KoldBeer

Couldn't we have counted Henderson St as an exhibition? Don't you get to have two exhibition games? I would have rather had it as exhibition and then picked up a road game later (assuming we don't have $$$$ for another home game. I like a couple extra challenges in basketball since a loss doesn't hurt you like it does in football. If we are lucky enough to win SBC tournament it will be interesting to see how close we got to a 14 seed. Right now we look like a 15 seed to me. Maybe FAU or WKU could get a 14 but everybody else looks like 15 seed to me.

I know scheduling is hard. And I agree it doesn't help that UTSA and TxSt are down. I would never drop those two from our schedule. And home and home with Tech and LSU are great. I would have not played the two non-Div 1 schools. I would have played one of those games on the road at a Big 12 school. You should get $50,000 for that game. I would have then taken that money and purchased a quality home opponent. Even if you had to play two road games against CUSA type teams, you'd be better off than scheduling home games against non-D1 schools. I'm not saying we try what WKU did with their schedule but we need to be closer to what they did.

Tech, Rice and LSU are just average teams (RPI around 150 for each). KU and SHSU help RPI but they are offset by Texas St (307), UTSA (316), Grambling (292) and Texas Southern (199) <not to mention weak RPI teams in conference>. Playing so many teams with bad RPI just kills your schedule. Look at UCF. Nobody in 300 range and only two teams over 200.

I do agree that basketball needs to upgrade the schedule. There is no reason for this team to be playing non-Div 1 teams. I used that statsheet link you provided. The projected SOS for UNT is #329. Unlike football where games are scheduled years in advance, a lot of the basketball schedule is set a year or so in advance. We knew we had a good team coming back and we should have stepped up the schedule (I'd like to see it harder every year but especially this year). I know a lot of people don't follow the NIT but it would be a chance to get the team on ESPN. Every little bit of exposure helps.

Sorry that should have read #26. I fixed it my first post.

Reports are out now that Malzahn has turned Vandy down. $3M not enough to have his career end in Vandy.

I hate this attitude. There isn't any reason why North Texas couldn't build a program that could get an at-large bid from time to time. Plus, there is still a lot to play for this year. Maybe I'm too old school, but I still think winning your regular season conference title means something. If you do win it, you will at least get a bid to the NIT. With regards to FAU vs. UNT, FAU's strength of schedule is #31 while North Texas is #257.

Last week it came out mid-afternoon. I'd guess around 3 pm.

Since we don't have any games this week, I thought it'd be a good time to look at the rankings. It hasn't been a good month for UNT as we keep falling in all the rankings (weak schedule and too many close wins). RPI #110 (source Realtime RPI) - <Up 3 spots on Monday update> http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_Men.html Sun Belt is #23. And we are #3 in conference (behind FAU #47 and ULAR #99) Kenpom #172 (I think we were around #125 at start of year) http://www.kenpom.com/team.php?team=North%20Texas Sun Belt is #22. We are #3 in conference (behind WKU #129 and FAU #137) Sagarin #149 http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkc1011.htm?loc=interstitialskip Sun Belt is #26. We are #3 in conference (behind FAU #102 and WKU #108).

I think the question might be, would you rather be in MWC or Sun Belt. I don't see any scenario where UNT gets to pick between CUSA and MWC. Best case, we'll get an invite from one of the conferences. CUSA has better regional match-ups but the MWC is more stable and still a better conference (but probably not best fit for UNT). If you are talking MWC vs. Sun Belt, I'd take MWC. Even without BYU, Utah and TCU it is the best non-AQ conference. I know the MWC has a crappy TV deal but it's better than the non-existent Sun Belt deal. For basketball, you get into a multi-bid league. The Sun Belt has received an at-large once in the past 10 years. The MWC isn't the best in basketball but they do receive multiple bids on occasion. Those extra teams equal more $$$$. Plus, I think North Texas would be seen in a more positive light in we were in the MWC. You'd go from the worst D-1 conference (although WAC will take over that title) to the best non-AQ. Instead of playing Monroe and La-La, you'd get to play Air Force and New Mexico. That has a chance to grab the casual sports fans attention (which hopefully increases attendance and donations). As long as you don't lose a bunch of money, I think you'd be crazy not to jump to the MWC.

I've read as much as I can on this the past week. I think the Mountain West is trying to decide between expanding into Texas or taking WAC scraps. My guess is that they will look to Texas first. Right now, I'm not sure Houston or SMU would leave CUSA. Some of that might depend on what happens in Big East. If Big East takes UCF, then they might be more likely to jump. UTEP might be a little more on the fence. They are in Mountain time zone and El Paso is a long ways away from Houston and Dallas. If Houston or SMU don't go to MWC, I think UTEP is 50/50 to stay in MWC. If MWC can get one of CUSA Texas schools, then North Texas might be able to convince the MWC to add UNT since it would help the MWC to have two Texas markets. UNT will have to sell the MWC on potential. If this was three years from now, we might be able to show some results (conference championships in football and increased attendance). If UTEP is added (and SMU & Houston say no) then it's probably between Utah St, San Jose St, and North Texas for last spot. If none of the Texas CUSA schools are picked, then I think it is wide open what the MWC does. I'm not sure they would want North Texas because we'd be on an island from the rest of the conference (I know TCU was the same way but I'm not sure they want to go that way again). But the other options aren't very attractive either. Utah St is 3rd school in a small state. Rest of WAC isn't anything great (or they'd already be in MWC). I don't have much of a feel for CUSA. I guess it'll probably depend on who and how many ditch the conference.

