North Texas Mean Green 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 " . The name " Mean Green , " still in use after 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 . That school year , Joe Greene , 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 . 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 . " School spirit . The school ' s colors are green and white . The music for the " alma mater " , " Glory to the Green and White , " ( originally titled " Our College " ) 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 . 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 . Football . 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 . 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 . 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 . Facilities . 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 :