Yellow Snow

Let’s just say that you have two football teams. Each goes undefeated against their schedule below. Which team played the tougher schedule, A or B? Team A New Mexico At Tennessee Portland State At Arizona State Stanford At Washington State UCLA At USC Washington At California Arizona At Oregon State Team B Oregon State Tennessee Tech Baylor At SMU At Colorado State Wyoming BYU Air Force At UNLV At Utah San Diego State At New Mexico Could TCU beat any team in America? Yes… they could, no doubt. Do they deserve the national title chance MORE than Oregon? No, in my opinion… The 6 bowl teams beaten verses the 5 bowl teams beaten argument is not applicable when you look at the bowls the opponents they beat played in. Heck, Iowa State beat 2 bowl teams... in fact both teams we beat WON their bowls. If you switch the names (and rankings), Oregon and TCU… they each went undefeated against the others schedule… make a case for me to bump TCU out of #2 and put #3 Oregon in there. If anybody can do it I’m all ears. That is what you are doing if you think TCU should be swapped with Oregon. The bottom line is this… TCU is a national championship caliber team that doesn’t get the opportunity to prove it through no fault of their own. Sucks for them…

This is exactly true. The money games certainly don't do the SBC any favors as far as perception is concerned. Getting teams drubbed for a paycheck hurts all of the conference schools in the long run. The SBC would benefit more by avoiding the public executions and scheduling WAC, C-USA, MWC, etc. teams home and home. Playing middle of the pack AQ teams, two for one even, would be more beneficial. I know as an Iowa State fan, i'd definately give you more than a solid chance to win a home game against us. Teams like this are who the SBC needs to get on the docket. The Sun Belt has proven this bowl season to be a notch above the MAC for sure. Playing those teams in the non-con would provide more long term benefits (i.e. winning, bowls, pride, conference image) than the cash and body bag games each year. Sure the immediate budget takes a bit of a hit, but if the conference as a whole moved ahead of the MAC and WAC to even with C-USA and MWC, the bowl tie-ins, tv revenue, etc. would more than make up for the missing cash games. Looking at UNT's non-con schedules posted below, I think you have the right idea. Indiana, Ball State, Army, Tulsa, SMU and Houston are all excellent matchups you will be able to win at LEAST 50% of the time once Mac gets established. The Alabama and LSU types... not so much. Just my 2 cents.

Hey guys, I see you are after this guy as well. From his latest update on Rivals it sounds good for UNT. He has offers from Iowa State, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado State, and North Texas. EDIT*** Thanks mods for moving this post. Apologize for sticking it on the wrong board

This might come off as disrespectful, but it isn’t meant to be… First off, I think that any conference not named the MAC would be better than the SBC as far as outside perception is concerned. It may not TRULY be better, but to the outside observer it would seem that way. If I was your AD and the WAC called, I’d sign on the dotted line as fast as somebody could hand me a pen. Even the teams left in that conference carry more “prestige” than any in the SBC. No offense intended, but it is what it is. The WAC won’t die without a fight, so I could see them going after UNT, Troy and maybe Western Kentucky... Toledo from the MAC… who knows… Like I said though, this perception isn’t necessarily reality, but it is what the average non SBC fan thinks. To answer your question though…“Can you change the perception of UNT in one season?” No. Food for thought here: Iowa State has played in the same number of bowl games since 2000 as these teams: Kansas State Virginia Michigan State Northwestern Played in more bowl games since 2000 than these teams: Colorado Mississippi State Stanford Arizona Kansas Minnesota (we beat them last year in a bowl) And only ONE less bowl game than: Texas A&M Missouri South Carolina California Pittsburgh (we beat Pitt in one of their bowl appearances) Having read all of that, what is your perception of Iowa State football? That is 10 plus years of data and I-State is STILL fighting a respect problem. It’s going to take time. A good start would be kicking everybody’s ass in the SBC and go from there.

Without looking it up... i would guess the poor OOC record is a function of how many "cash" games SBC teams have to play. When Belt teams quit being sacrificial wins on top 10 team's schedules the conferences OOC record will improve. What is the SBC's bowl record the past few years? To this outside observer, that is a more accurate measure of the conference. How does your champion do in the bowl?

