GMG_Dallas

I understand that. Whatever stirs up that initial excitement one has for a team or program can often feel to be the most exciting times. I was a student in 2013 so The Stand against Rice on a Halloween night followed by the bowl win a few months later is some of the most exciting football I've witnessed at UNT. I also can recognize why it's not the most exciting time in UNT football history. Looking at the past 30 or so years I can't think of a major sports team at UNT being more relevant on a national level than right now. I also haven't been following the program for the past 30 years. Constant bubble talks, our first NCAA tournament win against a highly ranked Purdue which was a major upset, multiple 20+ win seasons, conference regular season championships and conference tournament championships. He's a hall of fame coach if he leaves today. He won a game in the biggest national competition college basketball has. What Fry built up was unfortunately not maintained in the way it needed to be once he left. Not his fault. If UNT basketball keeps this progress and turns in some Cinderella runs in the big dance in the next 5 years or so, with or without Grant as HC, it'll always be him who started that. Sure it's not an impact on the entire AD but it will have brought national recognition to our AD in a way we probably haven’t seen since Fry. A coach having that impact with only one sport is no small task. He's not there yet but he could very well be on his way.

No.

I get the whole strength of conference deal. What bothers me is the hypocrisy in assessing bad losses. Jerry Palm of CBS has #56 USC, #51 Missouri, and #50 Pitt in his bracket. Admittedly, I don't understand why Missouri's NET rank is so low. Only thing I can think of is close wins against poorly ranked squads (200+ NET). Then, there's Pitt who has 1 Quad 3 loss and 1 Quad 4 loss. Same with USC. We have 2 Quad 3 losses and 0 Quad 4 losses yet our Quad 3s are held against us until then end. I realize we have less Quad 1 wins. We've also had less opportunities. Still, bad losses are bad losses. No matter how many good ones you think you have. Regarding bottom of conference SOS, does it matter much if the high major schools are scheduling, and losing, tune-ups against cupcakes? USC has played 6 Quad 4 games (5-1), UNT 7 (7-0), and Pitt has played 10 (9-1). Mizzou has played 8 (8-0) so they're fine. The other 2 schools get the benefit of the doubt because they've played more Quad 1s but haven't shown any level of dominance against any particular Quad to justify so much love. They've played as many, if not more, Quad 4 cupcakes. At the end of the day, there should be no committee that decides who's in and who's not. Want it to decide seeding? Fine. But you can't develop metrics that rank everybody and then have a committee go against the metrics because of feelings.

Might as well scrap all the metrics at that point. Really baffles me they can pick and choose what parts of the NET to follow. A team shouldn't jump over another. No reason a team with 13 losses should get an at-large bid anyways.

Not all hope is lost.

Which is wild when you think about recent tournaments. Since 2015, CUSA has had 5 teams pull off first round upsets despite only being a 1-bid conference. Since 2019, the MWC has been 0-8 in the tourney. 2020 had no tournament so the MWC numbers are even worst when you consider they had 4 bids last year (0-4). CUSA has performed well despite poor seeding. It's time that's recognized.

I feel the same. At the end of the day, keep winning and hope for the best. I think we have a team capable of making a run. If not, I'd love to see the committee deny a 28 win UNT an at-large bid for some 18 win Big 10 team just to see the hypocrisy.

Joe Lunardi would have UNT as 79, 3 behind the first 4/next 4 out bubble teams. Below Clemson who just gave Louisville their 4th win of the season. Clown stuff.

I don't think our chances of an at-large are any better than last year. We really have no bad losses but people don't view CUSA strong enough to warrant any losses... Rice took Texas to OT, UNC Wilmington has 21 wins, St Mary's is ranked one of the top teams in the country, and FAU has been very good. Really is about perception when you see the love Texas A&M is getting with a weak SEC schedule (so far, Tennessee and Alabama coming up in 2 of the last 3). Ta&m has 2 Quad 4 losses against #213 Murray St and #227 Wofford. They lost by 28 to #64 Colorado. All 3 of those teams are barely scrapping .500. They also lost both their Quad 1 non conference games, one of which was to Boise State which the 4th best team of CUSA beat (Charlotte). TA&M has handled conference play fine which should make a reasonable person question the strength of the SEC since they couldn't handle OOC play but that won't be the case. It's a damn shame.

