Sun Belt seeks some patience

MeanGreen61 · July 26, 2006

Article from the MUTS board.

League working on improving its 16-141 non-conference mark

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

By Ted Lewis

In 2001, when Middle Tennessee helped inaugurate Sun Belt Conference football with a 31-28 opening-game victory against Vanderbilt, the happiest man in America was commissioner Wright Waters.

"I'm sitting there with my feet on my desk thinking, 'This is going to be easy,' " he said.

Turns out it hasn't been.

Going into the conference's sixth season, Sun Belt teams are 16-141 against Division I-A teams from other conferences.

That includes a 1-26 mark last season when the Sun Belt's lone victory was, you guessed it, Middle Tennessee against Vanderbilt. The average margin of defeat was 29.1 points.

While much of the poor record can be attributed to Sun Belt teams having to play non-return road games against schools from the six BCS guaranteed conferences to help balance the ledgers, the Sun Belt is 12-45 against schools from Conference USA, the Western Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference and the Mountain West plus Army and Navy.

But Waters is pleading for patience rather than ridicule.

"Don't forget we're still in our infancy, and some of our schools have only been Division I-A for a short time," he said Tuesday at the wrap up of Sun Belt Media Days. "Our recruiting is getting better, and the quality of our coaching is getting better."

Waters' thinking is smarter scheduling will help as well. While conceding that non-return games are a financial fact of life for his schools, he would like to see them limited to no more than two.

Waters said the schools that have made it to the New Orleans Bowl -- North Texas and Arkansas State, have more-winnable non-conference slates.

The Mean Green hosts SMU followed by trips to Tulsa and Akron and also has a home game late in the season against Louisiana Tech.

Arkansas State has Army at home and road games at SMU and Memphis.

"If we want real credibility in this conference, we've got compete against the Tulsas and Louisiana Techs and every now and then pop up and beat somebody like Northern Illinois did when they beat Alabama," said North Texas coach Darryl Dickey, whose teams won four of the first five Sun Belt titles.

STAYING PUT: The Sun Belt recently signed a seven-year lease extension with the Pan American Life Building, but there was a time last year in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that the conference strongly considered relocating.

Uncertain conditions in New Orleans led to contact from undisclosed cities in Tennessee and Alabama inviting the Sun Belt to move.

In the end, with strong encouragement from the league's three Louisiana schools (UNO, UL-Monroe and UL-Lafayette), the decision was made to remain in New Orleans.

STILL LOOKING: Katrina has created an atmosphere conducive to outside corporations looking to lend assistance in rebuilding the community, but thus far, it hasn't helped land a new title sponsor for the New Orleans Bowl.

Wyndham Hotels, which lent its name to the 2004 game, dropped out last year when the bowl was relocated to Lafayette.

FLYING OFF THE SHELVES: With Louisiana-Monroe's having to abandon its longtime nickname of Indians for Warhawks thanks to NCAA-mandated restrictions on the use of Native American mascots could have been divisive, it's proven to be a financial boon.

"Our bookstore and our off-campus outlets tell us they can't keep Warhawks merchandise on the shelves," ULM athletic director Bobby Staub said.

Meanwhile, fellow Sun Belt member Arkansas State is sticking with Indians -- for now.

"It's a decision our board of trustees ultimately will have to make," ASU coach Steve Roberts said. "But right now, there are a lot of things going on in the court system that will affect that."

BIG DAWG · July 26, 2006

"If we want real credibility in this conference, we've got compete against the Tulsas and Louisiana Techs and every now and then pop up and beat somebody like Northern Illinois did when they beat Alabama," said North Texas coach Darryl Dickey, whose teams won four of the first five Sun Belt titles.

I thought this quote was interesting with our OOC record, coupled with what many of you see as our coaching staff not trying as hard in those games.

Yes, that is your coach with that comment, one Darrell Dickey.