O5 Bowl Games on Dec 16

 Myrtle Beach Bowl: Georgia Southern(SBC) vs. Ohio(MAC)

I'm going roll with the Bobcats. GS hasn't won since October. Ohio 20 GS 17

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Jacksonville State(CUSA) vs. ULL(SBC)

Malik Jackson will rush for 100 yards for Jax in a 27-23 win.

Avocados From Mexico Cure Bowl Miami (Ohio) vs. Appalachian State

MAC vs SBC. Aguilar returns to form and tosses two TD passes for Appy in a 24 16 win.

Isleta New Mexico Bowl

New Mexico State(CUSA) vs. Fresno State(MWC)

Pavia will return to for NMST in a 30-27 win.

LA Bowl

UCLA(Pac12) vs. Boise State(MWC)

Boise is on a nice high, but UCLA will have enough pride to avoid the upset and stop Jeanty who has rushed for 1263 yards this season. Bruins 24  Broncos 20

Dec 17, 2023

Sole incorrect pick yesterday was NMSU. 

Ohio came out and stayed in control. Rickey Hunt RB - OHIO 17CAR 115YDS 4TD. Plus a receiving TD. Bobcats didn't appear to miss all those portal departures.

R. Wiggins RB - JVST 27CAR 126YDS 1TD in a 34-31 OT win over ULL. ULL D scored 3TDs in the loss.

R. Amos RB - M-OH 33CAR 180YDS 1TD and his team lost to Appy 13-9

Keene threw 3 TD passes for Fresno in a blowout of NMSU.

G. Holani RB - BOISE 17CAR 138YDS 2TD in a loss to UCLA

Dec 17 evening: Going with SBC tomorrow afternoon. ODU 24 Wku 17 is my hunch.

Dec 18 evening: Turn on the TV after work and ODU is up 28-14, then its 35-14. I turn off TV. WKU wins 38-35. There goes my hot streak.

Week 7 in the O5

 Tuesday and Wednesday football started earlier this season, but I don't get to my weekly blog until Thursday so no CUSA games left to pick.

AAC:  Big respect for Tulane but can't go against Henigan and the Tigers at home. MEM 31 TUL 30.

UAB and UTSA are coming off much needed wins. Zeno will return to his birthplace San Antonio Saturday and toss two TD passes for the Blazers. UAB 30 UTSA 27

MWC: Both teams are coming off blowout losses. SDST to AFA and Hawaii to UNLV. Aztecs steal one on the road with Mayden tossing a TD pass. SDST 22 Hawaii 20

MAC: Brown has a good game running the ball for NIU, but home field won't be enough. Ohio 24 NIU 20

SunBelt: Brin has some big passing stats and will lead the GA Southern to a huge road win in Harrisonburg. GA S: 27 JMU 24

Oct 14, 2023

M. Hughes RB - TULN 26 CAR130YDS 1TD, and the Green Wave D shut down Memphis in the 4Q for a 31-21 win.  I'm 0-1 to start the week.

Oct 15, 2023

Let's see if I got any right yesterday. Just one!

 Terribly wrong on GA SO who were pummeled by JMU. UAB didn't do much better against UTSA. Ohio lost to NIU. 

However, I was right on San Diego St who beat Hawaii 41-34. Lucky Sutton ran for 2 TDs, and McCuin added pick-6 to help for the Aztecs. In other MWC news. Colorado St beat Boise St as the clock expired. UNLV (5-1 2-0 MWC) pounded Nevada and is a team to keep your eyes on.

I thought the #herd were coming back when Ali scored on a long pass play to end the 3Q to narrow its deficit to 27-24, but GAST outscored them 14-0 in the 4Q.

Oct 17, 2023

I'll toss in a Tuesday game here.  Rich Rod's Jax St squad ekes out a 24-23 win over WKU tonight. Players to watch: A. Reed QB - WKU 1665 YDS 14 TD 3INT

RUSH: M. Jackson RB - JVST 104CAR 578YDS 4TD

Well, it was Z. Webb QB - JVST (28CAR 146YDS 1TD) who was a big factor in a close game, JAX 20 WKU 17.  

Liberty beat MTSU and South Bama demolished USM.

Late Dec 2022 O5 coaching hires and bowl games

  Kenni Burns (Minnesota running backs coach) takes over at Kent St for Sean Lewis, who joined Neon Deion's staff at Colorado. He was also at W.Michigan with Fleck so he's familiar with the MAC.

