Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
The football team at the University of North Texas has a history stretching back to 1913, but the Mean Green have never come close to being a national powerhouse. However, they’ve gotten off to their best start in more than 65 years, and the school is doing everything in its power to make sure its students are lock and loaded for a fairly pivotal showdown with USF.
The vast majority of college football games are held on a Saturday, but they tend to be supplemented by a handful of contests that are held on days when the learning institutions that are hosting them hold classes.
That can present some logistical issues for schools that have to deal with an influx of fans while trying to keep things running as usual, which can create additional distractions for the many students who are tempted to let their academic commitments fall to the wayside in order to get the full gameday experience.
UVA recently deprived its student body of the chance to bounce early by holding a full day of classes ahead of its showdown with Florida State—a decision that did not do much to damper the enthusiasm of the crowd that ended up being responsible for one of the most instantly iconic field storms in college football history.
However, another program that’s gotten off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 1959 isn’t taking any chances.
North Texas is canceling most of its classes on Friday to make sure students are adequately prepared for the team’s game against USF
There have been a little more than 1,2500 iterations of the weekly AP Poll since it was first established in 1936, and North Texas has made an appearance in exactly two of them; the Mean Green debuted at #20 after getting off to an 8-0 start in 1959, and they rose to #16 the following week before falling out of the rankings with a loss to Tulsa.
UNT has punched its ticket to a bowl game in seven of the last nine seasons (although it’s lost every single time it’s made one), but it’s been a fairly mediocre program over the past few years. However, the squad has started the season at 5-0 for the first time since the aforementioned 1959 campaign, a run that has included a couple of overtime wins over Army and Western Michigan as well as a 59-10 rout of Washington State.
The Mean Green have landed in the “Also Receiving Votes” section in the AP Poll in the past two installments, initially appearing on two ballots before that number grew to seven. They’re on a bye that will give them two weeks to prepare for a home game with USF on October 10th, but it seems safe to assume that number will continue to grow if they can improve to 6-0.
That Friday night game is scheduled to get underway at DATCU Stadium at 6:30 local time, and UNT president Harrison Keller made the sage decision to cancel all classes that are scheduled for noon or later to give ” students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to attend pregame festivities and the Mean Green’s football game.”
He did not specify the nature of those pregame festivities, but it’s pretty easy to read between the lines. As a result, I think we can expect a very spirited crowd in the stands next Friday.