What's left of O5 bowl games

SERVPRO FIRST RESPONDER BOWL:  WKU(CUSA) has a knack  for pulling games out thanks to a solid D. WMU (MAC) has plenty of O Jon Wassink WMU (222-371, 2904 YDS, 19 TD), LeVante Bellamy WMU (248 CAR, 1412 YDS, 23 TD) . I'll roll with the Hilltoppers D.
WKU 19 WMU 17
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL: #23 Navy(AAC) will get rushing TDs, but Kansas State QB Skylar Thompson will get in gear for a KSU 30-28 win
NOVA HOME LOANS ARIZONA BOWL: Wyoming(MWC) takes advantage Georgia State's (Sunbelt) weak D in a 26 -13 win . Valladay rushes for a 100+ for the Cowboys.
TICKETSMARTER BIRMINGHAM BOWL: Boston College vs #21 Cincinnati(AAC). I love Cincy in this onewith Michael Warren rushing for 125+ in  a 33-20 win.
FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL: Ohio(MAC) Nevada(MWC) Rourke by ground and air leads the Bobcats to a 27-23 win.
LOCKHEED MARTIN ARMED FORCES BOWL: Southern Mississippi(CUSA) Tulane(AAC)  He!! of a regional matchup being played in Fort Worth, TX. McMillan lifts the Green Wave to a 31 -29 win over USM
LENDINGTREE BOWL: ULL(Sunbelt) Miami (OH)(MAC) The Redhawks flying pattern is erratic so I'm banking on the the Cajuns QB, Levi Lewis to lead ULL to a 37 -20 win.
dec 30- Correct on WKU but just barely. The Hilltoppers  were given the final play after a five-yard defensive substitution penalty by WMU and made a FG with no time on the clock. Before that they made a FG with 1:36 on the clock. WKU 23 WMU 20
Jan 1- I was wrong on Navy who got a last second FG to beat KSt 20-17. Valladay did better than I guessed with 204 yards rushing and 2 TDS against GaSt. Freshman QB Levi Williams was a bit wild but was involved in four TDS. Props to Ellington , the Ga St QB, who accounted for 236 yards and two touchdowns despite playing with a torn right ACL. WYO 38 GA St 17

jan 3

I'm not sure why BC was there. Cincy dominated the entire game in a 38-6 win. 

jan 4

 They dumped fries on Ohio Coach Solich after the Potato Bowl win over Nevada and he ate one. LOL

jan 4 afternoon

On a roll lately as the bowl season winds down. Green Wave started slow but crested by the 3rd quarter.  J. McMillan(13-18, 215 YDS, 3 TD)had a great game for Tulane in the 31-13 win over USM

Jan 7

I went 6-1 in this bunch of games . Levi Lewis, ULL QB, tossed for 246 yards and 2TDs in a 27-17 win over Miami O.
Final O5 conference bowl standings. AAC(4-3) cusa(3-5), mac(3-4) MWC(4-3) SUNBELT(3-2)

March 30

 Not much news but I saw this: Georgia State lands Noel Ruiz, a grad transfer and FCS All-American kicker from NC A&T .

May 29, 2020

   Wyoming (MWC) will square off Sept.  25, 2021, at UConn. And this came about because of the Georgia/Clemson game announced earlier this year.  While I try to figure out why, I noticed that UConn has scheduled some big $$ future games, UNC, Michigan, and Ohio St, in its Independent future.

June 20, 2020

For you southern boys: Duke’s Mayo replaces Belk as a Bowl sponsor of the annual game in Charlotte which features an ACC team versus a team from either the Big Ten or SEC. Kentucky(SEC) beat Virginia Tech(ACC) 37-30 in the Belk Bowl on 12/31/19.

July 6, 2020

Here's the final payout for the MWC schools allowing Clemson & UGA to play in the "Kickoff" game. Clemson will pay Wyoming $1.1 million, and Georgia will cut San Jose State a $1.8 million check

Dec 27- 30 O5 bowl games

Military Bowl: Two erratic teams. Temple (AAC) VS UNC(ACC). UNC got within a point of Clemson in a loss but fell to AppST. I suspect the ground game with Carter and two guys named Williams will do enough for a Heels  24-20 win over Temple, who lost to Buffalo but upset Memphis this season. I get the feeling the Owls aren't completely confident in their QB Russo.
Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force ground attack against Wazzoo aerial show in the first ever metting of these squads on the football field. Maybe Easop Winston , WSU WR, kicks it in gear. Washing St(PAC12) 41 AFA(MWC) 35
Cotton Bowl: Memphis(AAC) has some solid tools on Offense led by the passing of Brady White and running of Gainwell, but the don't see them getting by the tough Nittany Lions. Penn St (B10) 37 Memphis 27

dec 28

A Friday split: wrong on AFA, right on UNC.
AFA rushed for 378 yards with Remsberg getting 178 and Birdow 108. WSU rolled  the dice and lost on a few 4th and short attempts. AFA 31 WSU 21
Howell (25-34, 294 YDS, 3 TD) , UNC QB,  and the rest of the Tar Heels O had a great day in a 55-13 romp over Temple.

dec 29

Roy Patterson, the Memphis kicker , hit six FGs including a 51 yarder, to keep the Tigers close, but the Lions D scored a key TD at a crucial point in the 2nd half and Journey Brown rushed for 202yards  and 2 TDs on 16 carries in a 53-39 Penn St win.
I finished 2-1 in this set.

april 21, 2020

Both Memphis RBs, Gibson and TaylorJr, are getting a lot of consideration in mock drafts, but don't forget Darrell Henderson, a rd3 pick from Memphis in 2019  fell flat for the Rams last season. My favorite O5 RB in this draft is I, #ElijahMitchell from Louisiana Tech(CUSA) averaged 5.8 yards per carry for 1,092 yards and 15 touchdowns. 

Chi-town area pre xmas 2019 hoops

Sometimes reading a print edition of the paper wakes me up to items I've missed.
The Coppin St Eagles , a Baltimore City university, who've been floundering in the MEAC for a few seasons beat Loyola of Chicago (MVC) early in November and just as I thought the Ramblers had stumbled in to a ditch, they upset Vandy(SEC)  76-72 last night .Krutwig  (22 pts, 10 assists)
DePaul (BIG East) has done well in pre conference play with wins over Iowa, Cincy, and Minnesota. Their sole loss was to Buffalo (MAC).
UIC Horizon) and Chicago St(WAC) have struggled big time.
Northwestern(Big10) had a nice win over Providence in November and came close against Sparty last night.

dec 21

It never fails:  I mentioned UIC's struggles and they go out out and beat UC Irvine(BIG West) 76-67. Ottey scored 18 for #UIC .

dec 25

On Sunday Dec 22 Chicago St Cougars lost to Indiana St(MVC) 85-64.Xavier Johnson and Isaiah Lewis led each scored  17 points in the defeat. Cougars head to Missouri(SEC) for a game on Dec 30
Loyola of Chicago lost to Davidson (A10). Marquise Kennedy scored 16 points off the bench for the Ramblers in  the loss.

DEC 29

#GodrenBoahen scored 21 points off the UIC bench in a 71-66 win over Cleveland St

jan 5, 2020

#depaul is missing those pre Xmas days. They're 0-2 in the Big East. Paul Reed had 24 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks for the Blue Demons in a 66-65 loss to Providence who won when Nate Watson sank a free throw with a second left. Depaul lost to Seton hall 74-63 on Dec 30.

jan 19

DePaul got its first Big East win this season by knocking off # 5 Butler . #paulreed was the top Blue Deacon (23 PTS, 9 REB, 1 AST) 79-66. Northwestern(B10) hung close but lost to Illinois 75-71. Tarkus Ferguson(16 PTS, 9 REB, 9 AST) led UIC to a 75-66 win in Horizon Conference action.

feb 6

Loyola of Chicago only scored 16 points in the second half of  68-39 loss  to Indiana St in MVC game . Both teams are tied for third with 7-4  records. NIU (9-2) SIU( 8-3) are ahead of them in the MVC

feb 15

My occasional interest in Chicago area teams caused me to check in on the UIC((12-15, 7-7)/Wright St(22-5, 12-2) game last night. Tarkus Ferguson scored 18 points  for UIC in its 75-58 loss. Wright St has a one game lead over Northern Kentucky(19-7,11-3) , who hasn't appeared to be miss  a beat since Coach Brannen moved on to Cincy,  in Horizon League.

March 10

 Tarkus Ferguson scored 25 points for Illinois-Chicago in 73-56 win over Wright St to  advance to its first Horizon League title game since 2004. They'll face Northern Kentucky. Wright St finished first in Horizon in regular season play but may miss the Dance.

March 11

UIC made a run at NKU late and their press did some damage , but NKY punched the Horizon Dance ticket with a 71-62 win. 

T. Ferguson (ILLCH)I15 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST

T. Sharpe (NKY)16 PTS, 3 AST March 26 UIC has been talking a lot about getting to the Dance since they haven't punched a Dance ticket since 2004. They hired LukeYaklich, an assistant coach at Texas and a native of Illinois, to replace Steve McLain, who had three consecutive winning seasons. I bet McLain gets another HC gig soon. april 3  #DaveLeitao received a contract extension through 2023-24. I guess Depaul ADMIN saw signs of improvement, but after starting 12-1 last season they  finished16-16 overall. The Blue Demons  had solid victories against Iowa, Texas Tech and Butler but collapsed during the Big East Conference season. may 19, 2020  I was reading through my blog to see if I missed any hints that  Green Bay would fire Linc Darner who had a winning record in three of the past four seasons and took them to Dance in 2016, his first season. He was 96-80 in five seasons and  had Amari Davis,  Horizon League Freshman of the Year, returning this season.The "Zoom" coach search begins. June 9, 2020

Green Bay(Horizon) announced Will Ryan , the son of former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, as its next HC. He was HC at Div II Wheeling U in West Virginia last season. I'm still looking for published reasons as to why Darner was canned.

