Beem Me Up Scottie...................

TheTastyGreek · February 15, 2010

One other thing that merits mention in response to Mo's original post is the RPI of our opponents this year.

The conference RPI is pretty terrible this season, it's true. But a conference's RPI is defined by performance in OOC games, and this was a very bad year for our strongest conference mates in OOC games.

Middle Tennessee is leading the entire league right now, but during the OOC schedule, they played most of their games without Desmond Yates. Yates, for anyone who doesn't follow our conference mates closely, is arguably (or, maybe not) the single most dominant player in the league. He's a forward with the size and interior game of an Odufuwa or a Tramiel, and the outside shooting of a Tristan Thompson. And for the first 8 games (all non-conference) of the season, MTSU didn't have him due to injury.

Unfortunately, those 8 games were more than 60% of MTSU's OOC schedule, and the primary determinant in their (and, by extension, 1/13th of the Sun Belt's) RPI. If Yates is healthy and available, I think that MTSU's 1 point loss to UAB (current RPI: 33) swings to a win. They probably don't lose to Marshall, NC A&T... All in all, their OOC performance is probably a lot more in line with their SBC performance if they aren't playing without their all-time leading scorer for most of the non-conference slate.

FAU is playing a roster of almost entirely sophomores and freshmen. A slow start (again, almost entirely in the OOC calendar) isn't unexpected from them. But since New Year's, they're 8-4 with one of those losses a 3 point OT loss to South Alabama a week after USA beat Florida. Once their team finally gelled, FAU is a damn good team. But by the time it came together for them (New Year's, almost to the day), all their OOC games were behind them.

Western's RPI is lower than usual because they played a godawful schedule in January. WKU just had a tough run in a short period of time, and wound up in a 5 game losing streak.

5 straight losses in 5 games played in 10 days. Two of them against the top team in the SBC East, one of them a 1 point loss on the road. A one point loss to us, in overtime. Lost on the road to a good but not great Southern Illinois team. Lost on the road at Troy in what was their 3rd game in 5 days.

If you look at that run of losses and the two games that led into it, WKU played 7 games in 14 days. Effectively, a game every other day, and they had to do it without their second best player because Sergio Kerusch was out injured. Otherwise, considering their OOC wins against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, and a loss-that-shouldn't-have-been against Houston in one of the most disgusting cases of referee incompetence you'll ever see (seriously... a foul AND a technical on a loose ball in a tie game with 0.2 seconds remaining??)... I think they'd be a top 100 RPI team without question.

I'm not saying this is a banner year for the Belt or anything, but I'm saying that pointing to opponent RPI when so many of our conference opponents fought through injuries, youth, godawful officiating, or some combination of those and other factors during the stretch of schedule that truly determines RPI is somewhat unfair.

As to our non-conference schedule, I was one of the most vocal critics during the offseason. But it's hard as hell to get games when you're a school that's as successful as we have been lately, unless you're willing to go on the road and play for a paycheck instead of a return game. We did that twice this year, and we lost them both.

But pointing to those games as a failure of coaching is like calling a street whore a failure as a woman because she can't get her tricks to marry her before the hour is up. In both cases, the transaction doesn't generally happen if the party with an open wallet thinks their desired outcome appears doubtful in the slightest.

Larger conference teams just don't want to come here while we're so dangerous. Frankly, I'm amazed and I tip my hat to the folks in the Athletics Department for managing to get Texas Tech and LSU to agree to home-and-home deals with us over the next two years.

Our home OOC schedule sucked. Our road OOC schedule included two paycheck/no return games. We lost them both. We lost on the road the day after Thanksgiving in freaking Idaho, we lost to the #13 RPI team, we lost to the #37 RPI team. And those are our only non-conference losses. All in all, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I wish our other 8 OOC games were against teams that had better seasons this year or more respectable names... But it's exceptionally difficult for any team to beat a school that isn't playing against them.

To that OOC scheduling point... There's not much we can do to predict how well or poorly an opponent will do in a given year that we're scheduled to play them. A good example of that is a look back at last year's schedule, which some folks have been pointing to this year as an example of cupcake scheduling that gets us to 20 easy wins.

