University of North Texas

(Editor's Note: The Mean Green closed the 2012 season with a 24-25 loss to Western Kentucky. The team finished the season 5-7 and 3-5 in the conference, the last in the Sun Belt.)

This year’s football season has boasted some great events – the first nationally televised football game from Apogee Stadium; the unveiling of the pedestrian bridge from the main campus to the stadium; attendance averaging about 19,000; and the naming of the Green Brigade Drumline as the best drumline in college football.

The final game of the season – which takes place Nov. 24 game at Western Kentucky University - also marks a major milestone. It’s the last football game in the Sun Belt Conference.

When did UNT join the Sun Belt Conference?

A. 1996
B. 2000
C. 2004
D. 2008

The correct answer is B. UNT joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2000. It will join Conference USA in 2013. The Mean Green soccer team finished its Sun Belt era by winning the conference championship, and the volleyball team reached the conference finals, finishing second to Western Kentucky.

Here are some Mean Green football highlights from the Sun Belt Conference era:

• UNT played four times in the New Orleans Bowl – in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The Mean Green won in 2002, defeating the University of Cincinnati 24-19.
• Since 2000, 13 players have been invited to National Football League training camps – the most recent being Lance Dunbar, who now is a running back for the Dallas Cowboys. Dunbar was the leading scorer on the team from 2009-11 and the all-time rushing leader. Five players have been named All-Americans including Dunbar, who received the title twice; Patrick Cobbs, the rushing leader in 2003 and 2005 and the second all-time rushing leader; and Johnny Quinn, UNT’s all-time receiving leader.
• The football team has had three coaches in that time – Darrell Dickey, who had a record of 42-64 from 1998 to 2006; Todd Dodge, 6-37, 2007-2010; interim head coach Mike Canales, 2-3 in 2010; and Dan McCarney, 9-14, from 2010-present.

The conference-ending football game will be played in Bowling Green, Ky., so tune into the Mean Green Radio Network.

Mean Green Pride

Fans can purchase Green Pride gear from merchants who support UNT, get discounts on food and merchandise by wearing green on Fridays and help “The Big Event,” a day of UNT student volunteerism that takes place each spring, when they buy UNT merchandise with the “Mean Green Pride - We’re All In” logo at the UNT Bookstore, Voertman’s, both Denton Wal-Marts and the Roanoke Wal-Mart.

• Enter to win a UNT-branded gift pack (T-shirt, lapel pin, water bottle, poster, eco-friendly bag). Send an email to InHouse with “Sun Belt” in the subject line, also by 5 p.m. Nov. 21. All winners will be selected at random from all responses.

Employees also can win a $50 UNT Bookstore gift card to purchase apparel by wearing green and checking in at the Mean Green Pride station at the Library Mall Nov. 30 and every Friday. Winners will be randomly selected the following week.

 - Jessica DeLeón, University Relations, Marketing and Communications