Sun Belt/WAC vastly different conferences

[MeanGreen61]

Brett Vito: Sun Belt, WAC vastly different conferences

08:35 AM CDT on Monday, October 24, 2005

Louisiana Tech had just gotten done running over North Texas on Saturday when Bulldogs coach Jack Bicknell stopped to ponder the difference between the WAC and the Sun Belt.

“I think the WAC is a very good conference,” Bicknell said. “If you look at what the WAC teams have done compared to those in the Sun Belt, there’s no comparison. That’s not to say anything bad about the Sun Belt, but the WAC is an established conference that’s had some success against some very good teams.”

For a short time just a few months ago, it appeared as if UNT might leave the Sun Belt to become a member of that far-flung league. The WAC expressed interest in UNT after the school’s failed bid to join Conference USA.

After a few weeks that saw several scenarios bantered about, UNT stayed in the Sun Belt while their former conference mates Utah State, Idaho and New Mexico State headed to the WAC.

The moves were probably the best for everyone involved when it comes to geography, but there seems to be little doubt as to what teams ended up in a better football league, especially after Tech’s performance against the Mean Green.

The Bulldogs shut out UNT in the first half and coasted to a 40-14 win at Aillet Stadium in the Mean Green’s first game against a current member of the WAC since its decision to stay in the Sun Belt.

UNT’s loss became just another setback in a dismal non-conference season for the SBC, which has combined to win a grand total of one non-conference game against a Division I-A team this season, despite 23 shots at it.

If it was not for Middle Tennessee’s stunning win over Vanderbilt, the league would be zero for the year.

That record can be attributed in part to a host of road games against traditional powers, but one would think the league would manage at least a few wins outside of conference play.

The stage certainly seemed set coming into the season. The Sun Belt won nine non-conference games last season, the most for league since it starting its Division I-A football ventures back in 2001.

Troy beat Missouri and Marshall, went to the Silicon Valley Football Classic and produced an NFL first-round draft pick in defensive end in Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Ware. UNT turned out a second straight national rushing champion in Jamario Thomas, who followed Patrick Cobbs.

The league hoped to build on that momentum this year, but has watched its top program in North Texas struggle and nearly everyone take a step back when it comes to non-conference play.

Louisiana-Monroe is in first place in the league standings with a 3-0 record, but fell to Division I-AA Northwestern State in its season opener.

UNT knew when it joined the Sun Belt in 2001 that there would be some growing pains that go along trying to help build a new league. That fact didn’t change when the conference realignment puzzle was finally put together.

UNT didn’t get into C-USA like it had hoped and stayed put in the Sun Belt to try and grow its program in a regionally based league instead of sending its athletes west on a repeated basis.

UNT’s reasoning was solid, but it also left the Mean Green the challenge of trying to grow in the Sun Belt, which has struggled to take a step forward this season. As Bicknell pointed out, the WAC has certainly fared better. Fresno State is ranked among the top 25 teams in the country.

There is little doubt the Sun Belt has been good for the Mean Green. UNT has won the league title and played in the New Orleans Bowl in four straight seasons.

Despite a slow start, UNT is still very much in contention for a fifth straight title in a league the Mean Green are trying to advance. That process has been painful at times.

One of those times came on Saturday. Tech dominated that game. In the process it also provided the Sun Belt another reminder of just how much work the league still needs to reach its goals of moving up the ranks of Division I-A conferences.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .