Week 7 O5 conference play

 AAC: Navy is averaging 237 yards on the ground this season and scored 52 against Tulsa last week, but may not score enough to stay with high-scoring, low-winning SMU.  SMU 40 Navy 38.

CUSA: It's the battle of the Owls. Rice is having a decent season while FAU 's only win is against a 1AA team. Rice 27 FAU 24

MAC: I'll go with BGSU (M. McDonald 106-190, 1218 YDS, 14 TD, 2 INT) over Miami(Ohio) in a nailbiter. Bowling Green 24 Miami O 23

MWC: Nevada hasn't won since beating TX St in week 1, and Hawaii gave San Diego St a good game before losing by 2 points. HAW 20 Nev 19

SunBelt: JMU and CCU are getting all the ink, but South Bama's only loss is to UCLA by a point. USA 34 ULM 23

Oct 15, 2022

I picked the AAC game right and got damn close on the final score: SMU 40 Navy 34. Mordecai to Goffney remains a solid connection for the Mustangs.

Oct 16, 2022

4-1 on my picks.

Wrong: on Rice who lost to FAU 17-14.

 Right: on Bowling Green who beat M-O 17-13. Hawaii got a great game from Parson who rushed for 136 yards and 3TDs in a 31-16 win over Nevada. SBama kicked it in to gear in the second half for a 45-38 win over ULM. Carter Bradley(USA) tossed for 420 yards and 3TDs.

Stunbelt theme this season has been if you're undefeated, you're in trouble. Georgia Southern handed JMU its first loss and ODU did the same thing to CCU.

MWC pigskin 2022 Utah St and more

 Utah State was picked to finish third in its division, behind Boise State and Air Force in pre-season media rankings. And on Thursday, the media voted no Aggies players into its preseason All-Mountain West football team

Same type of thing occurred last pre-season and the Ags pounded a one-loss San Diego State team 46-13 to win the MWC Championship and then coasted to a victory over Oregon State in the LA Bowl.

Realignment dominoes: You have to think San Diego St and Boise St are likely targets the Pac 12 pursues if the P5 doesn't become the P4

July 24, 2022

.Aztecs play Zona and Utah in September, and they don't face Utah St in the 2022 regular season. 

Ags face Bama on 9/3. Also, Utah State and BYU who have met 90 times since 1922 will discontinue their series but hope to schedule future meetings.

July 27, 2022

Boise State, who opens this season Sept. 3 at Oregon State(Pac12), is trying to recover from its worst season in a decade. Hank Bachmeier is the favorite to win the starting QB job for the fourth year in a row.

 He!! of an opener on 9/3 for Colorado St  @ The Big House in Ann Arbor. Two weeks later they in the wilderness @Wash St.

Hypothetical: if Klia can save the Pac 12, he'll need San Diego St(MWC) and Notre Dame(I)? Or who knows Newsom makes it too onerous for UCLA to exit for the Midwest.

August 28, 2022

I expected Wyoming to give ILL  a little better game. ILL 38 WYO 6

Utah St roared back from a 14-0 deficit to beat UConn 31-20 . It was HC Jim Mora first game coaching the Huskies.

Nevade beat New Mexico St

Hawaii got pummeled by Vandy 63-10

O5 bowl games Dec 27-28

Quick Lane Bowl 

Western Michigan 20 vs. Nevada 17.  I'll go with the WMU running backs, Sean Tyler and La'Darius Jefferson slow the game down which will limit Nevada's QB Carson Strong's opportunities.

Military Bowl presented by Peraton 

 East Carolina 30 vs Boston College(ACC) 28 ECU is a hot team, and the BC Eagles have not been soaring. ECU QB Ahlers will be tossing a lot of passes

Tuesday, Dec. 28

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl 

Houston 28 vs. Auburn 27 This is the first matchup of the best of AAC against SEC teams from the state of Alabama this bowl season.  Clayton Tune will out-duel Finley or whoever is playing QB for Auburn

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl 

 Louisville 31 vs Air Force 27   Cards don't see much triple option in ACC play but Malik Cunningham will make some explosive plays for the Cardinals in a nailbiter.

Dec 28, 2021

I was correct on WMU but wrong on a low scoring game. Eleby threw two TD passes and the Tyler /Kincaide backfield rushed for over 250 yards in a 52-24 rout over Nevada.

Military bowl was canceled.-*

Dec 29, 2021

Houston got a late TD and hung on to beat Auburn. SEC is having a bad start (0-4) so far. Two losses to O5, one to Ind, one to P5.