I can vouch for CCAM19. He is an excellent Cyclone and had a super career in Ames. Great player and I am glad he donned the Cardinal and Gold! Thanks for your input! CCAM19, I'm so glad to hear you are doing well and still supporting Coach Mac. Have you made it back to Ames recently for a game? It's been a good last couple of years now that the Chizik train wreck is over.

Frankly... Iowa State fans have somewhat mixed feelings about Nelson. The defensive lines he produced at Iowa State were definitely salty. He came to Iowa State in 1997, and the d-line promptly racked up 21 sacks his first year... the highest total we had in 10 years. The following year we got 32 sacks from the defensive line (still the all time school record I think). In 2004 ISU only gave up 139 ypg on the ground and in 2005 only gave up 103 ypg... that is ridiculously good considering we play a Big 12 schedule plus Iowa. We see some pretty good running teams every year. He can get it done. That said I have heard (via people that talked to players) that he can be "extra abrasive" to put it nicely. I don't know how true that is as I have no first hand knowledge of the guy. He’s been coaching at UNT so you guys know what you have with him. Your reaction to his staying on staff was pretty much the same as mine was. A bit surprised.... However, he got results at ISU with Mac as a head coach. That much can’t be argued.

One thing Mac did at Iowa State that he most likely will do at UNT is “grow and coach” his defensive linemen. As you know, ready to play studs, both high school and juco, are hard to come buy. They are the hardest guys to recruit. At I-State, Mac would recruit middle linebacker types that had good size (maybe lacking some speed) and redshirt them. Hitting the weights and training table, he’d get these guys into D-line positions by the time they were redshirt sophomores or juniors. Guys that weren’t fast enough to play MLB at the Big 12 level but were plenty fast to play DL. It was a good system, as he put quite a few guys into the NFL all things considered. All of these guys ended up as NFL defensive linemen. Jordan Carstens (Carolina) was a walk on middle linebacker from Iowa Kevin Deronde (Dallas) was a walk on middle linebacker from Iowa James Reed (New Orleans) little recruited LB from Michigan Reggie Hayward (New Orleans) was a pretty highly recruited linebacker from Illinois, but had grade issues – Mac took a chance and it paid off. Moved to DE and kicked ass Tim Dobbins (Miami) this guy was a low profile juco guy that was hell on wheels Jason Berryman (Cincinnati) three star LB from Houston. Moved to DE and dominated These are just the guys off the top of my head. I think you’ll see the same thing at UNT. It may seem like you’ll be recruiting a ton of linebacker types, but don’t be surprised if quite a few end up on the DL.

He needs to live in one of the residence halls...

This is a really, really good post. You are absolutely correct. The notion that a team like Iowa State (for example) can gain a recruiting advantage over a team like UNT (for example) because of our BCS bowl chance is flawed at best. Frankly, the chance of winning the national championship is the same for both of these teams. If I was a recruit and Paul Rhoads told me "come to I-State instead of UNT because you have the chance to play for all the marbles here.." i'd probably smirk or something... The fact that alot of the kids we recruit were passed over by Texas, A&M, Oklahoma, etc. is a much bigger advantage because we actually get to play these schools. Our guys want to prove people wrong. They don't come to Iowa State because they hope to win a national championship, they come because they hope to punch a Longhorn in the teeth.

