untjim1995

I guess the question here is how much does it cost to have a home and home series with someone? I have no idea, but I assume that there is a cost. If there is a cost, and you have little to no money (like we know we do), then paying Cameron to come here is probably much less than La Tech or Missouri State. That's all I am saying. Season ticket holders and student fees probably cover the costs for home games against the teams we have scheduled. With the economy being in the state that it is, I can't imagine that donations are anywhere near where they were last year, so this seems like a plausible reason to me. Maybe its not, but it seems more feasible to me than believing RV and the basketball program just decided to not even try and get any team at the Super Pit that would appeal to fans or help out your team's strength of schedule. Trsut me, I don't like it at all, but if the reason is money, then I understand. If its not money, then none of it makes sense at all.

I think #2 is the reality here. Look, the AD got us 6 home football games this year, and we only have one money game on the football schedule. Thus, as much as we hate it, the basketball program has to pay for it. This is why you have the games you have at the Pit. I will say that having no return games against A&M or Okie State are still good for the program. But having those no-return games against Boise State tells you that we need cash big time. Unfortunately, there is no surprise here when it comes to cash.

Some of the folks on ponyfans who aren't happy with her reporting or the DMN coverage of SMU call her The Greek Tragedy.

This is my thought exactly--I want us to win always, but this is probably a lot to ask for this bunch right now. When SBC play gets around, we will get some teams that we need to compete with to rise in the standings, such as ULM, ULL, and FIU, and , in OOC, Army. Those are the 4 games that I think we can win. Ball State may have lost a lot of production from last year, but I suspect that the new talent BSU has and being at home will lead to a 42-20 win. We just have that far to go to get to where we can win a game like this, especially on the road, IMO.

Well, I tell you what. Lets see if we can get in a confernece with SMU's old SWC mates for 60 years, or the equivalent of Tech's and OSU's, and see how we do. Then--and only then, if 10,000 new excuses form, we can officially know that we don't deserve to be in the top tier of conferences--kinda like SMU proved.

You can't equate the two even though we wish it were true. Getting to play OU, KU, K-State, Nebraska, Colorado, Mizzou, and Iowa State for all of those years is very similar to what Tech got in Lubbock with annual games against the old SWC. It is very easy to get interest and huge support with those guys on the schedule. Having ULM, FIU, FAU, WKU, etc. on your schedule doesn't exacly make alumni that have never really cared before about UNT now suddenly change their mind. Now if UNT starts winning and gets in a regional conference with teams people have heard of far many decades, then you might get your wishes of having Denton look a little more like Stillwater than it does right now. Until then, apples and oranges.

VERY interesting--I forgot about his buyout ending next year.

I promise you that the "reassigned coach" wouldn't quit unless they have the financial sense of a doormat--especially during these fun economic times. Hell, Franchione won't even look at taking another job for years because A&M is stuck paying him for something like the next four years--unless he gets another job. And that doesn't even cover the minor little tidbit of paying a new coach. This is why I feel like Dodge keeps his job for next year unless he wins 2 or less. The university will get one more cheap year of coaching, and as we enter into a new facility, will be able to use that as bait for a new coach, while only buying out one year of a remaining contract, if needed.

Don't be so sure about that--two years of buyout isn't cheap, especially when you have to hire someone else, too. Remember that having to pay off Dickey made us have to find a low-cost alternative. I think the same scenario would be at play if Dodge was to be fired after only his third season.

3 wins is the O/U line to me on if he stays or not. If the program makes progress and doesn't get blown out by SBC teams, I believe he will stay. If we cannot keep FAU, Troy, Ark State, and the MUTS from beating us by less than 3 TDs, I think he will be probably be let go--if the athleic department can afford it, which is the big question.

I don't think it is unreasonable to believe that the MAC will fall considerably in the next few years. Just like the Big Ten, the cities that make up the MAC are dying up there and the growth is moving away from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, etc. The southern and western states will see their numbers continue to boom because the growth is already there and more is coming. The best non-AQ leagues are out west and the best BCS AQ leagues are in the southeast and southwest. I just don't see how the MAC schools will not get hurt by this reality--and substantially.

I will go with 3-9--I see us beating WKU, ULM, and either Ohio or Army.

I went to the scrimmage today, which was my first time to see this year's team. I am curious to hear what others thought that attended. In my opinion, Rodge didn't have a very good session--that could be for any number of reasons, but the defense looked strong. Very good pass rush. Hopefully, this is the season that "worst college football defense" is not mentioned with North Texas anymore.

Well, I think we can sort of understand the media thing. Basically, down here, if you are not Big XII, then you matter very little to the media and casual fans. If you are not a former SWC team, you matter even less. As for Brady, I think ASU got a good hire in him--don't get me wrong. I just think he needs this ASU gig to go well to build up his reputation again. Also, I think that the coach at UALR, Shields, is a heckuva coach and could make some moves upward if they make it to the NCAAs.

