Mean Green

I will be back later with some thoughts.

UNT is still up by a comfortable margin in the second half here at the Super Pit.

Eric Tramiel has 17 points and Tristan Thompson 16 for UNT.

The Mean Green is still shooting the lights out at 63.6 percent.

UNT has come back with a 7-0 run and is up 14 midway through the second half.

Tristan Thompson converted a key 3-point play to get UNT going again.

FAU is on an 8-0 run and has made this game a little more interesting at the Super Pit.

UNT has just put together what has to be its best half in quite a while. The Mean Green is up 45-27 at the break and has totally dominated play throughout.

Eric Tramiel has 13 points and Shannon Shorter 10 for UNT, which shot 64.5 percent in the first half.

Shannon Shorter is having one of his better games of the season so far. He has scored the Mean Green's last four points and has eight in the first half.

UNT is dominating the glass 19-8 and has eight second-chance points.

Alzee Williams is playing well for UNT's second team, which is holding its own against FAU.

Williams has six points and would have seven if he would have moved back about an inch on his last shot from just inside the arc.

UNT is going to run its starters back in after this timeout.

UNT is up 13 in the early going at the Super Pit. The Mean Green is on a 15-2 run.

UNT is running its bench guys into the game now to get its starters a blow.

UNT has really picked it up offensively and is playing well in the early going.

Eric Tramiel has 11 points. He only had two last game.

This one has been pretty ugly early on. Eric Tramiel and Shannon Shorter each have two points for UNT.

Both teams have four turnovers.

There are a few minutes left before UNT takes on FAU here at the Super Pit.

UNT comes into this one off a loss to Middle Tennessee. The Mean Green did manage to split its road trip that also included a date at Western Kentucky.

The Mean Green is hoping to get it together in time for a late-season run. A win tonight certainly would help maters. UNT's schedule looks a lot better the remainder of the season.

Knocking off the Owls won't be easy, though.

FAU has won five straight and features a pretty good backcourt with Raymond Taylor and Greg Gantt, who are averaging 14.3 and 15.8 points a game, respectively.

UNT's advantage should be inside with Eric Tramiel and George Odufuwa. Both are averaging about 12 points a game. FAU doesn't have anyone who will be able to matchup.

Tramiel is coming off a two-point game at MTSU due to foul trouble. He should be in for a big game tonight.

I know, I know, Patrick Cobbs wasn't high rated coming out of high school, it's all about meeting your needs and the evaluations of college coaches and not some recruiting expert, but here are the final standings in the Rivals and Scout rankings:

Rivals
1. Western Kentucky, 16 players, five three star players, 129 points
2. Troy, 33 players, 10 three star players, 110 points
3. Florida International, 19 players, 10 three-star players, 107 points
4. Middle Tennessee, 19 players, eight three-star players, 97 points
5. North Texas, 21 players, seven three-star players, 95 points
6. Arkansas State, 26 players, six three-star players, 90 points
7. Louisiana-Monroe, 23 players, three three-star players, 75 points
8. Louisiana-Lafayette 23 players, one three-star player, 65 points
9. Florida Atlantic, 12 players, one three-star player, 41 points

Scout rankings
1. Troy, 28 players, one four-star, three two-star players, 732 points
2. Florida International, 22 players, one three-star player, 669 points
3. Louisiana-Lafayette, 24 players, two three-star players, 468 points
4. Louisiana-Monroe, 23 players, zero three-star players, 453 points
5. Middle Tennessee, 19 players, two three-star players, 390 points
6. Arkansas State, 25 players, thee three-star players, 326 points
7. North Texas, 21 players, two three-star players, 272 points
8. Western Kentucky, 17 players, zero three-star players, 226 points
9. Florida Atlantic, 12 players, zero three-star players, 222 points

First off, there are a few players missing who signed and a few players who didn't make it for some teams who are still in there.

So who are the big winners?

1. Florida International. The Golden Panthers have yet to have that breakout season on the field, but they are raking in the top-rated guys from their backyard that could help them get there. You take the guys FIU signed this year, throw in the former All-SEC Freshman team quarterback they had sitting out last year and TY Hilton, and look out, this could be a team that threatens to get to a bowl game in a couple of years.

2. Troy. You knew it was coming. Troy always recruits well and pulled in some guys who had offers from some pretty good mid-major and even BCS programs. Troy has some guys to replace after last season and helped itself in this class.

3. North Texas. UNT landed a middle-of-the-pack class in the Sun Belt, which is big-time for a program that has struggled the last five years. UNT addressed some of its needs, including landing a junior college strong side defensive end. It does hurt somewhat that the other two teams in the area UNT is compared with - SMU and TCU - did a whole lot better.

4. Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers were terrible last season, but got a boost with a coaching change and won the Rivals recruiting title. Rivals is probably the more accurate of the two rankings.

And the big loser

1. Florida Atlantic. The Owls have never been ones to pull in top-rated classes, but it never seemed to matter, partly because its coaching staff was so much better than just about every other team in the Sun Belt. You wonder if not getting the best talent in Florida isn't going to catch up with the Owls. It seemed to last season. It doesn't help that rival FIU seems to be doing a whole lot better on the recruiting front.

One that makes you wonder what if

1. Middle Tennessee

MTSU won a bowl game and appeared to be in line to potentially rake in the Sun Belt's top class. The Blue Raiders did well, but you wonder if Rick Stockstill's flirtation with East Carolina chased recruits away.

One of the most interesting signing days I can remember in Denton is behind us -- finally.

It was a hectic push to the finish to get a load of stories on the high school kids who signed and the class UNT landed into the paper, but I have had a bite to eat and have looked over the pages I designed a couple of times.

Now I have some time to post a few thoughts about how it all turned out.

Really, I don't think the UNT faithful could have hoped for much more.

UNT has struggled for five straight years now, the coaching staff's rears are on the line and the rivals down the road at SMU and TCU are coming off landmark years.

UNT still managed to bring in a solid class that addressed some of its needs.

Everyone loves their class at this time of the year. UNT is no different

Landing Zach Olen to address UNT's kicking problems was critical.

Michael Miller could fill what looks like a rather large donut hole at defensive end.

An influx of talent at cornerback, safety and linebacker will certainly help matters.

Dallas Skyline linebacker Zach Orr is just the type of high school signee UNT needs, a potential star from the Dallas area who decided to stay home.

While UNT addressed its some of its needs, one has to wonder if it addressed enough of them and just how the class will help UNT in the long haul, though.

The Mean Green needed to improve its pass rush and its front seven. UNT signed a few defensive linemen and Todd Dodge said the Mean Green's linebacker signees will help with the blitzes that UNT will be able to use now that it has some defensive backs who will hold up better in man coverage.

One just wonders if what the Mean Green's front will improve dramatically like UNT needs it to next season.

UNT's JUCO linebackers are on the small side, which will make it interesting to see how they translate to the Division I level.

With Tobe Nwigwe gone, Dodge said he needed a middle linebacker. Orr is the best UNT could have hoped for from the high school ranks. UNT will need AJ Penson to stay healthy or it will have to throw Orr to the wolves. Learning on the fly is always a tough proposition.

UNT also didn't load up a whole lot for the long-term while spending nearly half its scholarships on JUCO players. UNT is in win-now mode. Going the JUCO route was smart.

In a couple of years, there won't be a whole lot left from this class in terms of numbers, though.

UNT is sitting at No. 98 nationally and fifth in the Sun Belt in the Rivals.com rankings.

That's not great, but it is pretty good all things considered.

That seems to be the bottom line.