June 17, 2020

Robert Morris(NEC) is joining the Horizon League beginning in the 2020-21 academic year for everything except football. The school is  located in  Moon Township, Pennsylvania and most of the Horizon League is located in the Midwest. RMU will join Fort Wayne as the conference’s 11th and 12th members this fall.

July 15, 2020

Robert Morris stays in the news. They will replace Fordham on Hawaii's 2020 football schedule. The football team is a 1AA Independent this season before moving to the Big South.

Nov 22, 2020

 #carmitacoleman , a former Chicago State University professor, faces federal charges for allegedly embezzling over $650,000 from Student National Pharmaceutical Association, a national organization geared toward providing opportunities to minority students.  Perhaps this is one of many reasons Chicago St, a WAC member, has so many financial problems.

Feb 14, 2021

Checking back in with Chi-town hoops. It's appears  those Catholics at Loyola-Chicago are getting into Dance mode. Aher Uguak sparked the Ramblers (18-3, 13-1 MVC) scoring eight points in a two-minute span and finishing with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 81-54 win over Drake (19-2, 10-2 MVC).

UIC  was swept by IUPUI, a Horizon League foe.

DePaul Blue Demons (3-9 Overall | 1-9 Big East - 11th) lost to Providence and sits alone in the Big East cellar.

Chicago St (0-9) hasn't played since just before Xmas 2020 and did play a WAC opponent. It sure appears as if  its sports program is nearly dead.

Feb 15, 2021

In the season of back to back matchups, Tremell Murphy scored 17 points, for Drake who rallied past No. 22 Loyola Chicago 51-50 on Sunday.

Aug 1, 2023

Appears NW football is setting up Skip Holtz, now a special assistant, to be the HFC in 2024. Somehow NW hoops HC Chris Collins has escaped the "hazing " storm?

Loretta Lynch will likely try to emasculate football at NW. Big 10 may need to raid another conference.

She stayed loyal to the Clintons during email scandal etc.

Aug 4, 2023

Here come the lawyers: Packers CEO Mark Murphy, the NW AD from 2003-07, is a defendant in a lawsuit by two former players, who both filed under "John Doe," were at Northwestern from 2004 to 2008.

Aug 10, 2023

'Cats Against the World' t-shirts," worn by players. NW AD says tone deaf. HC says I don't censor.

Sept 4, 2023

Rutgers 24 NW 7. It going to be a long season in Chicago. UTEP(CUSA) comes to NW- Cats looking at (0-2)?

Also, NW plays Chicago St in hoops this December.

Dec 23-26 O5 bowl games

BAD BOY MOWERS GASPARILLA BOWL- #herd  has a  decent D and Knox, a solid RB, but they won't keep pace with the Black Knights O. UCF(AAC) 38 Marshall (CUSA) 27
SOFI HAWAI'I BOWL- Zach Wilson will get back in gear and toss a few TD passes against Hawaii in a squeaker. BYU 27 Hawaii(MAC) 26
WALK-ON'S INDEPENDENCE BOWL Which Canes squad blows into Shrevport? The one that lost to FIU(CUSA) or the one who beat ACC opponents, UVA and Louisville? I suspect the Canes D will contain J'Mar Smith and beat Louisiana Tech (CUSA) 26 -17
QUICK LANE BOWL: I don't underrate the ACC as most of the national pundits do and like Pitt to roll over Eastern Michigan(MAC) 31-16. Kenny Pickett will toss two TD passes for the Panthers and the Pitt D will contain EMU QB, Mike Glass III.

dec 24

I got close on the Herd's point total and picked the game correctly. UCF 48 Marshall 25 . Knights controlled this game except for the 3rd quarter.

dec 25

BYU fought back from Hawaii's fast start to to only trail 31-24 at halftime and fell 38-34. Big game for  Cole McDonald HAW (28-46, 493 YDS, 4 TD) Incorrect pick on this one .

dec 27

I end up with a 2-2 split in this batch of picks
Canes get blanked by La Tech 14-0. The U has issues and J'Mar smith did enough for the Bulldogs on O. 
Pitt 34 EMU 31. Glass tossed for 311 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 83 yards and a TD for EMU, but he also threw punches at the end, too. Pickett completed 27 of 39 passes for 361 yards and 3 TDs, including the game winner to Taysin Mack with 47 seconds to go.

Jan 14, 2020

 Washington St  names Hawaii's Nick Rolovich head coach. Rolovich runs an Air Raid type offense similar to the one runby Mike Leach, the man he's replacing.
Feb 4: Here's a rare move: #ObiObialo , #herd Wr, transfers to Oklahoma.

feb 13, 2020

The first ever BYU football game in the state of Illinois will not come in DeKalb. NIU has scheduled it for SeatGeek Stadium, a soccer venue is in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview.

feb 22, 2020

 Marshall's(CUSA) game vs. East Carolina(AAC), originally scheduled for Sept. 5 in Greenville, NC, has been moved to Aug. 29 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium(ECU home field) as a feature game in Week Zero. The game will honor the the 50th anniversary of the airplane crash on Nov. 14, 1970,when so many #herd players and coaches died on a return trip from playing ECU.

march 19

Marshall(CUSA) and UNLV(MWC) will be on Notre Dame's 2022 schedule.  Rare matchups

april 22, 2020

All the doom and gloom from Covid 19 and  the Independence Bowl  lands Radiance Technologies as its new title sponsor.

June 18, 2020

I'm pretty sure this is a first:  University of Kentucky moved its  2020 opener against Eastern Michigan(MAC) from Sept 5 to Sept 3 to avoid a conflict with the Kentucky Derby.

Dec 21 O5 Bowl Games

NEW MEXICO BOWL SDST(MWC) has found various ways to put together a solid season. CMU has been erratic . Aztecs D get a pick 6  and a narrow 19-17 win
FBC MORTGAGE CURE BOWL- Tough call . Can  Flames D contain Werts, the Georgia Southern QB? Nope! I'm looking for a wild won with Hickson of Liberty rushing for two TDs in a 36-34 win
CHERIBUNDI BOCA RATON BOWL Kiffin is gone so FAU falters to SMU(AAC)  34-22. Shane Buechele will strafe the  Owls D for three TD passes.
CAMELLIA BOWL You never know which FIU(AAC) teams will show up. Arkansas St(SunBelt) QB Hatcher will have a solid day.  Ark St 29 FIU 26
MITSUBISHI MOTORS LAS VEGAS BOWL: Harsin has Boise St(MWC) nearing the heights it was at Peterson left for UW.  Peterson goes out on a winning note at UW with 23-22 win. Ahmed rushes for 100  + and a TD for the Hiskies
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL UAB's (CUSA) offense tends to disappear. App St(Sunbelt) survives losing another HC. App St 20 UAB 16

dec 22 review

Five out of six. Only incorrect pick was SMU (AAC). Robison tossed for 305 yards and two TDs for FAU in a 52-28 win.. I thought UAB was going to make it a big day for the CUSA, but App St with Boynton rushing for 157 yards and two TDs roared back for  the 31-17 win. Then FIU(CUSA) couldn't slow down Hatcher, the  Ark St QB, and lost 34-26 giving the Sunbelt a 2-0 day against the CUSA.
Another Sunbelt squad , Georgia Southern , fell to Liberty 23 to 16. Calvert's 57 yards TD pass to a wide open Huntley was a huge play for the Flames.
MWC got a split. Aztecs controlled CMU the entire game  in a 48-11 win. Boise got rolled by UW 38-7.

Jan 8:

It turns out the Aztecs win over CMU was HC Rocky Long's last victory. He was 81-38 as head coach at SDSU and before that 65-69 in eleven seasons at New Mexico which makes him the winningest HC in MWC history. Brady Hoke, the man he replaced at SDSU nine years ago, is the new HC.

Jan 27

And  Rocky Long returns  to be the Lobos DC. Man, WTH happened at SDSU? I thought he'd retire or go to a different conference as a consultant.

May 21, 2020

 Props to UAB: Georgia is on their schedule in 2021 and 2023 and LSU in 2022. UAB is 2-25 versus SEC schools. In 2000 they beat Saban's LSU squad, and they beat Miss St in 2004.

July 14, 2020

Four-star QB Shedeur Sanders, son of Deion Sanders, commits to FAU (CUSA). Big nab for Coach Taggart.