 Air Force had a balanced attacked, and Louisville's speed didn't help  them play defense.

 AFA 31 LOU 28.

Military Bowl was canceled

O5 bowl games Dec 17, 2021-more HC hires

 Bahamas Bowl: Middle Tennessee(CUSA) vs. Toledo(MAC). I'm surprised both teams made a bowl game , but the young fellas get a trip to Bahamas. Koback rushed for 1274 yards and 15 TDs and he'll continue to be a beast in a 24-17 Toledo win over MTSU.

Cure Bowl: Northern Illinois(MAC) vs. Coastal Carolina(SunBelt). I've been down on NIU and up on CCU often this season and got burned. Into the fire again.  CCU 28 NIU 27. McCall's arm over NIU's rushing attack.

O5 Coaching hires

Colorado State: Jay Norvell moves from Nevada to another MWC team. I guess this is about $$$

FIU: Mike MacIntyre: He's had a few HC gigs, but last season's stint as Memphis DC wasn't inspiring.

Fresno State: Jeff Tedford returns after a few years away.

ULL: Michael Desormeaux gets a promotion from OC to replace Napier.

Temple:  Texas running backs coach Stan Drayton becomes HC at the Philly school. Lotsa luck!

Dec 18, 2021

I split on the games. Koback had a great day rushing for Toledo, but MTSU had an answer each time in a 31-24 win.

McCall made adjustments on the fly and CCU's D made plays in key moments ,and hung on to a 47-41 win with NIU near the goal line but out of time.

Nevada(MWC) hired Ken Wilson (Oregon ILB coach). His assistant coaching history includes a long stint under Doug Ault at Nevada.

Jan 29, 2022

Buffalo U HC Linguist needed help quickly so he hired Florida's Greg Knox who finished up as Gators HC after Mullen was fired.  He also hired. Texas A&M's Brandon Bailey to the Bulls' staff.

Rest of O5 play in Week 11

 AAC: In a  matchup  of two erratic squads ECU Pirates led by Ahlers will steal one on the road at Memphis by a score of 34-33.  H. Ahlers (181-298, 2180 YDS, 14 TD, 7 INT)  . Henigan (172-280, 2545 YDS, 18 TD, 5 INT).

CUSA:  WKU has been hot  and home-team Rice will hold them in check for awhile but fall 30-19. Check out these stats for the WKU QB B. Zappe (308-441, 3688 YDS, 37 TD, 6 INT)

MWC: Can San Diego St slow down Nevada QB Carson Strong (289-410, 3197 YDS, 25 TD)? Aztecs will do just enough in a 24-23 win

SunBelt: ULL is 6-0 in conference play, but Troy usually give them a hard time. Cajuns  strong rushing attack including its QB Lewis will wear down the Trojans and win 22 -20

So that ECU,WKU, SDST, and ULL this week.

Nov 14, 2021

4-4 for this weekend. Man, I got really close on SDST 24 Nevada 21 score/ prediction, and the fact the Aztecs survived Carson Strong NEV (34-48, 350 YDS, 3 TD).

ECU broke up a conversion pass in OT for a 30-29 win.

ULL outscored  Troy 21-8 in the second half  after tough 14-13 first half.

Bailey Zappe (34-42, 482 YDS, 5 TD)kept up his production for WKU in a 42-21 win over Rice, which game them a one game lead over Marshall in the CUSA East. Marshall came out flat and fell to UAB, who remained 1GB of undefeated UTSA in the CUSAW.

O5 conference play in week 7

Sunbelt:  If I had completed this blog earlier in the week, I would 've picked App St to beat ULL and been wrong.    Texas St Bobcats(2-3, 1-0 Sunbelt) 23  Troy Trojans(3-3, 1-1 Sunbelt) 20.Troy has played  better in OOC games but I'm sniffing upset here.

AAC: Cincinnati (5-0, 1-0 AAC)  30  UCF(3-2, 1-1 AAC) 19  Ridder rides on and won't be slowed down by Gus' Knights

CUSA: UTEP (5-1, 2-0 C-USA) 27 Louisiana Tech(2-3, 1-0 C-USA) 20. I'll take UTEP at home despite LA Tech hanging close in its three losses to Miss St, SMU, and NC St

MAC: Kent State(3-3, 2-0 MAC) 30 Western Michigan(4-2, 1-1 MAC) 27. In the QB battle, Crum will have a slightly better game than Eleby and get the W.

