Greendylan

We're 0-8 versus the top 7 teams in the conference. Think about that for a second: after 8 tries, not a single win against a conference mate that didn't have a losing CUSA record. We have a shot to beat Rice, maybe, but zero shot beyond that. Given the talent on this team, 6-10 in conference is simply unacceptable.

I kind of thought the team had quit a couple weeks ago, and fortunately it looks like I was wrong. As for tournament wins, I'll say that a championship game appearance would make me comfortable (not ecstatic) with Benford's return for year three. If we were to somehow win the CUSA championship, then I would admit that I have been very wrong.

For the love of god, will we ever stop denigrating the accomplishments of our teams from the early 2000s? I don't care what you say about the strength of the opponents, 26 straight conference wins is one of the most impressive North Texas football feats of all time. Just because most of those Sun Belt teams were recent transitions to I-A doesn't mean they were awful. UTSA was transitional this year . . . didn't make for an easy win.

TCU finished ranked (AP poll) 6,7,2, and 14 in the four years leading up to their move to the Big XII. If they weren't ready to move up, then no team ever will be. Also, it's not like their first season in the Big XII was a disaster. They won 7 games, lost a very close bowl game to Michigan State, and beat UT on the road. Doesn't sound so bad to me. This past season was a down year, and it would have been a disappointment in either the MWC or the Big XII. Every team in the nation has a down year now and then. As for men's basketball, both TCU and the Big XII knew they were going to struggle for at least a few years. In the four years prior to joining the Big XII, they finished 5-11, 5-11, 1-15, and 7-7 in the MWC. The conference move was about football and nothing more.

We are the worst team in the conference, and we will continue as such year after year as long as the leadership remains the same.

Last year we were expected to finish with an RPI of somewhere around 25-50 (maybe 75 at worst). Our final RPI was 245. In my time following North Texas I can't recall experiencing such a gulf between expectation and performance in any sport. There were injuries, yes, but our NBA draft pick never missed significant time. Proportionally, this would be the football equivalent of a number 9 preseason ranking and then finishing 90th. The fact that we examined the situation and decided that this performance warranted another year makes me cynically consider that basketball just may not be that important to the decision-makers at our university.

Now that this is well on its way to another blow out, I think I'll spare my sanity and turn it off. How many times do we have to be embarrassed before the athletic department realizes that this is never going to work with this coach?

I mean, yes they are capable of pulling it off. But, for whatever reason the first few minutes of second halves are often disastrous, especially against good teams. I fully expect us to lose by 15-20. Hope I'm wrong.

From watching online I can say that there no resistance inside. They seem to establish position in the paint much quicker than us on both offense and defense.

Wow, we're on pace to lose this by about 45.

Yeah, I would love to have him, but I feel like if he were coming here, he would have committed by now.

We just can't seem to get any momentum going. I expect a lot of close games but a losing record by the end of the year.

Sir, now you have gone too far.

I think that final shot was the moment this cusa season essentially ended for the Mean Green.

Todd Ford

This is going even worse than I thought it would. Why is that 90% of the time when one of our players drives inside he gets the ball stripped? Yet, the same rarely happens to our opponents.

I didn't say it would be impossible to beat UT. But, "every money game every single season" doesn't involve an underdog breaking in 13 or 14 new starters.

Recruiting one project player isn't necessarily a bad idea.

Back to the USM game, I don't expect a win, but I would like to see us play like we belong on the same court as a CUSA front runner. I finally got to see a game in person, and I felt like the offense looked a little more organized than in some disastrous games earlier this year. However, my concern at this point is answering the question of why we couldn't build upon a 14-point second half lead against UC-Riverside and finish with a 20+ point victory. I almost feel like there is a psychological component at play when they let a team like that come back and tie them before finally getting it together and scraping by with an ugly win.

If we were to play UT this weekend, I would give us an outside chance. By next fall when most of our starters and playmakers on both offense and defense are gone, I won't expect too much. I'm not saying next year's team won't turn out to be pretty damn good in the end, but let's not put crazy pressure on a whole host of new, untested players in their first game as starters in a daunting environment.

Absolutely. You know, I've been thinking lately about the tailgaters who never set foot in the stadium. While I was in town for the holidays, I talked to some old friends who used to tailgate every single game but never attended one. The guys just never saw a reason to abandon their UT fandom, because they viewed North Texas as irrelevant. The girls didn't care so much about wins and losses. They just wanted to be where the party was. If you give the girls a reason to venture into the stadium, then the guys will come too regardless of how they view the teams.

Not to be argumentative, but those with the best ideas do not necessarily have the biggest wallets. That doesn't diminish their assessments of the situation.

If you are indeed correct (and, sadly, you probably are), then what does this say about our basketball program as a whole? What does this say about our own internal perceptions of our program? Is our pride and prestige so low that no degree of on-the-court embarrassment would be deemed unacceptable? So, what will it take for RV to say, "This stops now"? Will we have to finish the season with a 300+ RPI? We should be looking forward to conference play at this point, but instead I'm fearing the possibility of enduring more than one 40+ point beat down.

I actually think it's important for us to win as many games as possible to attract decent candidates for our imminent coaching search. Also, I don't want too many of our players to transfer once the new regime begins. I think the evidence against Benford speaks for itself at this point. No additional embarrassing losses are necessary to punctuate that point. So hey,...I'm happy we didn't blow it today.

If he's here for another year after this one, then we might as well just shut down the basketball program and focus on starting up baseball.