Dec 20 O5 Bowl Games

Charlotte (CUSA) and Buffalo (MAC) hit the road for  Nassau. 49ers QB Reynolds has been a pass/run threat  during the their five game winning streak and Lemay has proven to be a solid rusher. Buffalo season has been a seesaw  but  Jaret Patterson has been amazing rushing for 1626 yards.  CHAR 29 Buff 20
Utah St (MWC) and Kent St (MAC) visit Frisco, TX for a Smoothie. Kent St finished the season winning three in a row with a solid rushing attack while Utah St stumbled a bit in November.  Jordan Love , the Utah St QB, will have a big bowl game. USU 34 Kent St 19

Dec 13:

 coaching note:  UNLV(MWC) new HC is  Marcus Arroyo, former Oregon OC

dec 21

I got Macked opening Bowl day. Buffalo's D and the excellent rushing of Patterson
(32 CAR, 173 YDS, 2 TD) were the main reasons for a 31-9 win over Charlotte.
Kent St won a wild one 51-41 over USU. Love put up big passing numbers  for USU (30-39, 317 YDS, 3 TD) in a losing effort, but Dustin Crum, the Flashes QB tossed for 289 yards and two TDs plus he rushed for 147 yards and a TD.

april 7, 2020

 Kent State(MAC) opened the 2019 season  with a 30-7 loss  at Ariz St, but they're not shying away from future Pac12 road trips. They scheduled a game against Washington in Seattle on   9/3/22. Then three weeks later they 'll travel to Georgia (SEC).

april 17

 Nebraska WR Jaron Woodyard moves on to #Marshall . He doesn't have great stats but he's fast. He's a native of Bethesda, MD, which is near DC, who went to Arizona Western Community College out of high school.

april 18

 Ty'Kieast Crawford, a four-star OL, ex-Arkansas commit, signed with Charlotte(CUSA), but they have to gets his academic status repaired quickly

CUSA 2019.20 Hoops predictions

1) Western Kentucky are shaping up well for the CUSA conference play. Hollignsworth led the way with 22 points in a nice win over Arkansas(SEC) yesterday
2) North Texas Mean Green hit 19 treys in win over Ark-LR. Mohamed and Draper are over 50% in 3P%
3) Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Harper-Baker has played well. Eagles will be hanging around the CUSA  top 4
4) Charlotte 49ers upset Wake Forest. Freshman guard Jahmir Young led the way with 24 points.
5) Louisiana Tech Bulldogs: Amorie Archibald and  the Bulldogs are going to be in the hunt. Nice win over Miss St.
6) Florida International Golden Panthers: Andrews will be top scorer
7) Marshall Thundering Herd played FLA tough in a loss on Xmas eve but have looked ragged in most games. Kinsey and West are averaging 14 PPG
8) Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders has had a rough start. They'll need a ton of  treys from Antonio Green the rest of the season.
9) UAB Blazers played UK, Memphis, and Texas tough in losses. They'll need more points from Jalen Benjamin in CUSA play
10) UTEP Miners: Bryson Williams has played well and they look a little better than last season
11) Old Dominion Monarchs-Xavier Green will need to get to a 20 PPG for them to get in to the middle of the CUSA pack. Stith graduated.
12)  UTSA Roadrunners- J Jackson will need to hit a lot of treys again this season
13)  Florida Atlantic Owls- Scoring has been low. Maybe Cornelius Taylor will get into gear
14) Rice Owls will be hanging on a cellar limb again. TJ Atwood  score about 20 PPG

Jan 10, 2020

#usm (0-3) stands out as my worst prediction so far . Eagles lost 76-64 to UTEP (1-2) last night. Iran Bennett (17 points , 11 rebounds) led Marshall(2-1) to a 79-75 win over MTSU(0-3). Tavin Lovan scored 16 points for UAB(1-2) in a 72-62 mild upset of WKU(2-1).
UTSA (1-2) blew out La Tech (2-1). Fau(3-0) beat Rice(0-3) 81-76 NTX(2-1) blew out FIU(2-1) 74-56.

Jan 17

It's getting crowded at the top. Charlotte (4-0) edged Marshall 77-75. Taevion Kinsey had  29 points and 11 rebounds for the losing Herd.  FAU(4-1) beat MTSU. La Tech (4-1) beat Rice. WKU (4-1) beat ODU. NTX(4-1) beat USM.

Jan 21

In rare Monday night CUSA action Charlotte(4-2) fell to ODU(3-3) led by  Jason Wade's 23 points, and Javion Hamlet  scored 24 for NTX in a win over Rice, That's NTX sixth win in a row  and puts them alone atop the CUSA with half game lead on WKU(5-1)

Jan 24

I thought MTSU, a loser to La Tech(5-2) last night, would struggle but  not still be winless in CUSA play.   NTX is up to 7-1 with its 98-73 blowout of UTSA(3-4).  #JamirYoung scored 24 points for Charlotte(5-2) in its 70-68 win over FAU. .Eric Lovett hit six treys  for FIU(5-2) in its narrow win over ODU.

Jan 28

I'm not doing too bad on my pre-season top 4 in the CUSA.
1)NTX(8-1) I picked them second. 2)WKU (7-1) I had them first.  La Tech and Charlotte are tied for 3rd at 6-2. I had Charlotte fourth and La Tech fifth. NTX has won eight in a row and it's last defeat was to WKU who has a five game winning streak and it's last loss was to UAB.

Jan 31-

LaTech got a big win over Charlotte while WKU lost  to FIU and the #herd (4-5) is hanging around after a win over FIU . NTX 8-1, WKU and La Tech are 7-2. Charlotte is 8-3

Feb 9

Hamlet and Gibson each scored 13 points for NTX(10-2) in a win over UAB   that kept them in first place, one game ahead of WKU(9-3) a winner over USM.

 Feb 16

The top three teams NTX(12-2) , WKU(11-3), and La Tech(10-4) won yesterday. I was stunned to see Rice(5-9) beat Charlotte(8-6) and took note of Marshall(7-7) reaching .500 with it's win over UTEP(4-10).

feb 24

 The top three teams NTX(12-3) , WKU(11-4), and La Tech(11-4). La Tech's narrow win over NTX tightened up the standings and #wku  's loss to Charlotte  added to the tension. WKU faces La Tech on Thursday.

feb 28

Taveion Hollingsworth  (43 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST) led WKU to a big win over LATech to keep them within a game of NTX who beat FIU. NTX(13-3) , WKU(12-4), and La Tech(11-5).

March 2

 Javion Hamlet (25 PTS, 4 REB, 9 AST) led NTX(14-3) to a win over WKU(12-5) and the CUSA regular season crown with one CUSA game left.

March 8

 Mikel Beyers  (20 PTS, 5 REB, 1 BLK) helped Marshall(16-15, 10-8 C-USA) to an 82-77 win over UTSA while Charlotte(10-8) lost to LA Tech which leaves  them tied with Marshall for fourth in the CUSA after NTX,WKU, and La tech. Top four get a round 1 bye.

March 12

 Taevion Kinsey had 26 points as sixth-seeded Marshall beat No. 11 seed UTEP 86-78 in the first round of the CUSAT and will play third-seeded Louisiana Tech on Thursday. FAU beat ODU. UAB beat UTSA. FIU beat Rice
 

O5 Title games 2019

AAC: Rematch of last week's game won 34-24 by Memphis. Coach Fickel will focus  on special teams to prevent another  Claybrooks KO return for  Memphis, but Memphis will eke out a narrower win 17-16 over Cincy.
CUSA: UAB at FAU UAB has shifted into a higher gear lately, but FAU hasn't lost since the Marshall game on Oct 18. FAU QB Robison will throw 2 TD passes in a 34 -22 win
MAC: Mami (OH) vs Central Michigan: Red hawks were flat in a 41-27 loss to Ball St while  the Chippewas rolled Toledo  49-7 last week.  Kobe Lewis will rush for 100 plus yards  in 28-23 CMU win over Miami O.
MWC: Hawaii at Boise St - Hawaii has a big time passing attack but Boise St will match it and  and win  30-20. I expected Highgtower, a Boise St WR, to have a big game.
Sunbelt:ULL at App St: Both teams have solid passing and rushing attacks . App St gets a pick six and wins a close one AppSt 20 ULL 19
Dec 4: On a side note: Mike Bobo parts ways with Colorado St (MWC)
Dec 6-More MWC news:  Tedford to step down at Fresno St. He was 22-6 in his first two years with a No. 18 finish in the final AP poll in 2018. He was 4-8 this season.
Dec 7: Coaching rumors :Kiffin from FAU to OL Miss. Norville from Memphis to Florida St . I just don't see how Kiffin merits an SEC gig.

Dec 8

Antonio Gibson came up big for Memphis, particularly in the game winning drive. His stat line for the game  130 yards rushing  and 1TD and 32 yards receiving and one TD . MEM 29 Cincy 24
Robison tossed 4 TD passes in for FAU in a 49-7 romp over UAB. 
Boise St D held Hawaii to ten points and got two TD passes from Jaylon Henderson in a 31-10 win
App St jumped out a big halftime lead and then hung on at the end. Levi Lewis tossed four TD passes for ULL during the comeback effort. App 45 ULL 38.
My sole incorrect pick was CMU, who couldn't overcome a solid Miami Ohio D in a 26-21 loss.

Dec 9

South Florida hires Clemson OC Jeff Scott as new head coach. Bobo, ex Colorado St HC,  is the new OC at S.Car. I'm stunned the App St HC got the Missouri gig, that's a huge leap.

dec 12

Taggart, ex FSU Hc, takes the FAU job.  Addazio, ex BC HC, takes Colorado St job  

april 28, 2020

   Troy (Sunbelt) and UAB(CUSA) , two schools in Alabama  separated by less than 140 miles., will play a home and home series later this decade.

June 12, 2020

CMU  (MAC) announced future matchups with Michigan St (B10) and this caught my attention:
Sparty  own an 8-3 advantage over the Chippewas.  The three wins for the CMU Chips came in 1991, 1992 and 2009.

Week 14 O5 picks -divsions at stake

MAC: WMU and CMU are tied for first  at 5-2 in the MACW. Central Michigan barely survived Ball St last week while Toledo got crushed by Buffalo. Koback rushed for 99 yards and 1TD and looks to be getting back in gear and will lead Toledo to an upset of CMU 26 -22.
AAC: Navy is tied with Memphis in the West after upsetting  SMU last week and faces a Houston team that found some D   last week in a win over Tulsa and will  contain Malcom Perry, the Navy QB, enough to  win 20-19.
CUSA: Three way tie  in CUSAW with UAB, La Tech, and USM at 5-2. UAB D was strong in a big win over La Tech last week and will handle North Texas who fell to Rice last week.
MWC: Air Force(6-1) will get a narrow 27-26 win thanks to 2 TD passes from DJ Hammond at home over Wyoming ,but that won't be enough for them to catch  the MWC Mountail leader Boise St (7-0) who will beat Colorado St.
SunBelt: Layne Hatcher will have huge day in a 33 -19 Arkansas St (5-2) win over South Bama and hope for ULM to upset ULL (6-1) the  West leader.

