CUSA 2018 football predictions

EAST
Florida Atlantic- Kiffin  is looking for a Power 5 job ,and  former Nole  De Andre Johnson may be a his key.
Marshall's D held opponent under 20 PPG and returns nine starters  but #herd fans can only hope Doc has a cures for the O's woes.
Middle Tennessee: All rest on QB Stocksill if they can run with the big dogs in the East.
Florida Intl: Butch Davis has a lot of holes to fill, but the Panthers will be a tough foe  by the middle of October.
Old Dominion Monarchs- Wilder is a decent HC, but I'm not sold on the Monarchs' talent.
Charlotte has eleven D starters returning.
Western Kentucky- Year 2 w/o Coach Brohm and more holes to fill.
WEST

UAB's solid QB Erdely and a stellar rushing attack will lead the Blazers to the West title.
Louisiana Tech has a solid D and big hopes for QB J'Mar Smith.
North Texas - Nice job in 2017 by Fine and the Mean Green lads, but you can bet the West will exploit NT's weak O-Line
UT San Antonio: Josiah Tauaefa returns to the D and the Roadrunners need him
Southern Mississippi has great talent but keeps getting stuck when trying to turn the corner
UTEP Miners' Rebuild continues with new HC Dimel.
Rice : Good luck new HC Bloomgren!

8/17/18

#USM senior QB #KwadraGriggs, who started seven games last season, was suspended indefinitely  Saturday for a "student conduct matter." It appears transfer Jack Abraham will get the  starting job.

8/23/18

#WKU will host Cincinnati on 9/20/25 and visit them  on 9/26/26. They've never matched up on the field espite being  about three hours apart.

8/27/2018

Going to be a long season for #rice . Jack Fox kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired to help Rice beat Prairie View

9/15/18

Glimmer of hope for the Cusa. #northtexas qb Fine led the Mean Green to romp over Arkansas.

9/26/18

Focusing on CUSA conference games. Love the #herd behind I Green at #wku. NTEX will be Fine hosting LA Tech. UAB handles Charlotte. #FAU will pull it out at end at #MTSU. UTSA gets by UTEP.
I don't trust ODU coming off the VA Tech win against ECU (AAC)

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.

CUSA 2017-18 hoop predictions

CUSA has no one in the current top 25 and will likely need a miracle to get two teams in the Dance.
East
Middle Tenn-  King 23 PPG 6 rbg
Marshall- Elmore returned and looks sharp with 28PPG and 92 FT%
Old Dominion- Stith and Carver lead in stats on a team that has no current star.
Charlotte- Davis 15 ppg 6 rbg 6 apg
W Kentucky- Beardsen 17.5 ppg 3 APG
Fla Atlantic- Troutman 13 PPG 62.5 ft%
Florida Intl- Lockett 16.9 ppg 9 rbg
West

UAB- Cokely  is leading the Blazers with 19 ppg & 11.7 rbg3 

LA Tech- Harris isaveraging 25 ppg and Jean has a 57.1 - 3p%

TX El Paso- Off to a slow start . Frazier  14 PPG 

S Mississippi -Griffin leads in nearly every stat category

North Texas- Woolridge 17 ppg  2.3apg

TX-San Ant- Jackson is the man from three point land

Rice- Cashaw 17.3 PPg 8.3 rbg
dec 23: How about the #herd (9-4) hanging with Xavier before falling 81-77. Also noticed that #jonelmore passed #halgrier on the Marshall  history scoring list in the win over EKU.
Jan 12: #mtsu and #wku are 4-0 in CUSA play.  C.J. Burks scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting helping the #herd recover from big loss to #wku with a win over Charlotte.
Jan 21: #herd  beat #mtsu and #uab this week.. MTSU recovered from that loss with a win over  #wku yesterday. #odu led by #AhmadCaver (17 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST) beat  #FAU and moved into a tie for first with WKU and MTSU.
Jan 28: #herd run over late by #wku (7-1).#brandonwaters (17 pts 12 reb) led #mtsu (8-1) to an easy win UTEP. #utsa hit 15 treys in a win over UAB. Is the NTX  Mean Green revving up with wins over FAU and FIU.
Feb 11: Elmore and Paneva had solid night  in the #herd win FAU.  #Nickyoung 32points helped MTSU get by NTU. #ODU and #wku won to keep the race tight.  UTSA 63 UTEP 59 #deonlyle hit five of eight trays  to keep a surprising #utsa in  the picture.
Middle Tennessee 12-1
Old Dominion         10-2
Western Kentucky 10-2
Marshall                  8-4
North Texas          7-5
UT San Antonio 7-5
feb 18 CUSA update- Wow, I had to look at this score #odu 82 #utep 33 a few times.
#herd get a big win at the buzzer over #ntx . UTSA needed OT to beat Charlotte. #wku and #mtsu. Top 4
remains the same. UTSA is in fifth now.
feb25 update : How about the #herd Offense scoring 103 in a win over Charlotte. led by #jonelmore 's
38 points which includednine treys. CUSA leaders #MTSU and #wku won. #utsa led by #donlyle beat
La Tech to remain one game behind Marshall for the 4th seed and rd1 CUSAT bye
march 4- Huge #herd upset of #mtsu gets them the final bye slot. WTH happened to #wku ?
#uab led by Nate Darling rolled WKU 101-73. UAB or USTA , fifth and sixth in the CUSA are in gear and
may pull some CUSAT upsets. MTSU, ODU, WKU, & Marshall have rd1 byes.
march 16: It didn't take long. Kermit Davis is leaving #mtsu for Ol Miss (SEC) job. #Buffalo surprised
me . I liked them all season but didn't think Zona was going to toss in the towel in the second half.
SCORING LEADERS W. Clark BUFF 25 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST
march 19 update : Ajdin Penava MRSH - F (18 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST) had a decent game but Jevon Carter WVU - G (28 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST)and his teammates were too much in the
intrastate matchup. #wvu 94 #herd 71