I think you are right. There is probably a lot more parity in the SBC than in the Big 12, which should speed up the turnaround process. However, the flip side to this is that there are more toss up games each season. Nobody outclasses you, but at the same time, nobody is a sure win either. It’ll be interesting to see how these games go this fall. At Iowa State, Mac was handicapped by the fact that we had 2 or 3 built in losses (sometimes 4) on the schedule before we even played a game. He beat Iowa half the time, so that wasn’t a sure loss like it was for the prior coaching staff (we lost 15 in a row before Mac). It’s hard to show win/loss progress playing a schedule like this. Hopefully UNT doesn’t have to schedule many “unwinnable” games each year. Which brings up a point... I know you guys have some pay for play road games. Hopefully with improved fan support and the new stadium you won’t have to do that much anymore. Every win helps to build the program. Money losses really don’t do anything but cement the fact that you aren’t on the same level as the teams you get money to play… at least from my outside perspective. Start kicking everybody’s ass in the SBC first and earn credibility with recruits. That way you have no problem telling a guy, “Yea... we could beat (insert AQ team here), look at our conference championships, etc.” You could say this because you haven’t proved you couldn’t by playing and losing. If you play the money game and get rolled there’s no doubt. Kind of like what you guys say SMU does to you. They talk like they could kick your ass, but don't play and prove it. As long as they don’t play you, they’ll keep saying that to recruits, media, whomever… We went through that this year. We added Utah to the non-con. to bump up the competition. Our fans were clamoring for better opponents than Northern Illinois… Well, Utah stomped us 68-27 at our place on national tv. It was embarrassing… That hurt WAAAY more than it helped. We went 5-7 and missed a bowl game. Sure you could win one of these games, but the chances of getting destroyed by teams like Alabama are much greater than winning them. You’ll make the ESPN highlight clips mostly chasing guys into the end-zone. Before Mac, I lived through I-State making sportscenter every Saturday night because we had just gotten rolled by somebody. That to me is bad publicity and sticks in people’s minds much, much longer than close losses to teams like K-State. Again… this is just my honest perspective. Hopefully, with the increase in revenue UNT won't have to play these types of games in the future. Stop and think about it for a second. What is your perception of Iowa State football and how did you reach that opinion? The bottom line is that we spent a long time getting publically drubbed by everybody. That is what people remember. On the other hand, what do you think the highest AP rating Iowa State has achieved in the last decade? We were ranked 9th in the nation 8 games into the 2001 season. Bet you didn’t know that

I understand where you are coming from regarding the salary. After re-reading what i posted, i didn't explain what I was trying to say very well. Basically, no matter what you pay the man, he's not working with his players yet. At this point in time, his salary is being earned by hiring quality assistants, selling the program to current players and alumni, recruiting, soliciting donations, etc. This will still be the case next year. He is of course expected to do his best with the players he has, but the win/loss results next fall will not be a completely accurate assessment of the "value" you are getting for the money he is being paid. That is what i was trying to say. If he comes out next year and goes 4-8 I hope you guys don't say, "he's the highest paid coach in the history of the SBC... we should get better than that". Heck, the first time he makes a bad call on a play and it backfires - you'll hear the money brought up. Trust me, all fan bases do that. Just for reference, here are the Iowa State records prior to Mac getting hired: 3-8 5-6 6-5 4-6-1 3-7-1 4-7 3-8 0-10-1 (we sang the fight song in the locker room after we tied Oklahoma State the last game of the year for Christ's sake...) Mac got hired: 3-8 2-9 1-10 3-8 4-7 9-3 7-5 (lost 4 games in OT this year... GUTWRENCHING season) and so on You can see that it took him a while to get the ship going in the right direction. Granted, it should be easier to get UNT cranked up and winning in the SBC than it was for I-State in the Big 12, but still... We saw VISIBLE improvement in the team, even though we didn't win as much as we wanted. If I was vested in the UNT program (season tickets, donations, whatever), i'd say the guy has three years before an accurate evaluation of his total job performance can be made. After that, he better be earning his 500K + in the win-loss column.

