O5 bowl picks Dec 24-

Yes, my hunches have been lame, but I'll keep rolling the fake dice.
Hawaii Bowl: #fresno (MWC)  D will do enough for a win over Houston (AAC).
Quick Lane: #uni  (MAC) has had a decent season , but Duke's O will rule the day.
Independence: #fsu D will dominate USM (CUSA)
Military: Surprised UVA got a bowl bid. #Navy will represent the AAC well in  35 -19 victory
Home Loans: New Mexico St wins it's last game as a Sunbelt member behind the rushing of Larry Rose. Theyll be an Independent 1A team next year, but I suspect a future move to the MWC.  NMST 40 Utah St 33
Liberty: Ferguson  throws a few TDs  for #memphis who'll represent the AAC well in a win over Iowa St.
Peach: #UCF (AAC) will score but  not enough against #Auburn . AUB 31 UCF 20
Merry Christmas
Dec 25: McMaryion threw for 341 yards and a TD  in #fresnost 33-27 win over Houston .  Fresno had a pick 6 ,and Houston blocked a FG and returned it for TD
Dec 27: Nailed the  Quick Lane Bowl as Daniel Jones  (27-40, 252 YDS, 2 TD) led Duke to a 36-14 win over NIU.
Dec 28: USM was up 6-0 early in the 1st quarter, but Blackman tossed 4 TDs and the Noles rolled to a 42-13 victory.
Dec 29: UVA returned the  opening kickoff for a TD then didn't score again, while Navy's QB Abey  attempted one pass but scored five rushing TD's in a 49-7 win. 
Dec 30:  #larryrose rushed for a the winning TD in OT to give NMST a 26-20 win over Utah St 26-20 in the battle of Aggies. BTW, NMST last bowl win was over Utah St in the 1960 Sun  Bowl. 5 for 5 so far in this block of games.
Dec 31:  Close game and no scoring in the 4th quarter. ISU 21 memphis 20.First incorrect pick in this blog. Nice game  A. Lazard10 REC, 142 YDS, 1 TD of Iowa St.
Jan 1: .Picked the last two wrong- 5-2  for this set. #UCF 34 AUB 27 . UCF QB #milton 's  (13 CAR, 116 YDS, 1 TD) (16-35, 242 YDS, 2 TD). Bg win for the #AAC .

April 18,2018

Maybe some investment in the #sunbowl, will spark the #Utep football program back to a bowl game in a few seasons? Sun Bowlwill get its first major renovation since 1982 with UTEP investing $10-15 million to add premium seating, install a new press box with luxury boxes and renovate the concourses throughout the stadium.
May 24, 2018
Another good move by the #sunbowl folks: The Sun Bowl game will be moved back to December 31st for the 85th edition of the with a 12 p.m (traditional time slot). Mountain Time kickoff on CBS.

6/7/18

#bama discovers the #MAC. #cmu open at #Bama Sept. 2, 2023, in what will serve as the season opener for both teams and the first matchup ever. Bama faces #kentst , who they defeated 48-0 in 2016,  in 2020

6/8/18

 Las Vegas Bowl will retain its partnership with the Pac-12 but will end its long-running alliance with the Mountain West Conference. In place of the #MWC, is looking to the SEC in 2020.

6/29/18

I mentioned this in a #MWC baseball blog a few months ago, and now #unlv football  introduced an all-you-can-eat ticket package.  For $79 you get tickets to UNLV’s games against UTEP (Sept. 8), Fresno State (Nov. 3) and Nevada (Nov. 24) and all the hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and soft drinks you can devour. I'm working on  my pre-season  prognostications.

6/30/18

I didn't say much about this when the news was released this spring but I wish CBS would go deeper in its  #cusa coverage. 

"Beginning with the 2018-19 season, CBS Sports Network will broadcast nine football games plus the C-USA Football Championship and eight men’s basketball games per year, as well as the C-USA men’s basketball championships semifinals and men’s and women’s basketball championship games"

7/4/18

Ok, I know #navy was an Independent not yet in the AAC  when  #JesseIwuji played football for them (2006-09)  and  now races in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series West. Props to him for  pulling a family from a burning vehicle on California I5.