    Eric Morris (Washington State OC) takes over at North Texas and has plenty of experience as an assistant coach in the state of Texas, including at Houston (2010-11), Texas Tech (2013-17) and Incarnate Word (2018-21).

   Lance Taylor (Louisville OC) takes over at W.Michigan.

  I've had a rough picking season with the Bowl Games but will toss in a few words on the remaining O5.

TUE 12:00pmESPN

Ga. Southern/Buffalo: Former USC HC Todd Helton wins the Kyle Vantrease bowl. KV was the starting quarterback at Buffalo last season, and this year he starts for Georgia Southern against his former team. GS 34 Buff 24

Camellia Bowl, Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL

TUE 3:15pm ESPN

Memphis/Utah St: Ags hoops has been hot so maybe it will spread to the pigskin squad. Utah St 31 Memphis 28

First Responder Bowl, Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX

TUE 6:45pmESPN

C. Carolina/East Carolina: McCall/Ahlers QB battles. I'll go with Ahlers, the ECU lefty. ECU 35 CCU 31

Birmingham Bowl, Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama

WED 2:00pmESPN

UCF/Duke: I know Duke has exceed expectations, but I'll go with Malzahn. UCF 27 Duke 24

Military Bowl, Navy - Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD

Dec 30 4:30pm Barstool Sports

Ohio/Wyoming: Cowboys rope in the Bobcats with a final minute FG. WYO 19 Ohio16

Arizona Bowl @ Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ

Jan 2 @ 1:00pm ESPN

Tulane/ USC: Green Wave subsides against the Trojans. USC 38 TUL 31

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)

Dec 28, 2022

I finally got an assessment correct. Ahlers threw 5 TDs for ECU in a 53-29 win over Coastal Carolina. He's a gutsy QB and may find a place in the NFL as a backup

Wrong picks: Utah St and Georgia Southern!

Dec 29, 2022

Wrong on UCF who didn't score in the middle of the game. Coach Gus has some work to do with the Knights going to the Big 12. Duke 30 UCF 13

I missed this hire. GJ Kinne is the new HC at Texas St. His Incarnate Word squad averaged 52.9 ppg last season, but the Sunbelt is a big step up.

Dec 31, 2022

Wrong on the Cowboys who didn't have enough rope to slow down S. Bangura RB - OHIO 25CAR 138YDS 1TD.  Ohio 30 WYO 27

Jan 2, 2022

Well, folks guessed McCall, a well-liked player at CCU entered the portal, only to follow Coach Chadwell to Liberty U.   New CCU HC Tim Beck, formerly an asst at NCST, must've had a chat with him and he's exited the portal.

Wow. I thought the Trojans D was shaky but what a complete meltdown. Props to Tulane(AAC).  Has Lincoln Riley ever  been the HC of a team with a decent D. Tulane 46 USC 45. Spears ' stats for the Green Wave

Jan 4, 2022

Petrino's stint at UNLV (MWC) lasted a month. Texas A&M hired Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator today.

Jan 7, 2023

Steve Spurrier Jr. is the new Tulsa(AAC) offensive coordinator and will also coach QBs. He worked as an asst for Mike Leach at Wazzoo and Miss St.

Jan 27, 2023

Speaking of head coaches if SDST keeps Hoke for a few more years, he 'll be back in the P5. "There are more bars in that stadium(Snapdragon) than there are in most cities," said Aztecs coach Brady Hoke. 

There's an assumption  the Pac-12 has no choice but to plug up its Southern California hole with SDSU.

Feb 7, 2023

 Tulane defensive coordinator Lance Guidry is heading to Miami U to replace Kevin Steele, who is headed to Bama to take the DC job

Guidry spent the 2022 season at Marshall and took the Tulane job last month. Tulane is owed $500,000 in buyout money for Guidry's departure, and the payment is due to the school in the next 60 days

Feb 14, 2023

The U hired Houston U OC Shannon Dawson 

I'm torn on this. Kevin Sumlin, co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for the Maryland Terrapins. Previous gigs: 

2008–2011 Houston

2012-2017 Texas A&M

2018-2020 Arizona

Feb 16 2023

Tulane raids the SunBelt and hires Troy's DC Shiel Wood as its new defensive coordinator.

March 4, 2023

San Diego St is looking for a new associate head coach/running backs coach again after the LA Rams hired Ron Gould.  

