DI Baseball peek in April 2024

 UC Irvine 24-4 (10-2 Big West) Joichiro Oyama 5HR 28RBI 4SB

ULL 24-8 (11-1 Sun Belt) LP Langevin has four saves.

Eyes on WKU who just knocked off Dallas Baptist in CUSA play. 

April 11, 2024

La Tech beat ULL 7-2. How about top 10 ECU(AAC) who got 3 RBIs from Cowart in a win over ODU.

Herd beat WV. Maryland chatter: After losing 15 consecutive games to MD, UMBC(AEC) finally beat the Terps.

April 14, 2024

SBC: UL edged Marshall 1-0. Morgan pitched 8 strong innings and the Cajuns got the only run on a fielder's choice. Ga Southern upset CCU.

AFA(MWC) beat Dallas Baptist(CUSA) for its first win over a ranked team since 4/19/22. 

April 17, 2024

 Catching Carolinas: ECU beat W&M. CCU beat UNC. T. Thach (HR, 2rbi) for UNCW in a win over Wake Forest. 

Citadel lost to the Gamecocks. Charlotte lost to Clemson.

April 21, 2024

Coast to coast: ULL edged CCU. Bermudez(HR, 5 RBI) for UC-Irvine in a win over SDSU.

April 23, 2024

T. Holder went 4-5 with (3HR, 4RBI) for Nevada in a 21-13 win over Utah Tech

April 27, 2024

In AAC action ECU blanked Memphis 14-0. SIU 3 INS 2 in a mild MVC upset. Vallee(SIU) went 2-4 to lift his AVG to .348.

April 30, 2024

Dickinson and Garrett each had 5 RBIs for UVU in a 17-12 WAC win over Utah Tech.

May 4, 2024

Time to catch up on non- Power conference baseball. Trey Yesavage, (10-1) gets the W for top 10 Pirates (AAC): ECU 11 USF 1. Cal Poly upsets top 10 Cal-Irvine. MTSU(CUSA) beat Binghamton(America East) 7-4

May 6, 2024

ECU beat USF again. ULL needed the10th inning to get by Troy 14-13. Sears knocked in a run and scored a run in the 7th for INS in a 6-4 win over Belmont.

May 9, 2024

Marshall had 4 SBs in a win over Ohio. Vogel had 5 RBIs for Murray St in a win over Ol Miss. ETSU beat UNC Asheville for its 12th win in the last 13 games.

May 14, 2024

A Lopez(3-5,2 RBI) for LBSU(BigWest) in win over Cal Baptist(WAC). UCSB(Big West) lost 2 of 3 to Campbell(CAA). 

ECU(AAC) and ULL (SBC) slipped in the rankings.

May 18, 2024

Brethowr (2HR, 4rbi) for UCSB in 14-2 win over CSUN . ECU gets big win over Rice. South Bama blanks ULL 10-0, top team in SBCW.

May 21, 2024

USM(SBC) has been great this month with its only  loss to TX St on May 17. Slade Wilks (14HR,58RBI)

May 23, 2024

ECU returns to Power 10 and faces Wichita St next. USM continues to roll with a shutout of CCU. Dallas Baptist beat NMSU in CUSA action.

May 24, 2024

Wichita State pummeled ECU 14-4 in a winner's bracket AAC contest. ECU needs to beat Rice to stay alive. USM beat Troy in SBC action,

May 25, 2024

ECU squeaked by Rice and needs to beat Wichita St twice today to advance to the AAC final. UCSB 20 UCR 4 ,while UC Irvine lost to CSUN in Big West action

May 27, 2024

Automatic bids: Tulane found a way to get  the AAC bid.  USM , WMU, Dallas Baptist(CUSA) UCSB(Big West). T Marsh (3 rbi) for UNCW  in win over CofC for the CAA bid.

March 31, 2024

Can Tyler Wilson(16hr, 63rbi) and Grand Canyon(WAC) knock off Zona today in an intrastate Day1 matchup?

June 1, 2024

Tyler Wilson hit a home run,and Pelc (4 rbi) for GCU in its win over Zona. Evansville beat ECU, and VCU upset Wake Forest.

