GMG_Dallas

Netherlands has a lot of young talent hitting stride at the right time. Add in Memphis who's rebounded well from the odd Man U sting and Virgil van Dijk anchoring that defense and it's a really tough opponent. Virgil especially. His dominance allows them to be so much more aggressive offensively. Pulisic is like Dest for me. So much raw talent but at times a bit erratic. Call it inconsistent maybe. He blew up so fast at BVB that I think many hoped he'd be a bit further along but going to Chelsea has hurt him. Just not enough playing time. Happens to so many young talents. Happened to Memphis Depay. Pulisic needs to go play somewhere like Spain or France, or maybe a smaller EPL club, but I think his game would fit better in Spain or France. Like you said, we did what we were supposed to do this WC. Especially after missing 2018, getting the young roster WC experience this go around was critical for 2026.

That's where FAU and UAB entering conference play top 30 would be huge. They'd be Quad 1 games for everybody as long as they remain top 30. Quad 1 losses don't affect your NET much but Quad 1 wins do. An example of this would be Kent State who's 5-3 but has a NET of 33. They're 0-3 against Quad 1 teams. As long as UAB and FAU don't drop any bad games in conference play and we stay up 70+ in NET, we all 3 have a chance to remain highly ranked. Charlotte has an outside chance as well as they're 72.

FAU is top 24 and UAB has West Virginia (11) coming up. If they win that, they'll make a big jump. They also play South Carolina who's 295 for now but as the season goes on, they'll play have plenty of opportunities to jump up playing in the SEC. A win against them can look a whole lot better for UAB in a few months. It's completely possible to have FAU and UAB both top 30 headed into conference play if they handle business. Just helps the overall perception of the conference and opens up the chance for a multi-bid. I believe UNT had a good chance of getting in last year had we made it to the conference finals against UAB. Neither UAB or UNT were going to be punished for that.

To add, per warrennolan.com which compiles all the NET data, CUSA as a conference is ranked 9th in NET rating, one spot above the AAC despite Houston being number 1 overall. Other than FIU who's 3-4, everybody in CUSA is .500 or better. We've got two teams at 6-1 and Charlotte is 7-2.

Ok didn't realize it updated daily. Thanks.

Ranked 69*. To note, we're 4-2 for NET rankings as So Nazarene and Paul Quinn don't count. UNC Wilmington are 102 and St Mary's are 17. UAB has West Virginia and South Carolina coming up and I can see them winning both. Would be great for our conference to have FAU and UAB have high NET rankings headed into conference play. Outside of FIU who's .500, everybody in our conference is above .500 which is really impressive. Here's to hoping we're a multi-bid conference this year!

Yeah center back is an area of concern. I would have liked to see Carter-Vickers get more playing time considering he's young. It's too bad Miazga never developed into quite the player people thought he could be. He and Yedlin are two that I thought would be regulars on defense but haven't quite worked out. Yedlin has been fine but again, not who many thought he'd be in 2014. Dest is a bit out of control at times but he has so much raw talent, he should be a difference maker in 2026. My main issue with MLS guys is they just aren't facing the same level of competition throughout the season so when you end up in the world cup having to face elite talent, like against the Netherlands, they're out classed. Obviously, there's outliers like Donovan who never paned out overseas but on defense, they need to be used to facing the speed and technical skills you see in Europe. Wonder if John Brooks, who's the same age as Zimmerman and played in the Bundesliga most of his career, would have done better. Between bad fouls, bad passes, and being slow, Zimmerman was costly. Regarding strikers, they just need to find the right combination. Pepi should have made the team. Some guys just find ways to score and he's one of them. We needed that. We needed to make adjustments after scoring only 1 goal in the first 2 games. Other than moving to a more defensive 4-4-2 against England, we didn't change our formation at all despite struggling to score. Scoring 3 goals in 3 games while in a 4-3-3 is not good.

Also,

I'm seeing a lot of praise for SL on Twitter but these two posts were interesting to me because of who they are. Thoughts? Great coach but didn't they, or at least the dad, trash NT on the way out?

Hopefully coaches around the country see it that way and we get a great pool of candidates.

Agreed.

I'm purely speculating here but I wonder if the football HC/AD situation is overblown considering Wren just got a promotion to a bigger program despite never hiring/firing a head football coach at UNT. Their job is to manage the entire athletic department not just the head football coach. It didn't stop Wren from coming here in the first place.

Wren is still AD for the next few weeks I believe.

Doesn't really matter. It's not about bowls anymore. The bowls are for the players and fans to have fun, they no longer define a season. It's the right time to move on.

SL seemed like all class. I hope he finds success somewhere. Sad it wasn't here because I'd rather our HC have a Gary Patterson or Nick Saban type of tenure but it is what it is. There were good times in all this that won't be forgotten.

Plot twist, SL becomes AD and we're stuck with him forever.

Confused by the "economical hire" deal but he looks like a good candidate based off record. I know nothing about him otherwise. Honestly, I'll be excited for any change. You could sell me anybody but SL right now.

Exactly. Dude is scamming these kids. He sold these kids on elevating HBCUs and preached loyalty but left after 2 years. He got the number 1 player in the country to flip to Jackson State and now left him. All those kids who transfered from FBS schools, including many from P5s, to play for him are now left out to dry. Doubt he'll have success at Colorado. And to add, he refused any opportunity to play teams of equal talent. The SWAC has been down for years. He could have had Jackson State in the FCS playoffs but instead opted to play the Celebration Bowl and used tradition as a disguise. Finessed Colorado out of millions in the process.

Were they? Because I looked at their transfers from late 2021 to early 2022 and most looked like role players except maybe the DE from TCU. On the flip side they lost a 6ft3 312 pound 5th year senior DT to OU whose on paper production looked like Novil's here.

And UTA lost to powerhouse Drexel 59-38. LSU may be 7-1 but the only decent competition they faced resulted in a loss. I'll be disappointed if we lose to UTA.

They've been starting the same QB for the past 3 seasons and he's actually progressed yearly. Now, in his junior year, he's confident, experienced, can run an offense, can manage a game, and has sharpened his skills. It's one of the reasons why I was advocating for anybody but Aune this year. It wasn't about this season, it was about next season. We knew Aune's ceiling. He hadn't improved much from year to year and at his age and classification, wasn't going to be our QB of the next 3 years. I would have preferred we play a guy with more eligibility to plan for the future. Instead, we're back at the starting point QB-wise and still have no hardware.

Y'all are so silly trashing Stone so early in his career. The guy will be good for us.

If he finishes the game, this could be that break through in a low pressure situation. This is great foe our young guys. I'd love to see him to double figures.

He's 5 years older than Malzahn who has UCF ranked and playing the AAC championship game today but ok. Sure. Just because Dan McCarney didn't work here, doesn't mean another former P5 coach won't work in the future.

Hopefully by 2026, we're done playing 30 year olds who have never left the MLS. Zimmerman made the foul that led to Wales tying on a penalty kick. He was constantly caught flat-footed and/or out of position today. Meanwhile, Cameron Carter-Vickers plays in the most storied Scottish team and competes in the Champions League every year. Jesus Ferreira didn't do squat today either while Pepi sat at home. I can't think of a single World Cup winner with an MLS player starting, or even in the WC roster. The best national teams have their players playing in Europe for a reason - it's where the best leagues are. The US men's basketball team wouldn't start guys playing basketball in Europe over guys from the NBA. Same concept.