Maryland is planning to hire former Texas State DC Zac Spavital as its Safeties Coach.  Locksley has been raiding the southwest USA  for coaches, a lot lately.

April 2, 2023

I think Navy (AAC) should've kept HC Ken Niumatalolo, and he's moved on to be Director of Leadership for UCLA Football, a job title that baffles me.

Week 3 O5: Hot or not

 I can't ignore three hot SunBelt schools, App St, Marshall, and Georgia Southern, this week. I think the trio may come out of the gate slow but get in gear by the second quarter of their respective games.

App St will get a big game out of running back C Peoples in a 30-19 home conference win over Troy.

Marshall will ride freshman phenom K. Laborn to a 31-16 win at Bowling Green(MAC).

Georgia Southern will have to slow down C Brown to pull out a close road win. GS 24 UAB(CUSA) 22

Air Force has relied on a strong running attack to get off to a 2-0 start but face a tough conference road game at Wyoming. Peasley will throw 3 TDS for the Cowboys and hand AFA a 27-24 loss.

I covered the AAC in a blog on ACC history and SMU losing a close one to MD(Big10)

Sept 17, 2022

Peasley only tossed one TD pass, but the Cowboys slowed down AFA in a 17-14 win.

Sept 18, 2022

The "Stun" belt had a few holes poked in it this weekend, on OOC play with Marshall falling in OT to BG and Georgia Southern getting handled by UAB which made me 2-2 in my picks. Laborn's fumble out of the end zone for a touchback was a killer for Marshall.

In other OOC play USA was held scoreless in the fourth quarter in a one-point loss to UCLA, Ark St fell to Memphis, ODU fell to UVA, SMU lost to MD, and ULL lost to Rice.

O5 conference play in week 10

 All the chatter in my Mewe O5 group this week has been about Marshall and Georgia Southern so I can't ignore either team this week.

CUSA: Coach Taggart has FAU trending upward, but I'm going with Coach Huff's #herd who has found a rising star in Rasheed Ali (149 CAR, 808 YDS, 15 TD)  MU 27 FAU 23

SunBelt: Coach Helton just started and he won't have Eagles soaring against Coastal Carolina who will continue its recovery after the Appy loss. CCU 31 GS 19

AAC: I don't think Memphis gets a healing W against SMU . Mordecai will toss a few TD passes for the Mustangs. SMU 31 Memphis 24

MWC: Aztecs will survive an aerial scare from C. Cordeiro (124-224, 1706 YDS, 10 TD, 7 INT)  on Warriors turf .  SDST 36 HAW 34

Since the MAC slate is over this week before my prognostications, I'll go with a military matchup.  It will be ground warfare when  Air Force(MWC) lands to face Armyat Choctaw Stadium in Arlington TX this Saturday. AFA RB ,B. Roberts(185 CAR, 845 YDS, 8 TD) will lead the Falcons to a W. AFA 23 Army 22

Nov 6, 2021

3-2 this weekend: Correct on  the #herd , chanticleers, and #aztecs. Wrong on SMU and Air Force.

Who can figure out Memphis? And a running back had this stat line for Army, Tyrell Robinson (2 REC, 118 YDS, 1 TD).

Don't ignore  Utah State (4-1) in the Mountain division of the MWC. and the tie in the CUSA East with Marshall and WKU each at 4-1

Bowl picks O5 rapid fire

Quick , before there 's a covid cancellation. Dec 23 rd games Ga Southern  27. La Tech 23 because Werts will gets 75 yards rushing from the QB slot for GA So. Memphis 39 FAU 26 because White will throw for over 400 yards for Memphis.  I'll get to more picks later this week..

Dec 24: 2-0 yesterday: Both winning QBs  were stellar.  Werts(GASO) ran for 3 tds and passed for one , and White(Memphis) tossed three TD passes.

Picks for Xmas Eve  and Xmas day Houston 30 Hawaii  26, Cougars slow down Hawaii QB Cordeiro (1947 YDS, 11 TD) enough to get the win.  Marshall has limped into December and won't slow down Jared Patterson. Buffalo 26 Marshall 20

Dec 26: I was wrong on Houston: their QB Tune threw three costly picks,  their D didn't slow down Cordeiro who threw 3 TD passes, and their special teams allowed the Rainbows  to run a kick back for a TD . HAW 28 Hou 14. I was correct on Buffalo , but it was Marks not Paterson who ran all over the Herd in a 17-10 win. Paterson had not recovered from being injured during the Ball St game.