Nov 28

I'll stick with my Toledo pick despite  CMU's opportunity the West with a win since WMU lost to NIU in the fierce wind and  the rain on Tuesday night.

nov 30

Off to a rough (0-2) start with my picks. Koback scored the lone TD for Toledo and only rushed for 22 yards in a 49-7 loss to Central Michigan, the winner of the West who faces the East champ, Miami (Ohio), next week. Kobe Lewis rushed for 131 yards and 2 TDS for CMU.
In the SunBelt , Hatcher(23-38, 342 YDS, 2 TD )  had another big day  for Ark St, but it wasn't enough to prevent Desmond Trotter(20-31, 279 yards , 4TDs) and Jaguars of South Bama from getting  their first conference win this season. USA 34 Ark St 30

dec 1

I was wrong on Houston's D and ended up 2-3 this week. Navy 56 HOU 41 .

• Jamale Carothers NAVY 18 CAR, 188 YDS, 5 TD and Perry rushed for 144 yards and a TD

And here's my two correct picks: TD Marshall provided  a pick 6 and Spencer Brown carried the ball 19 times for 111 yards and a TD for UAB in a 26-21winover North texas
Donald Hammond scored both of AFA's TDs, on the ground, one by air, in 20-6 win over Wyoming.

AAC HOOPS 2019/20 predictions

Houston guard DeJon Jarreau leads a solid squad but that BYU loss stings
Memphis: Wiseman(suspended til January) but a successful return should keep the Tigers in the Dance picture. Quinones is a decent guard
Cincinnati has a new HC, John Brannen, and Jarron Cumberland is still a Bearcat
Temple-New HC  McKie inherits guard Quinton Rose and some other solid players
USF is led by guard Laquincy Rideau and is receiving a lot pre-season hype. I'll wait and see.
Wichita St needs a lot from Dexter Dennis early in the season
UConn-  Bouknight and Gilbert form a dynamic backcourt.
UCF is going to miss Tacko
Tulane -New HC Ron Hunter has a lot riding on incoming transfer KJ Lawson
Tulsa- DO or die time for Coach Haith
ECU- A lot rides on the JUCO transfers
SMU- Erratic team. Darius McNeil has the potential to be a solid lead guard

Nov 23

 I posted the blog in the morning and by nighttime Houston lost to Oregon . Cincy barely survived Illinois St. UConn lost to Xavier, a team they'll face more often when they return to the BigEast next season. And East Carolina blew out the same Evansville squad that beat Kentucky earlier this season. Also Coach Hunter, formerly of GA St, Tulane squad beat MTSU. Temple beat USC.

dec 28

 Fabian White Jr. and Caleb Mills scored 19 points each in Houston's (AAC) rally to a 75-71 win over No. 21 Washington(PAC12) in the  Diamond Head Classic. It could be an important part of the Cougars resume for March Madness

jan 4, 2020

Houston took care of business with a 78-63 win over UCF, but the WTH happened to Temple last night. They only scored 17 in the first half of  70-44 loss to Tulsa, who was led by
J. Horne( 23 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST)

jan 5

 Yesterday's results from the new SEC/AAC SCHEDULING Alliance of four games a season. Hammond had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Georgia in a surprise 65-62 win over Memphis. Wichita St crushed Ol Miss 74-54. Kendric Davis scored 24 points and Tyson Jolly added 21 for SMU in a 92-81 win over Vandy. On Dec 8 Houston beat South Carolina 76-56. AAC 3 SEC 1 this season

jan 12

AAC standings tighten with Tulsa's big 63-61 win over Houston. Coach Ron Hunter's move from Ga St of the  Sunbelt to Tulane and  has been erratic. In their last five games they've defeated Cincy and Temple but lost to Memphis, Uconn, and Towson(CAA).
Wichita St is the lone undefeated team in AAC play

Jan 16

Quinton Rose scored 19 points for Temple who handed Wichita St its first AAC loss this season.
Brandon Rachal scored 21 points for Tulsa in a 65-49 win over ECU. Houston beat SMU 71-62. wICHITA, tULSA, and Houston are tied at 3-1 with Cincy atop the AAC.

 jan 23

WTH to Memphis?  Jeriah Horne (21 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST)  led Tulsa to an 80-40 rout of Memphis.
Cumberland cousins helped Cincy beat Temple 89-82. SMU crushed ECU  84-64. Tulsa is in first place, ahalf game up on Cincy and Houston.

jan 29

Jarron Cumberland (28 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST)  led Cincy in a 65-43 pounding of SMU.

feb 2

 The Bearcats moved into a tie with Houston for second place in the AAC after coming back from fifteen point deficit to beat the Cougars 64-62. Both teams trail first place Tulsa who defeated Wichita St 54-51 thanks to a solid game from  Elijah Joiner (22 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST).

Feb 9

Cincy(8-3) lost an OT game to UConn while Houston(9-2) crushed Wichita St to take over first place.Tulsa(7-3) was upset by UCF.(4-7) was led by Darin Green Jr. (26 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST) .

feb 17 

Tre Scott (14 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST) was key factor in Cincy's OT win over ECU and UConn put a damper on Memphis Dance hopes with a 64-61 win. Wichita St handled Tulane. SMU's upset of Houston on Saturday allowed Cincy to move into a tie for first.

 feb 20

Yes, the Cincy loss to UCF hurts them some, but SMU has to be off the bubble with a loss to cellar dweller Tulane.  Tulsa fell to third place with 76-43 loss to Houston. Memphis edged ECU.

feb 23

Memphis upset of Houston(11-4)  made the battle for first more interesting. Tulsa (10-4)   and Cincy 10-4) are .5 GB. Martins Igbanu scored 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds for Tulsa in its 79-57 blowout of SMU. Cincy plays Wichita St today

feb 29

How is it that Cincy is being considered  an out for the Dance. The AAC is a decent hoops conference and deserves a minimum of three Dance tickets. Cincy , Houston , and Tulsa are tied for first in the AAC at 11-4.

Week 13 O5 picks- division time

MACW has two idle teams  tied at 5-2( WMU and CMU)  so I'll roll with a MAC East game .  Miami O owns H2H tiebreakers with the rest of the East including Ohio who will  get back on the winning track against Bowling Green tonight 27-19 behind  another solid all-around game game from their QB  O'Rourke.
AAC: I'm not sold on Temple's two QB, Russo and Centeio, system and don't think they have enough O to stay with Cincy who lock up the East with a win.   Cincy 34 Temple 22
CUSA: Chris Reynolds, Charlotte's QB, has been putting up big numbers, but the herd D will find a way to keep them in the game and get Marshall to a narrow 24-23 road win and keep them on pace with FAU in the East.
MWC: Utah St moves in to tie with Boise for the Mountain with a win.  Home field and Jordan Love's arm will be the keys in a 44-43 shootout win over Boise St.
Sunbelt: Ark St trails ULL by a game in the Wesr , and Georgia Southern trails App St by a game in the East. Hatcher's a hot QB and he'll the Red Wolves to a 30-29 over  another solid QB- led team  GSU Eagles who will get big numbers from Werts.

Nov 20

 Wow,  Ohio 66 BG 24. O’Shaan Allison rushed for 175 yards which included touchdown runs of 54, 7 and 53 yards, Nathan Rourke accounted for four TDs, three passing, one rushing.
Nov 24
Saturday split leaves me 3-2 for the week
Well, Reynolds was the man and the #herd went limp in the second half . Char 24 MU 10
Less than I expected, and a blocked extra-point attempt turned into Cincinnati's decisive points in 15-13 win over TU.
I was way off Boise.  Holani (16 CAR, 178 YDS, 2 TD) led the way in the BSU 56-21 blowout of USU.
 Ark St 38 Ga SO 33- Huge Game from Hatcher

Layne Hatcher ARST 19-24, 354 YDS, 4 TD
Shai Werts GASO 18 CAR, 151 YDS, 1 TD

• Hey how about Butch Davis' Panthers beating Miami FL. FIU (CUSA) 30 The u 24

Sunbelt Hoops hunches 2019/20

1) Georgia Southern Eagles: Can Trevior Lamar replace #TookieBrown ? Isaiah Crawley is a solid scorer and rebounder
2) South Alabama Josh Ajayi, who averaged 16.4 points per game last season, and fellow double-digit scorer Trhae Mitchell are key players, but look out for Andre Fox who scored 24 points  against Chattanooga last week.
3) Texas State Bobcats:  Nijai Pearson remains a player to watch player to watch for the Bobcats who finished secind in conference play last season.
4) Appalachian State Mountaineers- Justin Forrest returns  but they 'll miss Shabazz.
5) Georgia State Panthers: Coach Hunter runs Tulane now so it might be a year  of adjustment for Coach Lanier who will rely heavily on Kane Williams. Ga St gave Duke a tough game but lost 64-53 last week.
6) UT Arlington Mavericks- Davis and Narcis are solid forwards, but the Mavs will need more.
7) Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: Frater and Jones  return.
8) Troy Trojans: KJ Simon scored a career-high 21 points in a narrow loss to UAB- they'll need more of that.
9) Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns lost Jakeenan Grant (SBC DoY) and Stroman , the SBC assists leader
10) Arkansas State Red Wolves will rely on a few transfers to replace Ty Cockfield
11) UL Monroe Warhawks: Ertel and JD Williams return.
12) Little Rock Trojans- Good luck to Coach Darrell Walker in filling the void of Rayjon Tucker turning pro.