Interesting discussion. This is the exact same conversation we had when Dan came to Ames. What would be a reasonable amount of time to give him to get things turned around? I have seen several people comment on Mac's salary and the expectations that come along with it. His salary really shouldn't be a consideration in the discussion. Whether he is making 50k a year or 500k a year... he should be expected to win either way. He took the job after all. It's not like he'd try harder if he got paid more. The investment UNT has made in athletics, football specifically, will certainly help Mac do his job. He is a great recruiter, and having first rate facilities to sell is a big advantage. That said, you guys won't see the fruits of this brand new stadium in recruiting for a couple of years. The guys he'll sign this spring will either be commits to the previous staff he convinces to stay, or last minute guys available to fill certain positional needs. He'll need time to get the UNT brand out to high schoolers in FUTURE recruiting classes. THAT is where your facilities and commitment to football come in to play. He'll hold padded football camps for high school juniors and high school coaches. They'll come to campus and see the stadium, locker rooms, etc. That's RECRUITING... i don't know if your prior staff did this, but Mac made it a HUGE priority at I-State. He'd have upwards of 120 high school guys in Ames for camps... a recruiting infomercial... He's never seen ANY of your current players work out it person. It is unreasonable to expect him to be able to identify deficiencies without having full knowledge of the existing personnel. That's where schools like Iowa State and UNT make their money. Get on kids early, show them love, and build trust. This takes a bit of time, but the long term payoff is way better than throwing out a ton of offers to guys that aren't going to sign with you anyway. You may come in 2nd to Oklahoma for a 5 star recruit... what does that get you in the end? Mac LIVES off of identifying guys that are solid players and getting on them early. At I-State we would lose a few guys here and there that "blew up" their senior year and Nebraska would offer, but overall - the loyalty factor between the kid and Mac inked a lot of talented kids at I-State that could have played anywhere. In order to dominate the SBC you don't NEED to beat OU and Baylor for guys... yet anyway... I think some of you are a bit optimistic talking about winning the conference, bowl games, etc. in the next couple of years. There is a reason that you haven't won more than 3 games in a while. No matter how much you X and O as a coach - there's only so much you can do. By expecting a bowl game or a conference title in the next couple of years you are basically saying your previous coach took conference champion talent and won 3 games. Anyhoo... here's to a good off season and some kick ass spring football! GMG!

You couldn't be more right! I have no idea what sort of returing talent you guys have other than your running back is a bona fide stud. That said, you guys will dominate the SBC... no joke... Maybe not next year... but you will notice a distinct pattern of confidence and winning attitue about the guys going into spring ball. It's gonna be fun McCarney will get you where you want to go.

See info below regarding Austin... He would be an excellent guy to get. As you can see, he ONLY coached High School for 1 year. All of his other coaching experience is at the college level. Austin took the UNI running game to a higher level in 2008 as Corey Lewis set the Panthers' all-time rushing mark with 4,003 yards. Austin will be entering his fifth season as the Panthers' running back coach in 2009 and will also take on the duties of Special Teams Coordinator. Not only was Lewis rewriting the UNI record book, Derrick Law was also contributing as he nearly eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark as Lewis' backup. The Panthers' 32 rushing touchdowns in 2008 tied for the second-most in school history. The Panthers' running attack reached new levels in 2007 as the squad rushed for a school record 2,956 yards and 39 touchdowns. Leading the way was Lewis as he rushed for a school record 1,513 yards, including 220 in UNI's 38-35 win over New Hampshire in the NCAA FCS playoffs. Lewis averaged 116.38 yards per game to rank No. 2 in the conference and No. 19 in the nation. Austin was instrumental in helping running back Darian Williams attain Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Year honors in 2006. Williams ranked eighth in the league in rushing yards per game (59.4) and ranked second on the team with 653 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. The Panthers' other feature back in '06 was Lewis, who rushed for a team-high 894 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. Lewis ranked No. 27 in the nation and No. 5 in the MVFC in rushing yards/game (99.3). In 2005, Austin helped running back David Horne set the UNI single-season rushing touchdown record with 17. Horne rushed for 1,141 yards to lead the Panthers into the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA FCS national title game. Along with Horne's accomplishments, the Panthers were able to mix in fellow senior Terrance Freeney into the UNI running game. Freeney rushed 172 times for 656 yards and nine touchdowns in 2005. Prior to the 2007 season Austin was selected to attend the 2007 NCAA Football Coaching Academy in Indianapolis, Ind. The academy, targeted for minority coaches, is a preparatory class for becoming a head coach with participants selected by a committee from the NCAA. Austin served as a graduate assistant at Southwest Minnesota State University (2003-2004), the first working with the secondary and the last aiding with the inside linebackers. Additional duties included helping with athlete strength and conditioning during the season, video coordination, breaking down of game film, and recruiting. A native of Tarpon Springs, Fla., Austin was a four-year starter as a defensive back at Iowa State University from 1998-2002. He received honorable mention All-Big 12 honors by The Associated Press in 2001 and was presented the 2002 Reuben J. Miller Award, given to the player whose conduct on and off the field has brought honor to ISU. He redshirted in 1998, then compiled 173 career tackles, including 146 solos and 27 assisted stops. He also was credited with 33 pass deflections and two interceptions. As a senior, he was voted the team's defensive MVP against Florida State when he tallied five tackles, including four solos. He started 10 games in 2001, finishing the year ninth on the squad with 55 total stops and leading the team with 10 breakups. He started the last nine games in 1999 and was moved from running back to cornerback when he earned a spot in the two-deep heading into fall practice.