June 2, 2024

ECU eliminated Wake Forest which is a big deal in NC. Dallas Baptist eliminated Zona. Stetson eliminated Bama. Brent Widder had 4 RBIs  for Evansville in a 17-11 win over VCU

June 3, 2024

UC Irvine still hanging on continues suspended game vs Oregon St. ECU  at home plays Evansville.

June 4, 2024

Two non power teams left . Evansville(MVC) and UConn(Big East)

June 7, 2024

I drove down to Chapel Hill this morning to attend a wedding tomorrow. It was cool to see the JMU stadium from US-81 and about two  hours later , the Liberty Flames stadium along US-29S .  Bunch of last minute WVU and UNC fans were checking into my hotel this afternoon for the game. UNC won.

June 9, 2024

Evansville(3HRs) out-slugged the Vols to force a game 3 today. UConn was eliminated by Florida St in a 12th inning loss.

Vols handled Evansville in game 3. ACC/SEC   teams in the CWS.

July 1, 2024

RHP Trey Yesavage, ECU(AAC) make it to the first ten selected in the MLB 2024 draft? He was 11-1 .

Walker Janek, a catcher from Sam Houston. St , may get drafted in rd1 MLB draft.

Mike Sirota , OF from Northeastern(CAA), can get you 20sb and bats around .300, seems to be rising.

July 15, 2024

RD1: RHP Trey Yesavage, ECU(AAC) goes to Toronto.

Walker Janek, a catcher from Sam Houston. St ,goes to Houston

Cole Mathis, C of Charleston went to the Cubs in rd2. 14 HR 57 RBIs

My O's took Colin Tuft - C - Tulane(AAC) in rd8. He stole 13 bases last season and is now playing in the Cape Cod league.

Week 3 O5 wacky style

 Lobos(MWC) host Ags(CUSA) in an intrastate battle:  Neither team has been impressive this season. UNM 20 NMST 19.

Utah St wins 21-17 on the road at AFA. Legas will be tossing a lot of passes for Utah St..

Cordeiro will be winging the ball around the Glass Bowl for San Jose St(MWC). SJST 30 Toledo(MAC) 23

Tulane(AAC) showed some mettle in its loss to OL Miss last week and will win 27-24 at USM(SBC). Makhi Willis rushed for 92 yards for Tulane in that loss.

Sept 16, 2023

Michel rushed for 3TDs in AFA's 39-21 win over Utah St. One wrong.

Army won at UTSA(AAC). The injured Frank Harris DNP for the home team.

NMST was in the WAC from 2005-12. NM left the WAC in 1998

Sept 17, 2023

I was wrong on both MWC picks, NM and SJST yesterday. Only correct pick was Tulane over USM. 

The sh^t talk from Little Miam fans is probably nuts on Twitter after the win over Cincy. The size of the OK St loss blows my mind, and Webb of USA ran all over them (151 yards,2TD). Ohio U has a stellar D. OHIO 10 Iowa St 7

Back to the MWC: UNLV beat Vandy, Fresno blanked Ariz St, and Col St took Deion's Buffs to OT before losing. 

NMST was in the WAC from 2005-12. NM left the WAC in 1998.

Sept 18, 2023

AAC took a beating, but NTX fought off La Tech rally for the W.

Surprises on the way to the CWS

 Samford beat S.Miss. Rider beat CCU. 

Oklahoma schools having a tough time: Oral Roberts beat OK ST. E. Carolina beat OK.

 Troy beat BC.

 Penn beat Auburn. Penn's bullpen combined for 5.2 innings while allowing just one earned run in a 6-3 win that lasted 11 innings.

It's double elimination.  One of these two teams gets eliminated today. WV(Big 12), who lost to Indiana, faces Ball St (MAC), who lost to Kentucky.

June 3 Game time

Miguel Santos: 3 HR, 9 RBI in DBap's rout and elimination of Oklahoma State . 

 Auburn is done via  a 7-2 loss to USM. OK crushed Army to stay alive.

In more elimination games WV beat Ball St., UNC beat Wright St, ULL beat Maine, Cal-St-Fullerton beat San Jose St, and how about Santa Clara over Zona.