MWC: Nevada(4-1, 1-0 MWC) 39  Hawai'i (3-3, 1-1 MWC) 38 . Hawaii  will roll into Reno, NV feeling great after its upset of Fresno St but will lose a nailbiter in aerial duel  in which Strong edges Cordeiro.

Oct 17, 2021

Picks' review: Correct on Cincy, UTEP, and Nevada   Wrong on TX St, WMU

Sunbelt- K. Vidal (25 CAR, 162 YDS, 2 TD) was a big key for Troy plus the Trojans intercepted three of McBride's passes, one a pick 6 in the 4Q.

AAC- Cincy outplayed  UCF in every facet of the game for a 56-21 W

CUSA: Deion Hankins ran for two first-quarter touchdowns for UTEP earned in a 19-3 win

MAC: Eleby's passing and Tyler's rushing(169 yards) were major factors in the WMU's 64-31 blowout of Kent St.

MWC: Big game for Carson Strong NEV(34-54, 395 YDS, 2 TD) in a 34-17 win but quite a stat line Dae Dae Hunter HAW(8 CAR, 174 YDS, 2 TD), too.

I'm going to keep my eye on UL-Monroe of the SunBelt after they hung on to beat Liberty 31-28

Oct 18, 2021

AAC is raiding the CUSA as it moves away from the northeast to the southeast and southwest continues. AAC has plans to invite: Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA, Rice and UAB. Temple remain the most northern AAC city, 

These six teams won't improve the level of hoops play. I like the Charlotte/ECU  potential AAC rivalry.

Oct 23, 2021

 Sunbelt claims they have USM for 2023 and they're coming for Marshall, ODU, and James Madison (1AA)

MWC vs P5 in week 3

 San Diego St is coming off a win against Zona while Utah(Pac12) lost to  BYU last week. Brady Hoke's Aztecs have a strong rushing attack and the Utes has a weak D against the run.  SDST 24 Utah 23

Boise St lost to UCF and crushed UTEP but won't have enough of a passing game  to get by OK St(Big 12) who have been so -so in win over Tulsa and Missouri St. OK St 30 Boise St 19

Fresno St played Oregon tough in a loss and will give UCLA a  hassle ,but the UCLA(Pac12) will get in gear in the 2nd half. UCLA 31 Fresno St 17

Nevada is coming off a win over Cal and will face  a Kansas St(B12) squad who defeated Stanford in week 1. K St minus injured QB Thompson will rely on ball control to keep Nevada QB  Carson Strong off the field. KST 19 Nev 17

UNLV doesn't have enough skilled players to keep up with Iowa St . Iowa St 33 UNLV 16

Sept 19, 2021

Ok,so I didn't have enough faith  in Fresno St who got a he!! of a game from Jake Haener (39-53, 455 YDS, 2 TD)  in a 40-37 upset of UCLA, and I forgot to pick the TAMU/NM game.

Boise St couldn't stop Jaylen Warren (32 CAR, 218 YDS, 2 TD) in a one point loss to OK St

The Hokesters survived Utah in triple OT .

Fresno St and SDST are in the MWC west and only one gets to MWC title game.

No surprise that Nevada and UNLV lost.

Slim conference options in the O5 Dec 4-5

 All the schedule shuffles makes it difficult to find games that matter inside conferences but here I go.

Tulsa(5-0 AAC) trails Cincy, who they faces next week,  by a half a game in the AAC . They may have to rely on back QB Brin Collins to eke out a win at  Navy team and remain undefeated. Tulsa 25 Navy 22

Marshall(7-0, 4-0 CUSA)  the so-so Rice Owls and should take care business with Knox rushing for over 100 yards. #herd 30 Rice 17

Western Michigan (4-0 MAC) should handle EMU and keep pace with Buffalo(5-0 MAC) . The E & E , Eleby and Eskridge, show will lead the way to 29 -22 WMU win.

Nevada suffered its first MAC loss to Hawaii last week while Fresno St has been on a roll. Jalen Cropper is a hot receiver for Fresno so I'll gamble he gets two TDs in a win Fresno St 36 Nevada 33

The national media is high on ULL, but I suspect App St isn't too happy after a tough loss  to CCU. Zac Thomas roars back and throws two TD passes for APPY in a 31-30 win over ULL in Sunbelt action.

Dec 5

ULL 's snapper  tried to give Appy the game, but the Cajuns hung for a 24-21 win and gave me  an incorrect pick.  Mountaineers' Chandler Staton missed a 30-yard FG with 2 seconds left that would've sent the game to OT.

Dec 6

 I was certainly wrong on Marshall who got blanked 20-0 by Rice yesterday. The Owls D was stellar with five INTs, one of which was a pick6.

