untjim1995

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/rankings/cbs/128

I can tell you that you should feel re-assured about playing the CUSA West teams--we might lose one or two along the way, but I am failry certain that most of CUSA West--and the SBC Western schools--will be the ones we are competing against for the long term. I really do believe Rice will move up to the AAC if/when UH leaves, but I don't see the other Texas schools in CUSA leaving anytime soon.

Maybe you should just go follow Texas State... Please...

They CHOSE West Virginia over Louisville--they didn't wait on them, they mistakenly chose WVU over them. Both senators and congressmen tried to sell both to the Big XII, but WVU won the battle. But in the end, Louisville won the war, getting into their dream league that is FAR more stable than the Big XII.

Littrell really is a breath of fresh air. He knows what he is dealing with, both from a personal standpoint, where he is leaning on the fly to be a head coach, and from a personnel standpoint, where he knows he has to fix the mindset of a locker room that has been beaten down by losing and seriously upgrade the talent here to fit his system. He's not a guy that will talk in circles to try and deflect from the fact that we aren't good right now--not even close. He will be a straight-shooter about everything, to his team, the media, and to the fans.

He's referring to the folks on this site. He lives in a fantasy world where he believes that UNT should have gone 8-4 last year with the worst QB setup in the entire FBS, which was completely obvious going into the season, and now believes that a team with 68 scholarship players should go 6-6 against a schedule that is light years harder than where we can compete with right now with the lack of talent around here and having a brand new coach learn on the fly.

Don't get me wrong--I have dreamed of us being in the MWC for over a decade--not the WAC, but the MWC. And all I ever got back, whole-heartedly, was that the MWC was too far west, that the Big West was awful, that we like close travel to see us play games in CUSA, yada-yada-yada... Before we became the absolute worst program in FBS over the last decade, and back when we had a promising basketball team under Johnny Jones, I always believed we had the perfect selling point to the MWC to travel with TCU or just replace them when they left. I've always said this, but it is going to take a conference leader who sees us for our potential to bring something to their conference from a market standpoint and a competitive standpoint, beyond what we have really ever shown. So far, since 1995, only the Big West, the SBC, and CUSA ever have seen us as worth admittance. And those three conferences are like saying you got hired by KMart after Montgomery Ward's went under, then got hired by Sears.

We got into CUSA because of exactly one reason--SMU left. Not one other reason--CUSA needed DFW still, so we stepped right into the opening to replace SMU. Its exactly why we aren't ever going to the AAC. When we were in the Sun Belt, SMU being in CUSA was enough to end any discussion of us joining. They had the market covered already for TV. It sucks, I hate it, but I recognize that SMU has more name recognition for these conferences, as well as the $$$ to keep their best interests in play. Last time we could have gotten into our dream setup, the old CUSA that had SMU, UH, Tulsa, Tulane, Rice, etc..., SMU decided to publicly back La Tech and their pissant TV market over us. Instead, CUSA went ahead and invited UTEP, a market they didn't have a team in, but had a decent to strong following in the two main revenue sports, as well as solid facilities.

No sarcasm at all. If the MWC just waits things out, they will get some combination of these schools to choose from, in my opinion: Probables--TCU, Baylor, KSU, and ISU. Possibles--Tech, OSU, and UH. After them, you've got UTEP, UTSA, and us. It just doesn't really add up to me how we ever would get into the MWC when they can get the programs I listed above.

Tech is the worst. LSU is right there with them, but at least they win big. I've been told that West Virginia and Colorado are both just terrible, too. In the last year of the original Big XII, the players were polled at the beginning of the season on who was the worst fanbase in the conference. Colorado got 18% of the vote, which was really high. But only one school trumped them...and it wasn't close--Tech got 36% of the vote as the worst fanbase by other Big XII players.

I think we win a close game--probably a 34-30 win. I bet this one comes down to the last minute. I really don't care how we win here, but just win. Don't go two years in a row losing to your bought opponent that nobody cares about and brings absolutely no one to the game.

Why would the MWC do something so short-sighted to invite any Texas CUSA teams when they can just wait and get the best Big XII leftovers when the conference falls apart sometime between now and 2025?

