North Texas Win Shows Overall Strength of Sun Belt
By Kyle Kensing
October 06, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; North Texas Mean Green running back Brandin Byrd (24) rushes during the fourth quarter against the Houston Cougars at Robertson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE
The benchmark for Week 8 Detmer Award balloting and end-of-game dramatics was set high by North Texas running back Antoinne Jimmerson. He had just two receptions, but both were touchdowns. Jimmerson was vital in the Mean Green beating Sun Belt co-leader La.-Lafayette, particular on his second score: a 78-yard scamper that initiated from a desperation screen pass.
The win makes North Texas the seventh Sun Belt member with two conference wins, and at least three wins overall. UNT still has a difficult stretch of schedule ahead, which is saying something for a team that already faced two BCS contenders in LSU and Kansas State. Remaining for the Mean Green are 2011 Sun Belt champion Arkansas State and the conference’s 2012 darling UL-Monroe loom on the schedule, as well as Willie Taggert’s impressive Western Kentucky bunch. UNT draws MTSU next week, a surprise entry in the top portion of the Sun Belt lost stud running back Benny Cunningham for the season.
A win over MTSU makes UNT’s mission of a bowl bid more likely, though the rest of the road is arduous. Nevertheless, Dan McCarney has done an impressive job turning around the program in short order after the disastrous few years Todd Dodge was head coach. Last season, the Mean Green went 5-7. It currently sits at 3-4 but is over .500 in the Sun Belt, lost to Troy by only a touchdown, and hung tough with Kansas State.
Tuesday’s defeat of ULL showed the Mean Green can hang with the conference contenders, which only adds to the intrigue of what should be an enthralling race. The conference has improved tremendously in recent years — not only at the top, but through much of its ranks. It’s been rare for the Sun Belt to produce more than one or two bowl teams. The three teams it sent to the postseason in 2010 and 2011 were unprecedented; last season actually concluded with four Sun Belt teams bowl eligible, but Western Kentucky was passed over for a bid that went instead to 6-7 UCLA.
There should be no such repeat this season. The increasing competitiveness exhibited within the league is also evident out of it. Sun Belt teams are more competitive in the non-conference schedule than at any time ever before, which translates to better overall records and stronger bowl resumes. Sun Belt members should also benefit from the woes of various other conferences. Consider this:
ACC: North Carolina is ineligible for a postseason bid, and 2011 bowl participants Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia are struggling.
Big East: The three undefeated teams at the top are the conference’s only members above .500.
Big Ten: Penn State and Ohio State have played some of the more inspired football, and neither is eligible for a berth.
C-USA: East division leader UCF is ineligible per NCAA sanctions, while 2011 bowl teams Southern Mississippi, Marshall and SMU are struggling. UTEP, UAB and Tulane are all quickly approaching the seven-loss barrier. Only Tulsa has looked solidly like a bowl team; Houston has come on strong lately and East Carolina has shown flashes, but that’s just three bowl-caliber teams.
SEC: The nation’s strongest conference could produce a host of five-win or fewer teams, with Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Auburn all failing to meet preseason expectations.
WAC: The WAC has just one bowl tie-in, a bid to the Idaho Potato Bowl that goes to the league champion.
With so many bowl bids out there, the Sun Belt should snap up more appearances. That should only further bolster the conference’s improving profile, with greater exposure coming its way.