Note on coaching changes Harsin leave Boise St for Auburn after under-performing against SJST in the MWC final, and amid rumors of a  conference move to the AAC. It's a bit messy in Blueturf-land.

ULM  hires Terry Bowden. After a brief moment in the sun with Auburn in the mid 1990, he was mediocre with Akron (MAC) from 2012-2018. I guess they're buying the family name.

Now, to today's games.

 ULL will  keep the Roadrunners in check. ULL 31 UTSA 14. WKU won't have an answer for CORNELIOUS BROWN IV, who has 7 rushing TDs and has thrown for 2046 yards and 14 TDs. GA St 30 WKU 19

Dec 27: ULL struggled to contain Frank Harris, the  UTSA QB, in the second half, but behind the strong running of  Elijah  Mitchell(19 CAR, 127 YDS, 1 TD) they held on for a 31-24 win over UTSA.

Cornelious Brown IV GAST (16-30, 232 YDS, 3 TD) was great in a 39-21win over WKU.

5-1 in this slate of games.

Dec 30:Big time props to Coastal Carolina's Jamey Chadwell , the 2020 AP Coach of the Year. Nice award for the Sunbelt.

Turkey Night in the MWC, and then four O5 games

 I would've predicted the Colorado St/AFA game but it was canceled, so it's role the dice on two 0-4 MWC teams, New Mexico and Utah St.  Jaylen Warren will bust a long run for a TD for the home Aggies in a low scoring win over the Lobos. Utah St 19 UNM 13. The game will televised on FS1.

Friday afternoon AAC game features UCF  led buy Dillon Gabriel (205-332, 3017 YDS,) 26 TD facing USF. UCF will be stoked after the tough loss to Cincy last week. UCF 49 USF 23.

Tighten your Sunbelt for a big intrastate battle between GA Southern Eagles and GA St Panthers .I'm not sure if Werts will be ready to start at QB for the Eagles, but  Brown IV should be going for  the Panthers. GA St 20 GA SO 17

MTSU has improved a great deal since the start of the season but O'Hara and crew will not be able to get a tough FAU squad. FAU 30 MTSU 27. FYI: WKU plays Charlotte on Tuesday morning at 10:30am.

I'm intrigued by the battle of running back in the Ball St (Huntley)/Toledo(Koback) matchup . They'll each post 100 plus yards and a TD, but Ball St will get a late FG  for a 24-22 victory

Nov 27

I was correct on Utah St but way off on the amount of scoring.Andrew Peasley, the Utah St QB, passed for 239 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 118 yards another score  in the Aggies 41-27 win over the Lobos. 

Nov 28

Correct on UCF  O and it's win but wrong on its D which is more porous than I thought. UCF 58 USF 46

Nov 29

Brown IV had a huge day in the Panthers  30-24 win over GA Southern who got a big day
8 CAR, 143 YDS, 2 TD from Logan Wright.

Plitt, the Ball St QB, led his Cards to a 24-9 lead through three quarters  , but Toledo roared back with 15 points  in the 4th quarter before fumbling on a possible final winning drive. Ball St 27 Toledo 24.

I went 4-0. The CUSA matchup was canceled.

Special shout-outs to Coastal Carolina (9-0, 7-0 Sun Belt) who beat TX St 49-14 to remain undefeated, and Jaret Patterson who rushed for 409 yards and 8 TDs in Buffalo's win over Kent St.

 

 

 

MAC is back and more week ending Nov 7

Toledo will rely on, RBs Bryant Koback and Shakif Seymour, in their Wednesday MAC opener against Bowling Green. TOL34 BG 23 

I'll ride Starkel's hot start  passing for near 700 yards for San Jose St. in a battle of two teams undefeated in MWC play. SJST 31 SDST 23 

Is Tulsa, 3-0 in AAC play  a team on the rise or will Navy bring them to their senses? Zach Smith, Tulsa's QB will continue their ascent. TULSA 30 NAVY 20

Charlotte needs a game against MTSU to recover from the pounding by Duke last weekend. Niners will need to give its QB, Chris Reynolds, more ground support. Ohara, the opposing QB, has put up some big passing numbers. CHAR 33 MTSU 31

In a Sunbelt battle of 4-2 teams, Troy and Georgia Southern, I feel like flipping a coin. I'll go with Jacob Free's  aerial show over the Wirts/Kennedy III ground attack. Troy 34 GA Southern 26

Nov 5

Toledo  got solid games from their running backs and four TD passes from QB Eli Peters in a 38-3 victory.

