DRC Sunday column: Landslide loss to SMU paints bleak picture of UNT's ability to compete for titles in the American

[Brett Vito]

 

[Wag Tag]

Hell we haven’t done it in C-USA! 1000% correct!

[southsideguy]

with the good teams gone from CUSA maybe we compete for second or third place. SL cant win a big game so no championship for you.

maybe Vito can ask WB and SL if we should move to the AAC.  I mean how fun it going to be get beat into the turf every week.  He could say he is asking for friend.

[NT80]

6 hours ago, southsideguy said:

with the good teams gone from CUSA maybe we compete for second or third place. SL cant win a big game so no championship for you.

maybe Vito can ask WB and SL if we should move to the AAC.  I mean how fun it going to be get beat into the turf every week.  He could say he is asking for friend.

Maybe Vito should ask Seth about this "bleak picture of UNT's ability to compete in the American"?  LOL.

Have you seen how Seth glares at Vito for asking a (rare) serious question? 

[UNT Family Man]

Well, no ____ Brett!
We have individuals who might be ready to compete in the AAC, but not overall. We have known it for years. The O/D line, db speed and coaching is just not there. It is obvious looking back the Littrel was successful where he was but he was only at each stop a couple of years (while OC) then he moved on. Rinse and repeat at UNT through three years. That is when you lost Graham (lit QB coach/OC). I truly believe that K Martin would have been the Mason successor had Graham stayed. He preferred an accurate Qb compared to an athlete (Littrell’s preference). 

[UNTLifer]

[untjim1995]

27 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

This is a reenactment of SL at the Lovelace home...

[MeanGreenTexan]

4 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

This is a reenactment of SL at the Lovelace home...

[Greenrex]

All the AAC member schools are probably working on next year's schedule so that we are their opponent for homecoming.

[outoftown]

3 hours ago, Greenrex said:

All the AAC member schools are probably working on next year's schedule so that we are their opponent for homecoming.

I am optimistic that NT is only their second or third choice (after Rice and USF, maybe even after Tulsa, which will suck this year). But i guess not everybody can get those two, so plenty of NT homecomings left I assume.

[Pellom]

I looked over our recruiting rankings for the past 5 seasons, we only have one class that would have been in the top half in the AAC in that particular year. And we have not done well in the portal at all. 
 

This is my biggest complaint about Littrell and his staff. I think they are good football coaches. I think more often than not they do more with less. But the recruiting has been bad with no light at the end of the tunnel. 

[UNTcrazy727]

4 hours ago, outoftown said:

I am optimistic that NT is only their second or third choice (after Rice and USF, maybe even after Tulsa, which will suck this year). But i guess not everybody can get those two, so plenty of NT homecomings left I assume.

Don't forget FAU, Navy, Charlotte, Temple, and Tulane. I keep seeing people suggest we're going to get killed in the AAC because SMU, UAB, and UTSA, but there are about 8 teams we should be able to beat. 

[keith]

27 minutes ago, Pellom said:

I looked over our recruiting rankings for the past 5 seasons, we only have one class that would have been in the top half in the AAC in that particular year. And we have not done well in the portal at all. 
 

This is my biggest complaint about Littrell and his staff. I think they are good football coaches. I think more often than not they do more with less. But the recruiting has been bad with no light at the end of the tunnel. 

I never know how much faith to put in ranking services.  However, we actually did well in the portal compared to our CUSA mates according to 247Sports.  Apparently they re-evaluate these periodically.  When I posted these in August, we were number 1 in CUSA and Western was ranked 4th.  So between then and now, Western jumped over 3 teams to take over the #1 spot.  In the end, however, it only matters how these transfer player help the team win and that story hasn't been written yet.

 

[outoftown]

1 hour ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Don't forget FAU, Navy, Charlotte, Temple, and Tulane. I keep seeing people suggest we're going to get killed in the AAC because SMU, UAB, and UTSA, but there are about 8 teams we should be able to beat. 

I somehow keep thinking the AAC got ODU rather than Charlotte in this deal. Wish that were the case. Charlotte is Terrible with a capital T right now. Still, the top half of the AAC will be a decent bit better than the top half of C-USA the past several years. The bottom half of the AAC will also be slightly better than C-USAs bottom half, but only slightly. So even SL coaching NT could go bowling semi-regularly. But challenging for a championship will need a major change, rather than staying the course.

Where there will be a clearer difference in the level will be in basketball. There I think NT is currently as ready as it has ever been for that jump.

Edited September 7, 2022 by outoftown

[untjim1995]

37 minutes ago, outoftown said:

I somehow keep thinking the AAC got ODU rather than Charlotte in this deal. Wish that were the case. Charlotte is Terrible with a capital T right now. Still, the top half of the AAC will be a decent bit better than the top half of C-USA the past several years. The bottom half of the AAC will also be slightly better than C-USAs bottom half, but only slightly. So even an SL coach NT could go bowling semi-regularly. But challenging for a championship will need a major change, rather than staying the road.

Where there will be a clearer difference in the level will be in basketball. There I think NT is currently as ready as it has ever been for that jump.

This. 
Assuming we keep Grant, we should be able to compete very well in the AAC. Memphis, SMU, UAB, and us are probably the best teams. WSU, Tulsa, and Charlotte are all known to be solid, too.

[Pellom]

1 hour ago, keith said:

I never know how much faith to put in ranking services.  However, we actually did well in the portal compared to our CUSA mates according to 247Sports.  Apparently they re-evaluate these periodically.  When I posted these in August, we were number 1 in CUSA and Western was ranked 4th.  So between then and now, Western jumped over 3 teams to take over the #1 spot.  In the end, however, it only matters how these transfer player help the team win and that story hasn't been written yet.

 

I’d be interested to know how the portal is reevaluated over time in these rankings. Could it be as simple as playing time? For example, a team desperate for help would theoretically be higher in the rankings because their transfers are playing more.