MGN Predicts Second Half of 2016 Schedule

In the season preview I mentioned how ridiculous it is to look so far ahead when predicting things. Now that we have some time at the bye, we can revisit some of our picks. For fun and comparison, this is how Greg and I did in the first six games:

Greg picked SMU, NT, UF, NT, MTSU, Marshall as winners for a 5-1 mark.
Adam picked, NT, NT, UF, NT, MTSU, NT as winners for a 5-1 mark.

So we are pretty good at this apparently.

Once again, predicting things so far ahead is dumb but let us continue.

Predictions

@ Army
Greg:
Army will limit possessions and plays. It will be crucial for the North Texas offense to be efficient something I believe they struggle with. Army will shut down the run making North Texas offense one dimensional in this one. I like Army
Army 19 – NT 10

Adam:
Army is surprisingly good this season. They are 4-2 and should be 5-1. Getting two weeks to prepare for their offense is good, but the biggest concern is the offense. Army dominates time of possession and so North Texas will have to be efficient …and that is very difficult. Really, I picked NT to pull off a win here and I am sticking with it. Army can be beat.
NT 17 – Army 14

@ UTSA
Greg:
UTSA plays well at home, but North Texas is 3-0 after a loss. So who wins? I’ll take UTSA in a sloppy game. The UTSA running game along with having to play an option team the week before should hurt UNT.
UTSA 21 – NT 18

Adam:
UTSA has surprised Arizona State and Southern Miss in the Alamodome. I maintain that the times of those games (Friday, and 11am respectively) and the attitudes of the teams had more to do with the games than anything UTSA did. That said, UTSA likes to run the ball, is getting better, and plays well at home. Still, as I said in the season preview, nothing goes the way it should when they play.
NT 24 – UTSA 17

Louisiana Tech
Greg:
LaTech doesn’t play much defense, but they sure can score. I’ll admit that Ryan Higgins has impressed me. He leads CUSA in passing yards per game and TDs. He may end up being the CUSA offensive player of the year.
LaTech 45 – NT 33

Adam:
Louisiana Tech is odd. They play to the level of their competition. WKU? Scored 55 and allowed 52. UTEP? Only managed 28. South Carolina State and UMASS? Both scored (24 + 28). So that begs the question: What kind of team is North Texas? At this point they will still not be good enough offensively to beat LT
Louisiana Tech 28 – NT 21

@ Western Kentucky
Greg:
I just can’t see North Texas being able to keep up WKU on the road. Too much offense to contain.
WKU 40 – NT 28

Adam:
WKU is good, and even better at home. They can score in bunches and North Texas will not have any Apogee magic to help them here.
WKU 31 – NT 17

Southern Miss
Greg:
I don’t think Southern Miss is that good this year. They are having a tough time finding themselves. Mullins is pressing and injured right now. The loss to UTSA was a wakeup call and they will right the ship, but I think NT will upset them.
NT 35 – USM 31

Adam:
It is really easy to pick against Southern Miss. I kind of want to but I feel crazy. If LaTech plays to the competition, SoMiss does it to the next level. It still is hard for me to look at them and think they will not get out of their general funk and pull out a win in Denton. They still have loads of talent.
USM 38 – NT 14

UTEP
Greg:
UTEP isn’t that good. The Miners can’t score and stop anyone. North Texas will have more to play for at this point. UTEP might fire their coach before this game. Give me UNT
NT 35 – UTEP 13

Adam:
UTEP is in free fall. Marshall is a better team than the Miners. That said UTEP might have turned things around by this point (UTSA, ODU, FCS, FAU, Rice) and things could get interesting. Still, right now I’ll take NT 10/10 times vs this broken Miner squad.
NT 28 – UTEP 13

Totals:

Greg: Originally 2-4, updated 2-4. NT Final record 5-7
Adam: Originally 3-3, updated 3-3, NT Final record 6-6