dec 24

I thought the Sunbelt Georgia schools were going to upset bigger conference teams but it didn't occur . I. Smith(25 PTS, 6 REB, 1assist) kept Ga Southern in the game, but Edwards (23 PTS, 3 REB, 4 assists) came through for the Dawgs . GA(SEC) 73 GAS 64.
Georgia St got a big night from K. Williams (22 PTS, 3 REB, 2 assists) but F. Hunt(18 PTS, 7 REB, 2 assists) and the Mustangs took control late. SMU(AAC) 85 GA St 76

jan 3,2020

Keeping a promise to a buddy and reporting good news for South Bama. Josh Ajayi ( SALA - F
13 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST) in a 60-57 win over ULL.
The Georgia school each remained undefeated in Sunbelt play. Ga St beat App St, and GA Southern beat CCU.

jan 12

 South Bama D: USA 52 Ark LR 43. The second place Jags are one GB of the Georgia schools and ArkLR. #NijalPearson scored 22 points to power Texas State past App St 82-57. GA St beat ULM. CCU beat UTA. GA Southern beat ULL. Ark St beat Troy

Jan 18

Georgia schools and Ark LR sit atop the Sunbelt standings with 6-2 records.   Justin Roberts scored 20 points  in Georgia State's 72-63 victory over  South Bama, who faces Georgia Southern,  a winner over Troy, Thursday night. Ark LR beat CCU and faces App St today.

jan 25

South Bama Jags are 5-5 in SunBelt action. They beat GA Southern last saturday then lost to Ark St Thursday night. Josh Ajayi has solid stats 15.8 PPG 8.1 RBG. ARK LR (8-2) is in first in the SunBelt.

Feb 3

 Trhae Mitchell scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting for South Alabama(6-7) in a 79-69 win Georgia Southern(7-5) on Saturday. Ark LR (11-2) is in first place.

Feb 8

Sunbelt placed a Friday night game on the schedule and South Bama(7-7) moved to .500 in conference play with a 70-66 win over Troy(5-9).  Josh Ajayi scored 20 points the Jags.

feb 14

 Fox and Mitchell each scored 20 for  S Alabama(8-7) in its 78-75 win over UL-Lafayette 78-75. Jags are tied with App St, who lost to GaSt(10-5) and 4GB of Ark LR(12-3) who lost to TXST(9-6)

feb 21

 Josh Ajayi scored 19 points and South Alabama(10-7) shot 70% from the floor in a 78-70 win over AppSt. TXST(11-6) beat Georgia Southern(10-7). Ark LR(12-4) is in first place.

feb 29

Isaiah Crawley scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for GA Southern(12-7) in a 79-70 win over GA St., but still trail TX St(13-6) a narrow winner over over UTA last night. TX St finishes the season against South Bama(11-7) on March 3. If ArkLR(14-4) wins today against ULL, they lock up first place.

March 4

How about South Bama(13-7)  beating TX St(13-7) to finish in a tie for second ,and Georgia St beating  first place ArkLR(15-5)..  ULL scored 69 points in a second half  comeback win over CCU.

March 31

Georgia Southern hires Brian Burg , former asst at Texas Tech

April 11

  Sunbelt Conference shifts 2021-25 men's and women's basketball championships from NOLA to Pensacola, Fla. It is the first time the conference will play the men’s championship in FLA . The women’s championship was held at the USF Dome in Tampa, Fla in 1988.

May 15

 It's official I can call the SunBelt, the SBC. They released a new logo today.

July 13, 2020

Ole Miss (SEC) and Georgia State (Sunbelt) announce a football/basketball weekend in Oxford, MS for 2026 season. Men's hoops on Nov 20, 2026 and pigskin on Nov 21.

Week 12 O5 five pack

AAC: Two teams,Tulane and Temple, with identical records(3-2, 6-3) will battle in Philly on Saturday. Justin McMillan, Tulane's exciting QB, will lead the Green Wave to a 28-27 victory. Temple is hoping Russo, their QB gets into gear.
CUSA: Marshall, a winner of four straight games, host La Tech  who is 5-0 in conference play. Maybe the #herd will practice ball control and Knox gets 100 plus rushing yards. I'm rolling the dice on the herd D doing slowing down J"Mar Smith the La Tech QB. MU 22 LaTech 20
MAC: Jaylon Bester will rush for 90 yards and a TD for Miami O in a 24-18 win over Bowling Green.
MWC: San Diego St  tumbled out of the gate but they now sit  atop  the MWC West. Aztecs will recover from the tough loss to Nevada and will eke out a 20-19 win over Fresno, a struggling team. SDSU may need a pick six to get the win.
Sunbelt: Texas St  has been a bit of a surprise this year, and  Tyler Vitt , who tossed for 373 yards and three touchdowns last week against USA, will lead them to a 27-25 a win over Troy to even their conference record at 3-3.

nov 14

I was close on Bester's stat line. 9 carries , 85 yards , 2TDS.  Gabbert tossed three TDS in Miami O's 44-3 rout of Bowling Green . Red Hawks are a game and a half up on Buffalo in the MAC East.

nov15

 LA Tech Rumors are true: Starting quarterback J'Mar Smith, wide receiver Adrian Hardy and outside linebacker James Jackson have been suspended for the Marshall game due to an athletic department policy violation. Smith and Hardy will also sit out the UAB game. What a complete meltdown by Buffalo (AAC) last night- blew a 27-10 lead in three minutes, then lost 30-27 on a game ending FG .

Nov 16

  #herd were in trouble when they decided against a FG attempt on fourth down in the second quarter and ran some goofy play in an odd formation that failed, but they roared back behind Green and Knox for the 31-10 win over La Tech. SDST didn't need much O  in it's 17-7 win over Fresno St and took a 1.5 game lead over Hawaii in the MWC West..

Nov 18

I won my first three picks  but lost on Tulane  and TXST to finish the weekend. Temple D-Line made life tough for McMillan plus the Green Wave play calling was sketchy on a 29-21 loss to Temple.
  Kaleb Barke (30-43, 363 YDS, 6 TD) led Troy to a 63-27 win over TXST

WAC hoops 2019/20 hunches

A little twist on this season's prognostications. Who's the next #PascalSiakham,  former #NMST player and budding NBA star with the Toronto Raptors. It's #MilanAcquaah  of California Baptist.
NM State:  Jabari Rice may be  the scorer the Aggies need to repeat as WAC champ.
Grand Canyon: Majerle's kids went the trey way  in a bruising loss to Illinois (B10). Isiah Brown  Jovan Blacksher Jr are players to watch.
California Baptist: #MilanAcquaah , a guard who's been averaging nearly 20 PPg and doing a solid dishing assists and grabbing rebounds, will lead the Lancers closer to the top of the WAC.
Utah Valley- Is Havsa, the guard from Turkey, a potential solid guard who can assist and rebound?
Seattle U:  Terrell Brown is the Redhawk to watch this season
CSU Bakersfield: DeMonte Buckingham is  far way from his  hometown of Richmond VA, but he'll be a major factor in the Roadrunners' on-going improvement improvement.
UT Rio Grande Valley- Tyson Smith and Terry Winn III are Vacqueros  worth watching.
UM Kansas City: McKissic remains the key player
Chicago State:  Cougars won't get out of the basemnt this season but  Xavier Johnson  opened the season scoring 37 points in a win against a non 1A team
Nov 13: Cal Baptist hung  with Texas most of last night before losing 67-54  MILAN ACQUAAH (17pts, 7 reb , 3 assists)
Dec 15: Cal Baptist has the best OOC record among WAC teams and UVU , the worst. I don't catch many televised WAC games but did get to UTRGV lose to Creighton 89-58 the other night.

dec 22

 Quinton Johnson II led the UTRGV Vaqueros (4-8) with 17 points and seven rebounds in a 69-59 loss to Texas Tech, who madeit to the final game of the Dance last season.

dec 25

 Terrell Brown had 17 points, eight assists and four steals in a 79-57  Seattle win over Long Beach St(BIG West). Redhawks needed this win to shake off a rough OOC December heading into WAC play.

 dec 29

Seattle turned around and gets crushed by St Mary's 80-58.  I'm getting an education on school names from the WAC OOC schedule. Cal Baptist beat Ottawa University Arizona 92-75, and UVU beat Antelope Valley 80-65.

dec 30

 Back to more recognizable names: CS Bakersfield was within 3 points (44-41) of Texas Tech with 12:54 left but lost 73-58 last night.

jan 3, 2020

WAC play is underway and nothing changes for Chicago St who lost Utah Valley. UMKC beat Seattle, and  #brandonboyd (25 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST ) led Cal Baptist to a 76-67 victory of UTRGV.

jan 12

 Brandon Boyd had 16 points as Cal Baptist edged past Grand Canyon 61-57  and trail NMST, who barely beat UMKC last night, by a half a game in the WAC. In other games Seattle beat UVU and UTRGV beat Chicago St.

jan 17

Grand Canyon beat Chicago St 78-64, but either they're low on talent or Chicago St is improving.  Rajeir Jones scored 19 points in the Cougars' loss. NMST(4-0) beat UVU to stay a game up on idle Cal Baptist(3-1) and Seattle (3-1) who beat UTGRV. Bakersfield beat UMKC.

