USA Today No. 63: Louisiana Tech

[Harry]

It was a banner season with three notable caveats. For one, the year did not include a Western Athletic Conference title, Louisiana Tech's primary goal heading into 2012. Two: The year ended without a postseason bid, amazingly enough, despite the Bulldogs' nine-win finish and flawless offensive credentials. Finally, and most of all, the offseason began without coach Sonny Dykes, who led Tech for three years before accepting a job as Jeff Tedford's replacement at California in early December.

So was 2012 truly a successful season for Louisiana Tech? Nine wins was the barometer for success; the Bulldogs won nine games. The offense was expected to be superb; the offense was predictably superb, without fail. The Bulldogs were expected to beat at least one automatic-qualifying opponent in September; they beat two, Virginia and Illinois.

And yet there are those three negatives. Successful? I'd say so, given that Tech matched most of its preseason expectations. But this team could have done much more, so much more, only to cost itself a potential Bowl Championship Series bid – if not merely a postseason bid – by botching WAC games against Utah State and San Jose State in November. A successful year, I suppose, though Tech left wins on the field.

GAME(S) TO WATCH

— Rice: I don't think any West Division team can hang with Tulsa, the prohibitive preseason favorite. Whether the Bulldogs can secure second place in the division likely hinges on a date with Rice, another West team with bowl aspirations. Whether Tech can reach bowl eligibility depends on its success against the weaker teams on this schedule; the Bulldogs can't afford a slipup against FIU, UTEP, North Texas or UTSA. The non-conference schedule is much easier than a year ago, though a loss seems likely against N.C. State in the opener. A 3-1 mark in non-conference play – which would mean a win at Kansas – would leave Tech in the position to win eight games during the regular season.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/07/05/louisiana-tech-college-football-countdown-2013-preview/2491615/

[UNT90]

^{I wonder where S. Mississippi was rated by USA at the start of last season. I would bet around the same spot.}

^{Not saying La. Tech will suffer the same fate as USM, but they face a lot of the same challenges that USM did last year (a huge loss of seniors to graduation plus a new coach).}

^{Edit: Tried to google it, but only find this years list, which had USM at #82, despite a winless 2012. Pretty safe to say that this list has a lot to do with reputation.}

Edited July 8, 2013 by UNT90

[PlummMeanGreen]

^{I wonder where S. Mississippi was rated by USA at the start of last season. I would bet around the same spot.}

^{Not saying La. Tech will suffer the same fate as USM, but they face a lot of the same challenges that USM did last year (a huge loss of seniors to graduation plus a new coach).}

^{Edit: Tried to google it, but only find this years list, which had USM at #82, despite a winless 2012. Pretty safe to say that this list has a lot to do with reputation.}

College football summer preseason magazines are like the Top 25 polls at the beginning of a new football season; that is, they are still mostly using last years teams to base their predictions on for this Fall.

Top 10 ranked teams that lose many players from the previous season still usually get Top 10 rankings at the beginning of a new season it seems. Not taking anything from ULM's win over Arkansas 2 years ago, but it became pretty obvious that the Hogs had been ranked too high at the beginning of that season before it all came tumbling down for them. What ULM does with so little budget is worth putting a high powered magnifying glass on for Coach Mac and staff. You don't just get lucky with recruits that can beat the Razorbacks.

"IF"....La Tech does not lose any momentum this Fall after all the players they lost to graduation last season, then we of UNT need to attend their next "Recruiting Seminar" in Ruston.

May be wrong, but I think the La Tech Bulldogs lose momentum this Fall merely based on their large number of players who will not be back this Fall.

GMG!

Edited July 8, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[UNT90]

If what you say is true, USM wouldn't be rated 20 some odd spots above us this pre-season after a 0-12 record last year. It's based on your perception as a program, not based on last year's record.

Also, ULM beat Arkansas last year, not 2 years ago.

[PlummMeanGreen]

If what you say is true, USM wouldn't be rated 20 some odd spots above us this pre-season after a 0-12 record last year. It's based on your perception as a program, not based on last year's record.

Also, ULM beat Arkansas last year, not 2 years ago.

Senior moment...your time for having those will get here sooner than you'd ever think. But I think the rest of the message of the post was fairly close to being accurate; at least I think it was.

USM? I don't think the pollsters really care about the rest of us once they get past their Super Conference crowd of ranked schools quite frankly. Sometimes (and most past years) it almost seems the Bottom 25 to 35 is like they throw most all the Go5 conference schools in one giant vat and just start picking those at random just to fill out the rest of their NCAA FBS rankings and many times those rarely based on serious research or facts.

Those ranking UNT this Fall have no idea of all the NCAA FBS level transfers we have coming in nor have they seen our recruit lists (and videos) which I think is actually a better class than most on this forum have judged it to be. Boise State when they first started getting good rarely had recruiting hauls that caused anyone to notice, least of all rank those first few classes very high.

At some special point in time, the law of averages even at UNT where many of our projects actually start fulfilling their full potentials. Lest we forget, some of our best producers in the past at UNT have been walk-ons.

GMG!

Edited July 8, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[UNT90]

Senior moment...your time for having those will get here sooner than you'd ever think. But I think the rest of the message of the post was fairly close to being accurate, now wasn't It?

GMG!

I already have my fair share.

And no, not really. USM gets away with a 0-12 season because of their reputation in the college football world. We were not even rated that high going into last season, and we won 5 freaking games, including a win over a Big 5 team (albeit a terrible one)in 2011.

Why?

Because we have earned a terrible reputation in the college football world. No way we should be rated lower than USM this year, but we are.

Edited July 8, 2013 by UNT90

[PlummMeanGreen]

I already have my fair share.

And no, not really. USM gets away with a 0-12 season because of their reputation in the college football world. We were not even rated that high going into last season, and we won 5 freaking games, including a win over a Big 5 team (albeit a terrible one)in 2011.

Why?

Because we have earned a terrible reputation in the college football world. No way we should be rated lower than USM this year, but we are.

Agree....we have been bad for too long a period of time. Was talking to a fellow alum the other day about how we just let all this get away from us and seemed to not do much to solve the problems that were causing our dillema.

You have to admit that there is a problem before you can even begin to address and then solve the problem (and I don't think our top echelon leaders at UNT in the past have been very effective at doing that most my entire adult life. You do have certain barometers to go by to suggest that things are going well or things are going to hell in a hand basket. I hope that is changing for the better and for good.

GMG!

[UNT90]

You have to admit that there is a problem before you can even begin to address and then solve the problem (and I don't think our top echelon leaders at UNT in the past have been very effective at doing that most my entire adult life. You do have certain barometers to go by to suggest that things are going well or things are going to hell in a hand basket.

Wait... I thought we were talking about the football program, not the basketball program...

Edited July 9, 2013 by UNT90