And lets keep rolling on my poor day yesterday. Eleby threw 4 TD passes for WMU, but EMU got three TD passes from P. Hutchinson and  a great rushing performance from Daruis Boone (148 yards, 1TD) in a 53-43 win yesterday.

Carson Strong threw 5 TD passes for Nevada in a 37-26 over Fresno and its D kept.Jalen Cropper out of the end zone.

My sole correct pick was Tulsa who got a key 3rd quarter 66-yard touchdown pass from Zach Smith to Josh Johnson to earn a 19-6 victory.

dec 7 2020

An addendum due to a Sunday night CUSA game . #wku (5-6) has improved a great deal while Charlotte (2-4) has had a bouncy pandemic ride. Pagrome and Gaej Walker had solid games in the Hilltoppers' victory. wku 37 CHAR 19.

 Nice 20-3 win for G Southern over an FAU team that usually scores a lot of points.

aug 7 2024

RIP  Coach Kragthorpe(59) died from Parkinsons. He went to three bowl games in four years with Tulsa when they were in the CUSA

Ge also was the HC at Louisville and an assistant with the Buffalo Bills.

Tuesday football and five O5 picks week ending Nov 14

 I'll take Mayer's passing to lead Miami O to a 31-27 win over Buffalo, who will get a 100 yard rushing game from J. Patterson tonight's MAC matchup.

Tulsa (3-1, 3-0 American) hosts SMU(7-1, 4-1 American) and I don't think the host team can slow down these Mustangs Buechele, Bentley IV, and Rees Rice. SMU 34 Tulsa 26

Sincere McCormick will get back on track and rushed for over 100 yards in UTSA 22-19 win over UTEP in a battle of two erratic CUSA  teams.

#carsonstrong (96-131, 1181 YDS, 9 TD) will keep Nevada undefeated in a MWC win over New Mexico.

App St((5-1, 3-0 Sun Belt) needs to keep pace with undefeated Coastal Carolina so I look for their D to have a big day in 20-9 win over Georgia St

Nov 11

Pass me the dunce cap on the Miami(OH) pick. Buffalo 42 M(O)10. Vantrease, the Bulls QB, threw for 353 yards and 4TDs.

Nov 15

Another wrong pick with SMU. Tulsa outscored SMU 21-0 in the second half to earn a 28-24 AAC win. Tulsa's QB, Zach Smith, threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns . Then I got the last three picks, UTSA, Nevada, and App St correct.

Brendan Brady picked up the rushing slack for McCormick who sat for personal reasons  and Harris threw three TD passed  for UTSA in a 52-21 win over UTEP  Carson Strong threw for 336 yards and 3tds for Nevada in a 27-21 win over UNM. The APP St didenough in a 17-13 win over Georgia St.

On a side Marshall rolled  MTSU 42-14 and is looking like the best team in the CUSA,

MWC is back and more O5 picks for week ending Oct 24

 Can App St shed the rust  and beat Arkansas St on a Thursday night? Yes, I'll take Zac Thomas, the App St QB, over the Bonner/Hatcher platoon  of Ark St. APP 26 Ark St 20.

Wyoming behind its QB Sean Chambers pulls out a 20-17 road victory at Nevada. 

Cincy travels to SMU in a battle of two top 25 teams. Cincy has enough D to rope in the Mustangs O and win 24-23.

Taggart's Owls won't  slow down the Wells/Knox show in Huntingdon, WVA. Marshall 30 Fau 20 

Oct 23

The rust flew off APP St in a 45-17 victory of Ark St. App St QB, Zac Thomas, tossed four TD passes and ran for one. 

Oct 24

I didn't pick this game but needed to mention that #ChrisSmith ran a kickoff back 100 yards for a ULL(Sunbelt) TD in a 24-20 win over UAB(CUSA).

Oct 25

Heck of  battle in Nevada with  Charlie Strong tossing for 420 yards nd 4 TDs including the game winner in OT. NEV 37 WYO 34. BTW, Chambers, the Wyoming QB, went down early with a bad fibula injury.

SMU's D was weak, as expected , and could not contain Cincy QB, Desmond Ridder who tossed one TD pass and ran for 3TDs while gaining 179 yards on eight carries. Cincy 42 SMU 13.

#herd got it done again. Wells tossed two TD passes and Knox rushed for 101 yards in 20-9 win over FAU.

3-1 this weekend. I was wrong on Wyoming.