The old way… voters crowned a national champion after watching all of the teams all year. Then they voted how ever they wanted. Nothing was stopping them from voting for UTEP or Eastern Michigan if they thought those teams were any good. The whole thing was never anything more than a guided popularity contest. Nobody ever said it was fair, or that it was supposed to be. That was how it was. The larger conferences don't give a damn about a fair system. That's my point. Popular teams get the votes. Be pissed at the voters and not the teams or conferences. The BCS/Bowl system isn't supposed to be fair. It wasn't set up to be fair in the first place. The ONLY thing the BCS system was set up to do was to guarantee a 1 vs 2 matchup. As a result of non-AQ conferences griping (and having very good teams I might add), the bowls (and AQ conferences) agreed on adding criteria that allowed non-AQ teams into the BCS bowls in certain situations. To me this seems like a good thing for the smaller conferences. Boise, Utah, TCU or any other smaller conference team wasn’t going to get invited to any of the major bowls any time soon under the old plan anyway (BYU in 1984 not withstanding). I understand your argument that the system we have now isn’t a true championship and I agree with that argument. The system we have now is not fair. I agree. What I don’t agree with is the “greedy evil big conference argument”. Say you have twenty dollars. I have four dollars. You give me five bucks… does that make you greedy? After all, you only gave me five... eight dollars would have put us even… In reality the ONLY way to crown a legitimate champion would be to have a playoff (For the record, I am all for a playoff if they go that route). However, this wouldn’t fix the fair or not-fair dispute either. Arguments would then erupt over the ratings of the teams at 8/9 (or whatever the cutoff for the playoffs is). Smaller conference teams would get shafted in the 8th or 9th position in the polls instead of 1 or 2. We’d argue about what teams shouldn’t have been left out, strength of schedule, etc. just like we do now.

I’m not trying to piss anybody off here, it’s just that I don’t get where you guys are seeing this greed coming from. The non-AQ teams are better off now than they were with the old system. Is it fair now? I don’t know, but it is definitely closer than it was prior to the BCS. With the old system, smaller conferences didn’t even have a chance to get a team playing for the national championship. The voters held that power. Sure the bowls were free to choose who they wanted (aside from the select few bowls that had conference tie ins… (Rose, Orange, etc.), but they didn’t take teams like TCU or Utah or whoever when they had the chance. The way it is now, there is a system in place to force these bowls to pick non-AQ schools if they meet the criteria. There is nothing stopping the MWC and the WAC or Conf-USA from getting together and creating a January 1st, huge bowl game between the conference champs. Make it a giant super bowl type production. Do you think people would watch this? The big money is in the draw… the matchup. That is why there are comments about “filling their own stadiums” coming from these commissioners. It’s true. There isn’t enough support for some of these teams (TCU for example) to fill their own stadium on a regular basis, and yet they seem to expect to be placed in bowl games in lieu of teams that draw infinitely better, worthy or not. Now they want more. The BCS was designed to guarantee a 1 verses 2 match-up, not to “be fair” to any other teams. Other than the championship game, the bowls want to be free to pick who they desire, or at the very least pick teams from the conferences they are affiliated with. That’s how the bowl makes money. I don’t think it is greedy to want to hold an event that makes money for the event holders; otherwise the event can’t keep continuing on. This is why all of these little bowls are popping up, dying, popping up again, dying, and so on. Tax exempt status is a joke – I agree with you there. All athletic departments need to lose tax exempt status, but that’s a different argument. The original “power” that these conferences wield today was initially bestowed on them by the power of each teams fan base. It was a popularity contest from the start (and still is) – voters acted accordingly. This “power” held by the major AQ teams is a direct result of each school’s commitment to winning (cheating in some cases) and their large fan following. If Utah would have been kicking ass and taking names from the 60’s until now, believe me they would already be in an AQ conference. As an Iowa State fan, I know the frustration of “popular teams” being purely mediocre at best and put up on a pedestal. No doubt in my mind that TCU is a national championship caliber team this year. The trouble is that their fan following hasn’t historically propped them up in the popularity contest called college football as much as Auburn’s has.