In a non -elimination game MD lost to Wake Forest 21-6. It still irks me losing to a Tobacco Road team. ACC memories don't go away.

June 4 2023

Oral Roberts beat DBAP to move on. USM has to beat Penn. CCU has to beat Duke . 

George Mason, near the Pentagon, finished off my Terps, then turned around and lost to Wake Forest.

June 6, 2023

I wonder if we'll see Larry Bird at the Indiana St/TCU series.

I have friends near Hattiesburg so I'll keep an eye on the farewell tour of longtime USM coach Scott Berry. USM/Tenn. 

Matt Hogan has 17HR, 65RBI for ORU who faces Oregon.

June 8, 2023

Indiana St @ TCU: Sycamores lost home field due to a Special Olympics event. Sears leads ISU with 19HR.

ORU @ Oregon: Ducks will need these guys healthy. Center fielder Colby Shade (wrist) and starting pitchers Jace Stoffal (finger) and Isaac Ayon (right arm)

Tenn @ S.Miss: Lot of focus on Tanner Hall, USM pitcher.

June 10, 2023

Hogan homered for ORU early, and they jumped out to a 8-0 lead, but the Ducks crept back for a 9-8 win. TCU beat Indiana St 4-1.

June 11, 2023

S.Miss is up 4-0 in suspended game1 with the Vols. 

Yep, nice two run single by Quinn kept ORU alive. 

TCU chopped down the Sycamores 6-4 to move onward. ISU out-hit TCU 10-6.

June 12, 2023

Vols rocked Tanner Hall(USM) in GM 2 to even that series.

ORU is the lowest seed to reach the MCWS since Stony Brook in 2012. ORU sure can hit the ball. They 'll face TCU in the battle of Christians.

Well, we're down to just ORU as far non power conference teams. Vols blanked USM 5-0 yesterday to head to Omaha. SEC(3) ,ACC(2), Big12, Pac12, and Summit each with one in the CWS. 

Tide steals Terps head coach Vaughn.

June 15, 2023

ORU, UVA, Wake, LSU are my picks. I'm rooting for ORU but am aware that its pitching is suspect. ACC has been a solid baseball conference for a long time.

June 16, 2023

Got in from work in time to catch Denton, ORU's closer, make folks nervous in the bottom of the ninth, but he held on to a 6-5 win over TCU. Brothers hit a three run homer for ORU  in a four run top of the ninth.

June 18, 2023

ORU faces FLA today and  will need plenty of offense to beat the Gators.

TCU /VA: Loser is eliminated.

June 19, 2023

TCU eliminated UVA. FLA scored five runs on five hits in a 5-4 win over ORU. Three of the five Gators' hit were home runs. 

Hogan hit an inside the park homer for the Golden Eagles.

June 20, 2023

Vols roared back to eliminate Stanford. Wake edged LSU and faces Tenn today in an elimination game.

ORU plays TCU in an elimination game today.

June 21, 2023

Bye, bye ORU. TCU never looked back in a 6-1 win yesterday. LSU eliminated Tenn and faces FLA next. LSU plays Wake. I'll root for TCU now to win it all.

off-season: Memphis(AAC) and Akron(MAC) are searching for new head coaches, and so is Cincy who's moving to the Big 12.

June 30, 2023

A few of the non-P5 guys on the Team USA roster who will play in a pair of five-game series with Chinese Taipei and Japan from June 30-July 12 at various sites across the Carolinas. 

Matt Ager; RHP; Pleasanton, Calif.; UC Santa Barbara

 Trey Yesavage; RHP; Boyertown, Pa.; East Carolina

July 6, 2023

Plenty of P5 guys and few High school kids showing up in mock drafts, but I found one non-P5 kid getting props. 18. Brewers: Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon(WAC). His dad Jack played for the Pirates in the MLB. 

MLB draft: July 9-11

July 10, 2023

In rd1 Wilson went to the A's at 6. Nolan Schanuel, 1B, FAU went to the Angels at 11. He batted .444.

