Worried after thinking about the AAC

[meangreenfaninno]

I thought after the SMU debacle I would bounce back but after thinking long and hard about it I am pretty worried.

SMU had not even won the AAC and they beat us to death.  What is going to happen against someone like Memphis who has?  I just fear we are going to be the new prisoner that is fixing to be wearing makeup and being everyone’s bitch in this new league.  It’s depressing.  

[Glory to the Green]

3 minutes ago, meangreenfaninno said:

I thought after the SMU debacle I would bounce back but after thinking long and hard about it I am pretty worried.

SMU had not even won the AAC and they beat us to death.  What is going to happen against someone like Memphis who has?  I just fear we are going to be the new prisoner that is fixing to be wearing makeup and being everyone’s bitch in this new league.  It’s depressing.  

As of the last few years, SMU seems to play their best football to start the season (which is when we play them).  For one reason or another, they have not finished as strong. They have a good team, man. Let the season play out. See how our team responds, then go from there.  Enjoy the ride. 😎

[DeepGreen]

My prediction is this:  SMU will win the AAC this year.  That's a pretty salty team I watched on TV the other night.

[ntmeangreen11]

What the hell are we going to do when we can't beat up on Rice, UTEP, Southern Miss & MTSU?

The new coach is going to have one hell of a task in front of him trying to keep the locker room together while we win no more than 3 or 4 games max over the first two seasons in the AAC. 

 

[PlummMeanGreen]

6 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

My prediction is this:  SMU will win the AAC this year.  That's a pretty salty team I watched on TV the other night.

But, Phil, did cuzzin’ Guido think they were salty? 🙄 🙂
I deleted the KSU thread which expressed my views of what I feel I was actually watching the other night. 

I used to know some people on the golden Gulf Coast who had their acreage fenced off & in season they hunted their deer who were captives inside that fenced-in acreage.  Terrible illustration but some will get my drift.

[UNTcrazy727]

SMU is poised to dominate the AAC once Houston, UCF, and Cincy leave. We won’t be the only team they blowout this season. 
It will be very interesting to see how we fare against Memphis. They’re supposed to be a mid tier AAC team this year. If we can’t compete with them then Wren needs to start making calls. 

[UNTcrazy727]

33 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

My prediction is this:  SMU will win the AAC this year.  That's a pretty salty team I watched on TV the other night.

Definitely a three horse race between SMU, Houston, and Cincy. All looked very strong on Saturday. 

[GRN-WHT]

We’re looking at Todd Dodge territory when we get to the AAC. The talent gap is that enormous. 

[SMUleopold]

Forget the fact that the top three programs are being skimmed off the top, the remaining programs are perennial underachievers who only recently - in the past decade - got decent, and it hurts me to say this but I include SMU in that.  There's nothing Memphis has the UNT doesn't.  Add the other new AAC teams who UNT has regularly competed against and everyone is basically starting off - at least in big picture metrics - on the same page.  The on-the-field product will follow, for good or for bad.  

[emmitt01]

4 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

My prediction is this:  SMU will win the AAC this year.  That's a pretty salty team I watched on TV the other night.

 

I think people greatly overestimated how good UTEP was prior to playing them and greatly overestimate SMU after we played them.   Unless SMU faces other teams that get into the red zone and crap the bed twice, or has a perennial backup quarterback playing as their starter, or are coached by someone with Seth Littrell‘s special brand of ineptitude, you won’t see that kind of dominance from them again this year.

My wife won’t even come to the games anymore…but she watched the game on tv and as soon as I got home Saturday she said “that was ugly…Austin Aune still isn’t good”

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by emmitt01

[MeanGreenTexan]

4 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

 

I think people greatly overestimated how good UTEP was prior to playing them and greatly overestimate SMU after we played them.   Unless SMU faces other teams that get into the red zone and crap the bed twice, or has a perennial backup quarterback playing as their starter, or are coached by someone with Seth Littrell‘s special brand of ineptitude, you won’t see that kind of dominance from them again this year.

My wife won’t even come to the games anymore…

 

While I disagree with the first part (I think SMU probably finishes with 8-9 wins), we’re in the same boat on the bolded part.  I couldn’t come up with any excuses for her (or my daughter, who used to want to go just for the sno cones or Beth Marie’s) that she hadn’t already heard, & I could no longer justify the cost either.

[untjim1995]

We have been middle of the pack (or worse) for several seasons in CUSA, the worst FBS conference by a mile.

At least Rice and Charlotte are coming with us…

[Udomann]

8 hours ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

 

I used to know some people on the golden Gulf Coast who had their acreage fenced off & in season they hunted their deer who were captives inside that fenced-in acreage.  Terrible illustration but some will get my drift.