jan 27 

Franck Kamgain registered 16 points and six rebounds for UMKC in a win over Cal Baptist(4-2) who fell two games behind NMST (6-0) , a winner over UTRGV yesterday.

 jan 30

 #De'jonDavis tallied 19 points and 17 rebounds for Cal Baptist in a win over UVU. Big win that keeps them 2GB of NMST .

feb 2

 Milan Acquaah had 18 points and eight assists as Cal Baptist defeated Seattle 72-65 to remain 2GB of NMST, a winner over Grand Canyon, in the WAC. UMKC beat Chicago St. UTRGV beat Bakersfield.

feb 9

Cal Baptist's(7-3) comeback  against an improving Grand Canyon(5-4) squad fell short in 103-98 loss . NMST(10-0) remained undefeated in WAC play witha 67-61 win over UMKC, Seattle(5-4) beat UVU(3-6). Chicago St(0-10) got closer to it's first conference win in a long time, but Lesley Varner II made 4 of 5 treys and 9 of 10 free throws to score 23 points for UTRGV(5-5) in a comeback 75-64 win.

feb 15

Coach Majerlie has Grand Canyon getting into gear for a late season run . They beat UMKC 71-66 to move to 6-4 in WAC play but NMST beat Seattle to move to 11-0. Second place Cal Baptist (7-3) played an OOC game against Westcliff.  UTRGV beat UVU and  Bakersfield beat Chicago St.

feb 21

Seattle(6-6) put the brakes on Grand Canyon's(7-5) recent run with a 95-89 win. Terrell Brown SEA - G(31 PTS, 6 REB, 10 AST) had a big night. UVU(4-8) beat Bakersfield (5-7). NMST (12-0) has 4.5 games lead on second place Cal Baptist(7-4).

feb 23

Yes, Chicago St is a bad team but  they were handed one of their worst defeats this season by Cal Baptist who hit 18 treys in a 95-53 victory. NMSt beat remained undefeated in WAC play with a win over UTRGV. Seattle continued to improve with a win over Bakersfield, while Grand Canyon lost to UVU.

feb 27

 Milan Acquaah scored 24 points and De'Jon Davis added a double-double for California Baptist(20-8, 9-4 WAC) in a 73-66 win over UVU

March 1

 De'jon Davis scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Milan Acquaah added 27 points  for Cal Baptist(10-4) in a narrow win over Seattle. UMKC crushed Chicago St and UTRGV beat Grand Canyon.

mARCH 4

i THINK Chicago St men's hoops may be working its way out of the WAC and 1A hoops  the men's team would not travel to Seattle or Utah Valley for WAC games  this week, and the woman's team won't be hosting the same teams . And also may not attend the WACT. tHE REASON: coronavirus . No response yet from the WAC.

March 6

  Wow, Cal Baptist got a taste of the big dog. NMST 83 CB 50. UMKC beat UVU

March 13

 Tarleton St near Dallas TX, and Dixie St  in Utah are joining the WAC in 2020.
 CAL St Bakersfield is leaving the WAC for the Big West.  UMKC is leaving for the Summit League which leaves Chicago St, the lone member from the Midwest section of the USA. All of these moves were scheduled a few years ago.

March 17

Jerry Colangelo, Grand Canyon strategic advisor,said this after the school  fired Dan Majerle  "GCU has become a premier mid-major basketball destination with its resources, facilities, and student and community support." Just a bit of overhype. So much for Phoenix Suns alumni hanging tough.

March 28

Looking back to 1962:  The WAC’s  original six-team league: Arizona, Arizona State, Brigham Young, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. AZ and ASU exited the Pac 10 in 1978. 

March 31

look who's back: Tarleton St who's moving to 1A and the WAC hired #BillyGillispie , who had decent stints at the first two schools: UTEP, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech. He 's been a coaching at Ranger College, a community college in TX, since 2015.

may 7 2020

  I was kind of surprised Chris Jans, the NMST HC, considered replacing Forbes, who took the Wake Forest job, at E Tenn St (Southern Conference). At best it would've been a lateral move with maybe a few more $$$$. ETSU elevated Shay an asst to the HC job.

may 20, 2020 

#WAC hoops stays in the off-season spotlight. Dan Majerle, ex GC HC,  is suing Grand Canyon for waging a campaign to disparage him as part of its effort to avoid its severance obligation. He was replaced by  former Valparaiso and Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew.

May 26, 2020

#terrellbrown (PTS 20.7  REB 6.2 AST 4.9 last season), a native of Seattle , used the grad transfer portal and left Seattle U for Arizona.

July 10, 2020

Is hiring ex NBAers to be  college head coaches a growing trend?  Mark Madsen had a rough season(11-18, 5-11) at UVU(WAC) replacing Mark Pope who went 24-8 at BYU(WCC) and was probably going to get the Cougars to a No. 6 or No. 7 seed.

dec 10, 2020

 #BillyGillispie , who had decent stints at the first two schools: UTEP, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech has  Tarleton (WAC) off to a 2-2 start including battling Texas A&M hard before falling 73-66.e slated to play Kansas on Dec 13.

Week 11- Late on MAC the n the rest of the O5

Two Tuesday night games with Toledo edging Kent St and WMU edging Ball St leaves me with one game to guess on. I'll go with O'Rourke and the Bobcats at home 28-27 tonight over Miami (Ohio) in a battle for 1st in MAC East.
AAC: ECU is a team on the rise and gave Cincy a scare last week, but will fall by 8   at SMU. Buechele will toss 3 td passes.
CUSA: It's always tough traveling to west Texas for road games , but Charlotte, led by Lemay's solid running will edge UTEP 24 -22.
MWC: Aerial fireworks with Hawaii coming out on top  51-44. McDonald (HAW) and Love (SJSU) will combine for 1K in passing yards..
Sunbelt:  Georgia St needs this one badly to stay in the race in the East but I don't think they'll contain ULM QB Caleb Evans. ULM 37 Ga State 30.

Nov 7

Close score but I picked the wrong team . ORourke had a so-so game for Ohio and #SamSloman hit a 53-yard field goal with 3:48 to play to give Miami O  a 24-21 win and the lead in the MAC East.

Nov 9

 I didn't pick this game: I watched the final 25 minutes of the Tulsa 37-34 upset of UCF. UCF crumbled. Twelve men on the field penalty with a chance to get the ball back in the final minute.

Nov 10

Too bad I didn't put $$$$ on my other 4 picks.
SMU survived a 59-51 shootout with ECU and the same for Hawaii holding off SJSU. Evans (ULM) was too much for Georgia St, and  Chris Reynolds (24-35, 354 YDS, 2 TD ) led Charlotte  back on the road at UTEP  28-21. Charlotte (5-5) is closing in on a bowl bid.
Special mention for #wku (CUSA) rocking Arkansas (SEC) and App St beating South Carolina (SEC)

April 12, 2020

This kid must be be great. #BrandonCouncil, an OL grad transfer from Akron(MAC) commits to Auburn over Baylor and  Missouri. LSU and USC were also interested.

April 15

 Other 5(Group of Five) asks the NCAA to waive the minimum football attendance requirements and the requirement for a minimum of 16 varsity athletic teams.

May 5, 2020

 Ohio(MAC) quarterback Nathan Rourke was selected with the by the BC Lions with the 15th pick of the CFL draft. Rourke was born in Victoria, British Columbia.

May 14, 2020

 East Carolina gets second SEC transfer in less than a week. Arkansas RB Chase Hayden. On May 7 it was Alabama cornerback Nigel Knott.

May 17, 2020

   Dan Ellington,  the GA St starting QB for the past two years, is now on its coaching staff. That was quick!

Aug 13, 2023

Back from Canada: Nathan Rourke(OhioU) got some playing time and scores last night for the Jags in a pre-season win over Dallas.

Week 10 Five pack-Other 5

Sunbelt: Georgia Southern has a solid running game and has played well lately but App St behind the passing of Zac Thomas and the running of D. Evans will pull off a 27-23 victory.
AAC: SMU Mustangs travel to Memphis . Can the Mustangs  contain the passing of Brady White or will they suffer their first loss? Memphis D isn't much better. Buechele will outduel White in a 40-39 SMU win.
CUSA: The passing of Reynolds and the running of Lemay have made Charlotte competitive and they 'll give MTSU a good game but fall 30-28
MAC: Slim schedule: Harbison has solid running game for NIU in a road win at C.Michigan.
MWC: Patrick Obrien will lead the  resurgent Colorado St  Rams  to a 40 26 win over the  fading UNLV Rebels. UNLV has struggled since upsetting Vandy

Nov 1

One game , one pick wrong.  Ga Southern's option attack was decent in the first half then got two touchdown runs of 68 and 55 yards from #wesleykennedy  in the third quarter to give them a 24-7 lead. GS 24 AppSt 21.

Nov 3

Wrong on SMU  NIU
Buechele and White each tossed three TDs  in a wild game in which Memphis survived a late SMU rally for a 54-48 win.
CMU had too much O for NIU . Ward and Lewis rushed 281 yards for CMU in a 48-10 win
Correct on  Colorado St and Charlotte
# AnthonyHawkins returned  the opening kickoff for 99 yard touchdown for CSU who went on to a 37-10 win over UNLV.

