt. So are FAU and FIU for that matter. Everyone just needs to settle down. We have a lot to compete with in DFW. It's not really the Stars/Rangers/Mavs/Cows that hurt us...it's all the minor league options around the area that compete in the same price range that we do. Just recently my next door neighbor (I live in Frisco) was trying to sell me on getting tickets for the Arena league football team that now plays in Allen. Ticket prices were right in line with what we are offering. When you factor that in, I expect that we'll do well in years that we are extremely competitive. In down years, though, there are just so many other options. The kinds of people that just want to see a win (most), will follow the winners all around town. Its the same in every big city. Houston is selling tickets now b/c they are winning and getting Top 25 mentions. If and when that stops, their ticket sales will drop. Bringing this full circle, what the new stadium does for UNT is that it allows us to truly compete in the DFW sports market in our price bracket. Fouts left a bad taste in people's mouths. It looked, smelled, and felt small time. No seat was really a good seat. What we were offering felt like a high school football game, but we were charging college and minor league ticket prices. The new stadium changes all of that...and it has the added bonus of being a center of pride for the entire University community. Our own students could talk sh!t about Fouts. Now NOBODY has a stadium that is better than ours.

I am finding myself agreeing with this more and more...

Pretty crappy effort by the pollsters this year. In addition to what has already been pointed out, Stanford minus Harbaugh is not a top 10 or 20 program, Andrew Luck or not. Ohio St. without Tressel, Prior and the rest of the cheaters is going to stink, as well. Auburn at #19, while returning just 5 or 6 starters is another stretch. I realize these coaches want to partially recognize the successes of last year, but come on.

That better be the same shade of green from the past 4 years. One more color change and I am just going to lose it. ...holding out hope that this is just us getting the Oregon treatment and our "permanent" uni's aren't now mint green.

This. And we should incorporate a new tradition---specifically for the douchebag bands (thinking of you, Troy) that insist on bringing in amps---fire off Boomer any time a douchebag visiting band attempts to play over the Green Brigade. If they won't stop and respect good sportsmanship, we'll just shoot their asses!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, scratch the vuvuzela idea!! We finally get a great stadium and you want to ruin the experience by flooding it with a giant swarm of BEES?! WTF?! NO!!! I cannot let this stand!

Well, if you're superstitious, here's a couple: 1) F'ing GREEN helmets! 2) The new "lucky" Eagle statue Legit reasons for optimism: we'll actually be tackling in practice. That HAS to lead to improvement considering that while Dodge was HC, we were consistently one of the worst tackling teams in football. The spring game, alone, showed vast improvement in that department over just last year. We were more physical in the spring game than in any single game all of the last 4 years. We will continue to get better leading into the season.

This would not be true if the NCAA would get rid of the bowl games in Detroit, Boise, and similar cold weather cities in the dead of winter. Bowl games are great, except the ones in cities that suck. Remove or move those games and you can't make this claim. There's no way in HELL that I'd have a better time watching a game on TV, than travelling to a well done bowl game. The likelyhood of the smaller schools being included in any playoff that the Big Boys sign off on is slim to none. You're letting the ABC/ESPNs of the world pull your jock on this thing. We've reached the saturation point with non-stop, 24x7x365, sports commentary that most of these idiots just try to invent stuff to discuss. It'll eventually turn the tide of public opinion so strong that the school presidents have no choice BUT to go to a playoff. The thing is, nobody really wants it but the shock jocks. The Big Boys are scared to death of it. The little guys don't trust it. The TV rights would be astronomical and I bet the TV execs are drooling over the prospect of it, but only one broadcast company would end up winning the rights to it. The rest would be shut out of post season college football.

What are they "unveiling" here?? New stripes on the pants is all that's new here, right?? Wow! Whoopee doo!!

Are we sure that the 'Longhorn Network' is a subscription only service in that it won't just be bundled with basic cable/HD packages? The Big 10 network is just bundled in with a generic package by most providers. Granted, it's not "free-over the air", but neither is ESPN or any cable channel for that matter. We pay a "subscription" fee just by signing up for a contract to specific packages with each provider. ...or will this be served like ESPN Gameplan or PPV events?

