Greendylan

I do remember Carmouche's name being called a lot when playing against us. It seems that my memory serves me well: 15 points and 7 rebounds on the road (according to Yahoo Sports). I would say that he arguably was the second or third best player on a fellow Sun Belt team. I know we all wish to maintain high expectations, but this would really be a steal in my opinion. How many teams get to add the second or third best player from a conference opponent (who is immediately eligible) simply to increase depth on an already loaded team? His numbers and size may not indicate that he fulfills any glaring need, but this would provide another PROVEN option from the bench. It seems to me that our ability to rotate in fresh new players—from a plethora of formidable backups—when the starters are struggling is one of this team's greatest advantages over nearly all our opponents. Additionally, he would still be here the year after all our current starting guards have exhausted their eligibility. Yes, there are other attractive options (that may not really be options), but I look at it this way: Do we really want to see this young, double-digit scoring, Division I starter end up as a welcome reinforcement at ASU, WKU, or USA?

Ok, it looks like we are heading to Fox and Hound downtown, if anyone is interested.

A few of us in Fort Worth will not be able to make it up to Pourhouse in Denton by 6:00, so we'll probably just meet somewhere downtown. If anyone else is in a similar predicament and would like to join us, let me know!

Wow, five teams now tied for first with a 10-5 record!

We played Arkansas State twice.

I think it's a little misleading to simply state that we're 0-2 vs. top 100 RPI teams. We lost after very respectable efforts on the road against the #14 (Texas A&M) and #37 (Oklahoma State) teams. I tend to think that either game could have (with a little luck) gone our way if it was played at home, but that's perhaps just my overly optimistic opinion. Also, we played six teams (not three) with an RPI between 101-200, compiling a 4-3 record.

Those RPI's always frustrate me this time of year. We win a few games in a row but move slightly down because of the competition. Overall, the Sun Belt sure seems weak at the moment. Am I wrong in assuming that this is about the worst the conference has been in years?

Well, ASU needs to lose at least two more. Realistically, I would think they need to lose two of the following three: at ULL, home against WKU, and home against Troy. Honestly, I don't see any way they lose either of their other two games (home against ULM and UNO), but I suppose stranger things have happened.

Well, the article mentions that Johnson will be back next year after a redshirt, so at least Vito seems to think it will be granted.

I never complain about road wins, regardless of the final score or opponent. At home...that's another story, and I think there can, on occasion, be room for criticism after a win. That's just my approach to it.

With most teams beginning the night with nine or ten conference games remaining, I'm not ready to concede the west just yet. I know it's unlikely, but a three game losing streak by one team and a winning streak for another can dramatically reverse fortunes. For instance, WKU went from first place in the east to fourth in the span of about six days. Sadly, I have a feeling they're going to take out their frustrations on us tonight, but I digress...

Not to be "that guy," but this class is currently (as of 1/26) ranked 102 out of 120 Division 1 FBS teams. I still voted "ok" because given the season we just had, this ranking really could be even worse. Also, this does not take into account the transfers. Regardless, I just can't get excited about any ranking that puts us in the bottom 15% of our division. Oh well, maybe Rivals is wrong. I do individually like a lot of the talent that appears to be coming.

I would like to believe that the school will do everything it can to find a way to up the OC salary and hire some accomplished up and comer away from a successful FBS program. Sadly, I have never seen any evidence to suggest that they will attempt this. I'm almost ready to play one additional "money" game a year, if the revenue could be used to hire a couple brilliant and proven assistants.

I sometimes think that not only the UNT administration but also most of our students and alumni have pretty low long term expectations. My goal for the team is to eventually win a national championship. There, I said it. However, even most UNT fans laugh at this bold proclamation. I don't expect this to occur in the next couple seasons, but I also don't see the good in aiming for anything less. TCU came damn close to getting there this year, and you only have to look back to the 2004 season to see a UNT team with a better record than TCU. As for the short term, I'm not opposed to baby steps. However, I really hope they're for the right reasons. In other words, in any sport I can accept mediocrity (even very poor results) if there is viable evidence that more substantial outcomes are on the horizon. Sometimes, though, it's tough to tell if we are following a path with this vision or simply aren't willing or able to shoot for something greater.

