Monday Drc Column

[Brett Vito]

Denton Record-Chronicle

[Mean Green 93-98]

I wouldn't call Rice a must-win. FIU, on the other hand . . .

[UNT Mean Green]

The Mean Green did used to defeat ASU and those guys easily, however, times have really changed in the Sun Belt conference since then. Those teams/programs were not very good and used to get blown out on a regular basis when playing an Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, etc. Nowadays, however, ASU, MTSU, Florida Atlantic, etc. are much more quality programs that can compete with major schools from major conferences day in and day out. A lot of people want to talk about how UNT is not winning and has not won in a while. That is a true statement and I think alot of it can be attributed to the fact that the Sun Belt is a much higher quality league than it used to be.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I don't think that Vito's saying that all are "must wins" but the more wins before the student vote the better the chances for approval.

I think that we stand a decent chance against Rice for the reasons mentioned: we may have all of our projected starters (except the two JUCOs) available for the first time this year; we have an extra week for healing and practice; we have made some improvement with each game; and Rice, may still be licking its wounds after a hard-fought battle with UT.

The first two conference games should be the most winnable on our schedule. We do not have a lot of experienced players but our talent should be on par with the upper echelon of the league. Hopefully, that will get us a couple of wins early. The conference is getting tougher and I'm hoping that we're improving right along with them.

[meangreendork]

I don't think that Vito's saying that all are "must wins" but the more wins before the student vote the better the chances for approval.

Most definitely. No matter the arguments presented by the pro-Stadium advocates, nothing will speak louder than markings in the "W" column.

[chrisfisher]

When you have had 2 wins in 2 years.... every game is a must win, if nothing else to show potential recruits that the program will turn around and soon.

[Mean Green 93-98]

When you have had 2 wins in 2 years.... every game is a must win, if nothing else to show potential recruits that the program will turn around and soon.

I guess we're definining "must" a little different. Yes, every game is important. But not every game is a make-or-break. I think if we could somehow pull out 5+ wins the rest of the season, regardless of who those wins came against, it would be positive for the program.