MEMPHIS IN THE DRIVERS SEAT: G5 TOP 20

TOP 20

1. MEMPHIS
2. TEMPLE
3. HOUSTON
4. TOLEDO
5.  BYU
6. NAVY
7.BOISE STATE
8. MARSHALL
9.  APP STATE
10. WKU
11. BOWLING GREEN
12. SAN DEIGO
13. UTAH
14. LA TECH
15. SOUTHERN MISS
16. UCONN
17. USF
18. CINCY
19.  GA SOUTHERN
20. ARKANSAS STATE

THE CURIOUS CASE OF MARSHALL FOOTBALL: WINNING BUT WITH NO PLACE TO GO

MARSHALL'S TALENTED RB DEVON MARSHALL

G5 Original content

If you are Doc Holiday( Marshall Head Coach) and you need a QB to replace your all world former QB, Rakeem Cato, you simply go back to the same well that has been giving you living water for the past 2 decades, the state of Florida.

In this case you convince a 3 star,  6-6 Tampa Bay Pro Style QB named Chase Litton to make a late commitment , ( Litton committed after National Signing day last year) to your school. You then play him early in the season when the starting QB , a JMU transfer named Michael Birdsong, struggles and you start winning games again like the Marshall faithful have grown accustomed  to the last 3 years. Score another one for Holiday and his recruiting chops.

There is  now  only one problem for the 5-1 Thundering Herd and its a problem that has plagued the talented football team for several years; they continue to receive  virtually no respect on the national stage. This lack of national respect  boils down to one and only one insurmountable issue, Marshall Ad Mike Hamrick continues to struggle in creating a football schedule worthy of garnering praise and respect from the college football talking heads and the college football playoff committee.

Want to know the worst part of this for Marshall fans? This Marshall time period will be tagged as the period in which great teams played weak and uninspiring schedules. It now seems highly likely that the Doc Holiday era will be one of the brightest and best for a Thundering Herd program already  steeped in a rich and historic tradition. It will also be an era in which Marshall will almost certainly miss out on any long lasting benefits to the program.

Think about that for a moment. Marshall has seen more talent come to Huntington over the last 5 years than the program has ever had.  The Herd dominate their conference , Conference USA, and  have become a legitimate place for highly regarded transfer students to land.

All of this success however, will likely be wasted for the Herd Program.  The scheduling decisions made by the school, will ultimately sink any hopes  Holiday or  Marshall have in getting the football program into a   better conference or in receiving an  invite to a Bowl game that matters on the National Stage.

In many ways the Doc Holiday era has all of the trappings of Greek tragedy. It also has the markings of some seriously unfulfilled potential. Football programs go through cycles of success and failure. You want to capitalize when things are good so when the lean years come, you have reserves stored in the barn. The calamity  for Marshall is that the feast years under Doc Holiday will probably never be fully celebrated or appreciated on a national level like they deserve to be.

There is no question that Doc Holiday is one of a heck of a recruiter and coach. Holiday has completely overhauled Marshall into a top notch program. There is also no question that Marshall fans are some of the most loyal in all of college football. The real tragedy for the Marshall program however, is that a miscalculation in scheduling philosophy means that  Marshall  and its supporters will  be left wondering what might  have been.

NORTH TEXAS FANS DESERVE BETTER

NORTH TEXAS STRUGGLING WITH A 0-5 START

G5 original content

UNFORGIVABLE OFFENSE

North Texas Athletic Director Rick Villarreal had seen enough. The Mean Green had just suffered the worst loss against an FCS school in the history of College Football. Portland State had marched into the state of the art Apogee Stadium and laid down an old time shellacking of a North Texas team that had been to a bowl game( and won)  only two short years prior to Saturday's loss. The 60 plus points that Portland scored on North Texas was both stunning and embarrassing. For a school with a growing and passionate fan base, there was no bigger misstep or unforgivable offense for their Head Coach of 5 years, Dan McCarney, than to lose in this fashion.  Worse yet, McCarney's team looked totally unprepared and listless  on a homecoming weekend in which his team should have been eager to win for its fans and supporters.