7/12/18

#SunBelt will play an 8-game schedule, so each team will play all but one of  the conferences members, and the division winner with the highest CFP raning hosts the Sunbelt championship game. If no team is ranked, the tiebreaker move to the BCS standings.
EAST
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Troy

WEST
Arkansas State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
South Alabama
Texas State

7/16/18

Decent #sunbelt story : #nealBrown , #TroyU head coach , sent a 2017 Sunbelt championship ring to the family of #NathanHarris, a former Troy football player who died  in a motorcycle accident in Alabama two years ago.

7/17/18

#AntwanDixon , a 5-foot-8, 173-pounder who caught 26 passes for 355 yards and one touchdown for #KentState as a freshman in 2015, is returning to the gridiron after a successful bone marrow transplant Dixon received 14 months ago from his father Anthony Dixon

7/18/18

#BillMallory is the only one coach to win the #MAC at two different schools, #niu #miamiohio. Their future matchups will  be played for the Mallory Cup. Huskies hold a 9-8 edge in the series

7/20/18

 Tyre Brady, Marshall (CUSA)  & Trevon Brown, East Carolina (AAC) are two of a few O5 guys on the 2018 Biletnikoff Award watch list.

7/21/18

 #SunBelt named Arkansas St QB #JusticeHansen and #AppSt defensive back #CliftonDuck as their 2018 preseason offensive and defensive players of the year . I guess it's time to research and make my pre-season prognostications.

7/22/18

The John Mackey (one of my favorite Baltimore Colts) Award  pre-season list for TE. Mountain West (six) and Sun Belt (five)  AAC (4) and MAC (4)  CUSA(3) Here's a few: Bates (Boise), Becker (Miami O) Harrison (FAU).

7/25/18

#MWC championship football game will be hosted the team with the best conference winning percentage. The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head record. If the teams don't meet in the regular season, CFP rankings and computer rankings will determine the host.

7/26/18

MAC media poll  members think #ohio will win the  East and the league championship. They like #NIU in the West.

7/27/18

Navy (AAC) QB #MalcolmPerry , #McLaneMannix , Nevada (MWC), #IsaiahHarper , Old Dominion (CUSA) are among a few O5 players on the Paul Hornung List (Versatility). Hornung was a RB who threw passes at Kentucky high school, Notre Dame, and a great Green Bay Packer.

O5 bowl picks Dec 19-Dec 23

1) FAU (CUSA) gets a home bowl game and should have too much O for Akron (MAC).
2) DXL Bowl: Ben Hicks will a few TDs for an SMU (AAC) win over La Tech (CUSA)
3) Gasparillo Bowl: Who has more D? Toss a coin and Take FIU (CUSA), Butch's guys, to edge Temple (AAC).
4) Bahamas Bowl: #Erderly and the UAB Blazers will handle #ohio (MAC)
5) Spud Bowl: #joshallen helps his draft status and tosses a few TDs in a Wyoming (MWC) win over CMU (MAC)
6) Birmingham Bowl: Whoever scores last wins.Texas Tech 49 USF (AAC) 48
7) Armed forces Bowl: Torn on the this one-two solid rushing attacks> SDSU 19 Army 17
8) Dollar General Bowl: Appst hangs for 3 quarters with Toledo  who pulls away in the 4th. TOL 27 App 22

Dec 20

1) #Fau 50 #akron 3. Easy won for Owls Jason Driskel  (19-25, 270 YDS, 2 TD)
Devin Singletary  (26 CAR, 124 YDS, 3 TD) .Somehow, I doubt #Kiffin stays there for ten years.

Dec 21

Totally blew it on SMU who were down 42-10 at halftime. These two La Tech layers were solid #J'MarSmith  15-23, 216 YDS, 3 TD, #BostonScott  20 CAR, 110 YDS

dec22

choose opposite of me and you'll win. Temple 28 FIU 3. Temple QB #Nutile tossed for 258 yards and a TD.

dec 23

#ohio running game demolished the Blazers , but I finally got a hunch correct as #joshallen tossed 3 TDs for Wyoming in a 37-14 win over #cmu

Dec 24

Texas Tech crumbled late. Army was better than I guessed. Toledo didn't show up.
USF 38 TT 34. Army 42 SDSU 35 App St 34  TOL  0.
Two of eight correct in this blog

April 29, 2018

Is this a sign that #appst talent pool has weakened? App St first 2018 NFL draftee: Colby Gossett, a 6-foot-5, 311-pound guard , went in RD6 as the 213th overall pick, to the #Vikings.