 Morehead State(OVC) first baseman Jackson Feltner was picked 235th by the DBacks, and Patrick Copen(Marshall) was selected by the  Dodgers with 220th pick(round7) 

July 11, 2023

Ok, too many players taken in the baseball draft to breakdown by conference. Sunbelt had its fair share. Also, a nod to ORU, the 2023 Cinderella, who had three kids drafted: Outfielder Jonah Cox, was drafted 166th overall by the Athletics. Star closer Cade Denton went just six picks later at 172nd overall to the Rockies. Left-handed pitcher Jacob Widener went 259th overall to the Royals.

July 12, 2023

Orioles watched the non p5

- -

4 118 BAL Levi Wells 21 P Texas State $563,600 - -

5 154 BAL Jake Cunningham 21 OF North Carolina-Charlotte $396,700 - -

6 181 BAL Jacob Cravey 21 P Samford University $312,300 - -

7 211 BAL Teddy Sharkey 21 P Coastal Carolina $244,400 - -

8 241 BAL Braxton Bragg 22 P Dallas Baptist $197,800 - -

9 271 BAL Zach Fruit 23 P Troy University $177,100 - -

10 301 BAL Matthew Etzel 21 OF Southern Mississippi $167,000 - -

11 331 BAL Nestor German 21 P Seattle $125,000 - -

Quick peek at Non P5 hoops standings

SunBelt : I was all set to give the #herd  a toast, but ULM behind Blackmon's 35 points beat them Thursday night in double OT. USM and ULL are 7-2. Marshall and ULM are 6-3 in conference play.

Sienna handled Iona(Pittino Sr) last night and sits alone atop the MAAC. Same can be said for San Diego St(MWC), Liberty(Atlantic Sun), and then there are a bunch of undefeated teams in conference play including these three, Charleston (Big South), FAU(CUSA), and Eastern Washington(Big Sky).

However, it's Saint Mary's(18-4, 7-0, WCC) with a one game lead over Gonzaga that has tongues wagging. Aidan Mahaney leads the team in scoring with 15.0 ppg. Their four OOC losses are all by single digits to UW, Houston, Colorado St, and New Mexico. The loss to CSU is the worst of that bunch. 

Jan 29, 2023

I thought Cincy was going to beat Houston after seeing part of the first half, but the Cougars roared back for the win. HOU 75 CIN 69. These two games caught my eye.

I'm keeping an eye on Memphis who beat Tulsa yesterday for its fifth straight W to stay in the AAC race with Temple and Houston.

Feb 2, 2023

AAC: Cincy(6-4) rebounded from the tough loss to Houston with an 81-55 blowout of Tulsa. Tulane(7-3) rode the Mustangs and cruised to a 74-52 win over SMU.

WAC- Wow, NM St has been ragged since Coach Heiar replaced Coach Jans who went to Miss St, but they beat Stephen F Austin 73-65 last night for their first conference win

The other new kids in town had nice nights. Abilene Christian beat Seattle. Southern Utah beat Cal Baptist. Sam Houston beat UTRGV.

 

Big 12 to discuss adding Gonzaga(WCC) to the conference tomorrow, per 

dennisdoddcbs

Feb 3, 2023

#herd got a solid game from Taylor in a win over Appy to remain a game behind USM and ULL who each won.

FAU didn't look like a team who had won 20 straight and lost to UAB in CUSA action.

St Marys(9-0) and Gonzaga(8-1) won in WCC action.

Feb 4, 2023

Ball St(7-3) eked out a 91-90 win over EMU. It was he!! of a battle. Akron(9-1) beat Kent St(8-2) to stay atop the MAC. 

 SDST(18-5, 9-2 MWC) is ready for Pac 12 hoops. Nathan Mensah scored 17 points for No. 22 San Diego State in a 72-52 win over Boise State. 

Feb 5, 2023

WCC: St Mary's beat the Zags and are in a solid spot for the WCCT one seed. BYU is showing a pulse with a win over Pacific and trails the Zags by a game.

CUSA: FAU bounced back from the loss to UAB with a win over Charlotte while UAB beat FIU and may be a threat in the CUSAT.

SunBelt: Two 10-2 teams won yesterday. ULL beat Marshall and USM beat GA St.

AAC: Speaking of GASt, man do they miss Coach Ron Hunter, whose Tulane squad gutted out an 82-81 win over Memphis yesterday and are 1.5 GB of Houston.

