Is UNT bad for the Belt?

[shaft]

As the season approaches more and more articles are popping up in other SBC teams' papers and message boards labeling their games with UNT as "must wins." So my question is if UNT sweeps the Belt again, is that actually a bad thing for the conference?

[MootPoint]

As the season approaches more and more articles are popping up in other SBC teams' papers and message boards labeling their games with UNT as "must wins."  So my question is if UNT sweeps the Belt again, is that actually a bad thing for the conference?

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It just means we ruined all of their seasons if we sweep the belt again. But, it's gotta happen to someone. If we lose to TMS or Troy and don't go to a bowl, the loss would be considered one that kind of "ruined" our season. Would the team going to the NO Bowl then be considered all that great? I don't know that any other team would necessarily get any respect from the national media just because they finally beat us once. I think it will take several years of consistent winning for any other belt team to get any real national respect, even to the level we're at now, which isn't all that great even now.

[untgirl04]

Good question, and I don't think the answer is an easy one, so I'll just cover all my bases.

1. Yes. If NT wins the SBC again, but several other schools are bowl eligible and make it to an open bowl game, it just increases SBC prestige. NT still comes out on top, and if we win the NO Bowl, the SBC is seen as an emerging conference rather than the dregs of Division I-A.

2. No. If NT continues to dominate the Belt, but our conference-mates continue to make ESPN's Bottom 10 each week, the Belt just looks worse and worse. And if NT doesn't win the NO Bowl, the conference looks like a laughingstock. I personally believe that the Belt is getting better all the time, and doesn't get near enough credit (especially when you're being compared to $40 million + athletic budgets).

Overall, I think that everyone is touting our game with them as a "must win" because it's a great goal - we've got a great conference winning streak right now, and we're 4-time conference champs. It's fine for the other schools to have lofty goals, but in reality, all of their games are "must win." Even if they beat NT, if they lose every other conference game, it still means spending the bowl season on the couch at home.

Our conference rivals need to concentrate on getting the job done with all of their games and quit worrying about what's going on up at the I-35 junction.

Edited August 18, 2005 by untgirl04

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

----What is bad for the belt is getting blown-out by non-conf. teams. More teams (not just us) need to be competitive in non-conf. games. Troy helped us some last year with wins over Marshall and Missouri and a close loss to LSU. Our big loss to UT and to Baylor were strikes against the Belt.... We were best of the Belt and we took losses that made us look bad.

Edited August 18, 2005 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[Arkstfan]

Depends.

When conferences rise the normal trend is one team jumps out and several pursue and catch up raising the league.

The bad thing for the Belt is that our front runner is what 4-20 in non-conference play? That is not good. MTSU beating Vandy or Troy beating Missouri carry much less clout because they didn't win the bowl berth as league champion so they could be dismissed as fluke wins.

[IslandEagle]

----What is bad for the belt is getting blown-out by non-conf. teams.  More teams (not just us) need to be competitive in non-conf. games.  Troy helped us some last year with wins over Marshall and Missouri and a close loss to LSU.  Our big loss to UT and  to Baylor were strikes against the Belt.... We were best of the Belt and we took losses that made us look bad.

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Ditto!! Out of conference victories and/or New Orleans Bowl wins will be the only thing that will take the Sun Belt higher. Our Bowl victory over Cincy was a big plus for the Belt and our program. Our blow-out to UT and loss in New Orleans last year set us back. Troy helped the Belt out with OOC wins last year, but others need to step up this year.

[shaft]

If UNT sweeps the conference, but doesn't win its OOC and bowl games its bad for the SBC. It shows that the conference can't produce a next level team, and the mid-range Belt teams suck because they can't get past UNT.

[Arkstfan]

If UNT sweeps the conference, but doesn't win its OOC and bowl games its bad for the SBC.  It shows that the conference can't produce a next level team, and the mid-range Belt teams suck because they can't get past UNT.

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Much better way of saying what I wanted to say.

[NM Green]

The same exact thing is happening in the WAC except they have some proven teams sitting behind the beast that is Boise State. That has evolved with time and so will our situation.

However, the ball is in all of our courts. We must all step it up against the OCC. We also must win the New Orleans Bowl - whoever is there!

One of my clients commented on my shrine to North Texas in my office. He asked if I was upset they didn't join the WAC and in the same breath went on to state that we were too good for the WAC. The new look WAC is taking its toll on the average Hawaii fan and the fact that this guy stated sincerely that he believed we were too good for the WAC was interesting.

Our prestige is growing. We can help the league grow. The SBC is headed in the right direction while conferences like CUSA and the WAC are in much more flux. The CUSA chatter looks like the old WAC - extremely destructive.

GMG

[shaft]

The SBC and WAC are nothing alike. The WAC has/had a much better top end, breaking the top 25 polls and getting things like the number 1 draft pick.

