Conference Season Is Here
9/28/2018 8:34:00 AM | Football
DENTON – It is time for the conference season to get underway. Everything prior to Saturday's Conference USA opener against Louisiana Tech (2-1) is a solid foundation for North Texas, but being 4-0 is inconsequential to the conference season. Now, save for a few teams who got their league play started early, everyone is 0-0 once again.
The Mean Green open their slate against a strong contender in its own right for the C-USA West Division. North Texas edged the Bulldogs last season 24-23 in Ruston, Louisiana, and that for all intents and purposes sewed up a division title for the squad from Denton with that victory. Winning this week's game certainly won't do that, but it would go a long way towards starting that goal on the right foot.
Louisiana Tech is perennially one of the strongest teams in the conference, winning nine games three out of the last four seasons, with a minimum of six conference wins in each of those three years under head coach Skip Holtz.
North Texas faces quite possibly its stiffest competition thus far this season when they host the Bulldogs Saturday night under the lights of Apogee Stadium.
Taking a closer look at the west, Southern Miss has a head start in league play following their 40-22 win over Rice. The Golden Eagles (2-1, 1-0 C-USA) travel to Denton in the coming weeks, and also figure to be a strong challenger to represent the division in the title game in December.
UAB was quite the story in 2017, as head coach Bill Clark guided the program's return from hiatus. Clark's Blazers won eight games, six of which came in conference play and earned a bowl berth to boot. That group returns almost everyone, and is off to a 2-1 start in 2018. UNT travels to Birmingham in October.
UT San Antonio is replacing a lot from last year's six-win team that gave the Mean Green all they could handle in Denton, and though they are 1-3, three of those losses came against Power 5 programs. The Mean Green close the regular season at the Alamodome, a place where they Mean Green have had their challenges in years past.
UTEP and Rice are adjusting to new coaching staffs, and are a combined 1-6 to start the year. The Mean Green will play both teams in the next month, including a trip to El Paso next week. Both sides appear to be improved, but are also both works in progress under their new leadership.
Shifting focus to the east, a familiar foe in Florida Atlantic stares back. The Owls defeated the Mean Green on two occasions last season, including a 41-17 win in the C-USA title games. FAU enters conference play this week at 2-2, with losses at Oklahoma (who was ranked seventh at the time) and UCF (ranked 16th when they met last week). The Owls ran through conference play undefeated last season at 8-0 and North Texas hosts Lane Kiffin's Owls on Nov. 15 in Denton.
The other crossover opponent on the Mean Green's schedule, Old Dominion, just knocked off No. 13 Virginia Tech in the program's first win against a Power 5 opponent. The Monarchs are 1-3 on the season, but their big win at home over the Hokies should provide some momentum into league play. North Texas travels to Norfolk, Virginia, in November.
Though the Mean Green don't meet any of the following teams in the regular season, Marshall is a team that is expected to challenge FAU for the division, as is Florida International. FIU and Charlotte each had a head start in conference play, both knocking off Old Dominion, and enter Week 5 at 1-0. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky also are perennial contenders, though they have both gotten off to slow starts in 2018, combining for a 2-5 start.
A 4-0 start for the Mean Green has been tremendous for a lot of reasons. Eyes are on the program that haven't been in quite some time. That said, the real season gets underway Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT when they begin their west division title defense.
The Mean Green open their slate against a strong contender in its own right for the C-USA West Division. North Texas edged the Bulldogs last season 24-23 in Ruston, Louisiana, and that for all intents and purposes sewed up a division title for the squad from Denton with that victory. Winning this week's game certainly won't do that, but it would go a long way towards starting that goal on the right foot.
Louisiana Tech is perennially one of the strongest teams in the conference, winning nine games three out of the last four seasons, with a minimum of six conference wins in each of those three years under head coach Skip Holtz.
North Texas faces quite possibly its stiffest competition thus far this season when they host the Bulldogs Saturday night under the lights of Apogee Stadium.
Taking a closer look at the west, Southern Miss has a head start in league play following their 40-22 win over Rice. The Golden Eagles (2-1, 1-0 C-USA) travel to Denton in the coming weeks, and also figure to be a strong challenger to represent the division in the title game in December.
UAB was quite the story in 2017, as head coach Bill Clark guided the program's return from hiatus. Clark's Blazers won eight games, six of which came in conference play and earned a bowl berth to boot. That group returns almost everyone, and is off to a 2-1 start in 2018. UNT travels to Birmingham in October.
UT San Antonio is replacing a lot from last year's six-win team that gave the Mean Green all they could handle in Denton, and though they are 1-3, three of those losses came against Power 5 programs. The Mean Green close the regular season at the Alamodome, a place where they Mean Green have had their challenges in years past.
UTEP and Rice are adjusting to new coaching staffs, and are a combined 1-6 to start the year. The Mean Green will play both teams in the next month, including a trip to El Paso next week. Both sides appear to be improved, but are also both works in progress under their new leadership.
Shifting focus to the east, a familiar foe in Florida Atlantic stares back. The Owls defeated the Mean Green on two occasions last season, including a 41-17 win in the C-USA title games. FAU enters conference play this week at 2-2, with losses at Oklahoma (who was ranked seventh at the time) and UCF (ranked 16th when they met last week). The Owls ran through conference play undefeated last season at 8-0 and North Texas hosts Lane Kiffin's Owls on Nov. 15 in Denton.
The other crossover opponent on the Mean Green's schedule, Old Dominion, just knocked off No. 13 Virginia Tech in the program's first win against a Power 5 opponent. The Monarchs are 1-3 on the season, but their big win at home over the Hokies should provide some momentum into league play. North Texas travels to Norfolk, Virginia, in November.
Though the Mean Green don't meet any of the following teams in the regular season, Marshall is a team that is expected to challenge FAU for the division, as is Florida International. FIU and Charlotte each had a head start in conference play, both knocking off Old Dominion, and enter Week 5 at 1-0. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky also are perennial contenders, though they have both gotten off to slow starts in 2018, combining for a 2-5 start.
A 4-0 start for the Mean Green has been tremendous for a lot of reasons. Eyes are on the program that haven't been in quite some time. That said, the real season gets underway Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT when they begin their west division title defense.
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