pre season rankings

wardly · August 20, 2015

We are ranked 122nd out of 128 programs, with UTSA and UNC Charlotte bring up the rear. Even SMU is ranked ahead of us at 110. You can argue that we are not that bad, but that would be like 2 bald men fighting over a comb. What difference does it make?

Ben Gooding · August 20, 2015

Prove the naysayers wrong and win.

But, as it stands in Mac's 5th year, we are bottom 10, still. For the pro Mac crowd, let that sink in for a moment.

Mean_Green09 · August 20, 2015

We are ranked 122nd out of 128 programs, with UTSA and UNC Charlotte bring up the rear. Even SMU is ranked ahead of us at 110. You can argue that we are not that bad, but that would be like 2 bald men fighting over a comb. What difference does it make?

SMU is ranked ahead us in some rankings purely on the fact that they hired and up and coming OC Chad Morris and thats the only reason.

Prove the naysayers wrong and win.
But, as it stands in Mac's 5th year, we are bottom 10, still. For the pro Mac crowd, let that sink in for a moment.

This team is not a bottom 10 team. The polls that have us ranked that low have not done their homework.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Mean_Green09

MeanGreenTexan · August 20, 2015

SMU is ranked ahead us in some rankings purely on the fact that they hired and up and coming OC Chad Morris and thats the only reason.
This team is not a bottom 10 team. The polls that have us ranked that low have not done their homework.

Agree on the SMU ranking.

But maybe the research, however much or little, shows a re-built O-line, a departed defensive MVP & re-built secondary, a returning ineffective QB, and a "poor" recruiting class according to any recruiting website.

Maybe it's not that they didn't do homework, it's that we're a little optimistic with the new pieces.

oldguystudent · August 20, 2015

I think people have soon forgotten what it's like to truly be a bottom 10 team. No Mac team has even remotely approached it. That said, LOTS of room for upward mobility. LOTS.

untjim1995 · August 20, 2015

We are ranked 122nd out of 128 programs, with UTSA and UNC Charlotte bring up the rear. Even SMU is ranked ahead of us at 110. You can argue that we are not that bad, but that would be like 2 bald men fighting over a comb. What difference does it make?

A few things from this, assuming you are looking at the CBSsports.com overall FBS rankings:

1.) We were are 117th out of 128, ahead of CUSA mates, Charlotte (128th), UTSA (123rd) and FAU (120th). When you put it in the perspective of G5s, which excludes BYU, that puts us at 51th out of 62 G5 teams--with a 5th year coach...with a combo of a better stadium, conference setup, salaries, and budget than we have literally ever had...

2.) The poll is from a P5 media outlet. Their media openly admits that they give G5 level teams less than 5% of their attention. This is proven in this poll by the fact that a terrible Southern Miss team is ranked AHEAD of a pretty solid Louisiana Tech team. That alone makes me believe that the poll is made up of P5 guys that are ranking G5s based on name recognition primarily. SMU, who beat one team last year, in its last game of the season, is ranked ahead of us, who we beat 43-6 last year. Nothing makes sense about that--at all.

3.) Texas State is ranked 89th on this list. Dennis Franchione, who was who I wanted as our coach, is in his 5th year there. We chose Mac over him,, whom I was still fine with as a hire, since I figured we would hire an assistant coach from some P5 program that had never been a head coach before. But I have always said that this was our true comparison to look at for both programs. Franchione has gone 23-25 in his 4th years, including a 7-5 record last year, and a 30-13 win in 2012 at Houston in the same season we got clobbered 44-21 by the Coogs in Houston. Mac's 4 years in Denton have produced a 22-27 record, with his best win being over a solid 2013 Ball State team, but few Texans care about. You can argue about the SBC being lower than CUSA in competition, but its actually a fairly close battle between the two leagues. To me, right now, I'd give Franchione and Texas State the advantage, since they have a better record, a better signature win, and better recruiting.

4.) If we cannot beat UTSA this year, at home, with their worst team they have had since joining CUSA, then we aren't gonna beat them anytime soon...which would just be amazingly pathetic.

Mean_Green09 · August 20, 2015

Agree on the SMU ranking.
But maybe the research, however much or little, shows a re-built O-line, a departed defensive MVP & re-built secondary, a returning ineffective QB, and a "poor" recruiting class according to any recruiting website.

Maybe it's not that they didn't do homework, it's that we're a little optimistic with the new pieces.

I can agree with that. Paul Myerber (USA Today) who visited UNT fall camp this year picked us 3rd in the West and had us ranked 89th nationally.

wardly · August 20, 2015

I think its kind of sad that we are arguing over whether or not we are ranked in the Bottom 10% or Bottom 30% in the nation. The key word is BOTTOM.

oldguystudent · August 20, 2015

Aspire for bigger and better, but have some context as to what constitutes the bottom.

We weren't in any of these games. The sole win, over transitional Western Kentucky, came on a last second interception where any other team than WKU would have punched it in for the win. All of the other games were over before the beginning of the second quarter.

Hell, I believe the Rice coach apologized because he couldn't keep the very bottom of his depth charts from scoring.

Edited August 20, 2015 by oldguystudent

Harry · August 20, 2015

2008 =

VideoEagle · August 20, 2015

I've never thought much of preseason rankings. Too strongly based on the year before when college teams tend to change dramatically from year to year. Last year's preseason ranking were far too high. Even our coach kept trying to lower the expectations of those rankings. The year before they were far too low.

oldguystudent · August 20, 2015

2008 was so bad, I remember being excited over 3 wins in 2010. We've come so very far from those dark, dark times (metaphorically and literally. Remember the lights at Fouts?) I'm both amused and bewildered that we see some of the same vitriol today that we did then.

Army of Dad · August 20, 2015

2008 was so bad, I remember being excited over 3 wins in 2010. We've come so very far from those dark, dark times (metaphorically and literally. Remember the lights at Fouts?) I'm both amused and bewildered that we see some of the same vitriol today that we did then.

Shouldn't you be sad as well?

Got5onIt · August 20, 2015

SMU is ranked ahead us in some rankings purely on the fact that they hired and up and coming OC Chad Morris and thats the only reason.
This team is not a bottom 10 team. The polls that have us ranked that low have not done their homework.

SMU being ranked ahead of us is straight up BS. They are without question a bottom 10 team. However, I wouldn't be so confident in saying NT isn't either.....

untjim1995 · August 20, 2015

Aspire for bigger and better, but have some context as to what constitutes the bottom.
We weren't in any of these games. The sole win, over transitional Western Kentucky, came on a last second interception where any other team than WKU would have punched it in for the win. All of the other games were over before the beginning of the second quarter.
Hell, I believe the Rice coach apologized because he couldn't keep the very bottom of his depth charts from scoring.

If they had wanted to, Rice could have easily scored 100+ that day. They basically took the 4th quarter off. To me, that was the low point of football at UNT since our return to 1-a in 1995. To lose to a former SWC cellar-dweller by 57 points when they just literally stopped trying was as embarrassed as I can remember being as a UNT fan. Thankfully, we haven't gotten anywhere near this bottom since then...