MWC hoops enters 2020

I didn't do my annual MWC prognostication but I'll try to catch up. New Years day conference  games
R. Washington SJST (25 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST) had a big night in a mild (88-85) upset of New Mexico.
San Diego State ( 14-0,3-0) beat Fresno St 62-51
J. Jessup BOISE ( 20 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST) was the key in a 65-54 win over Wyoming.
B. Hamilton UNLV 20 PTS, 6 REB was the key in a 70-53 win over Utah St
Harris scores 20 to lead Nevada over Colorado St. 67-61. Steve Alford, who replaced Eric Musselman who took the Arkansas job, has Nevada  2-0 in MWC play and 9-5 overall
Air Force was idle.

Jan 10

 San Diego St(16-0, 5-0MWC) is 7th nationally. Malachi Flynn (16.1 PTS)(3.4 REB)(5 AST)

Jan 15

#MalachiFlynn (22 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST )  rolls on for SDST((18-0, 7-0 MWC) in a 64-55 win over Fresno St . Jalen Harris scored 20 points including the winning layup for Nevada with nine seconds left. NEV 68 WYO 67

jan 18

 A dash of NBA with MWC hoops: Kawhi Leonard will attend the Feb 1 game against Utah St and become the first San Diego State basketball player to have his jersey retired. SDST is 7-0 in conference play this season and has 1.5 game lead on UNLV(5-1).

jan 26:

While Boise St and the MWC battle over football TV $$, the Blue-turfers hoops team romped over Fresno St 87-63.  Zouzoua scored 20 for Nevada in a 76-74 win over New Mexico. San Jose St beat AFA, and Utah St beat Colorado St. San Diego St (9-0) and UNLV(6-2) were idle in MWC action yesterday.

jan27

 Flynn scored 21 points, Pulliam added a career-high 18 points and the fourth-ranked Aztecs (21-0, 10-0 MWC) held off  UNLV (11-11,6-3MWC) for 71-67 win. UNLV and Nevada are tied for second with 6-3 MWC records.

Jan 30

San Diego St  crushed New Mexico 85-57 to remain undefeated, and is four games up on Colorado St, a winner over Nevada, and Boise St, a winner over San Jose St. UNLV was idle and is 3GB .

Feb 13

San Diego St is a lock for the dance, but   Nevada (16-10, 9-5 Mountain West) has an outside shot and got a much needed win  over UNLV(12-14, 7-6 Mountain West). Jalen Harris had a solid night for Nevada ( 29 PTS, 14 REB, 5 AST) In other action Fresno State (9-16, 5-9 Mountain West)  defeated San José St (7-18, 3-10 Mountain West) 84-78 in OT.

Feb15

San Diego St deserves a 1 seed at the Dance if they finish the season undefeated. They have OOC wins over Creighton, Iowa, and BYU.

feb 19

If MWC  gets a second dance ticket, it will likely be Nevada(17-10, 10-5) who won 88-74 at  New Mexico thanks to a big night from Jalen Harris(28 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST). Nevada is tied for second with Utah St..UNLV (9-6) blew out Col. St (9-6) 

feb 23

Nevada eked out a win over Fresno St to hang on to second place ahead of UNLV who handed SDST it's first loss of the season and Colorado St who defeated SJST. Nevada and Utah St are tied for second with 10-5 records.

Feb 26

Aztecs recovered from their first loss and beat CSU.  Nevada  and UTAH St, two 12-5 teams are around the bubble after wins respectively over  Wyoming and SJST.

March 6

MWCT Round1:Wyoming burst any bubble chances Nevada had .K. Marble II (24 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST) led WYO to a 74-71 win.  Boise St and Utah St kept their hopes alive with wins. SDST kept rolling. BSU 67 UNLV 61. Utah St 75 UNM 70. SDST 73 AFA 60

March 7

Utah St held off pesky Wyoming and Utah St  beat Boise St. to set up the MWCT final. Utah St should get the 2nd ticket  if they play the Aztecs close. Big night for Sam Merrill USU - G(27 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST)

March 8

 Sam Merrill (27 PTS, 6 REB, 1 STL) hit a trey with 2.5 seconds left on the clock  for Utah St in a 58-55 win over SDST  in the MWCT final. The Ags are going to the Dance, and the Aztecs won't be a 1 seed.

April 1

AFA brings back Joe Scott who coached them to the Dance in 2004 . Scott has been an asst at Georgia for the last two seasons.

