The Mean Green have quietly emerged as a good story behind their unexpected 5-0 start. But this is a big step up against a battle-tested USF club that has wins over Boise State and Florida. We expect the Bulls to survive an early storm and take over in the second half.

Sometimes I play games for weird reasons -- something will trigger me. This is such a game. I know a fair amount about USF as a former Tampa Tribber, and the Bulls are pretty good. Like seeing them fairly relevant again, it should be a collegiate giant with the location and such. One of my favorite movies growing up was Bad News Bears and of course Mr. Buttermaker as manager. I am pretty versed in sports but don't know every single starting QB in the FBS (close). So when I saw UNT's QB was named Mestemaker ... close enough. Yeah, I'm fishing for a reason. Our model has the unbeaten Mean Green by 9. Can't say I agree with that but would be swell.

North Texas had an extra week to prepare for this one. While USF has just as much talent on both sides of the ball, the Mean Green has greatly improved since last season, especially defensively. Their level of competition hasn’t been as strong as USF, the defense has limited their opponents passing attack to less than 150 yards per game so far. Drew Mestemaker has thrown 11 touchdowns and has yet to throw an interception. USF’s offense can also go stagnant at times.