ASUN: Queens(6-6) edged Austin Peay. Liberty and Kennesaw sit at the top with 10-2 records. E.Kentucky trails them by a game.

Feb 6 2023

Houston beat Temple. Tulane moved into a tie for second in the AAC.

Feb 7, 2023

Freddy Hicks scored 22 for Tarleton(13-11, 6-5) in a WAC win over UTA(8-16, 3-8). Billy Gillepsie seems to be doing ok and staying out of trouble at Tarleton. UTA is struggling in its first WAC season since the Sunbelt kicked them and Ark-LR to the curb for not having football programs.

Feb 8, 2023

J. Cook(27PTS 14AST) led Tulane to a 101-94 win over Cincy in AAC action.

Houston 80 Tulsa 42- Sasser 25 points. Memphis beat USF and SMU knocked off Temple , who will probably slide more. It's looking more and more like it's HU, Memphis, and Tulane are heading to the Dance. 

WAC: Tough night for Cal Baptist who lost to UVU 71-55. Nice win for Seattle over Utah (Dixie) Tech to stay in the conference title race. 

MWC: M. Bradley - SDSU(18PTS 6REB 3STL) in the Aztecs W over Utah St.

Feb 10, 2023

WCC: Zags handled San Fran while St Mary's got tripped up by ULM. C. Shelton(G - LMU) scored 31 points in the 78-74 win.

SunBelt: USM beat ULL to take sole control of first place.  Andrew Taylor scored 33 points to help Marshall defeat Coastal Carolina 92-74 and move within a game of second-place ULL.

Feb 11, 2023

New Mexico State men's basketball canceled tonight's game at Cal Baptist and suspended its season indefinitely following "new allegations" within the program. Alleged hazing issues are the latest in the mess.

East Carolina won't play its men's basketball game at Tulane tonight after the death of Pirates radio announcer Jeff Charles(70) while with the team Friday in New Orleans.

 Dwayne Cohill scored 33 points for Youngstown State(12-3) who beat Purdue Fort Wayne 81-72 last night and moved into first place in the Horizon Conference

Kent St(10-2) moved into first in the MAC with a win over Buffalo and Akron's(9-3) loss to Ohio. 

Feb 12, 2023

WCC: St Marys took of care of Portland and the Zags beat BYU, who will need a serious boost to survive in the Big 12 next season. LMU was edged 71-69 by Santa Clara.

SunBelt: Taevion Kinsey scored 37 points for Marshall(10-4)  in 88-77 win over Georgia State. ULL(10-4) lost to Troy. JMU(9-5) beat CCU. USM(12-2) remains the top team with a win over ULM.

CUSA: Florida Atlantic(24-2, 14-1C-USA) keeps rolling with a win over La Tech, while NTX(21-5, 12-3C-USA) stays in the hunt with a win over Charlotte.

Feb 13, 2023

Just wondering if some of the culture at N Mex St predates Heiar, was hired from Northwest Florida State, a JC power. He previously worked as an assistant at ETSU, LSU, Wichita State, and S Miss.

 Chris Jans, the previous HC, is the Miss St HC.

Feb 15, 2023

Three of the four teams atop the MAC are from Ohio. Kent State 11-2, Toledo 11-2, Ball State 10-3 ,Akron 10-3.

Muncie, Indiana: Payton Sparks scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Ball State to an 87-77 home victory over NIU.

Feb 16, 2023

I'll end this blog with this: NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu backed AD Moccia's firing of head coach Greg Heiar over the locker room hazing of a male basketball player and claimed that was not reflective of the athletic department or the school overall. You can bet the CUSA will want better answers than we're hearing, and I'm not surprised that Heiar was sacrificed.  However, I doubt this culture started as soon as Heiar arrived on campus.

Non- power confernce teams circling the top 25

 I reviewed some of the major polls and stories and added some comments. Football has most of my attention, but I'm slowly shifting into hoops gear.

AAC: Houston plays good D, which borders on mugging, and this may affect them this season depending on how closely the referees call the games. However, Bama went small ball and handed the Cougars their first loss. Memphis(8-3) Coach Penny recruits well.