Funny thing about that LSU team that made the Final Four with Tyrus Thomas and Big Baby. I had a friend who was an Arkansas grad and another Miss. State alum who we knew that both told me that when LSU made the Final Four, ti was the best thing that could happen tot he rest of the SEC. Once it happened, Brady was going to receive an extension for sure. He was known for being such an underacheiving coach at LSU with so much talent, that even most LSU fans couldn't stand him. Of course, the extension came, LSU sucked the next two years, and Brady got fired (but he got a lot of bucks to walk out of the door b/c of that extension). Only Gottfired at Alabama had a worse reputation when it came to underachievement with the talent that was on the roster every year--and he went to an Elite Eight, as well and then got fired a few years later. I doubt very seriously that anyone is quaking in their boots here in the SBC that John Brady is now coaching in Jonesboro.

I want to think that, but then I remember that we are starting a freshman at QB and that our defense was the worst in football the last two years. I can see where we improve GREATLY and win 3 games this year. Will that get us off the Bottom 10 list??--probably, but I guess it would depend on who we beat. I will say this, if we have two wins or less, Bottom 10 will be a definite and Dodge will be gone (unless we cannot afford to let him go).

I went and read the coverage of the SBC on the CBS website. Saddest part of it all was that, although the coverage was pretty good, the number of posts and replies at the bottom were extremely small. In other wrods, not much fan feedback. Even when other mid-majors like the WAC or CUSA have coverage like this, fans of that conference and other college fans will talk about it at great length. Apparently, the Sunbelt, although improving greatly, still doesn't command much interest--even from its own teams' fans.

I agree here--I see 2-3 wins. I think we beat WKU for sure and then we win 1 or 2 against ULM, Army, ULL, and Ohio. I think we get beat by BSU, FIU, FAU, MTSU, Troy, and Arkansas State. And, of course, I think Alabama will score at least 60 on us. I think 3 wins keeps Dodge here.

Remember that SMU team was absolutley terrible, too. Yes, the offense was great that night, but that was against a team that only won one game in the entire year, IIRC. And, yes, Troy dominated us that day. Of course, so did winless FIU, too.

I do believe that when the next shift takes place in college football, the big BCS schools will either create a super BCS or separate from the NCAA to set up their own affiliation. I could see some BCS private schools like Baylor, Wake, Vandy, Duke, and Northwestern being relegated down. Big public universities with large enrollments and large alumni bases, along with the private schools like ND, USC, BYU, and Boston College will stay up. It would all look something like this: Western League--USC, UCLA, UA, ASU, WSU, UW, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford, BYU, and Utah Midwest League--Texas, Tech, A&M, OU, OSU, Arkansas, KU, K-State, Mizzou, Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa State Southeastern--Miami, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Clemson, South Florida, Tennessee Upper Midwest--Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Louisville, Cincinnati Atlantic Coast--North Carolina, NC State, UVa, Va Tech, WVU, Kentucky, Maryland, Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Boston College, Connecticut There are other teams, like UCF, Memphis, Boise State, or Fresno that could also move up in these talks, but you get the idea.

I do think we will have some improvement on the defensive end of the ball. I don't think the offense is going to be much better than it has been. I think Rodge will put up big yardage numbers, but I think it will be because we will have to pass a lot trying to catch up. Plus, he will have growing pains, too. I just haven't seen this offense get to the end zone like I expected it to (sans Navy) against good teams. If the defense and special teams are improved, though, I expect to be able to compete with the bottom-rung teams in the SBC (i.e. FIU, WKU, ULM, etc.) and Army. I think we could be improved significantly as a team this year, but we were just so bad last year that I just can't see more than 3 wins. The real question is if 3 wins would be enough to convince the administration to change coaches. I just don't know if the money is there right now. I can see a scenario where Dodge is the coach through our last year at Fouts, but the university uses the new stadium as a springboard to make a coaching "splash". I guess we'll see.

Funny, that is also what I thought when I saw his name, too. Did you notice that the top two non-AQ BCS coaches were Jones at SMU and Patterson at TCU? Its tough being the poor guy at the party, especially when its in your own backyard. Then again, its nothing new, either.

How many people showed up? How many were expected?

If 32,000 people come out to watch 1-11 SMU play SFA, the economy is doing much better than I thought...

I disagree completely on the championship front. That derailed a great Ball State season last year because of a meaningless championship game. The WAC gets tons more legitimacy for sending teams to BCS games than holding a championship game. Same goes for the MWC. Don't give your undefeated team another chance to get knocked out of the mix. Hell, Boise deserved to be in a BCS game last year over Ohio State, but the computers got them in the end. Another game against Fresno State or La Tech would have hurt them even more if they won because those other WAC teams were not highly rated. And speaking of Ohio State, has there been any team/conference that has benefited more from NOT having a conference championship game than the Big Ten and OSU? They get into three BCS games in a row because they are done playing early while all the other conferences are still beating each other up.