O5 teams bowl games thru Dec 16, 2017

New Orleans Bowl: Mason Fine will toss a few TDs leading #northtexas (CUSA) to a  23 -21 win  #troy (Sunbelt)
Auto Nation Cure Bowl: #wku (CUSA) has too much offense for  the erratic Georgia St Sunbelt squad .WKU 31 Ga St 19
Las Vegas Bowl: #boisest  (MWC) doesn't have enough O to keep pace with the Oregon Ducks
New Mexico Bowl :#herd special teams have  been a major role in a decent CUSA season for Marshall (CUSA),  but look for #nickstevens to lead the CSU Rams (MWC) to a 30 20 win.
Camelia Bowl: A healthy Stocksill at QB  will lead #mtsu (Cusa)  to a 27-22 win over Arkansas St (Sunbelt)

Dec 17

If you went against my picks, you went 4-1 yesterday.
Stocksill was decent and #mtsu found enough D to slow down Hansen  for a 35-31 win over #arkst.
Now for my wrong selections.
Silvers  threw 4 TDs and Troy was too much for NTX from the start in a 50 -30 win
Manning threw a few TD and GA St D created a few turnover in a 27-17 win over WKU.
Rypien to Wilson show was key in the BSU win over Oregon
#keion davis rushed for a 141 yards and the #herd D survived a late comeback by Stevens and the CSU Rams. for a 31-28 win

Sunbelt on MAC 2017-18 hoops.

It's a two for one deal as I get my  the O5 hoop predictions wrapped up before Xmas:
SunBelt
UT-Arlington- I gravitate  to UTA every season. Hervey/Neal tandem leads the Mavs
Troy- Varnada  & Person lead a solid squad
Ga. Southern- C'mon a guy named Tookie leads the Eagles to third
Georgia St.- Simonds, an excellent PG , needs a scorer to assist.
Texas St.- King , Prijovic -who knows
UL Lafayette- Washing/Miller tandem anchor a strong frontcourt
S. Alabama-  Sikes may propel the Jags
Coast. Car.- Coach Cliff Ellis is still around and will rely heavily on  Guard Jaylen Shaw.
App. St.- Shabazz is averaging 22 PPG
UL-Monroe- Maybe Muinnings  raises his  15 PPG  to 20
Arkansas St.- Will Devin Simms step up?
Little Rock- Doesn't return a astarter

Mid-American
East
Bowling Green- Turner, Frye, and Caldwell have the Falcons off to a nice start.
Akron- Utomi 24 PPG  keeps the Zips in contention
Buffalo- Massinburg and Perkins are decent scorers.
Kent St.- Walker needs to flash more points than 18 PPG
Miami (Ohio) relies heavily on Adaway for points and assists.
Ohio- Balanced but mediocre scoring

West
Toledo- Fletcher and the Rockets soar
E. Michigan- ThompsonIV 16.4 PPG, 12.3 RBG is the key
W. Michigan- Wilder is the main dude 19 PPG
N. Illinois- German has  skills , will Bradley and Thorpe improve
Ball St.- No big time scorer.

C. Michigan Not enough scoring Chips

Jan 3: #ULL off to a 2-0 Sunbelt Conference start with wins over UALR & ARST.They had an early OOC win over #Iowa
Jan5-Tuned into the televised Akron/Toledo game last night and was underwhelmed by the shooting. Jaelan Sanford scored 22 points for Toledo in its win over Akron.
Jan 16 Sunbelt report
ULL 5-0 Bartley IV and Grant have been averaging about 16 PPG and face Texas State 5-1 led by #kevinhervey 20.4 PPG , 8;6 rbg on Jan 18
Georgia Southern 5-1.It remains  Tookie time for the Eagles.
Jan 17 MAC-time: #buffalo and #toledo are getting in gear.  Toledo(4-1 MAC) pounded Ohio 91-57 Fletcher had 18 points and Navigato and Sanford added 16 apiece as Toledo. Nick Perkins (26 PTS, 6 REB, 1 STL) led Buffalo (6-0 MAC) to a 91-57 blowout of NIU.
Jan 24: Bull run continues . Buffalo stays undefeated in MAC play with a 83-69 win  over EMU. 