I'd like us more in the Big Dance but I'll take any postseason play. Could be a way to pad these away/neutral win numbers.

Having Houston drop 137 on you was exciting? Just poking fun a bit. I get it was exciting at the time but that doesn't mean it was any better than it is now. Both coaches had incredible turnarounds year 1. I wasn't here to see Blakeley but looking at win/loss records, it appears he flamed out after his first 3 seasons. McCasland's immediate turnaround of this program was incredible and to keep winning without a single down year through 6 seasons put him on a different level. He's the best basketball coach we've had so far. Over Blakeley and over Jones. Enjoy it while he's here.

Yup. Didn't think they'd pull it out after Oregon came back from down 10 to up by 1 but they figured out a way to make more plays. Scrappy win. I'll take it. Now to Boise State who is currently in. Would like them to beat UNLV. Not sure where they Rebels stand in all this but if Boise State is already in, I'd rather another MWC team not sneak their way into conversations.

Charlotte beat #10 Georgia. Upsets are the way of softball and baseball. As for us, I'm sure the Mean Green will bounce back.

Memphis lost to Houston and Maryland lost to Nebraska. Not that Maryland is in bubble talks, they're a "should be in," but any high major collapses are welcome. Big game right now with Oregon in a close one against Washington state. Really need the cougars to win this one.

Yeah really sucks they couldn't finish it. During the UH - Memphis half time show they said UNC should all be out with this loss to NC State. North Carolina is 0-9 in Quad 1 wins. I realize we've played very few Quad 1s but 0-9 is hard to justify putting in the field. It'll come down to their conference tournament at this point and if they can make a run there.

I think Clemson losing all but ends their at large hopes. They had been a "final 4" candidate. Good news for us.

Important game of the night IMO: Clemson losing to 4-23 Louisville. Clemson has been a bubble team in most brackets. Surely that'll be in the minds of decision makers come selection sunday. Ok State got clobbered, Wisconsin lost (to another bubble team in Rutgers), Pitt lost. Few important games tomorrow. Sadly, Utah State beat Nevada. Will be interesting to see what the next bracket talk looks like.

Good guys win despite the supposed "trash bag" uniform curse. Sissoko showed some potential. Poor defense at times but had enough good moments to be a positive contributor. Stone had a great game overall. What really has been great is the emergence of Huntsberry after a slow start. Last year, we would have greatly struggled with a cold Perry. Not this year with Huntsberry as a second option. His play allowed us to climb back in just enough to give Perry a chance to shine and shine he did. UTEP always makes me nervous, be it basketball or football. Glad we could get this win.

Charlotte up 57-50 on LA Tech with 9 left in the 2nd half. UTSA up 18-10 over UAB with 14 left in the first half.

Charlotte up by 17 over LA Tech early in the second half.

Not just win, but perform against their lower ranked conference mates early in their conference tournaments. Don't need a 16-14 team going on a run in their conference tournament and finishing 19-15. Even without winning their tournaments, that's enough to propel some blue bloods into at large bids.

Did not know Memphis still has 2 against Houston. Watched the end of Memphis vs UCF last night and couldn't believe how UCF collapsed like that. Memphis got a successful trap and hit the game winning lap with 7 seconds left. UCF quickly tossed the outlet pass and had a 2 on 1 to win the game but missed the contested layup. A Memphis loss last night would have really helped us.

Watched some of the CBS Sports halftime broadcast for highlights and they mentioned if FAU lost a single game before the conference tourney and then did not win the tourney, they would be at risk of not making the big dance as an at-large. Well, they lost tonight to MTSU. I find it hard to believe they wouldn't make it with how high their NET would likely still be (probably right around 30 in that scenario) but that's what the CBS sports halftime crew believes. Pretty crazy how disrespected the mid-majors are these days. Go back 10 years and you'd have 10ish mid-majors make the big dance as an at-large. Seems bids were much more spreadout by conference. Don't know what happened but it's disappointing. Guess they don't want too many Cinderella stories.

Wow did not know that! Why?

Lol this is like Art Briles. Do you want a great ball coach who "technically" didn't do anything wrong? Then go right ahead.