Countdown to less Independents - nearly over.

 Notre Dame may not ever give up its Independent football status, and it continues to keep Navy(AAC) on its schedule. They meet at M&T stadium in Baltimore City today. ND 30 Navy 20 in an old-fashioned rushing slugfest.

#Army travels to Bama to face a tough Troy(SunBelt) Defense.   Troy 19 Army 12

#Liberty crosses the Mason-Dixon line to face UConn. The Flames lost Dae Dae Hunter to injury last week but Freeze's O will be still be too much for Mora's Huskies. LU 31 UConn 17

UMass visits Ark St(SunBelt). Both teams are having bad season. Home team wins Ark St 20 UMass 17

New Mexico St host Lamar(1AA). NMST is eading to the CUSA while Lamar doesn't know what 1AA conference it wants to be in, (Southland or WAC). NMST 24 Lamar 13.

Nov 12  in the PM

Notre Dame allowed Navy to get damn close after controlling the game for three quarters. ND 35 Navy 32

Troy took its time but survived. Troy 10 Army 9

Liberty was missing some key players on O, and UConn upped its game. I'm still a bit surprised at the Huskies O, and it was my sole incorrect pick,.  UConn 36 LU 33 

Ark St  survived the Minutemen's late rush. Ark St 35 UMass 33

NMST 51 Lamar 14

Nov 18, 2022

UMass travels to TAMU. If the Minutemen prevail, the oil men will find a way to get Jimbo deported from the state of Texas

Mizzou will handle NMST, and BYU will take care of Utah Tech, formerly known as Dixie State before the woke crowd invaded Utah.

Don't look now but Mora's Huskies will beat Army to get UConn its 7th W.

Notre Dame should handle BC, but there have been some close ones in this series. BC lost to UConn and then beat NC St

Liberty lost to UConn last week and looks beat up. VA Tech hasn't won since mid-September and that continues. Flames flicker but hang on in a 20-17 squeaker.

Nov 20, 2022

Wrong on UConn who lost 34-17, and Liberty who lost 24-23.  I'm a bit surprised that BC got shutout. It was hilarious to see the TAMU twitter fans freaking out when the Ags were only up 10-3 on UMass at halftime. TAMU 20 UMass 3

Nov 22, 2022

Can Notre Dame keep playing the vampire? Their Ws over Clemson and UNC did some damage, but they don't have enough O to win against USC in LA. USC 31 ND 24. 

BYU gets back on track with a 23 17 win at Stanford. Army stops the Minutemen, and Liberty gets back on track hosting New Mexico St.

Nov 26, 2022

Liberty is losing to New Mexico St 42-7 in the 3Q. Freeze is staying in Falwell country and not headed to Auburn. NMST(5-6) scored 51 on Lamar and 45 on Hawaii, but never got above the 20s against any other opponent and are not bowl worthy. It doesn't look like NMST/SJST game will be made up next week.

Army crushed UMass and needs to beat Navy to get win number 6.

ND lost to USC

BYU saved face and beat Stanford.

Nov 28, 2022

  well I was wrong about Freeze- Auburn is hiring him.  The bad Liberty loss to NMST was irrelevant.

Dec 4, 2022

Liberty didn't waste time: Jamey Chadwell left Coastal Carolina for Falwell U.

Dec 6, 2022

Army plays Navy(AAC) in Philly this Saturday, and neither is headed to a Bowl game. My hunch: Navy 16 Army 13

New Mexico St will play Bowling Green(MAC) @ Ford Field in Quick Lane Bowl. Two very erratic teams. BG 23 NMST 20

Liberty will play Toledo(MAC) in the Boca Raton Bowl. Spark is out of the Flames with Freeze gone TOL 27 LIB 20

UConn in a Myrtle Beach Bowl game against Marshall(SunBelt). I'll take #herd -hoping Leborn plays. MAR 26 UConn 17

Dec 11. 2022

I was wrong on my final regular season pick. Army edged Navy in the 2nd OT : 20-17

Dec 19, 2022

I got home from work and the Herd was up 28-0 in the 3Q. A few minutes later and its 28-14. Ali/Laborn is a nice #herd RB combo. MU 28 UConn 14