Nov 7

Starkel was injured on SJST's first possession , but Nick Nash came in and threw two TD passes and rushed for one TD in 28-17 victory of San Diego St.

Nov 8

AAC and CUSA matchups were canceled. My first incorrect pick of the weekend was Troy who scored it's only TD on D.  Gerald Green rushed for 109 yards and TD for Georgia Southern. GASO 20 Troy 13.

Other notes Cincy  rolled Houston and remains in the mix for a Final four slot. Gary Anderson was fired  by Utah St(MWC) after an 0-3 start.

 

Sunbelt shines ,CUSA hopes: week ending October 17

 I missed that the CCU/ULL Sunbelt was last night  and it was quite a battle. McCall to Heligh connection was key  for Coastal Carolina(4-0, 2-0 Sun Belt) in a 30-27 win over ULL(3-1, 2-1 Sun Belt).

TxSt started out the season playing exciting , aggressive football, but they've faded quickly. It won't get much better in this week's visit to South Alabama .  J. Tolbert(15 REC, 327 YDS, 3 TD) will have a big game for  USA in a 30-20 home victory over TX St.

Georgia Southern found an opponent in UMass who reversed it's early decision to cancel  it's 2020 season and will now  be a fill-in for teams who need to fill  their schedules. Unless the Minutemen have another Andy Isabella, I don't think they'll do well  at Georgia Southern. GS 42 UMass 16.

Can Knox and the #herd survive the passing of La Tech QB, Luke Anthony who has tossed ten 10 passes this season. Home field may be just enough for La Tech to pull out a close 24 21 win over Marshall U. 

Oct 16

Tucker Gregg GAST ( 14 CAR, 142 YDS, 1 TD)- He!! of night in a 59-52 loss to Ark St.

Oct 18

3-0 for the weekend. TX St hung tough for most of the game but South Bama had enough in the tank for a 30-20 win, the score I predicted.. Kennedy III and Werts were far too much for Umass to handle. GA Southern 41 UMass 0.  When  the #herd D stopped La Tech at the goal line on the final play of the 2nd quarter to maintain a 14-3 lead,  I thought they'd win.  Wells and Knox had good games  for Marshall in a 35-17 win.

A shout out to undefeated Liberty for a 38-21 win over Syracuse of the ACC. Do you think Auburn misses Willis, the Liberty QB?

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.

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 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

Sunbelt 2018/19 Hoops Hunches

1) Georgia Southern Eagles: My favorite named player , #TookieBrown , will keep the Eagles near the top
2) Georgia State Panthers: D’Marcus Simonds is the main man.
3) Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns hung with Kansas and beat Tulane early this season
4) Appalachian State Mountaineers- Justin Forrest 19.2ppg and crew have weathered a tough OOC schedule.
5) Troy Trojans: Varnado has been solid.
6) UL Monroe Warhawks: Travis Munnings has been decent but will need some help.
7) Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: Cuthbertson 20.4 PPG
8) South Alabama Jaguars needs O.
9) Texas State Bobcats:  Nijai Pearson is the player to watch.
10) Arkansas State Red Wolves: Rough  out of conference start except for Ty Cockfield 21.1ppg
11) UT Arlington Mavericks- Rebuilding
12) Little Rock Trojans- Good luck to Coach Darrell Walker, a former NBA player, in finding some O.

jan 8, 2019

 Texas St held of Georgia Southern 73-70 to open league play and hung tight in a 73-69 loss to conference leader Georgia St.

jan13, 2019

 Tre Nottingham and Nijal Pearson scored 16 points apiece and #TXST (14-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) defeated #appst. It may be time to get join the Bobcats' pack.  GST, UTA, ARLR, Troy, and ULL also won yesterday.

jan 18, 2019

Texas St (15-3 4-1), my pre-season  sunbelt -9th team , blew by ARLR LAST NIGHT as Tre Nottingham scored 24 points and Nijal Pearson added 19 . Other winners: UTA, GAST, and Georgia Southern

jan 23, 2019

Texas State (5-1) Nijal Pearson had 29 points and 11 rebounds and TXST went on 30-0 run to beat Ark St 77-64 on Jan 19. Varnado's 3-pointer  with 1.7 seconds on the clock gave Troy the victory over  Georgia State (5-1)
feb 1, 2019
 Zac Cuthbertson had 29 points and Devante Jones scored 25 in Coastal Carolina.'s win over ULM.
Tyrell Johnson scored 20 points in 16 minutes for App St in its 104-77 romp over ULL.