MWC: San Diego State  (8-3) New Mexico (10-0); Utah State( 9-0) UNLV  10-0. Conference play will change some of this attention

WCC: Gonzaga(8-3) Saint Mary's (9-3). I added Santa Clara(9-3) because they upgraded their OOC schedule.

CAA: College of Charleston (11-1) I guess they're got a mention because they beat Virginia Tech.

I peeked at the Atlantic Sun and was surprised to see Liberty and Jacksonville off to slow starts. Also, Queens University Royals(9-2), a small private school in Charlotte who moved up from DII, is off to a nice start but isn't eligible for post season play until the 2026-27 season.

Dec 18, 2022

Nice day for AAC members Houston who won at UVA(ACC) and Memphis who beat TAMU(SEC).

Gonzaga was in top form in a 100-90 win over Bama(SEC), and San Francisco handed UNLV (MWC) its first loss in a decent day for the WCC.

Dec 22, 2022

Kinyon Hodges scored 22 points and Caleb Donaldson added 16 for the Eastern Illinois Panthers in a 92-83 upset of Iowa(Big 10). EIU (Ohio Valley) is 4-9 in OOC play, which includes blowout losses to Ohio St and Illinois of the Big 10.

No. 11 Gonzaga beat Montana for its 72nd straight home win.

Dec 27, 2022

Coach Ladner has S.Miss (11-2) fans feeling good with the additions of Mercer big man Felipe Haase, and Ol Miss transfer, Austin Crowley, but one of those two losses was to NW St.  The SunBelt season is about to get in gear so we'll see if the Golden Eagles' talk about Dancing has staying power.

Dec 30, 2022

WCC: Santa Clara beat San Fran last night and is on a nice roll which makes its Jan 7 matchup with Gonzaga interesting.

SunBelt: Marshall handled visiting Appy, and James Madison rolled Georgia St in Atlanta last night. Nothing like a VA/WV interstate battle tomorrow as #Herd host the JMU Dukes in Huntingdon,WV on.

Oops, I missed this one: Reggie Bass drilled a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left for Central Michigan(MAC) in a win over in-state rival Michigan 63-61. Coach Juwan Howard needs more than Anger MGT.

Jan 1, 2023

James Madison led 40-29 at halftime and hung on for a72-66 win over Marshall U. Edwards had 16 point and 6 rebounds for JMU, while Kinsey had 18 points, seven assists and two steals for the Herd.

New Mexico (14-0 2-0 MWC) nipped Wyoming 76-75 last night. Coach Pitino Jr is on a roll. Jamal Mashburn Jr, who followed his coach from Minnesota to UNM, scored 20 for the Lobos. His dad Jamal played at UK for Pitino Sr.

Jan 4, 2023

Mashburn scored 22 for the Lobos, but it was not enough to keep UNM from losing its first game this season and probably falling out of the top 25. Fresno St 71 UNM 67

Jan 6, 2023

AAC- Houston crushed SMU 87-53

WCC- Zags edged San Fran, an erratic team that beat Ariz St this season.  Conference looks like it's stronger this season. Keep your eyes on Santa Clara!

ASUN: Liberty is off to a 3-0 start in conference play with 75-41 win over Jax St. Queens is 2-1with a 75-74 win over Bellamine last night.

Jan 8, 2023

Queens Royals are getting a taste of conference play. They lost to Kenesaw last night. EKU survived C. Arkansas.

ASUN players get quite an education in the geography of the South. Every school is located in a state that was in the Confederacy except for EKU and Bellamine. Kentucky was a border state.

Jan 11, 2023

San Diego St is off to a 4-0 start in the MWC with a win over Nevada last night.

Life in the A10 has been rough for Loyola of Chicago who lost a home game to VCU last night.

Dayton 4-0 - 12-5

VCU 3-1 -       12-5

LoC        0-4   -       6-10

Jan 12, 2023

Houston(17-1 5-0 AAC)  83  USF(7-10 0-4 AAC)   77.  Cougars stay at #1, and USF appears to be showing improvement.

Jan 13, 2023

BYU 's crowd was fired up but the Cougars fell short against the Zags . GONZ 75 BYU 74.  

