(12-27-2023 12:12 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:   There is a lot of wishful thinking happening in this thread.

Texas State had a good season and beat a weakened Rice team last night. TSU isn't on the verge of being anything special right now. They made a good hire, but they lack the resources to maintain momentum. If Texas State does continue to win, Kinne will get hired away. Maybe by an AAC program.

North Texas has an annual athletic budget of around $45 million compared to Texas State's $37 million. And, with UNT being in a better conference with better media exposure and payout, the gap between the schools will only be growing. North Texas is just in a better situation.

45 is so much better than 37. Gotcha...

(12-27-2023 12:12 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:   There is a lot of wishful thinking happening in this thread.

Texas State had a good season and beat a weakened Rice team last night. TSU isn't on the verge of being anything special right now. They made a good hire, but they lack the resources to maintain momentum. If Texas State does continue to win, Kinne will get hired away. Maybe by an AAC program.

North Texas has an annual athletic budget of around $45 million compared to Texas State's $37 million. And, with UNT being in a better conference with better media exposure and payout, the gap between the schools will only be growing. North Texas is just in a better situation.

Rice just wasn't the same without JT Daniels (former starter at USC, Georgia and West Virginia-got injured with about 3 games left and retired because of concussions). Another of those bowl games with mistakes. One Texas St. player had 2 pick sixes.

Good for both of those teams was the comment the announcers made that it was the best crowd in Gerald Ford Stadium this year. That is SMU's home stadium. So the day after Christmas, Texas St. from 200 miles away and Rice from 250 miles away put more in the stands than a good SMU team did.

(12-27-2023 12:28 PM)C2__ Wrote:  45 is so much better than 37. Gotcha...

So are we now pretending that $8M isn't significant?

(12-27-2023 01:06 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(12-27-2023 12:28 PM)C2__ Wrote:  45 is so much better than 37. Gotcha...

So are we now pretending that $8M isn't significant?

Somewhat significant but not world changing.

(12-27-2023 01:06 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(12-27-2023 12:28 PM)C2__ Wrote:  45 is so much better than 37. Gotcha...

So are we now pretending that $8M isn't significant?

May or may not be, according if the accounting practices are the same. 8 million isnt a huge number by any standards but schools put different things in different buckets for financials.

(12-27-2023 12:12 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:   There is a lot of wishful thinking happening in this thread.

Texas State had a good season and beat a weakened Rice team last night. TSU isn't on the verge of being anything special right now. They made a good hire, but they lack the resources to maintain momentum. If Texas State does continue to win, Kinne will get hired away. Maybe by an AAC program.

North Texas has an annual athletic budget of around $45 million compared to Texas State's $37 million. And, with UNT being in a better conference with better media exposure and payout, the gap between the schools will only be growing. North Texas is just in a better situation.

I saw you post the other day that you didn't like the (lack of) fan enthusiasm that UNT had last year at their bowl IN FRISCO. 12k fans in what was basically a home bowl game. Texas St, a johnny-come-lately if ever there was one, got nearly 50k fans packed into the Alamodome with UTSA earlier this year. UNT had 30k at tulane, 28k at navy, then a bevy of games both home and away between 13k and 22k. How does that happen to a "sleeping giant" in DFW? You might have attended UNT, but I grew up just outside Denton, a bunch of my friends from HS went to UNT, and my dad was friends with Hayden Fry when he was coach. I have every reason to support UNT, and certainly no reason to disparage the school, but the fan enthusiasm hasn't been there for 50 years, and it's still not there today. Athletic spending matters, and UNT is in a better Conference and has been bigger for longer, but I like the trajectory of Texas St a whole lot more. I wish I could offer an easy fix for UNT, but tbh I'm not sure what that fix would be. UNT has a LOT of competing interests in and around Denton and the DFW area overall, and nobody there has ever been able to solve that puzzle and turn the school into a real Brand. Tx St has a lot of competition 45 min north and 45 min south, but there's also a whole lot of enthusiasm for people in and around their area for the school. Perhaps Tx St has better admins, perhaps their "vibe" is better, perhaps the school is more of a destination school than a commuter school, I don't know the details of the 2 b/c I've never really dug in to determine the "why" of things here. However, I do know that my gut says that UNT needs to make some significant changes if they don't want to be surpassed by both UTSA and Tx St over the coming years.