Delany is a tool... I'll give you that for sure. Aside from the arrogance, he does have a point. TCU wouldn't be playing in the Rose Bowl (for example) under the old system. I don't know where greed comes in here. The AQ conferences actually GAVE UP exclusivity with the BCS bowls to the benefit of the smaller conferences. Didn't HAVE to do that.

Just going to play devil's advocate... Point number 1: The AQ's are actually giving non AQ conference schools opportunities that wouldn't(and didn't) exist prior to the BCS. They could go back to the old system of bowls... How many MWC/WAC/Conf-USA, etc. teams would play in the Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, or Rose bowls under the old system? None The AQ's agreed to the BCS system allowing non-AQ conferences slots in BCS bowls they would otherwise not have - and didn't HAVE to do it. What bowl does TCU go to prior to the BCS? I don't know, but i DO know it wouldn't be the Rose Bowl. Point number 2: In regards to a playoff... A playoff in division 1A will not work. No matter how rabid a team's fans are, they will not travel three weeks in a row to three different cities - or even to the same city three times. There wouldn't be anybody at these games. Play them on the higher seeded teams home field and totally eliminate the bowls? I don't know... Just my 2 cents...

Texas didn't specifically want Nebraska gone, Nebraska just blinked first. The existing Big 12 TV deal is crap. Texas wanted to launch BevoTV or some such thing and the Fox deal wouldn't allow it. The Longhorns said fine - we're leaving and taking everybody else with us. Fox caved and said they'd renegotiate a new deal mid contract if Texas and everybody else stayed. Meanwhile, Texas is saying they are goners if they don't like the deal. Nebraska didn't want to wait around not knowing what Texas was going to do. Nebraska actually had ultimatums on the table from the Big 12 and the Big 10 at the same time. The Big 12 "reaffirmation pledge" would have needed to have been made before they knew if Texas liked the new TV deal. Nebraska went with the Big 10 offer. Ironically, they will be making less in the Big 10 from the Big 10 Network now than they would have made under the new Big 12 TV contract. Too bad for them...

Texas isn't going to go anywhere (nor were they going anywhere). They have everything they want now. The new Big 12 TV deal will NOT prevent individual schools from creating their own tv networks. That is what Texas wanted from the beginning. The existing Big 12 tv deal doesn't allow this, so the re-negotiated contract (yet to be put forth) supposedly allows each school to distribute athletic events as the school sees fit. This is of course only allowed if the game ISN'T being televised by the network. Texas wanted to be able to do this AND KEEP the money they will generate by showing their own games. They didn't want to spit this revenue with the rest of the conference, nor should they have to. Florida has this same type of deal in the SEC. The tv money (coming from the network) will be spit up between all of the Big 12 schools. The money generated by each school's own networks will stay with each school. THAT is why there is such a money imbalance. The UT network will dwarf all of the others - so the income figures estimated for this all show Texas at the top of the heap. This isn't at any cost to the other schools. There is misconception out there that Texas screwed the Big 12, and that couldn't be more wrong. ALL of the schools benefited by flushing Nebraska, upping the shared tv money (about 10 million more per school) and gaining the ability to create their own networks. The Pac-10 thing was never going to happen because the Pac-10 won't let individual schools have their own tv distribution networks. Texas bluffed Nebraska out of the conference. Now they have an easier path to the BCS, only have to split the money 10 ways and not 12, can form their own network, AND get to keep the Big 12 conference under their thumb. They'd be stupid to leave, and they were never going to leave anyway. For the record, I'd love to see the Big 12 get back to 12 teams. Twelve teams is optimal. I'd vote for BYU and Notre Dame, but the Irish won't do it. In that case, I'd go with UNT and Houston. Then OU and Okie State could move to the north division. I-State K-State Kansas Mizzou Oklahoma O-State Texas Tech A&M Baylor Houston North Texas That'd work for me...