Dec 21, 2022

I was correct on Toledo and the MAC went 2-0 yesterday. Flames flickered in the 2nd half, and Toledo RB, JACQUEZ STUART had solid game rushing for 111 yards on 23 carries. Toledo 19 Liberty 17

Dec 23, 2022

I saw the name Earl Weaver, the name of late Orioles baseball manager, and did a double take while reading the Chicago St basketball box score. This Weaver scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 55-53 loss to Minnesota of the Big 10. Chicago St has improved but won't survive as an Independent

Hartford, the other hoops Independent which is in the process of going to a lower division, got crushed by San Francisco 85-53 last night.

Dec 26, 2022

New Mexico St will play Bowling Green(MAC) @ Ford Field in Quick Lane Bowl. Two very erratic teams. BG 23 NMST 20

The Lou Holtz Bowl is in Jacksonville on Dec 30. Rattler will have a good day for the Gamecocks in 30 -27 win over Notre Dame.

Dec 27, 2022

Good thing my picks are made with Monopoly money. I was wrong on NMST(7-6) who led 14-0 at the half and held on for a 24-19 win over Bowling Green. The Ags started the season 0-4. Off to the CUSA for the 2023 season.

Dec 31, 2022

In a wild game, the Irish got the best of the Gamecocks and handed me another incorrect pick. ND 45 SCar  38

Jan 14, 2023

Are you kidding me? A committee will study the potential for football at Chicago State. The school can barely sustain its hoops 1A program after parting ways with the WAC and could not find a conference in the Midwest to join. Ain't no way they get 1A  FOOTBALL unless there is some billionaire alumnus out there. Maybe at a lower level, but that's still a he!! of a dream.

Jan 24, 2023

Wow, Wesley Cardet Jr. scored 21 points as Chicago State defeated Coastal Carolina(Sunbelt) 74-70 in a road win last night. I'm sticking to the Summit Conference as a possible landing place move for them.

Jan 26, 2023

Wow, Chicago St played well but fell short at Stanford(PAC12).  Cardet scored 31 in a 72-65 loss to the Cardinals. Yes, I know Stanford is having a bad season, but Chicago St struggled to beat anybody in the WAC last season, let alone anyone else.

Jan 31, 2023

Chicago St raids the The Citadel(Southern) and picks up another win in the state of South Carolina. Cardet Jr scored 21 points in the Cougars 76-75 win.

Feb 4, 2023

Rees to Bama to replace O'Brien. Is ND cheap or is he not working well with Freeman?  He turned down Brian Kelly's offer to go with him to LSU last year.

Feb 14, 2023

Neither Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig nor Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein are taking the ND OC gig. BTW, Ludwig's first stint at Utah as OC included the Utes' undefeated 2008 season and a Sugar Bowl win over Bama.

Feb 19, 2023

Since some may view this as a quirky blog: Chicago St(10-18) hosts Hartford(5-22) in hoops today.  Cougars won at Hartford on Feb 4. I think some Independents in football played home/away series in pigskin during one of the Covid seasons. Hartford is dropping to a lower division so this may be the last of this matchup. Chicago St is talking of adding football which is crazy. School needs to join the Summit conference and calm down.

J. Corbett CHST (23PTS 7REB)  CHST 75 HART 53 

May 15, 2023

While NMST mens' hoops remains a mess from various scandals, football HC Jerry Kill finally signed a contract, which calls for paving parking lot near the football offices. Ags are coming off a bowl win as they head for the CUSA.

I was looking at NM St 2023 schedule this season and it includes two MWC teams:

Sept. 16 NMSU at New Mexico(love the intrastate rivalry)

Sept. 23 NMSU at Hawaii

June 8, 2023

Kind of getting a chuckle from all the twitter kids promoting UConn to B12. UConn showed that re-connecting with the Big East and focusing on hoops and the northeast was the correct call. If it needs a conference for football, try the MAC. I never understood why it didn't remain in the AAC for football only like Navy does.

Chicago St remains a mystery, and there must be something amiss if the MEAC, a 1a hoops conference of schools with a majority of black students, nixed inviting Chicago St to join it. Possibly it was due to east coast schools not wanting to increase travel costs.