The rushing duo of C. Lewis(104 yards 2TD) and A.McAlister (103 yards  1TD) led Charlotte to a 34-20 win over MTSU

Week 9 Nickel's worth on Independents

Liberty @ Rutgers (B10). Flames QB, #stephencalvert is having a solid year and will lead Liberty to a 22-19 win over  the Scarlet Knights who've been blanked three times this season.
Army will re-group at home and survive an improved  San Jose St(MWC) squad that upset Arkansas earlier this season. Hopkins will toss a TD pass for Army and lead a strong rushing  attack  in 24 -23  narrow win over the Spartans, who will get two passing TDs from  Josh Love.
I miss New Mexico St playing in the Sunbelt.  Aggies RB Jason Huntley has a nose for the end zone,  but Georgia Southern(Sunbelt) will control the clock and win 20-16.
UMass # Connecticut (AAC): Can either D stop anyone? Minutemen fade at the end to the Huskies 33-31.
#NotreDame visits the Big House. Is it time to realize that Harbaugh 's  O is lacking or believe Book and the Irish boys are the real deal . Charbonnet spills in to the end zone twice and UM win 27 -26.

Oct 27

3-2 for the week. Theme of the days was yards per carry. Two incorrect picks:  Liberty got off to a fast start but flamed out . Johnny Langan(21 CAR, 118 YDS, 1 TD) for Rutgers in its 44-34 win.
Army couldn't keep pace with Josh Love's three passing  TDS and lost 34-29.
I was correct on the outcomes but not the path in these three games. NMST scored first and then got run over 41-7 by Georgia Southern. #wesleykennedy of GA Southern : 6 carries 143 yards 2TDs.
Mich 45 ND 14:  Haskins of Michigan- 20 CAR, 149 YDS
UConn 56-UMass 35:  Mensah of Uconn-: 19 CAR, 164 YDS, 5 TD 

May 17, 2020

 #Army scheduled future home-and-home series with Troy(Sunbelt) and  UTSA (CUSA). Army has never faced Troy , and they beat UTSA last season.

May 28, 2020

I read this: Ex-Georgia WR Josh Moran transfers to New Mexico St, then i read further and found that he was a scout team player who never saw game action. He should get some game action for the Aggies.

Week 9 Five pack- Other 5

AAC: Battle of QBs: Justin McMillan (TULN 92-160, 1229 YDS, 9 TD) visits Malcolm Perry (NAVY 124 CAR, 792 YDS, 14 TD). Both teams have been spanked by Memphis this season. Navy win 27-24.
CUSA:  Brenden Knox will rush for at least 125 yards and his Marshall Herd will hold off Ty Storey and the his WKU teammates 22-19
MAC: I'm going to go with Drew Pitt the Ball St Cards again this week. This time they'll hold off Nathan Rourke and the Ohio Bearcats 27-26.
MWC: Fresno St led by QB Josh Reyna is coming off a big offensive win over UNLV. Colorado St  needs this game to stay in contention in the Mountain Division . Marvin Kinsey Jr will get 100 yards, but that won't enough as his Rams will fall to the Bulldogs. 30-20.
Sunbelt: Kaleb Barker (143-223, 1670 YDS, 16 TDs)  leads the Troy Trojans into Atlanta for a shootout that Dan Ellington, the Georgia St QB, will win in a 27-26 squeaker.

Oct 25: 

 AAC: SMU gave up a 96 yard pass play TD with five minutes left but survived Houston 34-31 to remain undefeated. I didn't think the game would be that close.

Oct 27

McMillan led a he!! of a Tulsa comeback  but Navy scrambled into position for a late game winning field goal that made the final score 41-38.
Rohrwasser kicks 53-yard FG for the #herd to survive #wku 26-23. 
Nathan Rourke and the Ohio Bobcats put the brakes on Ball St three gave winning streak in a 34- 21 victory. 
Patrick O'Brien CSU (23-42, 322 YDS, 2 TD) handled Fresno St 41-31
 Tra Barnett GAST (34 CAR, 242 YDS, 2 TD) rolled the Trojans 52-33 
I was 3-2 for the week

Week 8 Five- pack -Other5

Temple travels to SMU in a key AAC matchup. Russo, the Temple QB , is having a solid season and will give SMU  a tough game, but look for SMU QB, Shane Buechele, to win the aerial show in 38-35 SMU win.
USM travel to LA Tech in a battle for the top spot in the CUSA West. J'Mar smith, LT's QB, and J. Abraham,USM QB, may each toss some TDs, but look for  Justin Henderson to  rush for over 100 and lead LA tech to a 31-27 home victory.
Toledo 's O vanished in a loss to Bowling Green last week so it's time to get Koback  another 100 yard+ game, but it could be tough  @Ball St. where their QB Drew Pitt is doing it on ground and by air. Ball St 23 Toledo 20
AFA head coach , Troy calhoun,  was whining about being in the MWC last week. Beware of Hawaii's air attack led by Cole McDonald. Hawaii 33-AFA 29
ULM  travels to App St in a battle of 2-0 Sunbelt teams. AppSt wins a low scoring game 19-17. Darrynton Evans will get back in gear for Mountaineers and rush for 100+

Oct 19

 I didn't pick this one : He!! of a game for Knox (220 yards, 2 TDs) in the #herd win over FAU last night .  Lane Kiffin's ain't doing so well.

 oct 20

Buechele tossed six TDS  for SMU in a 45-21 win over Temple.
Henderson rushed for 111 yards  and two TDS in La tech's 45-21 win over USM
Don't look now but Ball St is undefeated (3-0) in MAC play . Drew Pitt tossed for 206 yards and three TDs in in 52-14 win over Toledo.
Thomas by air and Evans by ground for App St who crushed ULM 52-7
And for my sole incorrect pick of the week: Hawaii was blown out by Air Force 56-21
#MikeSchmidt came off the bench and rushed for 120 yards and three TDs Also he completed 5 of 6 passes for 147 yards and one TD.

Week 7 Other five Conference time

CUSA: It appeared that  ODU was turning the corner after hanging tough in a loss to UVA but then they lost to ECU and WKU. Marshall will increase Knox's workload and edge  the visiting Monarchs 17-12
MAC: MIAMI(ohio) is coming off a solid conference win over Buffalo and will need a big game from rushing game from Jaylon Bester to win at WMU, led by the big arm of J. Wassink. Miami(O) 31 WMU 30.
Sunbelt: ULL hosts App St in a battle of two teams off to nice starts. Ragas/Mitchell lead a potent rushing attack for the home team, but I'll roll with Zac Thomas  to have a300 yard passing game in an App St 34 -32 win.
MWC: I'm taking Josh Love and the Spartans  to get a home win over the sluggish Wolfpack. San Jose St  29 NEV 22
AAC: Navy looks like they're back in  contention and Tulsa has been erratic. Tulsa will feed Brooks more carries and win a close one at home 23 20
Oct 9-  San Diego St football coach Rocky Long opinion on  JJ Justice, the son of former MLB star David Justice,  placing his name into the NCAA transfer database.  "He’s got a full-ride scholarship, he doesn’t have to play for it and he gets to finish out the semester."
Oct10- I was correct on App St but it was a low scoring game. Zac Thomas had two rushing TDs in the 17-7 App St win over ULL. 

Oct 13

I was way off on Tulsa, wrong on  Miami O  and San Jose St, and spared from going 0fer for saturday by  Marshall.
 Tulsa couldn't contain M.Perry, Navy's QB, who rushed for 218 yards and three TDs in a 45-17 win over Tulsa.
Gabbert threw three INTs, including a pick 6, in the Miami O 30-16 loss to W.Michigan. Bellamy rushed for two TDs and Wassink tossed two TDs for the Broncos.
Love threw for 405 yards but the his Trojan teammates rushed for only 34 yards in a 40-37 last play, Talton's 40 yard FG, loss to Nevada who were led by Taua's 160 rushing yards.
Knox rushed for 104 yards and a TD in the #herd's win over  ODU.
Here's what caught my eye in some other games. W.Kentucky(CUSA) held Army to 8 points in a 17-8 win..The MWC is definitely a rocky road. Wyoming got tripped by SDST, FresnoSt couldn't handle Air Force, and UNLV pounded Vandy of the SEC.
NIU got a game ending field goal in a wild 4th quarter to edge Ohio 40-37 in MAC play.
oCT14:   MWC geography and caliber of opponents fits AFA. ODD COMMENT from Air Force coach,Troy Calhoun,  who questions Air Force’s placement in the Mountain West: “I don’t know if it’s really a match”

Week 6 heavy AAC and one MAC

OOC matchups are still filling the schedule,  but  there are some intriguing conference matchups so I'll detour to the AAC this weekend.
UCF travels to Cincy in an AAC East matchup. Knights nip the Bearcats at Nippert 24-23 behind a strong rushing attack led by McCrae and Killins. Ridder, the Cincy QB, will keep this a close game.
Evans and Johnson  will keep the Warhawks(Sunbelt) in the game for a half but Memphis behind the passing of Brady White will get the road win. Memphis 30 ULM 20.
Navy 's QB, Malcom Perry, is having a solid season, and he'll do enough for the Midshipmen to to prevail over the visiting AFA Falcons (MWC). Remsberg and Birdow are a nice one-two punch in the AFA rushing attack and will keep this game close.
In MAC play I look for NIU to recover from a tough OOC schedule and beat Ball St 26  to 19. May Bowers, the NIU QB, will out-perform his QB opponent , Drew Plitt.

oct 5

 I was close on the score but wrong on the winner. UCF QB Dillon Gabriel threw three INTs and the last one a Pick 6 by Ahmad Gardner cost them the game . CU 27 UCF 24

oct 6

I nailed the rest of the AAC games . Perry rushed for 111 yards and 2 td in the Navy 34-25 win over AFA. Kenneth Gainwell's last name fit (14 CAR ,209 yards, 2 TDs)for Memphis in it's 52-33 win over ULM.
I was close on the score but wrong on the victor in MAC game.  Caleb Huntley (35 CAR, 157 yards, 2TD) had a solid game for Ball St in a 27-20 win over NIU.

