Season Predictions

[sparkmank]

Ok honestly I am tired of the negativity on the Football board and I also am counting down the days to Nov. 9th in the Pit so... I thought a prediction thread would be nice to see what others think about our team.. Here is mine..

I think from a fan/student standpoint I have been around these guys more than anyone (made final 3 in the walkons that were held and attended 3 days of practice before coach Jones decided to add no one) Here is my take... were young yes but my goodness I have never been around this kind of athleticism! last year athletes compared to this years are night and day.. we had great guard play last yr and were fairly good shooters.. and george was good 5 man that could finish around the rim.. but my goodness guys this team gets up and down the floor with the best of them.. 8 to 10 guys play above the rim, dont be suprised if you see more dunks this year than in years past.. Now by no means am I correlating this to wins just throwing it out there that we are quick, tall, athletic and can jam with the best of them... Niko has been a very pleasant suprise for me personally cause I didnt expect him to step and play like he did in practice while also being a leader.. But setting all this stuff aside, the fact is were young.. real young, does that mean we cant win the belt, go dancing and shock the nation... no but at the same time there may be some building blocks along way.. the fact that alzee, ked and zo are healthy and back is huge to me and goes overlooked for some reason.. Obviously everyone knows of Tony and what he can do but I know one thing.. Chris Jones is a stinkin stud.. he will be an amazing player before his time ends here at UNT.. Also Jordan Willams is smooth and goes up with the best of them.. Trey Norris might me the quickest guard in the Belt behind Taylor of FAU.. his decesion making is beautiful and has the makings of a great pass first PG.. Brandoon Walton is a pure shooter, when open can be deadly, I dont think he will play much but still can have big impact.. Forrest is a work in progress.. I also think he gets limited time while learning the game and becoming more crisp.. Roger Franklin and Justin Patton will be the difference makers (if cleared by NCAA) these guys are experinced adn Roger is a straight leader.. everything about him spells leader.. he gets after you and never stops till practice is over.. Roger was in the rivals top 150 for a reason, his work under the boards is a thing of beauty and his Defense alone makes him special.. all and all though I feel we have the most talent in the belt by years end (once agian most talent doesnt mean championships) but with how coachable these kids are and Coach Jones knowledge for the game I am confident going into this year if nothing else..

My projected starting 5 (Pre-Tony)

PG- Chris Jones SG- Alzee Williams (either he or chris vice versa both ways) SF- Justin Patton aka JP PF- Roger Franklin C- Ked.. Dont be suprised if you see Jacob Holmen in the starting lineup early though due to the fact he knows the offense and has been working real hard this offseason..

Cant wait guys its gonna be a fun season with hopefully some trophys and nets to go along with it..

Prediction- Nonconfrence wins over Tech, LSU and Texas(ya i said it), UTA, Sam Houston St and others losses to MS ST and LMU and one game we just dont show up for (gut feelings on these games) Non conference record of 10 and 3 (drinking that green koolaid.. you bet ya)

Confrence Record- 13 and 3 - Tony comes and brings his thunder.. we lose 3 close ones all on the road.. (If you make me choose which ones I will go with FAU, Southern Alabama and Denver.. That leaves our record at 23 and 6 heaading into tourny time.. 1 gallons worth of green koolaid and this is how I feel.. Hot springs comes and goes and your mean green are going dancing again.. GMG! lets have a great year!!

Edited October 31, 2011 by sparkmank

[Mean Green 93-98]

Great post--thanks for the insight!

[Censored by Laurie]

Columbia is better than Loyola Marymount...they're the bigger concern in the Cali Tourney.

I say we lose to Texas on a questionable last second foul call. Those games tend to be more memorable around here.

Seriously, I can't wait for the UT game...Jones and Alzee against Myck Kabongo and J'Covan Brown is gonna be fun to watch. It seems everything worked out in Rick Barnes' favor here though...last game of a tough 4 game roadie, no Tony Mitchell...

Mind you if JJ doesn't win he should be fired and forced to drive back to Denton from far south Austin on 35 at 5:02PM on a rainy Friday afternoon.

[cwb]

Columbia is better than Loyola Marymount...they're the bigger concern in the Cali Tourney

Are you mocking me? Seriously, it was an honest mistake.

[Censored by Laurie]

Columbia is better than Loyola Marymount...they're the bigger concern in the Cali Tourney

Are you mocking me? Seriously, it was an honest mistake.

It's not all about you.