I'll admit that I quit arguing with him when i realized I didn't really care enough to read through all of that. I trust that if there was anything relevant in there.. nobody else saw it either. Therefore, I win.

I know he will have at least one member of his staff (grad assistant probably) read this forum. Won't post, but certainly will monitor things. He did this at I-State. Mentioned things on his call in show several times that were talked about/debated on Cyclone message boards.

Holy Stephen King… I was thinking more along the lines of this plan: 1. Get every season ticket holder to donate at least $100.00 in addition to their ticket purchase. How many season ticket holders are there? Seems simple enough. Hundred bucks over the course of the year or one lump sum. Encourage everybody to give more, but push initially for $100.00. I don’t know how donations and season ticket seating is prioritized at UNT, but at I-State that was revamped. Donation requirements for the best seating sections were raised; press box suites were sold… basically a full re-index of the stadium. People had to up their donation or move to a different section commiserate with their donor level. Most ponied up with more money. 2. Create a kid friendly “section” of the tailgate area or part of the stadium. Offer discounted season tickets and family packs for this area/section. At I-State we have the “little ‘Clone Zone”. Kids get to meet the players, have carnival like games (ring toss, etc.) for I-State merchandise, their ticket stub gets them a free hot dog and coke, etc… Things like this make it easier for younger alumni with little kids to make it to the games. It serves as sort of a Cyclone daycare. Kids love it. Parents that maybe have little interest in the game are willing to come out with the kids while the interested party (dad) gets to watch the game. 3. Create season ticket mini-packs. Once the base season ticket holders get their seats, offer three game mini-packs. Seats that are unsold for the full season can be offered at a slight discount for groups of three games. That way people that don’t or can’t commit to the full season have an option other than single game tickets (good for groups of people that want to sit together but they all can’t make every game). I don’t think there needs to be an extravagant 12 year Marshall plan. The whole deal is remarkably simple.

It’s a chicken and egg argument… success brings fans or fans bring success. Both will work. I don’t know the politics involved in all of the past conference shuffling involving SMU, TCU, or UNT so I can’t comment on whether or not UNT was ”jobbed” by not being invited. I am simply trying to point out that past performance isn’t necessarily an accurate indicator of future success… especially in athletics. Each school doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Everything is relative… success or lack thereof. My main point is this: From an outsider’s perspective UNT has all of the key ingredients needed to succeed, except a hugely supportive fanbase. Sustained winning will take care of that. I’m not talking about 3 or 4 years of decent records… I’m talking about dominating the conference. I have no doubt that North Texas has the potential to absolutely rule the Sunbelt Conference. Heck – given a chance NOW (not 10 years ago) they could be a major factor in Conf-USA, the MWC, etc. Honest question for you. If given a spot in Conference USA do you think UNT would be able to win there? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you think they wouldn’t. Correct me if I’m wrong. I think given the chance they would be a major player provided the administration was committed to winning. Everything else is already there. I keep going back to I-State, but the parallels are uncanny. Our season ticket base was around 25k when Dan McCarney was hired. When he left we had ~35k football season ticket holders. Jack Trice stadium only has 42,500 permanent seats. That is a HUGE boost to the athletic department. In Dan’s tenure our football facilities were massively improved: 1. Replaced the crappy Astroturf with a natural surface 2. Built the athletics complex building in the north endzone (new locker rooms, coach’s offices, etc.) 3. Built a press box. Believe it or not, but we didn’t even have a basic press box when Dan got to I-State 4. Installed a large jumbotron video board in the south endzone 5. Built the football only indoor practice facility 6. Built an academic center for football (mainly) 7. Built football player dorms. Essentially an apartment complex with 24 hour cafeteria for football players only. Pretty sweet place actually… I attribute our exponential increase in success to these improvements. Build the facilities to get the coaches and players. Then they win. This brings in more fans. More money comes in and facilities can be improved again…. etc… on and on… UNT has the facilities and coach to do this now. I don't get where the SMU arrogance is coming from...