Until this week, no Football Bowl Subdivision team had gone as long as North Texas without appearing in The Associated Press poll.
The Mean Green scoring machine was No. 22 after the votes were counted, giving the school its first ranking since Dwight D. Eisenhower was U.S. president, Hawaii was a new state and a gallon of gas cost 31 cents.
The year was 1959, when UNT was known as the Eagles and nearly a decade before “Mean” Joe Greene, the program's most famous alum, became the dominant defensive lineman of his era. (Contrary to popular belief, the school nickname has nothing to do with “Mean” Joe.)
At 9-1, the 2025 team has UNT's best start since Odus Mitchell's squad had the same record and spent two weeks in the ratings 66 years ago, reaching No. 16.
“We’re incredibly honored to see UNT back in the Top 25 for the first time since 1959,” coach Eric Morris said Sunday. “It’s a testament to the work our players put in every day, the commitment of our staff and the belief this university and community have in our program. While we’re proud of this accomplishment, our focus right now is on trying to go 1-0 this weekend at Rice.”
The Mean Green started 5-0 but were written off as fool's gold when South Florida showed up in Denton and throttled them 63-36 in one of the spotlight games of Week 7. UNT has rebounded quite nicely, with Saturday's 53-24 victory at UAB the third time they've scored at least 50 points over four consecutive wins since the loss to USF.
UNT's recent run and South Florida's loss to Navy on Saturday put the Mean Green squarely back in the running for the Group of Five's automatic bid in the College Football Playoff.
No. 21 James Madison is the highest-ranked G5 team in the AP poll and has clinched a spot in the Sun Belt Conference championship game.
The American Conference is the tougher league, according to computer rankings and the eye test, and is expected to produce the G5 representative. Tulane, which made its first appearance of the season in the AP poll at No. 24, and North Texas are vying for spots in the American championship game along with Navy and East Carolina. All four teams have one conference loss with two weeks left in the regular season.
“We gave ourselves a chance to play meaningful games late in November, which hasn’t happened very often around here," Morris said.
UNT takes the nation's highest-scoring offense and a ball-hawking defense into this week's game at Rice. Freshman running back Caleb Hawkins is coming off an 189-yard, five-touchdown outing against UAB, Drew Mestemaker just went over 3,000 yards passing for the season and the Mean Green are fourth nationally with 24 takeaways.
About that comeback
Texas A&M's 27-point second-half comeback to beat South Carolina 31-30 was the biggest in the FBS since Tulsa made up a 28-point halftime deficit to edge UTSA 46-45 on Oct. 26, 2024, according to Sportradar. The last time an SEC team overcame a deficit of 27-plus points was LSU, which was 28 down before it beat Troy 40-31 in 2008.
Michigan State pulled off the biggest comeback in FBS history in 2006. The Spartans were down 35 points, 38-3, with 9 minutes left in the third quarter and scored 38 in a row to win 41-38.
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Texas A&M was the wrong end of the second-biggest FBS comeback, squandering a 34-point lead in a 45-44 loss to UCLA in the 2017 opener.
1-2-3 repeat
Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M have been the top three teams in the poll for five straight weeks.
The last time the top three remained unchanged so long was in 2023, when Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State held those spots for six weeks from Oct. 8 to Nov. 12.
Pretty good in pink
Wayshawn Parker turned in his third straight 100-yard game in No. 13 Utah's 55-28 win over Baylor, which means he once again will be easy to spot when the Utes host Kansas State this week.
“Wayshawn Parker did a nice job and went over 100 yards again,” coach Kyle Whittingham said, "and he’s really motivated to do that because whenever he does it, he gets to wear those pink cleats again the next week. And so I’ve made a deal with him ... you get to see him in pink cleats next week.”
Parker ran 15 times for 129 yards and a touchdown and also had a 5-yard TD catch against the Bears. He's the Utes' season rushing leader with 736 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games.
Extra points
No. 4 Georgia, which has completed SEC play, fell behind early in seven of its eight conference games and went 6-1 in those contests. The Bulldogs' 35-14 win over Kentucky on Oct. 4 was the only SEC game in which it never trailed. ... No. 12 Vanderbilt has its highest ranking since it was in the same spot in the final 1948 poll. The Commodores haven't ranked this high in November since 1941. ... At No. 5, Mississippi has its highest November ranking since it was No. 3 the week of Thanksgiving in 1963. ... James Madison's 48-point margin in a 58-10 win over Appalachian State was the Duke's largest against a Sun Belt team. JMU out-yarded App 627-146, including 324-1 on the ground. ... Now that North Texas has ended the longest ranking drought, New Mexico State holds the dubious distinction. The Aggies haven't been ranked since 1960.
AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report from Waco, Texas.
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