GrayEagle

I don't rely on board talk for how the decision-makers view North Texas. They're just like our board...99% of us hate SMU and let it be known on this board. My question is "would SMU make the AAC stronger or weaker?

In addition to all district and all state (1st teams) he was also 1st team academic all-state. The reason why he wasn't recruited harder is this was his first year at Frisco Lone Star after transferring from Denton Braswell. Also, these honors came after the P5s had filled their quota from the transfer portal. I'm thankful that he didn't get a rating because many recruiters pour over 247/composite ratings. He has neither.

I believe that he has good speed; he does have great quickness. What I like about him is his diagnosis. I've seen a lot of film on him and he doesn't seem to make any mistakes at arriving at the right place at the right time. I haven't seen anyone get away from him once he a yard or two from the ball carrier. He's also smart. Not only was he first team 6A all-state but he is academic all-state as well.

Well, the AAC has Rice, Tulane, Tulsa and, as you know, SMU. From there the pickins' get slim. The MWC has the Air Force Academy and ???. The Big XII has Brigham Young, TCU, Baylor and several others that are above average scholastically. The PAC-12 doesn't really know who will be left. So, if the other four-corner universities decide on the Big XII does Utah go or stay? Usually, the President of a university has the final say but they can occasionally be persuaded to the majority. I don't see that academics are that important; especially without Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC.

I don't know that the basketball situation at UTSA can be improved very much in one year. What they need is a new gymnasium. I doubt that many of the top notch basketballers are impressed with the current facility. They likely can't afford to build a new facility or rent a larger facility. It has to be a turnoff for the coach and prospects. I predict that the next coach will suffer just as much as the current coach has. He might be able to get some decent Division II players but the really good players like facilities at least as good as their current school so they can feel like they are in Division I.

Given the situation, I'd rather have Mike Aresco in our corner than any other. The old P6 came from when they were the Big East Conference and the basketball teams were in the highest group. So, it was legitimate in that sense. I won't see it in my lifetime but Mike will come up with something to either do away with the sub-class or get the American included. Maybe we'll also become an elite basketball conference. The other possibility is get the football programs up to what Houston, Cincinnati and UCF were able to do. I'm hoping that we have found the formula...good facilities, good coaches, good recruiters.

I certainly am not privy to what is going on behind the scenes but if it doesn't work out for SMU, I would welcome them back to the AAC. It would raise our conference level. I'm also saying if we can get Army, then by all means do. Another mate for Temple can be decided later.

It's pretty specific. It is said that the Big12 is going to raid (part of) the PAC. They are offering the Four Corners teams...Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State admission to the Big 12. Brigham Young undoubtedly would love that since all three are closer than Texas Tech and Kansas State (the closest members to them).

The last one I saw that was ex-UNT was Patrick Cobbs. He and Dunbar look somewhat alike in my opinion.

Seeing the players that pumped up gets the fans enthused. I love it!

Welcome, Coach Bails! Glad to have you.

It's pretty specific. It is said that the Big12 is going to raid (part of) the PAC. They are offering the Four Corners teams...Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State admission to the Big 12. Brigham Young undoubtedly would love that since all three are closer than Texas Tech and Kansas State (the closest members to them).

I can't find it now but he has a large number of steals. You wouldn't have to teach him a lot of defense.

Good for you, Grant! I hope the reward gets bigger and better each year.

If I recall correctly, it was one dirty player. He speared our player directly in the side of his helmet. It was called targeting at first, then reversed. Army seemingly got the call reversed because of who they were. Our future army officers play by the rules. If I'm not mistaken he later had a late hit on a play near the goal line. I believe that he did get penalized for that one but he should have already been removed from the game. I don't foresee that happening again.

I totally agree with you on the gouging. Using the example of the frog and the boiling water, if you put a frog in a pot of room temperature water he will be happy and content. If you raise it a couple of degrees he'll hardly notice it and maybe a couple more times with the same results. Then, if you turn it up to boiling he can't jump out. If we are getting the results that we want then raise the prices. If we had a waiting list for those wanting seats it would be different. But for now let's fill the other third of the stadium before we start raising prices (the Hub Club is the exception). Personally, my preference would be at the 6,000*6,500 level. The old Pit held 5,000 when they pulled the seats out and it was SRO. We were nowhere near a contender in those days but the competition drew that many. I don't think that you'll draw enough with that capacity (5,000) to get a highly ranked team to come to Denton (unless it's a conference game). *You wouldn't necessarily have to remove the wing zone. LSU has a large video screen above the top tier of seats that is large enough to be seen by virtually anyone in the stadium. Perhaps even the video screen in the south end zone could also be raised to a similar height and eliminate the four small video screens in the corners. It might not work but it should be considered.