Who was the last "sleeping giant" who became a giant?

(12-27-2023 11:50 AM)Thewavefan Wrote:  

(12-27-2023 12:06 AM)EatEmUp11 Wrote:  

(12-26-2023 11:53 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

(12-26-2023 11:37 PM)C2__ Wrote:  I think so. They're a large, centrally located (within Texas) school with improving academics, a growing alumni base and growing school pride. Their name screams major "university" to me.

How is Texas State, any more or less "major" than the Mean Green? San Marcos is the Austin/SA corridor's version of Denton.

Agree UNT and UTSA have Texas State’s potential and possibly more.

Yea it’s not even close. UTSA has the market plus both UNT and UTSA play in the much tougher conference. It’s easy for Texas State to push around on ULM or Southern Miss but they would finish dead last in the AAC every year. In reality, UTSA is the real sleeping giant.

So what you're saying is that we didn't actually beat an almighty AAC team last night?? Was I that drunk?

Umm, we're not a giant. Our whole problem is we can't be consistent, which has been tough because of the coaching changes, lack of a major conference (until now) and now NIL and the transfer portal, to speak nothing of our fairweather fan and alumni support. Granted, we're in a better spot than even a year ago but hardly a giant

As for the last sleeping giant that became a giant, that would be Louisville.

(12-27-2023 01:31 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  May or may not be, according if the accounting practices are the same. 8 million isnt a huge number by any standards but schools put different things in different buckets for financials.

You have to be kidding. $8M is over 20% of Texas State's budget. That's significant by any measure.

(12-27-2023 12:12 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:   There is a lot of wishful thinking happening in this thread.

Texas State had a good season and beat a weakened Rice team last night. TSU isn't on the verge of being anything special right now. They made a good hire, but they lack the resources to maintain momentum. If Texas State does continue to win, Kinne will get hired away. Maybe by an AAC program.

North Texas has an annual athletic budget of around $45 million compared to Texas State's $37 million. And, with UNT being in a better conference with better media exposure and payout, the gap between the schools will only be growing. North Texas is just in a better situation.

Maybe one day you can get fans to care. Newish stadium, hosting P5 teams, and still an empty stadium. TXST had a bigger crowd in Dallas than UNT had at home all year, including hosting Cal.

I would be curious to know how posters define "sleeping giant" related to the G5. I would think the sleeping giant program might be required to be relatively new to FBS (so, and for example, Tulane and San Diego State would not be sleeping giants).

My top G5 sleeping giant might be Texas-San Antonio. I also like Old Dominion as a sleeping giant.

(12-27-2023 02:17 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(12-27-2023 01:31 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  May or may not be, according if the accounting practices are the same. 8 million isnt a huge number by any standards but schools put different things in different buckets for financials.

You have to be kidding. $8M is over 20% of Texas State's budget. That's significant by any measure.

Are you comparing apples to apples?

Guess we have different definitions of signicant and what you can do with 8 million. 8 million isnt a lot of money now days.

(12-27-2023 01:31 PM)bryanw1995 Wrote:  

(12-27-2023 12:12 PM)Side.Show.Joe Wrote:   There is a lot of wishful thinking happening in this thread.

Texas State had a good season and beat a weakened Rice team last night. TSU isn't on the verge of being anything special right now. They made a good hire, but they lack the resources to maintain momentum. If Texas State does continue to win, Kinne will get hired away. Maybe by an AAC program.

North Texas has an annual athletic budget of around $45 million compared to Texas State's $37 million. And, with UNT being in a better conference with better media exposure and payout, the gap between the schools will only be growing. North Texas is just in a better situation.

