University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: The "Watering Down" Of A Schedule
7/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, July 20, 2009, 8:08 p.m.
While we get into the future of North Texas football opponents tomorrow, the 2009 schedule has already been scrutinized to the point where it's being called "watered down" by some. Huh? Since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2001, and heck since rejoining Division I in 1995, North Texas has had to play plenty of money games to pay the bills. Starting 1995 the list of teams the Mean Green has had to play has been brutal.
But you know what, everyone had to if you weren't in a BCS Conference. There were a few exceptions but for a good number of school's that been a way of life. Guess what, it's not changing either.
For the longest time I've heard those same people howling about how the North Texas football schedule has to get easier if it's going to get better in the non-conference. During the great run from 2001-04, North Texas did go through the ringer in terms of playing the big boys, playing 13 BCS opponents during that time in the regular season.
Starting in 2005 and including this 2009 schedule, the Mean Green will have played 8. That's five fewer BCS opponents in a five-year stretch than North Texas was playing during the four-year run.
Now that the 2009 schedule has teams on it that aren't coming of a National title or live in the upper echelon of college football that makes it "watered down?"
Ball State and Alabama are both coming off of 12-0 regular seasons and had a combined record of 24-4. Ohio and Army were both down last year but you toss in their records and the Mean Green’s opponents in the non-conference for this year racked up 31 wins and 21 losses.
Toss in the fact that 82 Division I schools this season are playing either a I-AA or Division II school once or more this season. So North Texas is one of just 38 schools in the nation not playing a school beneath it in terms the schedule. That’s gotten be worth something right?
If that’s watered down I wonder what’s good to some people.
Seems a bit hypocritical and applies a double standard if you ask me. You can't have it both ways which some people try to do.
The moral of the story, it takes time to fix schedules and North Texas has been doing just that. I'll present more evidence tomorrow.
Regular season BCS Opponents
2001- 3
2002- 4
2003- 3
2004 -3
2005- 2
2006- 1
2007- 2
2008- 2
2009- 1