July 21, 2023

Down to four 1A Independent FOOTBALL SCHOOLS: Army ,Notre Dame, UConn, and UMass who visits Army.

Army will spend some time in Louisiana.

Sat. Sept. 2.      at Louisiana-Monroe

Sat. Sept. 9      DELAWARE STATE

Fri. Sept. 15     at UTSA

Sat. Sept. 23     at Syracuse 

Sat. Oct. 7        BOSTON COLLEGE

Sat. Oct. 14      TROY

Sat. Oct. 21       at LSU

Sat. Oct. 28      UMASS

Sat. Nov. 4        at Air Force*

Sat. Nov. 11     HOLY CROSS

Sat. Nov. 18     COASTAL CAROLINA

Sat. Dec. 9        NAVY^

July 29, 2023

I've been saying for years this kid Demario Douglas was a decent WR. Hear he's moving up BB's depth chart.  COLLEGE Liberty DRAFT INFO 2023: Rd 6, Pk 210 (NE) 

Aug 14, 2023

UMass guys in the NFL. I thought Isabella(Bills) might have staying power in the NFL, but did not see Merriweather(Saints) who carried the ball 150 times for 575 yards for the Minutemen in 2022, possibly making the NFL.

No invite to the Horizon for Chicago St hoops, but they secured commitments from Matt and Ryan Bewley, 5* recruits.

Previous blogs

 https://busterother5.blogspot.com/2021/01/1a-ncaa-independents-and-geography-2021.html  

https://busterother5.blogspot.com/2022/05/1a-independents-start-to-dwindle-in-2023.html

Fast and furious P5 coaching moves

 Big 10: I guess it was the $$$ that motivated Kevin Willard to exit Seton Hall(BigEast) after 12 years and join the Terps. He'll certainly give Rutgers a recruiting battle in the NY/NJ corridor. BTW, Seton Hall is focused on Saint Peter's coach Shaheen Holloway.

SEC: I'm still shaking my head over Miss St signing Jans away from New Mexico St because he's mostly a West Coast guy except for one season at Ball St. And, I also don't get Missouri hiring Cleveland State coach Dennis Gates. FLA hired Golden from San Francisco when White took the UGA job.

South Carolina is set to hire Chattanooga's Lamont Paris, who's last three seasons have been solid. LSU hired Murray State's Matt McMahon who showed he could win after Ja Morant went to the NBA.

ACC: Louisville hired Kenny Payne, who was on Denny Crum's 1986 Cards title team, and has been assistant at UK and with the NY Knicks.

Big 12: Kansas St hired Baylor assistant Jerome Tang

March 26, 2022

Frank Martin , a part of the Bobby Huggins coaching tree, is the new HC at UMass(Atlantic 10). It's his first HC gig in a non power 5 conference after HC stops at Kansas St(B12) and South Carolina(SEC). A10 is a solid hoops conference and usually gets two or three dance tickets.

Steve Prohm, who left Murray St for Iowa St in 2015 and was out of coaching last  season, returns to Murray St(OVC).

March 31, 2022

Lamont Paris had a nice run the last two seasons with Chattanooga(Southern), but I'm not sold on that being enough to the HC at South Carolina(SEC).

As expected, Holloway left St Peters for Seton Hall(Big East).

Archie Miller gets the job at Rhode Island(A10) one year after getting canned at Indiana. The matchups with Dayton , where he was HC from 2011-17 will be interesting.

April 1, 2022

Miami(FLA) is losing Asst Coach Chris Caputo who will be the new HC at GW(A10). He has strong recruiting ties to the talent-rich  D.C., area which was a key factor  in the success of both Miami(ACC) and George Mason's(A10) programs.

 Butler fired HC LaVall Jordan after five seasons, and Ohio(MAC) HC Jeff Boals is considered  a leading candidate, but they may need to look around at some top assistants on other Big East teams.

April 4, 2022

I thought Matta was older than 54 and didn't see this was coming. Butler hires Thad Matta, ex-Ohio State. He was an associate athletic director for basketball at Indiana for the past year.