I saw you post the other day that you didn't like the (lack of) fan enthusiasm that UNT had last year at their bowl IN FRISCO. 12k fans in what was basically a home bowl game. Texas St, a johnny-come-lately if ever there was one, got nearly 50k fans packed into the Alamodome with UTSA earlier this year. UNT had 30k at tulane, 28k at navy, then a bevy of games both home and away between 13k and 22k. How does that happen to a "sleeping giant" in DFW? You might have attended UNT, but I grew up just outside Denton, a bunch of my friends from HS went to UNT, and my dad was friends with Hayden Fry when he was coach. I have every reason to support UNT, and certainly no reason to disparage the school, but the fan enthusiasm hasn't been there for 50 years, and it's still not there today. Athletic spending matters, and UNT is in a better Conference and has been bigger for longer, but I like the trajectory of Texas St a whole lot more. I wish I could offer an easy fix for UNT, but tbh I'm not sure what that fix would be. UNT has a LOT of competing interests in and around Denton and the DFW area overall, and nobody there has ever been able to solve that puzzle and turn the school into a real Brand. Tx St has a lot of competition 45 min north and 45 min south, but there's also a whole lot of enthusiasm for people in and around their area for the school. Perhaps Tx St has better admins, perhaps their "vibe" is better, perhaps the school is more of a destination school than a commuter school, I don't know the details of the 2 b/c I've never really dug in to determine the "why" of things here. However, I do know that my gut says that UNT needs to make some significant changes if they don't want to be surpassed by both UTSA and Tx St over the coming years.

Most of what I know is anecdotal from having college-age kids. Texas State has grown a lot in the last 10-20 years. It's in a prime location closer to Austin but also near San Antonio. That area is booming on its own. But it's also attractive to a lot of students from other parts of Texas because: 1) it's relatively easy to get into, 2) it's cheaper than a lot of other schools, 3) its reputation as a party school, and 4) it's close to Austin.

UNT has seen its own share of growth in the last few years. It just has more competition for the athletic dollar.

South Florida.

I don't think they could be considered "Sleeping"

But Liberty has more students than Ohio State. They'd probably be on "the UCF fast track" if not for the religious-political aspect of it.

I think Kennesaw State is another contender for G5 sleeping giant, even though they join the G5 officially next season. Another "big" school in terms of students; but also Georgia is the 8th biggest state by population, and 7th (Ohio) has eight FBS teams, and 9th (North Carolina) has 7.... Kennesaw State is the 5th FBS team in Georgia.

(12-27-2023 03:12 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  

(12-27-2023 02:17 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(12-27-2023 01:31 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  May or may not be, according if the accounting practices are the same. 8 million isnt a huge number by any standards but schools put different things in different buckets for financials.

You have to be kidding. $8M is over 20% of Texas State's budget. That's significant by any measure.

Are you comparing apples to apples?

Guess we have different definitions of signicant and what you can do with 8 million. 8 million isnt a lot of money now days.

So having a 20% greater budget isn't significant? $8M is peanuts? Okay bud. From where I'm sitting $8M could make a huge difference when the time comes to hire quality staff, to list one example. Ultimately, $8M for programs at that tier is significant, no matter how you slice it, especially when it's many multiples of a school's media revenue.

Potential among non-P4s in Texas
UTSA
UTEP


Texas St.
North Texas
Rice
Sam Houston St.

And if you were to guess who would win the most football titles over the next 10 years, I might put my money on Rice 2nd after UTSA. Rice has the resources. They may not have the potential to be as consistently strong, but they have the resources to avoid being consistent cellar dwellers at the G5 level.

San Marcos is too small. Its in the Austin metro area. And its usually a school of 2nd or 3rd choice, so you often have people with pre-existing alliegances who don't let go of them.

(12-27-2023 01:56 PM)Minutemen429 Wrote:  Who was the last "sleeping giant" who became a giant?

UCF comes to mind. USF before them, but they lost it.

UCF is not a giant, they were a mid-major with potential that became a major. But that doesn't make them a giant.