Feb 3

It's getting crowded at the top of the Sunbelt heap. 

Georgia State  (7-2) D'Marcus Simonds scored 29 points in a win over Georgia Southern

Texas State (6-3) #BrianWarren scored  30 points in a 83-77 OT win over UT Arlington(6-3)

 Coastal Carolina (6-3) #ZacCuthbertson scored 24 points in a win over ULL

Feb 9
Good Friday night for the Louisiana schools: ULM beat Georgia Southern and ULL beat Georgia St

Feb 10

Texas St remains tied for first with UTA for first- he!! of a season. NPearson scored 17 points  for TXST in the win over CCU remaining tied with UTA  beat appst.
Feb 16
Both Georgia schools got big Friday night Sunbelt wins:  Malik Benlevi scored  26 points as Georgia St defeated South Alabama 90-81,and Tookie Brown and Isaiah Crawley scored 16 points apiece as GA Southern rolled over South Bama to a 76-51. TXSt 9-3, GA St 9-4, UTA 8-4, GS 8-5

feb 22

TX St fell to ULM(7-6)  which allowed Georgia St , a winner over AppSt (4-9) ,to move into a tie for first with them at 10-4. Tookie Brown had 17 for  Georgia Southern(9-5) in its win over CCU (6-7). UTA(8-6) lost to ULL (7-6)

feb 24

Brian Warren scored  33 points for TXST(11-4) in its OT win over ULM and took sole possession of first place when  Ga St(10-5) lost to Coastal Carolina. Ga Southern (10-5) get 28 points for Tookie Brown in its win over AppSt.

Mar 2

TXST(12-4) hasn't folded  and beat Troy to stay one game ahead of Ga St (10-5), a winner over Ark St thursday night  in the Sunbelt race. UTA(10-6) beat South Bama. GA Southern (11-5) was idle.

March 9

Two intrastate games , GA St/Georgia Southern and UTA/TXSt , will determine the regular season Sunbelt winner. UTA is 11-6, the other three teams are 12-5. TXSt had a bad loss to South Bama last week buthas had a he!! of a surprising season.

 March 10

 Kane Williams scored a career-high 23 points helping Ga Southern beat Ga St to clinch the Sunbelt title because TXST lost to UTA

march 13

Nice second half from South Bama in a rd1 win over Ark St  ULM knocked off App St. Troy and Ark LR didn't qualify, and the top four teams get double byes.

March 15

 South Bama is shaking up the Sunbelt T. Rodrick Sikes made one of two free throws with four seconds left to give USA a 70-69 win over ULL. Michael Ertel had 20 points as Louisiana-Monroe crushed Coastal Carolina 80-50.

March 16

TXST halted South Bama's Cinderella move with 79-67 win while Georgia Southern beat ULM. TXST plays GA St and GA Southern faces UTA today.

March 17

Malik Benlevi tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead Georgia State to a 59-46 win over Texas St who scored only fifteen points in the first half. Brian Warren scored 21 points as Texas-Arlington beat Georgia Southern 67-58 and prevented all Georgia SunbeltT final.

March 26,2019

 I thought he was Georgia St lifer: Coach  Ron Hunter, fresh off a dance loss to Houston on Friday in, took the #Tulane (AAC) opening.

April 1, 2019

#chrisbeard , the Texas Tech HC , is big news these days. It wasn't long ago he had Arkansas -Little Rock fans ecstatic when they beat Purdue in rd1 of the 2016 Dance then fell to Iowa St in rd2

april 7

  #PhilCunningham took #troy to the dance in 2017 and now he's out. Wow!  They hired  Scott Cross, who some success at UTA through the 2017-18 season.
App State hired  Dustin Kerns , who led Presbyterian (Big South) to  solid 20-16 season and a CTI  invitation after a weak 11- 21  record in 2017-18. It's not the greatest resume.

april 15

 Georgia State hired Tennessee assistant Rob Lanier, a longtime assistant for Rick Barnes at Texas and Tennessee, as it's new HC. He was the HC at Sienna (MAAC) from 2001-05.