Mean Green

NCAAB North Texas Mean Green

General Team Information

NCAA Division: Division I

Conference: Conference USA (2013-present)

Past Conferences: Missouri Valley, Southland, Big West, Sun Belt

City: Denton, Texas

Stadium: Super Pit

NCAA Tournaments: 4 (1988, 2007, 2010, 2021)

Championships:

National Championships: None

Conference Tournament Titles: 4 (1988, 2007, 2010, 2021)

Conference Regular Season Titles: 5 (1988, 1989, 2010, 2020, 2022)

Team History

The North Texas Mean Green are a Division I program located in Denton, Texas. North Texas has been a member of Conference USA since 2013 and is coached by Grant McCasland.

North Texas has been to the NCAA Tournament four times, including as recently as 2021. The Mean Green received an automatic bid to the field of 68 after winning their first C-USA Tournament title and upset fourth-seeded Purdue. In the second round, they lost to No. 5 seed Villanova.

The Mean Green appeared poised for an even bigger season in 2022, as they won a program-record 25 games and went 16-2 in C-USA play. That is, until Louisiana Tech beat them in the conference semifinals, forcing the regular season champions to settle for a bid to the National Invitational Tournament. The Mean Green opened the NIT with an overtime victory over Texas State before falling the next round in overtime to Virginia.

COVID-19 Pandemic Cancellation

North Texas also won the C-USA regular season title in 2020. Unfortunately, the Mean Green’s season ended abruptly when both the C-USA and NCAA tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before C-USA, North Texas competed in the Sun Belt from 2000 to 2013. The program was particularly strong during that period, capturing one regular season title and two conference tournament titles. The Mean Green also made a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round in both 2007 and 2010.

North Texas’ first tournament appearance came back in 1988, when the Mean Green lost to No. 2 seed North Carolina in the round of 64. The program’s postseason history also includes the 2018 College Basketball Invitational championship.

McCasland, who replaced Tony Benford in 2017-18, won 20 games in four of his first five seasons. The odds of sustaining that success into 2022-23 appeared strong, as the Mean Green were ranked third in the C-USA preseason poll.