march 24 update: Western Kentucky is in the NIT F4. #WKU freshman Taveion Hollingsworth scored  30 points (4 of 7 treys, and 8 of 9 free throws)  in a 92-84 win @ #OKst and faces #utah next.  Penn St/ Miss St is the other semi. In the CIT, #Utsa was outscored 48-32 in the second  half and lost to Sam Houston St . 76-69

march 28 update: Justin Johnson's (24 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST) solid game was not enough for #wku in the 69-64 loss to Utah , who will face Penn St in #NIT final.
March 31 update: I tuned in to the end of the #northtexas 88-77 win over #usf in the CBI. NTX hit their free throws down the stretch.Roosevelt Smart scored 25 points and made all 14 of his free throws.   The champion is determined  by the a two out of three series.
NTX #CBI  results

• 
  @ SDAK
  W

  90-77
• 
  vs MER
  W

  96-67
• 
  vs JVST
  W

  90-68
• 
  @ SF
  L

  72-62
• 
  vs SF
  W

  69-55
• 
  vs SF
  W

  88-77

REGULAR SEASON

May 30, 2018 : I'm not digging the #Cusa hoop scheduling change in which the top five teams in the league will play each other for the final four conference games, as will teams seeded 6-10 and teams seeded 11-14. Yes, I think the #cusa get shorted on dance tickets, but gearing everything toward the RPI metrics and having some teams face each other three times in the reular season  borders on bizarre.
June 22, 2018
#mitchell robinson of #wku went to the Knicks in rd2. Only #cusa player taken.
July 1, 2018
#UAB- #ChrisCokely averaged 17 pts, 9 reb in his senior and the #charlottehornets signed him as a UFA

2017 CUSA football snap hunches

Weak #CUSAEast and room for regime change in #CUSAWest
Ganes to watch: Oct 7 #usm /#utsa . Nov 18 #fau /#fiu  Nov 25 #utsa /#louisianatech


EAST
W. Kentucky-  A ton of changes but the East appears weak
M. Tenn. St.- If Stocksill stays healthy , they topple #wku.
Old Dominion- Monarchs slide back a little
FIU-Butch Davis will rile these lads up
FAU- Kiffin has ex FSU QB Singletary
Marshall- #herd lines need shoring up
Charlotte- 49ers need to find a little gold.

WEST
Louisiana Tech- Holtz' guys should prevail but #utsa may turn the tables this season
UTSA- Solid recruiting will finally reap some rewards
Southern Miss- Consistency ?????
North Texas- #meangreen did go bowling last season-keep your eyes on them
UTEP opens at #oklahoma- brutal
Rice- new logo
UAB- slow recovery from no football in two years

Aug 17, 2017 : #DaltonSturm - #utsa is betting a lot on his improvement. just six interceptions over his 13 starts last season.
Aug 25, 2017:#kiffin  hired #briles son, and #butchdavis wants #jimmyjohnson to visit his squad. #FAU and #FIU are getting plenty of ink

CUSA football 2016

CUSA is  the most discussed conference at the Other  5 community. USM is getting a lot of hype this 2016 pre-season, but I'm not jumping that train. Instead I'll get on the Rice Owls limb.
EAST
1) Marshall- All signs point to a great Herd  D led by Durant. Can Litton continue to light up the O?
2) FIU: QB McGough will step up in his sophomore season.
3) W. Kentucky: Replacing Doughty will slow down the Hilltoppers in Septemebr
4) FAU: Trey Hendrickson, Owls DE, will get his fair share of sacks.
5) M. Tenn. St. Injury bug has hit the WR corps.
6) Old Dominion: Looks for some strong play from Monarchs LB, T.J. Ricks.
7) Charlotte:Kevin Olsen may be the QB answer

WEST
1) Rice- Stehling will play well enough at QB and the Owls develop a rushing game and surprise in the West.
2) Southern Miss- Coach Monkton's exit will hurt , but QB Mullens will keep them in contention.
3) Louisiana Tech: Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson. are a nice WR/TE tandem, but QB situation is shaky
4) North Texas :  Alec Morris, Bama QB transfer,  could provide some sparks.
5) UTEP : Shaky QB situation
6) UTSA-Post Coker era starts, Cavill, a transfer WR should be fun to watch.

9/2/16

My Rice  limb cracked quickly -WKU crushed them last night. FIU collapsed after the first half in a loss to Indiana/

O5 in t25 Baseball

AAC- #19 East Carolina including wins over UNC & UVA of the ACC & Maryland of the B10.
#25 Houston- Good wins against Baylor & Alabama
CUSA: #24 FAU-opened the season beating Mississippi St. Rice  will find their way in to the top 25. Possiblly ODU, too. Keep your eyes on Stephen Kerr of FAU.