I saw nothing but premium seats (hub club) having their prices raised. Are those all that will be raised? Or, will there be another announcement for raising the seat prices for the rest of the stadium?

Admittedly, it is ugly on the outside but I enjoy watching a game there. They have really improved the lighting; the seats are chair backs and the field looks good. My worst criticism is the parking around there sucks. But they could improve the four corner columns and the outside ironwork. The other thing that appeals to me is that I don't have to worry about being wet or cold.

I have been keeping some attendance figures for awhile and the figures shown above mostly agree with the figures shown above for 2022, not the 5-year average. Here are the attendance averages that I show for the five year period 2018-2023: 1 East Carolina 36,588 2 Memphis 34,787 3 South Florida 34,550 4 Navy 32,210 5 Temple 26,787 6 UAB 25,255 7 UTSA 23,423 8 SMU 21,969 9 North Texas 20,724 10 Rice 20,355 11 Tulane 18,503 12 Tulsa 17,922 13 Florida Atlantic 16,501 14 Charlotte 12,683 Five Year Average For The Fourteen Teams 24,447 The source is D1.ticker

I think that most will adapt. Some positions will be more uncomfortable than others, especially on defense. But many have made adjustments throughout their playing years. I was a little worried at first because I was afraid that the new coaching crew lacked experience but I no longer believe that's a concern. The coaches have more experience as a player and/or coach than I originally thought. The vast majority will be fine.

I believe that we agree that our best position (if we can pull it off) is to have the goal of adding Army, Air Force and Colorado State. I mistakenly thought that Craig Thompson was still the commissioner of the Mountain West and he would never agree to let Air Force and Colorado State go but if the MWC loses even San Diego State, the two might force the issue to leave the conference. With the three service academies and the number of large media outlets I think that it's possible that we could get a very good media contract. I looked at the Nielsen DMAs for each market of the AAC. The military academies are really larger than a particular market because they have a national presence but I included them anyway. Army New York #1 Temple Philadelphia #4 North Texas Dallas-Fort Worth #5 Rice Houston #8 South Florida Tampa-St. Petersburg #13 Colorado State Denver #16 Charlotte Charlotte #22 Navy Baltimore #28 UTSA San Antonio #31 Florida Atlantic West Palm Beach #39 UAB Birmingham #45 Tulane New Orleans #50 Memphis Memphis #51 Tulsa Tulsa #61 Air Force Colorado Springs #82 East Carolina Greenville-New Bern #102 These TV markets would give access to approximately 27,400,000 TV households.

That's true, Bowler, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

The MWC is weakening by the day. They're already losing San Diego State to the old Pac12 as it appears to be now. It seems to me likely that the new Pac 12 picks off San Diego State, Boise State, and possibly UNLV to go with the remaining Pac 10 plus SMU to make a Pac 14. If the ACC or Big 12 should pick off Air Force and Colorado State the MWC is up the creek without a paddle and the MWC, which once had great potential, becomes virtually CUSA 2.0. Maybe Craig Thompson saw the writing on the wall and figured that this was the best time to retire. If the MWC loses San Diego State, Boise State, and UNLV to the Pac? and Air Force and Colorado State to the AAC (I hope) then they are left with left with Fresno State, San Jose State, Nevada, Utah State, Wyoming, New Mexico and Hawaii. They could add Montana, Montana State, Idaho, UTEP and New Mexico State but from there the pickings get thinner indeed. The less teams can invest financially in a new conference, the more they have to stay close geographically. Football and basketball might make it pay financially but the minor sports have to join another conference to save travel expenses. We beginning to stretch to our limit of FBS teams.

If it came to pass (unlikely but I'm hoping Mike Aresco can pull it off) then our travel partner would be whoever Navy's play every year partner was (to replace SMU) OR maybe we'll abandon the play every year system for Divisions. Your right about the AAC having the most recognizable and TV friendly teams and markets in the G5.

I'd wager that Victory Hall will stand the test of time. I'm hoping that was just filler by the artist. I'm thinking that they may add on to Victory Hall when all of the new construction on this side of the Interstate is completed. I don't believe that it's large enough to house all of the athletes. OR they might build a women's athlete dorm nearby.