Well, damn. I hate the away games vs. OU/UT/LSU/Alabama.

This thread is dumb. I mean, I get it....but really?? You'd rather open the stadium with a loss?? You only get one chance at the first game ever in a brand new stadium. I'd RATHER win the opener than lose it. Granted, I think we get drubbed by Houston, but that's another story/thread entirely.

$312....as in three hundred twelve dollars? I'm all for busting cheaters, but $312 = forfeit 3 games?? The rest of the allegations/findings are more serious, and I'm not really commenting on them. But good gosh....maybe just a smidge over the top, no?

I want to believe all this optimism that our coaching staff alone can turn this team around. At the very least, I won't be heading into the stadium this year expecting to see the Mean Green find yet another way to lose a game. I'll defnitely be watching for improvement, game on game. That said, we've got a brand new QB and a gaping hole at DT. Football usually comes down to stopping the run on defense, and getting decent play out of your QB....and those are our 2 biggest question marks! I'm not making any season predictions until after game 1. McCarney isn't going to have to worry about being on any kind of hot seat until his 3rd or 4th year (if we're not showing improvement by there). Really, unless it is immediately obvious that your coach has no idea what they are doing (cough*Dodge*cough*remember the 79-10 loss to OU in his very first game?! Eveyn Roman being made to man up on Malcolm Kelly ALL GAME without any help!?!?) they are going to be able to make it a few years without landing on this list. Our fanbase is coming off watching one of the 20 worst coaching records ever. Even mediocre football will look great to us.

This kind of stuff helps keep the ratio the way it is at these games. I have not been to a USA-Mexico game, nor do I have any intention of going anytime soon. I used to think that the Mexican team was partly to blame, but it's hard to say. The players on the previous teams used to resort to cheap shots and all kinds of crap...I always just thought it bled over into the stands. This new batch of young players they have now, though, seem far less likely to resort to that crap. Either way, there is genuine dislike for America and Americans as evidenced by the way the crowds behave...it's hard to understand how people who flock to a country in search of opportunity, can turn around and hate that country, while supporting the place that forced them to leave b/c of such little opportunity. Just a really complicated dynamic that I don't pretend to fully understand...

I think you've hit the nail on the head with this post. Until select squads figure out a way to get more kids from lower income families involved, they are going to artificially bottleneck our youth development in this country. The most basic rule in the book: "practice makes perfect". Most city league youth teams practice once a week for 45 minutes. You can find teams that practice twice a week at 90 minutes a practice, but you'd have to work to find them. You can't get better without practice, and the generation that is coming up now doesn't play "outside" near as much as every generation before it...thus, if you aren't on an organized team, you're likely not out just playing a pickup game of soccer. All of it combines to put a premium on being on a select team, just so you can get enough practice and playing time to truly develop into a top-tier player, and select teams are really only an option for kids from lower-middle to upper class families.

If we are to believe Dan McCarney (I do), our academics were an embarrassment when he arrived in December. Something doesn't add up here.

Not to interrupt your friendly wager....but I have a question. How does the 30 scholarships in 3 years penalty actually work? Does this just mean that the team can only have 75 players on scholarship (instead of 85--if that's the number?) each of those 3 years? Or is it cumulative....? Such that they'd be down to 55 scholarship players by the 3rd year? If it's just 10 players under the max, per year, that seems WAY too soft a penalty when you consider that the penalties that the NCAA hands out for low APR scores routinely hit 5 scholarships/year for the "little sisters of the poor". Also, probation is a BS penalty to hand out. What does that even accomplish?

Not me. I want nothing to do with this kind of crap. ...and I'm sick of hearing all the talking heads proclaim that "You CAN'T win without cheating!" STFU, all of you dirty, money grabbing b!tches. Raise entrance requirements, universally, while allowing for kids to go straight to the pros. Stop bringing kids onto college campus' that have no interest in actually being a college student or ever completing a degree program. Sorry for the cursing. Just sick of all the bandaid solutions that get discussed/implemented that really do nothing but allow this crap to go on.

Vic Trilli did.....er......nevermind....