DMN NT in 3 way race for title

OldTimer · November 3, 2005

North Texas in three-way race for title

Mean Green skidding after opening as favorite to win Sun Belt crown

01:51 AM CST on Thursday, November 3, 2005

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

DENTON – North Texas' game against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday represents the point of no return for the Mean Green.

UNT has lost five of its last six games and was blown out the last two weeks by Louisiana Tech and LSU. Despite that, UNT is in the middle of a three-team race for the Sun Belt Conference title.

Louisiana-Monroe (3-4 overall, 3-0 Sun Belt) sits atop the standings, Arkansas State (4-3, 3-1) is in second. UNT (2-5, 2-1) has home games remaining with ULM and Arkansas State and can do no worse than tie for the Sun Belt title by winning its last four games.

"Our focus needs to be Louisiana-Lafayette (3-5, 2-2) and not what everyone else is doing," UNT coach Darrell Dickey said. "If we don't win that game, it's pretty much over for us."

UNT came into the season as the favorite to win a fifth straight Sun Belt title. The Mean Green has struggled and saw its 26-game Sun Belt Conference winning streak end with a 13-10 loss to Troy and floundered in losses to LSU (56-3) and Louisiana Tech (40-14).

UNT needs to win its last four games to post six wins, become bowl eligible and stay in a tight race for the Sun Belt championship that has taken shape.

"Our players look at the standings, but I tell them that you can't get caught up in it," Dickey said. "The only thing that we can control is how we play."

E-mail bvito@dentonrc.com

PATH TO THE SUN BELT TITLE

North Texas, Louisiana-Monroe and Arkansas State are all in the race for the Sun Belt Conference title heading into the last four weeks of the regular season. Remaining schedules (*-conference game):

NORTH TEXAS

Nov. 5 La. Lafayette*

Nov. 12 at Fla. Atlantic*

Nov. 19 La.-Monroe*

Nov. 26 Arkansas St.*

LA.-MONROE

Nov. 5 Fla. Int.*

Nov. 12 at Mid. Tenn.*

Nov. 19 at North Texas*

Nov. 26 La.-Lafayette*

ARKANSAS STATE

Nov. 5 at Mid. Tenn.*