Kansas always ran a 4-3 when he was there. I'm not for sure, but I think McCarney is a 4-3 guy as well.

Three straight nice wins for FAU.

SDSU AD spoke about expansion today. I think it sounds like they are going to 12. It sounds like the next round of offers won't go out until summer. From what I've read it seems people want Utah St and UTEP or SMU/Houston/Tulsa for expansion. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/10/mountain-west-still-may-grow-beyond-hawaii/

Hawaii is officially joining MWC (football only). There is a press conference at 4 pm to announce the change. This will bring the MWC to 10 members for football and 9 overall. No news so far on more expansion at this time.

He definitely resigned under pressure. He was the OC at Kansas. During that period the defense was pretty good but the offense wasn't getting the job done. Mangino was getting close to getting fired so they made a change at OC. The new coordinator came in the offense set all types of school records. Not sure how much was Q's fault (his last year KU started 3 different QB's and the new OC got Todd Ressing). But again, he's not going to be OC so play calling isn't an issue.

Rumor about what? He has okay background but he was fired at Kansas before the offense really took off (i.e. he wasn't there for Ressing and Orange Bowl seasons). As a position coach he wouldn't be bad.

This is from Western Kentucky story... However, InsideHilltopperSports.com reported Thursday night that Bowen may instead be headed to Indiana as the defensive coordinator, and that an "announcement could be soon." http://wkuherald.com/sports/article_b3d75a40-02f0-11e0-bb47-0017a4a78c22.html The new coach at Indiana is from OU. Mangino and Stoops are good friends so it would make sense that Bowen would get consideration for that job.

This is not a good defensive team. That will limit the upside of this team. Offensively we are as good as most Big 12 teams.

Can we finish 26-3? Yes, but it is highly unlikely. I think we'll lose three to four games in the Sun Belt. To go undefeated in league play you have to be lucky and heads and shoulders above everybody else. North Texas is pretty close to the top 3 or so teams in conference. Plus, you have to account for a game when things just don't go your way. Kenpom is predicting a 21-8 (11-5) season for us. I think we'll do better than that, but I think that's more realistic than 26-3 (16-0). I just think we need to be careful about setting unrealistic expectations for this team. I'd hate to see people be upset at a 22-7 (12-4) season. KENPOM UNT LINK: http://kenpom.com/team.php?team=North%20Texas

I haven't been able to find anything. WKU won't confirm the report - there is newspaper in KY that has story but it quote footballscoop as source.

I went to look at Sun Belt defensive stats. I looked at conference only because I think that offers the best comparison. Points Allowed 1. FIU 23.9 6. UNT 27.0 7. WKU 28.0 Yards Allowed Per Game 1. WKU 349 7. UNT 396 From looking at those stats, I'd say WKU had a better defensive than North Texas did this year (at least in conference play). Also, remember Bowen only had one year to work with WKU. I'm also confident that McCarney will provide lots of guidance and help for Bowen since McCarney has a defensive background. EDIT - Link for Stats: http://www.cfbstats.com/2010/conference/818/index.html

If true, it's a good hire. I was at Kansas when Clint and his brother played there. He played under Glen Mason (who had success at Kansas and Minnesota). While at Kansas he worked under Bill Young most of the time (even when was listed as Co-Defensive Coordinator it was really Bill Young running the defense). Young has been a DC at several schools (Kansas, OU, Miami, Ohio St and now Okie St). Special teams were really good when he was there. The last two years at Kansas he was the man running the defense (Young left to take job at Miami). The KU defenses weren't that good during those two years but the Big 12 had awesome offenses and KU didn't have a lot of talent. Some thought he might have been over his head a little but he didn't have a lot of support (staff wasn't overly experienced on defensive side of ball and Mangino was offensive coach). He ended up at WKU because he got screwed in Mangino mess. He was one of three coaches kept by KU to keep things running while they looked for a new coach. Most people assumed he'd get a spot on the new staff. When Gill was hired, none of the old KU coaches were kept so he had to scramble to find a job. Looking over stats, WKU defense did a pretty good job this year. I know recruiting isn't the main function of a coordinator, but Clint was a solid recruiter at Kansas. He has real good connections with the Juco coaches in Kansas (surprisingly good talent in Jayhawk Conference). Since he spent over a decade in Big 12 country he should help open some doors up. Most people I know consider Clint a good guy and I know the players at Kansas loved him.

DENTON, Texas - Tristan Thompson, the nation's 17th ranked scorer, was unstoppable in a trio of North Texas wins, and was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week by the league office on Tuesday. The senior's second career SBC Player of the Week award, Thompson averaged 24.7 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting last week. North Texas is off to a 7-1 start, its best since the 1976-77 squad began 11-1. The Mean Green has taken two of the last three Sun Belt Player of the Week awards after Josh White snagged the third of his career on Nov. 23. http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=205043786

Can't find it anywhere either but I'd guess we will be an underdog. 4 points or so is my guess. This is a huge game. Might be our toughest game of the year. Need to split LSU and SHSU games.