1. North Texas head coach Dan McCarney signed a contract extension on Thursday, paying him a sum of $3.625 million over the next five years. Nothing surprising about that. McCarney has turned the Mean Green program around, culminating in a Heart of Dallas Bowl victory on New Year's Day.
The surprising part about the news? With 18 victories in his three seasons in Denton, McCarney is already the ninth-winningest coach in North Texas history. Now you know why McCarney is so beloved in Mean Green land.
2. If you're wondering where all the money that football generates goes, go find your nearest Division II swimming championship, or the closest Division III field hockey tournament.
The NCAA took in nearly a billion dollars in revenue in 2012-13, according to USA Today. The organization posted a $61 million budget surplus (read: profit) in fiscal year 2013, and lists is assets at $627 million, more than double what it was in 2007.
3. Baylor athletics director Ian McCaw gave an interview defending the Bears' non-conference scheduling policy recently. In case you missed this quasi-controversy, the Bears added Incarnate Word to their 2019 slate (you are forgiven for not knowing a) that Incarnate Word existed and B) that it sponsored football. The San Antonio, Texas based school will be in the FCS Southland Conference by 2019.) Here's a full listing of Baylor's scheduled non-conference opponents through 2019: SMU, Northwestern State, Buffalo, Rice, Lamar, Duke, UTSA, plus a to-be-determined game with Liberty and a not-yet-finalized series with UTEP. Not exactly murderers' row.
McCaw and Art Briles are free to bring in as many guaranteed wins into their new stadium, but I'd caution McCaw against this logic:
A C-level non-conference schedule can still get Baylor into the College Football Playoff...as long as the Bears go undefeated. A September win over, say, LSU would make a November loss to, say, Iowa State much more forgivable in the selection committee's eyes. Without any A-level non-conference games, though, Baylor's margin of error is effectively zero. Baylor is putting itself on a tightrope above the Grand Canyon every fall.