I am pretty sure no one got your drift...

Edited September 6, 2022 by Udomann

[southsideguy]

Insert UNT for Auburn:

 

[wardly]

21 hours ago, ntmeangreen11 said:

What the hell are we going to do when we can't beat up on Rice, UTEP, Southern Miss & MTSU?

The new coach is going to have one hell of a task in front of him trying to keep the locker room together while we win no more than 3 or 4 games max over the first two seasons in the AAC. 

 

I saw a Yahoo ranking that after our pounding by SMU we are ranked ! place behind Tulsa and ahead of USF,FAU,Temple,Navy,Charlotte.and Rice. Someone posted statistics that showed in the last 25 years or so we lost 60% of our games. I am nearly 80 and have followed Eagle football since my freshman year 1961. After Fry left in the late 70's we have had a few bright spots under Nelson, Dickey, and Littrell. However, overall we have a sorry football program. We used to blame it on our lack of modern "bricks and sticks" that hampered recruiting but that excuse can no longer be used. Our Women's programs are thriving , as is Men's basketball. However no matter how much money we throw at it our football still sucks and I see no end in site. Regarding our recent 5 bowl appearances, we had two teams that played with losing records, and the other 3 got beaten handily. I summary, I see no end in site.

[LitMedallion]

21 hours ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Definitely a three horse race between SMU, Houston, and Cincy. All looked very strong on Saturday. 

I thought Cincy got mauled pretty good? Houston is tough, but our dropped passes doomed us. 

[UNTcrazy727]

6 minutes ago, LitMedallion said:

I thought Cincy got mauled pretty good? Houston is tough, but our dropped passes doomed us. 

I wouldn't say 7 points is getting mauled. Especially, against a top 25 SEC team on the road. 

[SMUleopold]

Cincy is top 25 especially if they get the QB situation figured out.  They play that game later on in the season and there may have been a different result. 

[southsideguy]

I wonder if we will draw more fans to the games when Memphis, ECU come to town? LATECH always had strong following. 

[MrAlien]

honestly I was never really excited about AAC football... Basketball is the reason to be excited about joining the AAC!  The AAC is a legit multi bid conference, and our basketball programs are light years ahead of football.  

[LitMedallion]

1 hour ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

I wouldn't say 7 points is getting mauled. Especially, against a top 25 SEC team on the road. 

I saw a 14 point spread with like 7 minutes to go and I never checked back in on it. Only that Arkansas won.

[untjim1995]

The worry about this past game is similar to what the 2005 Tulsa game at Fouts told us, when we lost a heartbreaker 54-2, in front of over 19k, which was a huge crowd back then. We learned that our regional rivals we thought we were on par with as a program were, in fact, much further ahead than we were, even after the SBC run. Today, we are looking at it as being able to even compete in the AAC when we get there, since SMU isn't even the best team over there.

I still think we can compete there, at least on the field, but the NIL thing is my bigger worry. Because these AAC private schools are just gonna buy teams, as are corporately-funded city teams, like Memphis and UTSA. We don't have enough money to change out a bad head coach, nor apparently pay for workers to make a home game run smoothly. It is what it is...

[southsideguy]

Don't worry to much we will have our starting qb back!

[letsgiveacheer]

3 hours ago, wardly said:

I saw a Yahoo ranking that after our pounding by SMU we are ranked ! place behind Tulsa and ahead of USF,FAU,Temple,Navy,Charlotte.and Rice. Someone posted statistics that showed in the last 25 years or so we lost 60% of our games. I am nearly 80 and have followed Eagle football since my freshman year 1961. After Fry left in the late 70's we have had a few bright spots under Nelson, Dickey, and Littrell. However, overall we have a sorry football program. We used to blame it on our lack of modern "bricks and sticks" that hampered recruiting but that excuse can no longer be used. Our Women's programs are thriving , as is Men's basketball. However no matter how much money we throw at it our football still sucks and I see no end in site. Regarding our recent 5 bowl appearances, we had two teams that played with losing records, and the other 3 got beaten handily. I summary, I see no end in site.

You have ten years on me but our pain is shared. And you are correct, our program is cursed, and while I would like to see improvements, there are no great expectations. Still, we are both here and wanting the best for our program.

After the departure of former conference mates Houston and Memphis (!!), the AAC may not be so bad for us. As you say, there will be plenty of teams at our level so while we will not necessarily be at the top, we also should not be at the bottom every year. 

[GrandGreen]

I would be a lot more worried if NT was left behind in CUSA or a new member of the Belt.