University of North Texas Athletics
North Texas In Control Of C-USA West Standings
10/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
DENTON - The first few weeks of Conference USA play have revealed a balanced West Division with little to separate the top five teams for the division title. Which makes it all the more remarkable that just three games into the eight-game league schedule, North Texas is alone atop the standings.
And with a tie-break cushion over three of the challengers.
Saturday's 29-26 victory over UT San Antonio gives the Mean Green a 3-0 C-USA record, and all three wins are over division contenders in UAB, Southern Miss and the in-state rival Roadrunners. As impressive as that accomplishment is and as enviable as that position is, North Texas still has significant hurdles between it and the division crown, including a major challenge this week at East Division co-leader Florida Atlantic and a showdown on Nov. 4 at defending division champ Louisiana Tech.
Those other contenders, meanwhile, will be doing battle with one another to chase down the Mean Green.
Five teams have emerged as legitimate candidates in the West: North Texas, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, UTSA and the surprising UAB. The Blazers, in their first year returning to play after the school shut down the program at the end of the 2014 season, took the Mean Green to the wire in the C-USA opener then stunned Louisiana Tech two weeks ago to stake their claim as a challenger for the West crown.
Louisiana Tech has home-field advantage the rest of the way. The Bulldogs play Southern Miss, North Texas and UTSA at home, and even get their one remaining contest against an East Division contender, Florida Atlantic, in Ruston.
UAB and Southern Miss share the same position, a game back of UNT and down a head-to-head tie break, so each need to win and hope North Texas stumbles. The Blazers and Golden Eagles meet in what amounts to an elimination game in Hattiesburg on Oct. 28.
It's a steep climb for UTSA. The Roadrunners were 67 seconds Saturday night from throwing the division race into a six-way tie for first. Instead, they're two back of UNT and are down a tie-break to Southern Miss and North Texas. If the Roadrunners are to get back in the race, they'll have to win the next three against Rice, UTEP and Florida International to set up a final stretch run against UAB and Louisiana Tech. Even then, UTSA needs North Texas and Southern Miss to lose multiple times for a chance to win the division.
The key games the rest of the way:
October 21
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech - the Rivalry in Dixie has huge implications in the West
North Texas at Florida Atlantic - West leader vs. East co-leader
October 28
UAB at Southern Miss
November 4
North Texas at Louisiana Tech
November 11
Florida Atlantic at Louisiana Tech
UAB at UTSA
November 18
UTSA at Louisiana Tech
| West Division | C-USA | Overall |
| North Texas | 3-0 | 4-2 |
| Southern Miss | 2-1 | 4-2 |
| UAB | 2-1 | 4-2 |
| Louisiana Tech | 1-1 | 3-3 |
| Rice | 1-1 | 1-5 |
| UTSA | 0-2 | 3-2 |
| UTEP | 0-3 | 0-7 |