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

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”

MWC 2018/19 Hoops hunches

Southwestern USA Journalists think highly of these kids:
Preseason PoY: G Caleb Martin, Sr., Nevada
Preseason Star Freshman: F/C Jordan Brown, Fr., Nevada
Preseason Newcomer  F Vance Jackson, So., New Mexico

Nevada Wolf Pack: Coach Musselman has the tools
UNLV Rebels- Rebs will surprise some folks.  Keep your eyes on Shakur Juiston
San Diego State Aztecs got into gear late last season so watch out in January.
New Mexico Lobos- Buckeye transfer JaQuan Lyle will give the Lobos a lift
Colorado State Rams_ Kendie Moore can score but coach Medved  will take some time getting  the Rams in gear
Utah State Aggies may rely too much on treys
Boise State Broncos iareusually solid but could slip a bit this season
Fresno State Bulldogs new coach will lean on guard play, defense
Wyoming Cowboys- Justin James is the key
Air Force Falcons will struggle to get to the middle of the MWC standings
San José St Spartans- Rough OOC start doesn't bode well.

Dec 8, 2018

#mussbus J Caroline scored 16 points for #6 Nevada  in a comeback win over #25 Ariz St last night, but it's way to early to talk about an undefeated season. They travel to Utah (Pac12) on Dec 29, and have to face tough conference  foes, Utah, St and Fresno St twice.
After a bad loss to NMST (WAC) .New mexico lost to St Mary's (WCC) 85-60 last night.

Jan 3, 2019

#nevada opened MWC conference play with Jordan Caroline  (15 PTS, 12 REB, 7 AST) leading the Wolfpack over Utah St. UNM beat AFA, Boise beat Wyoming, UNLV edged Col.St and Fresno St beat SJST

Jan 10, 2019

#nevada took out it anger for getting crushed by New Mexico over the weekend and pounded SJST 92-53. Braxton Higgins scored 33 points for Fresno St in a 78-77 win over Utah St. 

jan 13, 2019

More jagged mountain hoops as UNM, who crushed Nevada a week ago, fell to Col St 91-76 yesterday. Meanwhile Nevada is back in stride getting a big win over Fresno St. Caleb Martin had 27 for the #mussbus. Boise St and Utah St won while SDST lost a headscratcher 62-48 to AFA.

jan 16, 2019

Caleb Martin hit a trey at the buzzer for Nevada to outlast Boise St 72-71. SDST recovered from the AFA loss by pounding UNM 97-77 

jan 17, 2019

AFA 106 INLV 88 . I never thought the airmen could find so much  firepower on the court. Ryan Swan scored 22 for AFA..
Utah St beat SJST

Jan 20, 2019

Nevada brought AFA down from its lofty scoring games with 67-52 win . Fresno keeps rolling with a big 63-53 win over Boise St.. Utah St got a big won over Col St.

Nevada 5-1

Fresno St 4-1

UNLV4-1

Utah St4-2

Boise St 3-2

Blowout I didn't expect: UNLV 94 SJST 56 . UNLV 83 Wyo 56

Jan 23, 2019 

Air Force surprised Boise St 74-60.  Fresno and UNLV  defeated respectively, SDST and New Nexico.
Nevada 5-1 Fresno St 5-1 UNLV 5-1
Utah St 4-2 Boise St 3-3

feb 3

Top dogs in MWC : Nevada (8-1)  blew out Boise St.  Utah St (7-2) Sam Merrill had 20 points and five assists in an easy win over UNLV. Fresno St (7-2) #NateGrimes matched  19 points, 19rebounds in a win over UNM.

FEB 7

#mussbus stayed on track with a 98-82 win over Colorado St last night. Jordan Caroline (40 PTS, 12 REB, 3 AST) led Nevada (22-1, 9-1 MW) to the victory. AFA beat Wyoming and UNLV beat Boise St.

Nevada 9-1

Utah St 8-2   Fresno St 7-3

Feb 10

 #mussbus got revenge for it's only conference loss by pummeling UNM 91-62. #boise st took out some of its frustration for a mediocre season by clobbering San Jose St 105-57. Fresno St beat UNLV to move into a tie for second place with Utah St who lost to SDST.

feb 14

Fresno St  and Utah St gained a half game on idle Nevada with wins over respectively, Boise and Wyoming. UNM crushed SJSt.

feb 17

SDST(8-4) is making a late season rally and looked solid in a win over Boise St yesterday.   #DevinWatson paced San Diego State with 19 points. Fresno St and Utah St  each won and are tied for second with 10-3 records. #mussbus (11-1) roared past Wyoming 82-49 

feb 21

#mussbus gets diverted:  Devin Watson (15 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST) led SDST(9-4) to a 65-57 win over nevada(11-2). Fresno St(10-4)  was upset by AFA and Utah St(11-3)moved to within a game of Nevad with a 71-55 win over UNM. Queta scored 23 for Utah St.

