Bowl Game Rankings

StealthEagle84 · December 3, 2018

We're the highest rated G5 match up according to this article. While the destination isn't as desirable, it's a solid match up. One we need to win.

"Bowl season gets going with two really fun offenses, led by two lesser-known quarterbacks. North Texas’ Mason Fine has combined for 58 touchdown passes over the last two seasons while Utah State’s Jordan Love emerged as one of the Mountain West’s best. Utah State already lost coach Matt Wells to Texas Tech. Could UNT lose Seth Littrell to Kansas State?"

https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-2018-bowl-games-1-39-alabama-oklahoma-no-1-232758819.html

greenminer · December 3, 2018

This game is less than a week before early signing day.

we can’t control Seth’s decision, but I hope our players see this as an opportunity to impress the 2019 recruits.

peanuts104 · December 3, 2018

I fail to see how this is such an enticing game. They lost their head coach and we might lose ours. Scenarios:

1) (with SL) We beat a team that lost their head coach, excuse is well they lost their head coach

2) (with SL) We lose to a team that lost their head coach, making us look worse

3) (without SL) two teams teams that lost their head coaches fight it out and the game doesn't really show or prove anything.

With the circumstances surrounding the coaching positions, this game does not excite me. If Matt Wells and Seth were both coaching in the game my tune would be dramatically different. I think, with both coaches, it would be one of the best bowls in the country.

golfingomez · December 3, 2018

37 minutes ago, peanuts104 said:

I fail to see how this is such an enticing game. They lost their head coach and we might lose ours. Scenarios:

1) (with SL) We beat a team that lost their head coach, excuse is well they lost their head coach

2) (with SL) We lose to a team that lost their head coach, making us look worse

3) (without SL) two teams teams that lost their head coaches fight it out and the game doesn't really show or prove anything.

With the circumstances surrounding the coaching positions, this game does not excite me. If Matt Wells and Seth were both coaching in the game my tune would be dramatically different. I think, with both coaches, it would be one of the best bowls in the country.

because it's a ranking system for (mostly) non-partisan fans that are looking for good matchups in the bowl season...

This game features two high ranking offenses with a combined win total of 19 games, and there are only 5 other matchups that have more than that.

For all the whining on this board, this is a really great matchup for UNT. If you wanted to play a P5 school in a bowl game, that is almost out of our hands entirely only a few schools (Fresno St., Boise St. Memphis, UCF, Temple, Cincinnati.. zero CUSA, Sun-Belt or MAC schools) were able to secure a matchup against a P5.

This should be viewed by all, INCLUDING us, as a great matchup, and a chance to continue climbing the college football ladder.

MeanGreenTexan · December 3, 2018

56 minutes ago, peanuts104 said:

I fail to see how this is such an enticing game. They lost their head coach and we might lose ours. Scenarios:

1) (with SL) We beat a team that lost their head coach, excuse is well they lost their head coach

2) (with SL) We lose to a team that lost their head coach, making us look worse

3) (without SL) two teams teams that lost their head coaches fight it out and the game doesn't really show or prove anything.

With the circumstances surrounding the coaching positions, this game does not excite me. If Matt Wells and Seth were both coaching in the game my tune would be dramatically different. I think, with both coaches, it would be one of the best bowls in the country.

Feel free to watch Tulane VS ULL instead.

peanuts104 · December 3, 2018

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Feel free to watch Tulane VS ULL instead.

I'm not saying I won't watch. I don't necessarily think it's a bad match up. It's more about the perception. If we struggle or lose (with Seth), it won't be a good look for us since they lost their head coach. If we beat up on them then it's because they lost their coach in the eyes of the public. I know they're a good team and they have a good record with good players. It's just hard to see the point, especially without their coach and potentially without ours.

Mean Green 93-98 · December 3, 2018

1 minute ago, peanuts104 said:

I'm not saying I won't watch. I don't necessarily think it's a bad match up. It's more about the perception. If we struggle or lose (with Seth), it won't be a good look for us since they lost their head coach. If we beat up on them then it's because they lost their coach in the eyes of the public. I know they're a good team and they have a good record with good players. It's just hard to see the point, especially without their coach and potentially without ours.

5 years down the road, very few people will remember that Utah State lost their head coach before the bowl game. But history will record that North Texas beat a ranked team in a bowl game. And when was the last time a North Texas team did that? (Hint: NEVER)

MeanGreenTexan · December 3, 2018

Just now, peanuts104 said:

I'm not saying I won't watch. I don't necessarily think it's a bad match up. It's more about the perception. If we struggle or lose (with Seth), it won't be a good look for us since they lost their head coach. If we beat up on them then it's because they lost their coach in the eyes of the public. I know they're a good team and they have a good record with good players. It's just hard to see the point, especially without their coach and potentially without ours.

Legitimate concerns, but I think only for the really plugged-in Mean Green fans.