Last year, we played Indiana State, Sam Houston State (twice, home and away) and New Mexico State. We won all of them. If we had those four games on our schedule this year, we'd have 4 more games (and 4 wins) against top 100 RPI opponents. SHSU is 74, New Mexico State is 76, and Indiana State is 89.

Rice hasn't had a good year. Jackson State played their OOC at Memphis, at Alabama, at Tulsa, at Baylor, at Nebraska... A schedule designed to pay bills, not rack up the sort of wins that lead to quality RPI rankings. SE Louisiana hasn't been as good as expected, and that hurts us, too.

I wish we had the "signature win" that some of our fans want to point to, like our Oklahoma State win in 07/08. I still see the WKU win as a big statement and a huge victory, but I can understand how someone could chip away at it.

But the fact that we didn't come through in either of our two chances to get a "signature win" this year doesn't mean that the season is a failure. The fact that our strongest conference opponents didn't get their legs under them until OOC play was almost over doesn't make them any less talented or formidable today.

untgeorge · February 15, 2010

It would be nice if folks would kinda stop looking for something to bitch about and pull together occasionally. A lotta folks would like to have a team to back that is doing as good as this one. Look at how the other teams in the metroplex are doing. TCU,SMU and UTA are in UNTs rear view mirror. This team is definately in the hunt for a berth in the Dance and on the way to their best conference record since being in the Belt.

This UNT team is definitely in the hunt, not doubt about that, and and that is what we should be celebrating and be focused on.

However, comparisons to TCU, SMU and UTA are irrelevant. If we are thinking about coaches, we should compare to the Sun Belt. Specifically Jarvis, Brady, Arrow and MacDonald. In the long run our future depends on how we do against them, not how out stats compare to those of TCU and SMU.

UNTLifer · February 15, 2010

It would be nice if folks would kinda stop looking for something to bitch about and pull together occasionally. A lotta folks would like to have a team to back that is doing as good as this one. Look at how the other teams in the metroplex are doing. TCU,SMU and UTA are in UNTs rear view mirror. This team is definately in the hunt for a berth in the Dance and on the way to their best conference record since being in the Belt.

It's the wrinkled $100 bill crowd. What did you expect.

If we don't beat HBU by 30+ and run out to a 25-0 lead, then JJ should be fired immediately and forced to hitch hike back from Houston.

Edited February 15, 2010 by UNTLifer

Greendylan · February 15, 2010

We played Arkansas State twice.

KRAM1 · February 15, 2010

It would be nice if folks would kinda stop looking for something to bitch about and pull together occasionally.

Where were you during football season????

MeanGreen61 · February 15, 2010

Where were you during football season????

Mean Green football-basketball = Apples & oranges. JJ going for 4th straight 20 plus wins season. TD just hoping to complete his 4th. :ph34r:

Edited February 15, 2010 by MeanGreen61

Quoner · February 15, 2010

Mean Green football-basketball = Apples & oranges. JJ going for 4th straight 20 plus wins season. TD just hoping to complete his 4th.

Don't question KRAM's unwavering commitment. I'm thinking of slapping a UNT jersey on my cat and seeing if he'll cheer for it next time he goes to the vet.

Got5onIt · February 16, 2010

"Mo Green" sounds like a football fan who's jealous of what the basketball team has. What's sad is that his argument of "if the football team played bottom feeders, they would be good too" because the football team does play bottom feeders (with the exception of Alabama) and still can't win.

Paid his dues or not, he is still a hater

Word to ya mother.

UNTLifer · February 16, 2010

Word to ya mother.

-1 for quoting Vanilla Ice.

Got5onIt · February 16, 2010

-1 for quoting Vanilla Ice.

-100 for you for thinking Vanilla Ice coined this catch phrase. :rolleyes: :lol:

UNTLifer · February 16, 2010

True, but a multiple negative was earned for even using that phrase.

Green P1 · February 17, 2010

Don't question KRAM's unwavering commitment. I'm thinking of slapping a UNT jersey on my cat and seeing if he'll cheer for it next time he goes to the vet.

I tried this a couple of years ago. Remember Evyn Roman? He's resting comfortably on the back of my couch as I type.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Green P1