[cwb]

It's not all about you.

Didn't get that memo.

[NT03]

Pass the kool aid , I'm thirsty

[Cooley]

Thanks Sparkmank!

[Eastwood Eagle]

Great write up. I did not know Roger Franklin's status was in jeopardy. Could some one explain this?

I am pumped up for this season! I wish I could stick around UNT a few more years to see this freshman class develop.

My prediction is we fall short of 20 wins and get 19 but that we tear it up at Hot Springs.

[CMJ]

My prediction is we fall short of 20 wins and get 19 but that we tear it up at Hot Springs.

That's more what I'm thinking.

[Maduro]

I say we lose to Texas on a questionable last second foul call.

Mind you if JJ doesn't win he should be fired and forced to drive back to Denton from far south Austin on 35 at 5:02PM on a rainy Friday afternoon.

i visited the City of Austin Referee School for the Blind and they were doing their walkthroughs for this game. It appears Kedrik is going to get ejected with about 3 minutes to go... also looks like Alzee will be the one guilty of the touching foul behind the arc with 5 seconds on the clock while we have a 1 point lead. They plan to allow Texas to already be in the bonus with about 12 minutes to go in the 2nd half.

what a tough way for a guy to get fired and make a bad drive home.

[Army of Dad]

Columbia is better than Loyola Marymount...they're the bigger concern in the Cali Tourney.

I say we lose to Texas on a questionable last second foul call. Those games tend to be more memorable around here.

Seriously, I can't wait for the UT game...Jones and Alzee against Myck Kabongo and J'Covan Brown is gonna be fun to watch. It seems everything worked out in Rick Barnes' favor here though...last game of a tough 4 game roadie, no Tony Mitchell...

Mind you if JJ doesn't win he should be fired and forced to drive back to Denton from far south Austin on 35 at 5:02PM on a rainy Friday afternoon.

That is going too far!

[gksmith]

I applaud North Texas for playing some tougher teams (Texas Tech, Texas, Mississippi State, LSU) but there are some others that are real cupcakes: St. Gregory (NAIA), UTA, Sam Houston State (Southland Conference), Jackson State, Grambling State (SWAC) and New Orleans (dropped to D-II).

Georgetown basketball under John Thompson Sr. got away with playing a “weak” non-conference schedule. I would like to see tougher teams than NAIA team, two Southland teams, two SWAC teams and a D-II team.

[MeanGreenTexan]

I applaud North Texas for playing some tougher teams (Texas Tech, Texas, Mississippi State, LSU) but there are some others that are real cupcakes: St. Gregory (NAIA), UTA, Sam Houston State (Southland Conference), Jackson State, Grambling State (SWAC) and New Orleans (dropped to D-II).

Georgetown basketball under John Thompson Sr. got away with playing a “weak” non-conference schedule. I would like to see tougher teams than NAIA team, two Southland teams, two SWAC teams and a D-II team.

Good idea, but here are some questions for you...

Who would you like to replace these teams with?

Do you like home non-conference games, or would you prefer almost all non-conference games to be on the road?

With this young roster, are you ready to see 15+ losses if we remove these "weak" teams (assuming you want to replace them with "strong" teams)?

Have you been to a UNT/UTA game or UNT/SHSU game?

[UNT90]

Sam Houston beat our ass by 20 last year.

Let's work on going undefeated against a "weak" non-conference schedule before wanting go pretend we are Duke.

[Green P1]

I never wanna not have UTA on the schedule.

[Army of Dad]

I never wanna not have UTA on the schedule.

This

[greenminer]

I applaud North Texas for playing some tougher teams (Texas Tech, Texas, Mississippi State, LSU) but there are some others that are real cupcakes: St. Gregory (NAIA), UTA, Sam Houston State (Southland Conference), Jackson State, Grambling State (SWAC) and New Orleans (dropped to D-II).

Georgetown basketball under John Thompson Sr. got away with playing a "weak" non-conference schedule. I would like to see tougher teams than NAIA team, two Southland teams, two SWAC teams and a D-II team.

Disagree. I think this is a great schedule for this year's Mean Green roster.

[gksmith]

What I am talking about is “Strength of Schedule” that comes into play when getting a bid to either the NCAA tournament or the NIT. There have been a few times where a second SBC team makes the NCAA tournament. When the NCAA tournament committee is making decisions about seeding and adding teams, strength of schedule is an important factor.