You could put these kinds of arguments out there for the Arkansas & SMU wins too... And some do, but the vast majority (the casual ones we need to try to impress enough to buy some season tickets) are not that knowledgeable about Utah State. Slap a #23 next to their name though, and it lends instant credibility, regardless of who is coaching them. And I bet their players are playing for that same pride ("We're more than Matt Wells, and can do this without him!").

peanuts104 · December 3, 2018

Just now, Mean Green 93-98 said:

5 years down the road, very few people will remember that Utah State lost their head coach before the bowl game. But history will record that North Texas beat a ranked team in a bowl game. And when was the last time a North Texas team did that? (Hint: NEVER)

True, and that would be an awesome achievement. But 5 days before the early signing period, the outcome of the bowl could impact recruits opinions. Hopefully for the better. In some ways, if we lose Seth and he doesn't coach the bowl game, and we won, it would be a potential positive for recruits that are on the fence after him hypothetically leaving. There are way too many things up in the air for our program right now and it is making me uncomfortable. I really don't want to lose this top of CUSA recruiting class.

3 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

You could put these kinds of arguments out there for the Arkansas & SMU wins too... And some do, but the vast majority (the casual ones we need to try to impress enough to buy some season tickets) are not that knowledgeable about Utah State. Slap a #23 next to their name though, and it lends instant credibility, regardless of who is coaching them. And I bet their players are playing for that same pride ("We're more than Matt Wells, and can do this without him!").

All that is very true. We'll just have to see what happens. At least we can say that we went to a bowl and SMUt didn't.

greenminer · December 3, 2018

1 hour ago, peanuts104 said:

I fail to see how this is such an enticing game. They lost their head coach and we might lose ours. Scenarios:

1) (with SL) We beat a team that lost their head coach, excuse is well they lost their head coach

2) (with SL) We lose to a team that lost their head coach, making us look worse

3) (without SL) two teams teams that lost their head coaches fight it out and the game doesn't really show or prove anything.

With the circumstances surrounding the coaching positions, this game does not excite me. If Matt Wells and Seth were both coaching in the game my tune would be dramatically different. I think, with both coaches, it would be one of the best bowls in the country.

I am curious where you think our bowl game ranks among the other G5 bowls.

peanuts104 · December 3, 2018

3 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I am curious where you think our bowl game ranks among the other G5 bowls.

I mean, on paper it's one of the better ones, but I don't think the G5 matchups are that exciting, and I think it's for a lack of trying on the selection peoples' part. UAB is playing Toledo and Appalachian State is playing Middle Tennessee, where in my opinion MTSU should be playing Toledo and UAB should be playing App State. It just seems like they didn't really look too in depth at which team was playing what in the G5 bowls. Again, on paper I understand this bowl game, but a lot of it gets taken out for me when we consider the coaching situation. Generally speaking, teams without coaches haven't fared well in bowl games. See: SMU last year. And if both teams have interim coaches, what can we really expect from the game? But I guess bowl selection can't really take losing coaches into consideration. If Matt Wells was still at USU and we knew for sure we were keeping Seth then I would be extremely excited for this matchup.

Salsa_Verde · December 3, 2018

Is there a rule somewhere saying the C-USA champion has to play a MAC team? Second year this has happened. Actually nevermind just read they chose that bowl....I guess 🤷🏽‍♂️😅

Edited December 3, 2018 by Salsa_Verde

Jason Howeth · December 3, 2018

2 hours ago, peanuts104 said:

True, and that would be an awesome achievement. But 5 days before the early signing period, the outcome of the bowl could impact recruits opinions. Hopefully for the better. In some ways, if we lose Seth and he doesn't coach the bowl game, and we won, it would be a potential positive for recruits that are on the fence after him hypothetically leaving. There are way too many things up in the air for our program right now and it is making me uncomfortable. I really don't want to lose this top of CUSA recruiting class.

I really don't think the outcome of this one game is going to affect many of our recruits, if any! I mean, think about it: teams not named Bama and UCF lose games every year. Yet you never see top flight talent leaving en masse just because of those 1 or 2 losses. If I'm a recruit, I focus on the fact that the school I committed to playing for 1) won 9 games in the regular season; 2) played in a bowl game; 3) against a ranked opponent; and 4) is only going to be better next year, whether SL stays or leaves.

Those are all positives in my book, even if we lose the bowl game.

golfingomez · December 3, 2018

1 hour ago, peanuts104 said:

I mean, on paper it's one of the better ones, but I don't think the G5 matchups are that exciting, and I think it's for a lack of trying on the selection peoples' part. UAB is playing Toledo and Appalachian State is playing Middle Tennessee, where in my opinion MTSU should be playing Toledo and UAB should be playing App State. It just seems like they didn't really look too in depth at which team was playing what in the G5 bowls. Again, on paper I understand this bowl game, but a lot of it gets taken out for me when we consider the coaching situation. Generally speaking, teams without coaches haven't fared well in bowl games. See: SMU last year. And if both teams have interim coaches, what can we really expect from the game? But I guess bowl selection can't really take losing coaches into consideration. If Matt Wells was still at USU and we knew for sure we were keeping Seth then I would be extremely excited for this matchup.

that's the change you want? UAB and App St should be playing P5 schools because they won their conference... having what should be our flagship program this year playing another G5 is disheartening.

peanuts104 · December 3, 2018

3 minutes ago, golfingomez said:

that's the change you want? UAB and App St should be playing P5 schools because they won their conference... having what should be our flagship program this year playing another G5 is disheartening.

I agree with that too, but since bowl selection isn't going to do that they should at least get the match ups right with the G5s.