As soon as the final whistle blew, AD Villarreal was on the Mean Green sideline ready to end this painful chapter in North Texas football history. Villarreal wasted little time in turning to Dan McCarney and telling him that it was over. That his services were no longer needed for this team, this University, this fan base.   After the firing, North Texas  sent out a hastily prepared press report letting its supporters and the rest of the football world know  that McCarney had spent his last day as the North Texas head coach.

Thus the search for a new Head Coach had begun. A new search that had officially ended the school's relationship with McCarney. A relationship that had begun much fan fare and hope. A relationship that 5 years later had ended like so many other North Texas head coach hires had, in defeat and in shame.

In fact, since 1982, no North Texas Head Coach has left the program with a winning record. A devastating  statistic  and one that points to a larger issue than  North Texas being routed by Portland State. Simply put, the North Texas Football Program is broken  and it will take years to fix .  Losing has become a way of life for North Texas football , and the only way to remedy the problem is for a complete and thorough overhaul of the program and the people running it.

FANS DESERVE MORE

Whether we like it or not , College Football programs are the calling cards of the Universities they represent. They are the brand, the culture, the attitude towards winning and losing that a University puts out into the Universe. Right now , the North Texas name is taking hit in its PR image. North Texas has many terrific academic programs, including a top notch music department. Guess what, most people only know North Texas for one reason, that they lose in football on a regular basis. North Texas is of course more than this, but if your University is going to have an FBS football program you better be ready to enjoy the spoils of winning and the despair of losing and all that comes with both.

You know what, North Texas fans deserve better than what they have been given on the gridiron. Thats right, its fans, supporters and donors deserve better. The supporters of North Texas football are a cross roads. Either demand a product that can compete, or don't compete at all on the FBS level.

College Football has changed dramatically in the last 5 years. The sport has entered into a winner takes all culture where many FBS football programs are on the verge of irrelevance. North Texas stands at the precipice of this new landscape  and the school's football program may simply not survive the  purge happening in college football without a total and complete commitment to make its football program a winner.

It's time for the North Texas administration from the very top to the very bottom to understand that competing at the collegiate level in football has become a 24/7 , all out rush to the finish line,  365 days of the year.

NEXT HIRE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN NORTH TEXAS HISTORY

For all the reasons listed above and more, the next head coaching hire for North Texas will be the most important  in its history. The next hire and who will be involved in that hire,  will tell North Texas fans everything they need to know about the commitment the school has to its football program.

Here is some good news for the North Texas program. The school does not need to hire a famous name to compete, nor does it need to hire a flashy coach who has been spending time in the tv studio or broadcasting booth. It does however, need to bring in someone who  has proven in some way or fashion  that they know how to win, have a track record doing so and can  create a culture of success within the North Texas football program. North Texas will also need to show this new coach that they are ready to spend whatever it takes to make the program a winner. They will also need to be patient with the new hire. North Texas did not get into this mess overnight, nor will they emerge from it overnight. The good news however, is that given the Mean Green's proximity to talent, money and Dallas, there is no reason why North Texas can not find a way to win on a consistent basis with the right leader in place.

Is there a great deal of pressure to find the right person for the North Texas coaching job, yes. In truth, this type of pressure should have been part of the selection process for the past 20 years. The school can no longer afford to play football with one hand tied behind its back. It is now or never, make or break for the North Texas football program and its fans.

G5 TOP 20 WEEK 8

HOUSTON DEFEATED SMU TO REMAIN UNBEATEN

TOP 20

1. TEMPLE

2. TOLEDO
3. HOUSTON

4. MEMPHIS

5. BYU

6. BOISE STATE
7. NAVY
8. WKU
9. GEORGIA SOUTHERN
10. MARSHALL
11. APP STATE
12. CINCINATTIE
13. LA TECH
14. BOWLING GREEN
15. ECU
16. TULSA
17. AIR FORCE
18. SDSU
19. UCONN
20. RICE