feb 24

#mussbus got back into gear holding off Fresno St(10-5). AFA(7-8) and  SDST(10-4) remained hot with wins respectively over SJST(0-14) and UNLV(9-6). Utah St(12-3) beat Boise St (6-8) and remains a half game behind Nevada (12-2)

feb 27

 Quinn Taylor(13 PTS, 11 REB, 4 AST) helped Utah St cool down SDST  70-54 . Noah Bauman (26 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST) helped SJST  defeat UNM 89-82 for its first MWC victory this season.

march 3

How about that? Utah St(14-3) beat Nevada(13-3) 81-76 to move into first place by half a game.  Tre'Shawn Thurman (Nevada) 21 PTS, 10 REB, 3 STL . Sam Merrill(Utah St) 29 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST. Nevada  travels to AFA who moved to 8-8 in MWC play with a win over Wyoming  yesterday and hosts SDST(11-5) who beat SJST  yesterday.  USU is at Colorado St(7-9) who lost to UNM (6-10) yesterday.

march 6

 #SamMerrill scored 38 points for Utah St(15-3) in an OT win over Colorado St that guarantees them at least a tie for the MWC regular season title. Nevada(14-3) beat AFA and needs a win over SDST on Saturday for a share of the MWC title.

march 10

Caleb Martin (25 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST) led the #mussbus to an 81-53 win over SDST which gave  Nevada a tie for the MWC regular season title with Utah St at 15-3.

March 15

Boise put quite a scare into Nevada before the Wolfpack put them way in the final three minutes.. It took UTah St  about half a game to figure out the UNM press. Nev 77-Boise 69. Utah St 91 UNM 83. Fresno St  76 AFA 50. sdst 63 unlv 55.

March 16

#mussbus gets a flat and loses to SDST who faces Utah St , a winner over Fresno St, in the MWCT final. If SDST wins , I don't see the committee inviting UTah St and  giving three slots to the MWC.

March 17

 #samMerrill scored 24 points, hitting 11 of 12 from the charity stripe and earning MWCT MVP honors, in Utah State's 64-57 win over a pesky SDST Aztecs squad. Nevada will likely get an at large bid. I picked Utah st to finish second in my pre-season ratings,

april 7

 #MarvinMenzies three-year tenure as the head coach at UNLV is over, and South Dakota State head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who  led SDak  to multiple NCAA tournament appearances, is in.  That's some different turf to recruit.

april 8

#mussbus is leaving Nevada on its way to Arkansas

april 12

#stevealford will replace the #mussbus at Nevada. He coached at New Mexico (MWC) before his his UCLA gig.
May 30: good news for Utah St:  #Queta  , the 6'11 center (11.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game), is coming back  and will hook up with  #SamMerrill, the reigning MWC player of the year.

June 21 , 2019

A couple of MWC players were drafted in rd2 of the NBA draft. Cody Martin (Nevada ) and Jalen McDaniels (San Diego St) went to the Hornets. Justin James (Wyoming) went to the Kings.

 

MWC 2017-18 hoop predictions

MWC has only eleven teams since Hawaii plays hoops in the Big West.
Nevada-  Musselman's Pack led by #jordancaroline should repeat as league champs.
Fresno State: D Taylor leads a solid backcourt
UNLV: Brandon McCoy will keep the Rebels near the top.
Boise State: Hutchinson suffered a concussion against ISU last night, and the Broncos  cant afford to lose him for too many games
Wyoming: Hatden Dalton is the key Cowboy
San Diego State- Its now Coach Dutcher's team and theyll need big play from Malik Pope
New Mexico: McNeal and the Lobos will be erratic.
Colorado State: Rams  will need big time scoring from Prentiss Nixon.
San Jose State: Ryan Welage is the main Spartan.
Utah State: Rough season for Merrill and the Ags
Air Force: Manning & Lyons are the key players.
Jan 7 spot check on the #mwc : I can't adjust to the #csu floor but #fresno st with a huge effort from
#deshontaylor won in OT. Big night for Dalton in Wyoming's OT win over Boise St.
Nevada, the conference leader, struggled a bit with AFA, MWC cellar dweller, before strong shoooting
from Martin & Stephens led them to victory.USU needed a late run to survive UNLV.UNM crushed SJST