I don't want to make too much of it, but I feel a lot better about this team after playing short-handed and winning in a place where they never seem to have success.

That was a fun game to watch. Idaho seems like a flawed, incomplete team with some talent here and there. They found a way to make it work and win most of their games despite some clear deficiencies on defense. I see no reason why we should not expect to be as good or better than that next season with the players we have returning.

I've heard this statement numerous times, and there's certainly some truth to it. However, isn't it possible that Dodge has had more recruiting success on offense simply because quality offensive players are more interested in playing for a spread team than defensive standouts? As I understand it, premium D-linemen are extremely difficult for non-powerhouse programs to recruit, even under the best of circumstances. Yes, we could be better at evaluating talent and find a one or two star DL who turns into an all-conference performer, but I imagine there's a certain amount of luck involved in this. We can't just demand even the best of recruiters to take this route and expect it to work every year.

If we accomplish nothing over the next ten years other than a few more 20-win seasons but no NCAA/NIT bids, then yes I would be disappointed that we couldn't get over that hump. However, I feel that the success over the last three seasons was an important step in the right direction--consistently winning. The next step will be consistently reaching postseason play (beyond the SBC tournament of course). That may or may not happen, but I feel that the program is poised to reach this point, and that's something I would have never dreamed of several years back.

Right now I feel like this team is playing at the level of an average to slightly above average Sun Belt team. Part of this is due to injury, but overall it just seems like the new players have not yet meshed with the returning starters. However, there are flashes of rebounding dominance, focused defense, and organized offense; these just aren't happening consistently. I do believe this team has the talent and coaching to still win the conference, but at some point the player combinations will have to gel. I think this is possible. If it wasn't, the team would not be 8-4 despite clearly struggling at times.

I would think that we still have as good a shot as anyone at winning the west division. However, if Denver can sneak a road conference win here or there, they will be a serious contender. In the east, it seems that South Alabama has a significantly more impressive resume than us at the moment (despite losing to Rice). As for Western Kentucky, their most disappointing game so far would, I imagine, be a one point home loss to an 8-3 Indiana State team. So, while I'm certainly not conceding anything yet, if I was to rank the entire conference at the present time, I would have to put us third or fourth.

Not to be pessimistic, but we really need to beat Rice. Right now I can’t even conceive of this team beating A&M, and I don’t think 0-4 in nonconference road games played outside of the metroplex is indicative of a team that will win conference.

I truly hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see any momentum or excitement that we can sell to recruits or potential donors/season ticket holders. What can we possibly say to hype next season: "No, we really, really mean it this time. Things will be different next year!" Maybe I'm just being negative because I haven't fully recovered from the 0-27 start against ASU.

Well, good luck to you, Coach Dodge. I do see an impressive amount of talent returning next year. However, I really hope there's a PR genius in the athletic department to try to create excitement for next season.

If we retain the same coaching staff (which may or may not be the right thing), we sure better pull off a huge season next year, and I don't think progress is a word that can equate with success any longer. I can't imagine any way we pull off even a respectable recruiting class this year, so we may be shooting ourselves in the foot for the future.

I don't know what the right decision is concerning the head coach. However, I do think that the coaching staff does shoulder some responsibility (not 100% but some) for not pulling off more of the close games. I imagine that if you looked at almost any team with a losing record they would argue that they really should have won two or three more. Colorado State finished 3-9, but they lost four games by seven points or less (three of them were by two or less), so you could argue that they were just a step away from 7-5. Western Kentucky lost three games by eight or less. Ball State lost six games by seven or less. Are they close to being an eight win team, despite their 2-10 record? Maybe, maybe not. My point is just that losing is still losing. Again, I don't know what the right decision is in our situation. It's a difficult one either way, and I'm glad I don't have to make the call. I just know that regardless of the extenuating circumstances, pre-existing conditions, bad luck, or whatever, we sure have been doing a lot of losing for several years now. It's becoming exponentially harder each year to justify being a season ticket holder to friends and family.