D R C - U N T Faces Tough Sun Belt

MeanGreen61 · September 17, 2007

Football: UNT faces tougher Sun Belt

Troy, ASU, FAU deliver big wins this weekend

09:58 PM CDT on Sunday, September 16, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

A quick rundown from the weekend in the Sun Belt Conference:

Troy beat Oklahoma State, Arkansas State knocked off SMU and, perhaps most pertinent of all for North Texas fans, Florida Atlantic edged Minnesota.

Has there ever been a more pronounced sign that the Sun Belt the Mean Green used to dominate is no more?

The Sun Belt once longed for one win or two like the ones the conference's teams posted last weekend. Sometimes the league got those wins -- over the course of a season.

The Sun Belt's coaches have droned on for years about how the league is improving. This weekend they came up with the proof. This wasn't just one isolated win like Troy's victory over Missouri in 2004 or Louisiana-Lafayette's win over Houston last season. It was perhaps the best overall showing ever for the league in a short time frame.

That performance came just in time to remind UNT that the Sun Belt isn't going to be the cakewalk it used to be when the Mean Green opens league play this weekend at home against FAU.

This isn't the same conference UNT walked all over while winning 26 straight league games from 2001 through the first game of 2005. The talent is better in the Sun Belt now. So are the teams.

Troy hammered Rice last season in the New Orleans Bowl and doesn't look like it is slowing down any time soon. ASU beat SMU just a year after falling to the Mustangs 55-9.

What might be even scarier for UNT fans is FAU hanging 580 yards of total offense on Minnesota of the Big 10. Granted, the Big 10 isn't exactly turning out to be a world-beater of a conference this season, but it's still the Big. 10.

FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger might be known best for winning a national championship with Miami, but in Denton he is equally well known for his habit of raining on UNT's parade. FAU stunned the Mean Green at home in the second week of the 2004 season, just the Owls' fourth in program history. FAU has won the last two years as well and is quickly rising toward SMU status on the villain level among the UNT faithful.

To say that Schellenberger arriving in Denton just in time for head coach Todd Dodge's first home game at UNT is a bit ironic would be an understatement.

Just about everyone believes that Dodge will turn around the Mean Green's program after two down seasons. The point is hard to argue considering Dodge built a dynasty at Southlake Carroll and appears to be turning around what was a struggling UNT offense.

UNT quarterback Daniel Meager threw for a school record 601 yards against SMU and former walk-on wide receiver Casey Fitzgerald finished 327 receiving yards, the fourth-best total in Division I-A history.

Those performances give the Mean Green hope that its 0-2 start is one it can recover from quickly in Sun Belt Conference play. The Sun Belt was always a respite for the Mean Green in its best days of the last few years.

Those days keep fading from memory, though. UNT finished 2-5 in each of the last two seasons in conference play. Last year one of those wins came against an FIU team that finished 0-12, and UNT needed seven overtimes to seal the deal.

There is a chance the Mean Green could quickly rack up a few wins in league play. The last two seasons ASU and Troy have come out of the preseason prognostication pack to become league champions.

If last weekend's games are any indication, becoming the latest team to come out of nowhere to win the league title is going to be monumental challenge for the Mean Green.

This isn't the Sun Belt of old any more.

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

rcade · September 17, 2007

The Sun Belt has the potential to be a decent regional conference that produces mid-majors who can crack the Top 25. The southeast is a more fertile ground for football than the west, and if North Texas finds itself in the Belt for the next decade, that isn't the nightmare scenario people think it is. If a few schools continue to improve -- Troy, Arkansas State, potentially Middle Tennessee, and Dodge brings North Texas back -- I could see the Belt passing the WAC and MAC and playing at the level of CUSA.

Eagle1855 · September 17, 2007

The Sun Belt has the potential to be a decent regional conference that produces mid-majors who can crack the Top 25. The southeast is a more fertile ground for football than the west, and if North Texas finds itself in the Belt for the next decade, that isn't the nightmare scenario people think it is. If a few schools continue to improve -- Troy, Arkansas State, potentially Middle Tennessee, and Dodge brings North Texas back -- I could see the Belt passing the WAC and MAC and playing at the level of CUSA.

I agree, but Id argue that the belt is already on par with C-USA. We just don't have anyone that is as good as the top 2 of the WAC... yet.

Dodge2007 · September 17, 2007

I agree, but Id argue that the belt is already on par with C-USA. We just don't have anyone that is as good as the top 2 of the WAC... yet.

Not sure if the Belt is as solid from top to bottom as C-USA but it is getting closer. But definitely Troy can play with anyone in C-USA and you could argue that FAU might be able to as well.

Eagle1855 · September 17, 2007

Not sure if the Belt is as solid from top to bottom as C-USA but it is getting closer. But definitely Troy can play with anyone in C-USA and you could argue that FAU might be able to as well.

Oh, I think C-USA is better top to bottom, but I think FAU, MTSU, and Troy... and maybe even ASU... could play with any team in that conference.

Hopefully we develop a defense, then I will able to someday say the same thing about us.

Green Lantern · September 17, 2007

It'll be interesting to see how SMU fares in CUSA play. If they are decent, like the prognosticators have suggested before the season, it would definately go towards proving the gains being made by the Belt. NT competed with/could have easily won that game. ASU dominated them. NT is supposed to be a bad/decent Belt team this year, and ASU is supposed to compete for the conference championship. Will be interesting to see how the rest of this year plays out.

hickoryhouse · September 17, 2007

Assuming we can stomach the growing pains that we are experiencing, I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to say the same about us very soon!

GoMeanGreen1999 · September 17, 2007

Oh, I think C-USA is better top to bottom, but I think FAU, MTSU, and Troy... and maybe even ASU... could play with any team in that conference.
Hopefully we develop a defense, then I will able to someday say the same thing about us.

I would agree that there are some Belt teams that are doing a lot better, but I am not sure I would agree with the statement that we are at the level of C-USA either. I wonder if there is any talk of getting a regional conference going - I would be in favor of that for sure.

Eagle1855 · September 17, 2007

I would agree that there are some Belt teams that are doing a lot better, but I am not sure I would agree with the statement that we are at the level of C-USA either. I wonder if there is any talk of getting a regional conference going - I would be in favor of that for sure.

Im just saying, if you took the best teams in C-USA and pitted them against the best teams in the SBC... I think it would be a pretty even split, depending on the matchups vs relative strengths and weaknesses.

the bottom of the SBC is still an abysmal disaster and im not sure the bottom of C-USA is a whole lot better. The middle is the major difference between the two. Just my opinion

Edited September 17, 2007 by Eagle1855

The Fake Lonnie Finch · September 17, 2007

I can't look at SMU and Rice and agree that the bottom of the C-USA is "a whole lot better." In fact, if we played SMU 10 times in a row, I'll bet we'd split the games 5 wins apiece. And, Rice has nothing. Nicholls State beat them.

I've been as big a Belt basher as there's ever been on this board, but I'm proud, and very encouraged, by what Belt schools are doing so far this season.

Eagle1855 · September 17, 2007

I can't look at SMU and Rice and agree that the bottom of the C-USA is "a whole lot better." In fact, if we played SMU 10 times in a row, I'll bet we'd split the games 5 wins apiece. And, Rice has nothing. Nicholls State beat them.

Agree. Just to clarify, I was saying that I don't think the bottom of C-USA is a whole lot better than the SBC.

I've been as big a Belt basher as there's ever been on this board, but I'm proud, and very encouraged, by what Belt schools are doing so far this season.

Ditto, and ditto.

Edited September 17, 2007 by Eagle1855