(01-20-2012 07:32 PM)panama Wrote:  

(01-20-2012 07:26 PM)MeanGreenGem Wrote:  

(01-20-2012 03:37 PM)NoQuarter08 Wrote:  And pUNT also dropped by down to FCS because they ran their program into the ground. pUNT was NEVER one of the "big boys". ECU has never played a down of football at the FCS level.

OK, this post is mean't to be civil, but you tweaked my curiosity when you say East Carolina U was never FCS so what was ECU's classification in the 50's, 60's and 70's? I guess I could look it up on google but I'm too lazy.

I do know we played yall a few years after Hayden Fry left North Texas for the Big 10 and Iowa and his aura had worn off in Denton shortly thereafter; plus I also remember that the first time we played ECU yall hammered us and that was about the same the time we went down to NCAA 1-AA.

UNT leadership during that post-Fry Era had already started waving the white flag as far as our continued pursuance of intercolletiate athletics at the FBS level.

NCAA 1-AA was NCAA football purgatory and to some of us a literal hell for our program as far as where we had once been and where that then leadership was fixin' to take us. UNT leaders in the 80's never dreamed what going down an NCAA level would do to our fans/alums psyche.

We were a school located in a major league sports market playing minor league college football was the perception our alums had so many of them just gave up with our football program and to this day we are still trying to get many of that group back. I saw many of them back this last football season (and for Apogee Stadium's debut) and I know many of them came back because our present UNT leaders have made a committment (with check book in hand) to bring UNT back to the glory days of Abner Haynes Sun Bowl team in the 50's, Mean Joe Greene's great team of the 60's and then the Hayden Fry Era of the 70's.

Errr...you do know that I-AA/FCS did not exist until 1979 right.

I do know in 1979 they started talk about re-classification but did not pull the trigger as I recall, but I think it was actually 1982 when NCAA D1-AA officially began. I stand to be corrected.