Nevada 4-0 Boise State 3-1 Utah State 3-1 San Diego State 2-1 Wyoming 2-1 Fresno State 2-2 New Mexico 2-2 UNLV 1-2 Colorado State 1-3 Air Force 0-3 San Jose State 0-4
Jan 11- The middle of the MWC standings is getting tight. Nixon scored 26 points for
#CSU in a win over Utah State 84-75. Joe Furstinger #UNM (17 PTS, 10 REB, 4 AST in a win
over.Wyoming.UNLV beat AFA.
Jan 18- #nevada moves to 7-0 . #unm is on the move. Impressive final minute rally #AnthonyMathis
scored 14 points, including a 4-point play and a 3-pointer in the final 77 seconds in a win over UNLV.

Nevada	6-0	-
Boise State	6-1
Fresno State	4-3
New Mexico	4-3

jan25

The Muss Bus got it's first conference dent. #JustinJames (33 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST) led #Wyoming to a 104-103 win over #nevada. Sengfelder scored 31as Boise St rolled SJST to stay on the conference race. SDST blew out CSU and Utah St beat AFA.
Nevada         7-1
Boise State 7-2
Fresno State 5-3
New Mexico 5-3
Wyoming 4-3

feb 4

Muss Bus   stalled at times against CSU but  Caleb Martin had 26 points and Lindsey Drew added 16 and eight rebounds in a #nevada victory.
These guys , Brandon McCoy UNLV - 24 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST and Justinian Jessup BSU -  18 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, put on a good show  for their respective teams as #boisest outlasted #UNLV to remain 1GB behind Nevada
.Jalen McDaniels SDSU 16 PTS, 13 REB, 1 AST led the Aztecs to an easy 81-50 win over AFA.
#fresnost remain a hard team to gauge.  Nate Grimes had 20 points, 12 rebounds in a  Fresno State in an 80-62 win over SJSU
feb 12 update: #mussbus ran over sdst 83-58 . Boise st was upset by utah st. #unlv  keeps climbing : #ShakurJuiston scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in  #UNLV win over Wyoming 85-70
San jose St remains winless . #afa upset new mexico
feb 15: Are we headed for an all Nevada showdown in #MWC . #nevada edged  Boise St.  UNLV beat AFA.

feb 20, 2018

#nevada looks good to win the regular season, and should make the Dance but the MWC is , at best, a a two Dance tickets conference. Nevada #Mussbus stars: #calebmartin  19.6 ppg and #jordancarolina 17.0 ppg
Nevada 12-2   23-5
Boise St. 11-4  21-6
Fresno St. 9-5  19-8

feb 22

Top #mwc three won last night. : Kendall Stephens (30 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST) led NEV  over SJST. Chandler Hutchison (27 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST) led Boise St over Col. St.  Deshon Taylor (22 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST) led #fresno over UNLV. Boise has two MWC games left while Nevada and Fresno each have three.
feb26 update-  #Mussbus won the MWC regular season title yesterday. #nevada deserves a Dance ticket regardless of  how they perform in the MWCT. #boise ain't getting much love from the pundits.
march 8 update. RD1 today UNLV/AFA CSU/UtahSt  SJST/Wyoming.  Unless someone upsets #nevada later  this week it's probably one dance ticket for the #MWC.
march 10 update: Wow, #DevinWatson scored 20 points to lead San Diego State to a 90-73 blowout over Nevada. They 'll fae #newmexico  who beat Utah St. Nevada should still get a Dance ticket
march 12 update: I'm not sure why but the #MWC is one the few  non-power conferences that didn't get royally screwed over by the Dance Committee. #nevada is a 7th seed  despite not winning its conference tourney  and plays texas in rd1 . #sdst is an eleven seed and faces houston in rd 1 .
march 17 update: #mussbus needed OT to roll by Texas  on their way to a game with Cincy. K Stephens scored 22 and Caleb Martin had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack.. J McDaniels had eighteeen points as SDST hung tough but fell to Houston.
March 18: #Mussbus screwed up my bracket with big comeback win over Cincy. Cody Martin 
NEV  (25 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST) J Hall had a nice game of the bench with  (14 pts, 6 Reb)

july 8 , 2018

It's not often I can post local hoops news about the #MWC. #Zane Martin  a second-team All-CAA selection last season for #towsonU, a school a few minute north of Baltimore City, is tranferring to New Mexico.  He put up 19.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

july 29, 2018

#sandiegost (MWC) will square off against Duke in the #maui 2018 opening game