Dropping a dime on Independents Week 5

  #Byu Cougars and #utah Utes have agreed to take a two-year "Holy War" break in 2022 and 2023, allowing Utah an opportunity to schedule a home-and-home series with an SEC opponent.
This weekend an erratic BYU squad visits Toledo(MAC), who got a monster game from Bryant Koback (228 yards rushing) last weekend . Toledo 29 BYU 28
Notre Dame  will recover from a tough loss to UGA and defeat the visiting UVA Cavs 30-20. Cavs were not impressive in a 28-17 win over ODU (CUSA)
UMass hosts Akron(MAC) in a battle of bad defenses. Perhaps an aerial show AKR 36 Umass 35
Liberty will contain Tuioti, the Lobos QB, and pull out a close one at home. LIB 20 UNM 19
New Mexico St scored  55 last week at UNM and lost. Fresno  St (MWC)has played power 5 schools, USC and Minnesota, tough in losing efforts Fre 34 UNM 22

Sept 27:

Tying into this blog: UCF(AAC) football schedules future non-conference games with Boise State (MWC ) and  BYU(Independent)

Sept 29

 Koback was ok (88yds, 1TD) and Toledo got a late pick which led to rushing TD from Seymour to beat BYU 28-21
T. Jones Jr rushed for 131 yards and 3 TDs in Notre Dame's 35-20 win over UVA
I was wrong  on the outcome but close on the score Umass 37 Akron 29. It wasn't much off an aerial show. Z. Gibson (Akron)173 YDs, TD M Curtis Umass 173YDS 2TDs ,INt
Not too far off: Liberty 17 UNM 10 . S. Calvert threw form306 yards and 3TDs for the vistors.
J Cropper rushed for 118 yards and a TD on eight carries  for Fresno St in their 30-17 win over NMST.

oct 17, 2019

 Army will survive a visit to Atlanta this week (8) and edge Georgia St in the battle of rushing QBs. Hopkins (Army) , Ellington (Ga St)

oct 21

It was Ellington's arm with three TD passes, and then a final stand by the Panthers D that held off Army for a 28-21 win .

Friday the 20th football slate

FIU at La Tech- The Panthers were crushed by Tulane and lost to WKU and will lose 22-16 to La Tech. I expect J"Mar  Smith, the Bulldogs QB, to have a good game.
Utah at USC- Doubts that Helton can lead the Trojans back to their glory years are firmly entrenched. Trojans D will wilter against the Utes QB/RB combo of Huntley/Moss. Utah 34 USC 23
AFA at Boise St I'm tempted to roll with Air Force, who had a nice win against Colorado last week, but Bachmeier , the Broncos QB, will do enough for his team to win 26 24.

Sept 21 wrapup- 

 J'Mar Smith was outgunned by Panthers QB James Morgan, but Justin Henderson rushed for 141yards and 3 Tds in LA Tech's 43-31 win.
 Pittman Jr had a hell of a game for USC 10 rec , 232 yards, 1td. Backup QB Fink sparkled of the bench . USC D held Moss to 20 yards rushing in a 30-23 win.
Bachmeier tossed for 263 yards and 2 TDs in a 30-19  Broncos' win over AFA

Week 4 Other5 OOC matchups

Wyoming(MWC) @ Tulsa(AAC) Two solid RBs ,Brooks of Tulsa and T.Smith of Wyoming, will each go over 100 yards rushing. Home team will win 24-23 and hand the Cowboys their first loss this season
South Alabama(SunBelt) @ UAB(CUSA) This intrastate matchup may turn into an aerial show beat the Jags Johnson and the Blazers Johnstston.  UAB 41 USA  33
Toledo(MAC) @Colorado St (MWC). Rams  get in gear and win 20 17 at home. look for Collin Hill to have a big aerial day for CSU at home.
sept 19- I'll stick with #CSU rams despite just learning that Hill suffered his third torn ACL since 2016 during last week's loss to Arkansas. Coach Bobo  will likely start Patrick O’Brien, a transfer from Nebraska.
sept 20: Meanwhile in AAC play Tulane stunned Houston  38-31 on a 53 yard reception by Mcleskey. 

sept 21 review

Tulsa blew a 17 point lead but got it together late with a Brooks' 19-yard touchdown run and a fumble recovery at the 3-yard line during the final minute in a 24-21 win over Wyoming. 
Johnston threw for 313 yards and 3 Tds in the Blazers 35-3 win over South Bama.
OBrien threw for 405 yards and 1TD and Marvin Kinsey Jr. rushed for 246 YDS, 2 TD
but it wasn't enough to stop Toledo who got  228 rushing yards, 3 TD from Bryant Koback and 119 rushing yatds and 1TD from Mitchell Guadagni. TOL 41 CSU 35

sept 23

 How about San Jose St grabbing five INTs and  winning 31-24 at Arkansas? The last time SJST beat a power conference opponent was in 2006 when the Spartans beat Stanford. 

Friday the 13th Football, Mumme and more

Yesterday morning I scanned the sports TV schedule and focused on the two games involving ACC teams , UNC/Wake Forest and BC/Kansas(B12). It's been five years since the Terps divorce from the ACC went into effect for the 2014/15 marriage with the Big 10, and I still forget from time to time.
Jamie Newman led the Deacons to a 21-0 halftime lead, and they hung on for a 24-18 win over UNC that oddly doesn't count in the ACC standings. They're in different ACC divisions and haven't met since 2015, and many wonder why this long time rivalry hasn't been made a part of the ACC schedule .
Kansas stunned BC 48-24 for its first road win over a Power 5 school in nearly 11 years. Carter Stanley tossed three TD passes for the Jayhawks.
In a game matching Hal Mumme coaching disciples, Leach and Holgorsen, Washington St (pac12) survived 31 -24 over Houston (AAC). #AnthonyGordon threw for 440 yards and three touchdowns for his third straight 400-yard game for WSU. BTW, Hal Mumme was on the sidelines and was interviewed during the TV broadcast.

Sept 15

Big Saturday for the Big 12: TCU over Purdue(B10). KST over Miss St(SEC). WV over NCST(ACC) .
UCF (AAC) rolled Stanford (PAC 12)

Oct 4

It's been a rough time for Mumme's disciples, Holgorsen and Leach, since their Friday the 13 matchup. Holgorsen's star QB King took a healthy redshirt, and Leach called his players sloppy and soft after a 67-65 loss to UCLA.

Jan 14, 2020

 King graduated in Dec and entered the transfer portal yesterday. Leach is now in charge at Miss St

Jan 21

West Virginia RB #MartellPettaway opts for grad transfer to #MTSU (CUSA) In 2019 he rushed 19 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns. When he played for Holgorsen in 2018, he rushed for 623 yards, six touchdowns. 
King leaves Houston for Miami U

jan 22

Hawai'i hires Todd Graham ,ex-ARIZ St  HC (2011-17 ), to be HC.  He started his coaching career on Rich Rodriguez's staff at West Virginia as linebackers coach in 2001

april 5

Times have changed  #mikeleach, Miss St football coach tweeted about a woman knitting her husband a hanging rope during the quarantine got slapped by the PC internet cops. In 1992 #jackiesherill, then the Mississippi St coach, allowed a bull to be castrated in front of his team  and got less flack. 

april 19, 2020

  I saw this headline : Miami's D'Eriq King is poised to have a Joe Burrow-like impact for the Miami Hurricanes in 2020 and laughed. He!!, If the Canes average two TDs a game on O, that would be an improvement.

MAY 10, 2020

I was looking around at transfer news and saw Tyler Carr, TE from Texas Tech,  was headed to Hawaii and his OC would be GJ Kinne who was a low level asst on the Eagles(NFL) staff last season. When I read more of Kinne's bio , I learned that he was once put into protective custody when his father , who was also his high school football coach was shot in the chest by the disgruntled parent of one of the team's players at Canton HS in Mesquite,TX.

June 4, 2020

RIP Johnny Majors who had 185-137-10 lifetime record at three stops : Iowa St, Pitt, and Tenn. He ended his career in 2007 as Asst AD at Pitt. He led Iowa St (Big Eight) to its first   bowl game, the Sun Bowl in 1971, in which they were crushed by LSU 33-15.

Jackie Sherill replaced Majors at Pitt in 1977.

June 5, 2020

Marinos's statistics dipped during his senior year, which saw Pitt transition from head coach Jackie Sherrill to new coach Foge Fazio. Sherill took the Texas A&M job in 1982.

June 29, 2020

 I found this while reading an article on Rolovich , who left Hawaii(MWC) for Wazzoo. Hawaii's athletic budget of 46M is smaller than East Carolina (AAC), UMass(Independent) and James Madison (1AA)

June 24, 2021

Mumme just took a job in a developmental football league called “The Spring League” . Don't know WTH that is!!!!!!

March 1, 2022

Art Briles, who lasted four days at Grambling after Hue Jackson hired him.   S. Miss considered hiring Briles as an asst in 2019. Shawn Oakman, one of the Baylor players involved in that mess, was eventually exonerated. One a side issue, I noticed Mumme is a Tarleton St grad, and wonder if he chats with Gillepsie, their hoops HC.

May 3, 2022

D'eriq King jumped from the Houston Cougars to the Miami Canes in 2020 looking for an eventual big NFL  payday. Pats signed him as a UFA.

Dec 12, 2022

Mike Leach, the Miss St HC, is in the hospital and reports are that he's been fighting pneumonia for months. Zach Arnett, the Dawgs DC, is running the team heading into the bowl matchup against Illinois