North Texas Mean Green

North Texas Mean Green
University	University of North Texas
Conference(s)	Sun Belt Conference
NCAA	Division I
Athletics director	Rick Villarreal
Location	Denton, TX
Varsity teams	18
Football stadium	Apogee Stadium
Basketball arena	The Super Pit
Mascot	Scrappy
Nickname	Mean Green
Fight song
Colors
Homepage	www.meangreensports.com

North Texas Mean Green is the team name used for both men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that play for the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. The school competes as a member of the Sun Belt Conference as a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I program. North Texas athletes are known as the "Mean Green."

Origin of the name "Mean Green" [edit]

The name "Mean Green," still in use after 46 years, was adopted by fans and media in 1966 for a North Texas football defensive squad that finished the season second in the nation against the rush.^[1] That school year, Joe Greene,^[2] then a sophomore at North Texas, played left defensive tackle on the football team and competed in track and field (shot put). The nickname "Mean Joe Greene" caught-on during his first year with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 when the fan base mistakenly assumed that "Mean Green" was derived from a nickname they thought he had inherited while at North Texas. The athletic department, media, and fans loved the novelty of a young standout's surname being a homophone of the university's school color.^{[citation needed]} By 1968, "Mean Green" was on the back of shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, and the cover of the North Texas football brochure. Even the band became identified as the "Mean Green Marching Machine."^[3]

School spirit [edit]

The school's colors are green and white. The music for the alma mater, "Glory to the Green and White," (originally titled "Our College")^[4] was composed by Julia Smith in 1919 and adopted by the school in 1922. The lyrics are were written by Charles Langford, then a third-year letterman on the football team.^[5] The school's fight song, Fight, North Texas, composed by Francis Stroup, was adopted in 1939. The school mascot is an eagle named Scrappy.

Sports [edit]

Football [edit]

Founded in 1913, the Mean Green has won eight Lone Star Conference championships, five Gulf Coast Conference championships, five Missouri Valley Conference championships, two Southland Conference championships and most recently, four consecutive Sun Belt Conference championships.^[6] The team has also appeared in seven bowl games, winning two, most recently the 2002 New Orleans Bowl. From 1952 until the 2010 season, home football games were played at Fouts Field. A new 30,850-seat stadium, Apogee Stadium opened for the 2011 season.

Basketball [edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

Since 1973, the school's teams for men's and women's basketball have played their home games in the Super Pit. From 2001 to 2012, the men's team experienced relative success under head coach Johnny Jones. During the 2006-2007 season, North Texas won its first Sun Belt Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. North Texas won the Sun Belt Conference title a second time during the 2009-2010 season to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years.

Championship History [edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

National Titles [edit]

Men's Golf (4)

• 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952

Conference Titles [edit]

Football (24)

Lone Star Conference

• 1932, 1935*, 1936, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947

Gulf Coast Conference

• 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1956

Missouri Valley Conference

• 1958, 1959*, 1966*, 1967, 1973*

Southland Conference

• 1983*, 1994

Sun Belt Conference

• 2001*, 2002, 2003, 2004

Men's Basketball (2)

Southland Conference

• Tournament: 1988

Sun Belt Conference

• Tournament: 2007, 2010

Men's Outdoor Track and Field (2)

Sun Belt Conference

• 2000, 2003

Men's Cross Country (1)

Sun Belt Conference

• 2000

Men's Golf (1)

Sun Belt Conference

• 2003

Women's Soccer (3)

Sun Belt Conference

• 2001, 2004, 2005

Women's Outdoor Track and Field (1)

Sun Belt Conference

• 2003

Volleyball (1)

Sun Belt Conference

• 2010*

* denotes shared conference title

Division titles [edit]

Men's Basketball (1)

Sun Belt Conference (West Division)

• 2009-10

Bowl Titles [edit]

Optimist Bowl

• 1946

New Orleans Bowl

• 2002

Facilities [edit]

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The school's football team plays its home games at Apogee Stadium. The men's and women's basketball programs play at the UNT Coliseum. Many of the school's athletic facilities are located at the Mean Green Village, which opened for the 2006-07 athletic season. The athletic village area includes:

• Mean Green Soccer Complex
• Warnach Tennis Pavilion
• Lovelace Stadium (Softball)
• Mean Green Volleyball Center

References [edit]

v t e Conference USA Full members East Carolina Pirates (leaving 2014) Houston Cougars (leaving 2013) Marshall Thundering Herd Memphis Tigers (leaving 2013) Rice Owls SMU Mustangs (leaving 2013) Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tulane Green Wave (leaving 2014) Tulsa Golden Hurricane (leaving in 2014) UAB Blazers UCF Knights (leaving 2013) UTEP Miners Future members Charlotte 49ers (2013) Florida Atlantic Owls (2013) FIU Panthers (2013) Louisiana Tech Bulldogs/Lady Techsters (2013) Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (2013) North Texas Mean Green (2013) Old Dominion Monarchs/Lady Monarchs (2013) UTSA Roadrunners (2013) WKU Hilltoppers/Lady Toppers (2014) Soccer-only members FIU Panthers (men's) Kentucky Wildcats (men's) New Mexico Lobos (men's; joining 2013) South Carolina Gamecocks (men's) Colorado College Tigers (women's) Rowing-only members Alabama Crimson Tide Kansas Jayhawks Kansas State Wildcats Oklahoma Sooners Sacramento State Hornets (joining 2013) San Diego State Aztecs (joining 2013) Tennessee Lady Volunteers Texas Longhorns West Virginia Mountaineers History Metro Conference Great Midwest Conference Southwest Conference 2010–13 Conference USA realignment