Boise State has been able to use it momentum of winning conference games to translate into OOC wins, UNT hasn't.

I love me some Mean Green, but lets not be delusional here. CUSA is sitting pretty, with a new regional look that is going to make them a lot of money.

[stebo]

The SBC and WAC are nothing alike.  The WAC has/had a much better top end, breaking the top 25 polls and getting things like the number 1 draft pick.

Boise State has been able to use it momentum of winning conference games to translate into OOC wins, UNT hasn't.

I love me some Mean Green, but lets not be delusional here.  CUSA is sitting pretty, with a new regional look that is going to make them a lot of money.

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CUSA might be looking good for North Texas and our fans - but to the Eastern half of its members they look like poop. That is why the fans stood up and BOOOOOOOOOOO'd the hell out of their conference commissioner at the New Orleans Bowl last year. They are NOT happy at all with the new additions. Now they are even less happy because they have lost their crown jewel bowl game - the Liberty Bowl - and have the priviledge of sending their champ to Houston to play the 7th place Big 12 team now... umm, not so good.

As for the WAC, teams like Idaho, NMSU, Nevada, USU, and even Boise might be happy with the new look WAC and its two bowls in Hawaii and Boise... but teams like Hawaii and Fresno are looking to get out ASAP. In one swoop, the MWC could destroy the WAC by taking their best teams as well as BOTH of their bowls.

So while Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP, Houston, and Tulane fans might be really happy right about now with the new look CUSA... teams like ECU, UAB, Southern Miss, and Memphis are not - and teams like Marshall and UCF are just happy to be out of the MAC.

[mdmeangreen]

Yeah, I agree CUSA won't be as good an option in the near futur.

[badgerwolf]

As the season approaches more and more articles are popping up in other SBC teams' papers and message boards labeling their games with UNT as "must wins."  So my question is if UNT sweeps the Belt again, is that actually a bad thing for the conference?

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NO; NT is great for SBC football. However, we all want to kick your Mean Green arses all over the football field . . . LOL!

[Eagle1855]

NO; NT is great for SBC football.  However, we all want to kick your Mean Green arses all over the football field . . . LOL!

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Its good to be King... even if it is for ONLY 4 seasons....

I think UNT has been good in the sense we have brought alot of exposure to the belt due to our RB's and our conference winning streak--- all good things to get noticed.

I think the only way we (UNT) have hurt the belt is the same way Troy has helped it--- OOC play. It doesnt look good to keep getting your balls beat in the first four games only to win the conference over and over.

Edited August 19, 2005 by Eagle1855

[0footballfan0]

UNT has been great for the Sunbelt. I think without the press they have gotten for being the 4 time champs that the Sunbelt would be getting no mention.

If ASU, then MTSU, then UNT, then ULL won then I think the belt would not get a 2nd glance.

[tonyhuntoon]

The SB is bad for UNT. Time to go another direction.

[greenminer]

The SB is bad for UNT. Time to go another direction.

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HUH? Last time I checked, the Sun Belt is the reason we've been to the NO Bowl 4 straight years.

Do you genuinely believe that being anywhere else [in any other conference) we'd be in the position we're in with the athletic buildings/stadium? You can throw all the TV exposure/contracts/# crunching at me about other conferences and what they have to offer, but, face it, we weren't ready for anything else 4 years ago and our current dominance (in the Belt) is the only reason we are afforded the opportunities given to us now....that and RV.

It absolutely boggles my mind; not how people wish we were somewhere else, but how some people competely underappreciate what the Belt has done for us up until now.

Am I the only one grateful for it?

-gm

PS: I for one, however, could do without the recent favors that the conference has granted the MUTS in their favor regarding our series with them. 2 years in a row at their place, and now this second-week-of-the-season crap?

Edited August 19, 2005 by greenminer

[NT80]

HUH?  Last time I checked, the Sun Belt is the reason we've been to the NO Bowl 4 straight years.

Do you genuinely believe that being anywhere else [in any other conference) we'd be in the position we're in with the athletic buildings/stadium?  You can throw all the TV exposure/contracts/# crunching at me about other conferences and what they have to offer, but, face it, we weren't ready for anything else 4 years ago and our current dominance (in the Belt) is the only reason we are afforded the opportunities given to us now....that and RV.

It absolutely boggles my mind; not how people wish we were somewhere else, but how some people competely underappreciate what the Belt has done for us.

Am I the only one grateful for it? 

-gm

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Well, I can see both sides to this NT/SBC issue. Most realtors say you don't want to be the biggest on the block; and that location, location, location is the key. We are the biggest in the SBC but a lower spot in CUSA or Big12 would be far better overall for us. Just my 2cents.

[pollock]

"Vote for me and we'll all be wearin gold plated diapers."