I read something pretty interesting about Kansas beating Rhode Island this weekend, snapping their 15 game losing streak. I had no idea that David Beaty took over a program from Charlie Weis hat was so bad, last year they entered the 2015 season with just 60 scholarship players. Obviously, when they lost their opener to FCS South Dakota State at home, it was obvious they wouldn't beat anyone. Now you can see why this week is the only game that Seth Littrell would get any grief for losing this season, as our scholarship total of 68 matches up with a FCS team.

A few years back, there was a report on the coverage of college football by reporters that cover the sport nationally. In a survey, something like 95% of reporters admitted they don't even follow any team not in the power leagues. And if they did, they were focused on teams like Boise State, teams that were really good and highly ranked in that season. IOW, these people are doing good to even know that North Texas is our name today, not North Texas State.

The MWC ship sailed a while back for us. The MWC will wait out the Big XII falling apart. When that happens, they will go hard for the leftovers--Baylor, TCU, probably UH, and KSU. That will give the MWC teams. The AAC will get to 16, as well. I think they will have to replace UConn, Cincy, and UH in the years ahead. They will call up Rice to replace UH, then add in teams for additional TV markets, such as NIU, and MUTS. Since Navy is football-only, I can see them adding Wichita State to complement Navy. The other four they will add will be UTEP, UTSA, and two others from the MAC and CUSA.

I'm a tad behind you on that--1 or 2 this season, 3 or 4 next year, then 6+ in 2018.

I have us winning this season against BC and UTSA--have since the schedule was released. I didn't jump ship--I just think its interesting to see what people think after losing a game to SMU, a game that fans who guessed we would be a 4+ win team had us winning. When the schedule rolled out, there were 4 opponents we could reasonably compete with, due to our 68 scholarships and implementing a brand new offensive scheme with players who weren't recruited to play this type of offense--SMU, BC, Army, and UTSA. We competed with SMU, but they are just ahead of us right now in their rebuild. Now, we go to Butt Cookman--if we cannot beat them at home, then we know that we haven't started moving upward yet from the ashes of the worst loss in modern college football history, 66-7 to FCS Portland State.

Absolutely!!

Now that we have played the opener, what are your predictions for our record for the rest of the season? For those of you who thought we were a 5-7 or better type team, do you still feel that way or have you changed you views because of the loss to SMU? I am on record for 2-10, so I haven't changed my thoughts. That said, if we lose this weekend, I'm fairly certain we go 0-12. But I think we win this week and will still steal another game at some point this season.

Can't agree more...when you play FBS schools with a FCS roster, both in scholarships and overall talent, then add in a brand new coach who has never been a head coach before, as well as an OC who's never been one before, and then look at the complete mismatch of talent to scheme we have to deal with here, it just begs for patience, understanding, and celebrating the true wins this year--hint, they won't be on Saturdays at stadiums, they'll be in living rooms and locker rooms across the region. If we can't win those against other FBS schools for recruits, then you can bitch and moan all you want. But not because of the results on the scoreboard. Because if you do, you're showing that you have no idea how college football programs get rebuilt.

Just ignore him...he's one of our "special" posters on here--he doesn't live in reality. You could pound him with a 2x4 in the head and it still wouldn't make any sense to him. We have years of posts to back that up...

We need every poster on this board to come to this realization

A lack of talent and experience with this offensive system are the things that killed any chance of being more than a 1-2 win team this season. Next week's game is the only one we will be expected to win. Even if we don't, and that would be very disappointing, and we go 0-12, anyone labeling Littrell as a bad hire will be an idiot. Right now, if we played in the Southland, we would be competitive. But today, we are basically the new high school that is just starting a team that is now playing other high schools with developed talent ad upperclassmen. It's really that simple. Ironically, RV deserved to get lots of criticism for the FCS games, but it's only because of this that we even have a chance at a home win this year. That's the sad reality we have going on now.

Good point--and, yes, that's what I was trying to say. The events leading up to that and what happened after it are, hopefully, the nadir of the program...

I truly feel bad for some of you on here, watching reality set in at how deep the hole is here. SMU is a 3-5 win team. They are a year ahead of us, with a better QB situation. It's the blueprint for us for next year. When you saw that we were picked as one of the three worst teams in FBS this season, it hurt. But it's reality. The team, while under new leadership, is dealing with harsh realities. They have 68 scholarship players. They have a system that is built around players that were recruited here to play a 1950s type of offense. The schedule we have is way above where we are as a program right now, including the SMUs, Army's, and CUSA teams. Ill say this again, but that Portland State loss will take years to rebuild up from...