Last season for North Texas is a classic example. NT lost the SBC championship game but had what I thought was a pretty strong team. Everyone was hoping NT would make the NCAAs with an at-large bid. Didn’t happen. Didn’t get a bid to the NIT either. NT did not have a strong enough schedule to be considered.

This is how you build a program for the long haul. 20 win seasons are nice but they don’t mean as much as they used to. Again, see NT the last 5 years and only 2 NCAA tournament bids only because they won the SBC tournament. Every year there is a 20 win team that thinks they should be in the tournament but is left out…because they played too soft of a schedule.

I would forgo a 20 win season in favor of getting an at-large bid to the NCAAs or NIT. The stronger schedule is how an 18 or 17 win school beats out a 20 win school for the tournament.

[TheTastyGreek]

What I am talking about is “Strength of Schedule” that comes into play when getting a bid to either the NCAA tournament or the NIT. There have been a few times where a second SBC team makes the NCAA tournament. When the NCAA tournament committee is making decisions about seeding and adding teams, strength of schedule is an important factor.

Last season for North Texas is a classic example. NT lost the SBC championship game but had what I thought was a pretty strong team. Everyone was hoping NT would make the NCAAs with an at-large bid. Didn’t happen. Didn’t get a bid to the NIT either. NT did not have a strong enough schedule to be considered.

This is how you build a program for the long haul. 20 win seasons are nice but they don’t mean as much as they used to. Again, see NT the last 5 years and only 2 NCAA tournament bids only because they won the SBC tournament. Every year there is a 20 win team that thinks they should be in the tournament but is left out…because they played too soft of a schedule.

I would forgo a 20 win season in favor of getting an at-large bid to the NCAAs or NIT. The stronger schedule is how an 18 or 17 win school beats out a 20 win school for the tournament.

OOC schedule (and our record against it) wasn't the problem last year. Off the top of my head, I think we were 9-2 vs. D-1 opponents, with the only losses coming against Kansas and SHSU. Struggling through injury after injury and going 8-8 in conference would doom any non-power conference school's hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA or NIT.

If there's an example of a non-Big 6 team making the tournament as an at-large with 17-18 wins, no matter what schedule they played... I don't know about it.

[Green P1]

Sounds like your complaints are aimed more at the conference than the program. Is it about time to invite the realignment guys into the basketball forum?

[glick1980]

Any mid-major program has to win 25 or more games to have a shot at an at-large bid. You have to do that while dominating your conference and being upset in the semifinals or championship game of your conference tourney. Beating some high majors will help your chances, but the main thing about last year was how bad we were in regular season conference games. You can't lose to the teams we lost to and expect an at-large bid.

[TheTastyGreek]

Sounds like your complaints are aimed more at the conference than the program. Is it about time to invite the realignment guys into the basketball forum?

Why do you hate me all of a sudden?

Or maybe it isn't all of a sudden? Have you really hated me all along? Is it because of my backwards L.A. Raiders cap and my gold teeth?

[Green P1]

Why do you hate me all of a sudden?

Or maybe it isn't all of a sudden? Have you really hated me all along? Is it because of my backwards L.A. Raiders cap and my gold teeth?

Don't know what you're talking about. I'm just spit-ballin ideas for the betterment of the program.

[gksmith]

You can't really complain about conference anyway.

Every conference will have their weak team, middle of the road teams, and the high level teams. Where strength of schedule really comes into play is the OOC schedule.

As for At-Large bids to the NCAA Tournament with less then 20 wins:

2011 - #9 seed Tennessee SEC 19–14 At-large, #10 Penn State Big 10 19–14 At-large, #9 Illinois Big 10 19–13 At-large, USC Pac-10 19–14 At-large (had to play in the play in game), #10 Michigan State Big 10 19–14 At-large

2010 - #9 Wake Forest ACC 19–10 At-large

2009 - #12 Wisconsin Big Ten 19–12 At-large, #12 Arizona Pac-10 19–13 At-large

2008 - #10 Arizona Pac-10 19-14 At-Large, #11 Kentucky SEC 18-12 At-Large, #9 Oregon Pac-10 18-13 At-Large

2007 - #11 Stanford Pac-10 18-12 At-Large

2006 - #6 Indiana Big Ten 18-11 At-Large, #10 Alabama SEC 17-12 At-Large, #10 Seton Hall Big East 18-11 At-Large, #8 Arizona Pac-10 19-12 At-Large, #9 Wisconsin Big Ten 19-11 At-Large

I think I made my point.