April 20, 2022

Greg Oden and Jon Diebler, both former Ohio State players under coach Thad Matta, are joining Matta’s Butler staff at Butler.

June 28. 2022

The Big 12 is targeting Brett Yormark, the current COO of Jay-Z's Roc Nation and also a former CEO with the Nets (NBA), to be its next Commissioner. I thought they'd at least look for a football guy.

July 3, 2022

BTW,  Yormark and Calipari are longtime buds. That's a high level of slick.

July 24, 2022

GG Jackson, the No. 1 prospect in 2023 who had committed to North Carolina, will reclassify and join South Carolina this season. Quite a steal for HC Lamont Paris.

Dec 15, 2022

I'm moving like a snail toward some O5 hoops blogs. I watched some of the WKU/Louisville game last night and thought the Hilltoppers would keep Louisville Coach Kenny in pain, but the Cards prevailed. Jamrion Sharp, the 7'5 WKU center, is quite sight on the court. 

Jan 5, 2023

Perhaps Georgetown should've made a move. Big East is big time hoops. Georgetown's woes under sixth-year coach Patrick Ewing hit a new milestone yesterday with its 25th consecutive Big East loss, surpassing DePaul's previous record during the 2010-11 season. The stretch goes back to March 2, 2021 against Xavier, the team's last regular-season league win.

Jan 27, 2023

Reviewing some of the moves in my initial post. Big 73-55 win for the Terps over Wisky last night. 

Tang has been superb for KSt.

As far as the SEC hires. FLA and Mizzou are doing Ok.

 Payne remains in pain at Louisville (ACC). 

Feb 5, 2023

Willard is starting to make me a believer. Terps crushed Minnesota and are shopping for sneakers to wear to the Dance.

I've been wondering if Huggy should retire and then this:  Erik Stevenson scored 34 points in a West Virginia 93-61 rout of Oklahoma 93-61.

Feb 6, 2023

Buckeyes lost to Mich and fell behind Nebraska, who beat Penn St. 

Ohio State 3-9

Minnesota 1-11

 Nebraska should keep Hoiberg, but the Buckeyes may not have much patience with Holtman.

Feb 12, 2023

I was looking at the Big 10 and Big 12 scores yesterday and Indiana eked out a win over Mich, while the Terps got a big won over Penn St. It sure looks like we're heading for another Dance selection that gives the B10 too many teams. 

B12 is nuts. KSt looked like they made the HC hire of the year with Tang, but now it just appears to be a decent hire. They fell to 7-5 in b12 play after cellar dweller Texas tech knocked them off yesterday. And OK is sliding fast. It's HC may need to call the nuns of Loyola of Chicago and ask for some prayers. 

Feb 17, 2023

Texas hurried up to fire Beard because he "engaged in unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach at our university."

Felony charge against former Texas coach Chris Beard dropped two months following arrest. Will a Power conference hire him in the off-season? I think so and it will be funny if its the SEC, where Texas is headed.

March 9, 2023

Looking back to the last spring hires.

SEC: Miss St and Mizzou hires appear to be OK, but some of the other not so much, particularly Paris at S. Carolina. Gamecocks lost to cellar dweller Ole Miss in rd1 of the SECT. It appears Chris Beard will be the Rebels next HC and won't that be interesting when TX plays Ole Miss in SEC action.

ACC: Adrian Autry, a Syracuse alum, will replace Boeheim who is retiring after 47 years as the Cuse HC. He!! of a career for JB but he got on my nerves 90% of the time. 

Payne has delivered pain for the Louisville fans.

Big East: GTown has no choices but to axe Ewing after another horrible season. Thad Matta's return to coaching has been unimpressive for Butler U fans.

Big 10: Willard has taken the Terps on a roller coaster ride this season. We'll get to the Dance but that's about it.

Big 12: I thought Huggy would start considering retirement, but West Virginia has perked up and could be on the bubble. They beat Texas Tech in rd1 of the B12T. TT and Coach Adams parted ways cuz of the Bible incident, and AD Holcutt could be heading for the exit.

Pac 12: Cal (3-29) has to be swinging the axe on Marx Fox.