Nike Sibande (22 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST) lead Miami (OH) (11-9, 4-3 MAC) over CMU. Akron showed signs of life with a win over Ohio. #Niu seesaw season went up with blowout win over BGST. Kent St needed OT to beat Ball St. Toledo (6-1 MAC)  led by Sanford & Fletcher  edged WMU.

Jan 26: Marquetti scored 21 in the ULL (8-0) win over South Bama, TXSt (6-2) remains in the hunt with Nottingham's free throw with four seconds to goin a 62-61 win over Ga Southern. Simonds scored 29 points in Georgia St.(6-2)  81-75 win over UTA. TXST visits Ga St in a big matchupof second place teams Saturday Jan27.
Jan 31: How about Kent St roaring back to give Buffalo it's first loss in the MAC? Danny Pippen 
KENT - F (21 PTS, 13 REB, 1 STL). #kentst (6-3) is two games behind Buffalo (8-1) in the East.
Feb 3 : Massinburg scored 26, Buffalo Bulls corralle Western Michigan 92-86. #kentst visits bowling green  and tries to not lose ground to Buffalo in the MAC East race.
Feb 8  Sunbelt catch-up.  Surprised that #uta has slipped and TXST is hanging in there. The Georgia schools are hanging in there. what happened to #troy. good job undefeated #ULL
Louisiana 10-0
Georgia St. 9-2
Ga. Southern 7-4
Texas St.         7-5

UT-Arlington 6-6
Feb 9:  Session and  Simonds scored 22 points apiece as Georgia State gave ULL it's first conference loss. ULM knocked off Ga Southern with a late trey. #troy woke up and beat ark st. South Bama beat Ark LR
feb 14 MAC update: #buffalo #toledo keep winning but there's only one Dance ticket available
feb 17 MAC update:  #CJMassinburg had 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for #Buffalo who clinched MAC East with 95-82 win over Bowling Green
feb 28 #CJMaSSINBURG hit five treys for #buffalo in a win over Akron and are looking strong heading toward the MACT. Another strong contender is Toledo who got a triple double from Fletcher in last night's win over #NIU. Both teams are locks for two of the top four seeds which get  byes to the semi-finals. Kent St (9-8)  got a big win over Miami O(8-9)  in the race for final two bye slots. wmu(9-8) beat emu(10-7). Ball St (10-7) lost to CMU
Sunbelt update-Back from my nap. #ULL (26-4, 16-1) keeps rolling along with solid efforts from Frank Bartley IV  (18 points) and Bryce Washington (15 points) in last night's win over #arkst. ULM 48 ARK-LR 44. Game was 19-18 at the half.. Maybe the Georgia schools , GST or GSouthern can steal the Dance ticket  by winning the Sunbelt T, but  I don't see it.
March 3 MAC update- Massinburg & Perkins lead Buffalo to another 100 point night and an easy win . #Minnie scored 25 as #emu edged Toledo and moved closer to a rd1 bye.
March 6 #MAC update: Coach #Groce , who took Ohio dancing a few rounds a few years ago before some rough seasons at Illinois, got his Zips to upset WMU in rd1. Utomi had 26 for victorious Akron. Miami O beat Ohio. CMU beat BGST. Zabo helped Kent St avoid being upset by NIU.
March 8 in Cleveland: Buff/CMU. KentSt/Ball St . Miami O/Toledo. Akron /EMU
March  10 update: #ULL has had a great season but they 'll need to beat UTA in the tourney semi final to get a Dance ticket. Frank Bartley scored 23 points in the ULL win over TXST, and Erick Neal scored 37 point in the UTA beatdown of App St. Battle of Ga (GST G Southern in  the other semi-final.  In the MAC no surprise as Jeremy Harris scored 22 points and CJ Massinburg scored 14 in Buffalo's win overKent State 78-61. #toledo needed Marreon Jackson's  26 points and the go-ahead 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining to edge #emu 
March 11_ Buffalo punched it's dance ticket. Wilson and Neal led UTA to an upset over ULL while #IsaiahWilliams  came off the bench to score 21 for Georgia St in it's victory over Ga Southern who got 25 points from Tookie Wilson, one of my favorite hoop names.
March 12- Props to Ga St but I don't see them getting by Cincy. #buffalo faces a rejuvenated #arizona squad.  One and dones