North Texas linemen Tyler Bailey and Eddrick Gilmore were rattling off a list that sounded like a rundown of some of the top venues in college football following one of their last practices as members of the Mean Green this week.

The pair listed off names like LSU, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

They talked about getting the chance to play those storied programs on their home fields and having the opportunity to play the defending national champion twice.

Those were not the kind of memories both had envisioned when they arrived at UNT, where a run of four straight Sun Belt Conference titles was still fresh in the current players’ minds.

It certainly wasn’t a bad consolation prize, though, one Bailey, Gilmore and a handful of other UNT players who will cap their careers this weekend will cherish.

“The four years before my signing class got here, they won four straight conference championships,” Bailey said. “I thought I was going to get a ring. It didn’t work out, but it has been an awesome experience. It was definitely worthwhile even though we didn’t meet our goals.”

UNT’s seniors held out hope that the program would return to the level it reached when it ruled the Sun Belt Conference. That turnaround never happened, but the team’s veterans stuck with it, which current head coach Todd Dodge appreciated.

“This is a special group of guys,” Dodge said of his seniors. “It’s a small one, but it is special.”

Bailey and Gilmore came to UNT to play for former head coach Darrell Dickey, who was fired in 2006, in the midst of his second straight losing season after the Mean Green’s bowl run.

Dodge took over, but has yet to help the Mean Green turn the corner. UNT hasn’t won more than three games in a season since 2004 and will try to finish off on a high note on Saturday against Arkansas State.

A win would give the Mean Green a 3-9 mark to end the season, which would be UNT’s best record in the Dodge era.

“As far as the wins and losses, it has been disappointing, but it has been a fun ride,” Gilmore said. “College football is great. This is what we love to do.”

Gilmore is hoping he can continue his career, if not in the NFL, then somewhere else like Canada.

“I am going to keep playing,” Gilmore said. “It’s just a matter of where. There is a lot of football out there being played.”

For some of UNT’s veterans, the season is already over. An injury ended linebacker Tobe Nwigwe’s college career. Fellow senior linebacker Kylie Hill will return on Saturday in a limited capacity after his season appeared to be over due to injury.

Dodge said he was particularly proud of several of the team’s seniors who saw their roles reduced at the end of their careers due to the emergence of younger players, including running back Cam Montgomery and offensive lineman Gabe Hollivay. Both were starters earlier in their careers, but spent most of their senior seasons as backups.

Montgomery appeared as if he might make a run at a 1,000-yard season but was injured and later replace in the lineup by sophomore Lance Dunbar.

“I have a lot of respect for Cam,” Dodge said. “He got hurt and that opened the door for another player who took off. He has had a great attitude and a lot of guys in that situation don’t. He’s a great team player.”

For UNT’s seniors who didn’t enjoy the success they hoped for, the opportunity to be part of a team and play college football isn’t a bad experience to look back on.

“It’s been wild and at the same time fun,” Bailey said. “I have made friends who I will never forget and got a good education. We didn’t win as many games as I would have liked, but you have to look at other aspects of it, like making lifelong friends and having an overall good experience.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-66-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.