Nice team effort by Marshall in an 89-67 blowout of USM. Kinsey is a smooth member of the Herd.

Jan 14, 2023

Akron(11-6 3-1MAC) 104 Eastern Michigan(4-13 1-3MAC)  67. Coach Cooper keeps rolling in the MAC

VCU was down 33 -19 at halftime and looked ragged, but roared back to defeat Dayton 63-62 in an A10 matchup.

Kenan Blackshear scored 25 for Nevada in a big MWC win over Utah St. 

San Diego State 4-0

Nevada 5-1

Jan 15, 2023

Riley Battin's 18 points and seven rebounds helped Cal Baptist(11-8, 3-3 WAC) defeat Grand Canyon(12-6, 3-2 WAC) 79-74 on Saturday. Seattle (5-0) sits atop the WAC.

Kinsey scored 24 for the #herd in a big win over ODU to remain in a six way tie(4-2) for first in the SunBelt.

Jan 17, 2023

MLK day was a busy with hoops, and I watched a little of  Florida Atlantic(17-1, 7-0 CUSA) road win over WKU when I got home from work. Boyd led the Owls with 16 points. They've stuck with HC Dusty May, and it appears to be working.

Charleston (19-1,7-0 CAA) handled William & Mary easily.

Hawai'i (14-4, 5-1Big West) are off to a decent start. Bernardo da Silva had an interesting stat line (PTS11, REB 12, Blocks 3) in the Rainbows win over Cal St Northridge.

Jan 20, 2023

Cam Shelton banked in a go-ahead runner with 13 seconds left for Loyola Marymount in an upset 68-67 victory of  # 6 Gonzaga which knocked the Zags out of first in the WCC.

 Saint Mary's 6-0 17-4

Gonzaga 5-1 16-4

Santa Clara 4-2 16-5

Loyola Marymount 4-3 14-7

BYU 4-3 14-8

Sunbelt gets tighter. Marshall, USM, JMU, ULM, and ULL, won games that keep the standings tight at the top.

Jan 21, 2023

It doesn't take long to come back to reality in the MAC. Kent State(16-3 6-0MAC) 86 Ball State (13-6 4-2MAC) 65. I tuned into the game early but didn't stay. Toledo handled Buffalo in other MAC action. 

Mashburn Jr scored 25 for the Lobos. New Mexico 81 Boise St 79 in OT in MWC action.

Jan 22, 2023

Some Horizon news: Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis scored 42 in a win over UIPUI and  is No. 2 on NCAA D-I scoring list with 3274 points, but he'll need a big finish this season to catch Pistol Pete(3667). They are 3.5 GB of Milwaukee and N. Kentucky in the conference.

Florida Atlantic(19-1, 9-0 CUSA) remains hot with a 67-59 win over UTEP. Their only loss this season is to Ole Miss (SEC).

Cal Baptist rolled Tarleton in WAC play, and Andrew Taylor led Marshall to a SunBelt win over Ark St.

Jan 23, 2023

Temple(12-9, 6-2 AAC) 56   Houston(18-2, 6-1 AAC) 55   Coach McKie's Owls get a huge W. Damian Dunn scored 16 points and made the go-ahead free throw then Kur Jongkuch blocked Houston’s go-ahead shot attempt in the final seconds.

Dec 17- 18 Bowl Games O5

 Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl: UAB 20 vs. Miami (Ohio) 16:  Blazers recover from a sub-par season

Duluth Trading Cure Bowl: UTSA 31 vs. Troy 27: I know Troy has a solid D  and UTSA starts some games slowly, but Frank Harris is a beast and will lead the Roadrunners to the W.

Wasabi Fenway Bowl: Cincinnati 22 vs. Louisville 21 in the land of Ted Williams and Yaz.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel: Washington State 28 vs. Fresno State 20: Bulldogs don't have enough bark to handle Wazoo who was hot early in Pac 12 play this season.

LendingTree Bowl: Southern Miss 24 vs. Rice 17:  Can Rice's O get steamed up? Not so sure?

Dec 13, 2022

In O5 news, I'm a bit surprised that CCU(SunBelt) QB Mccall entered the transfer portal. Maybe the HC taking the Liberty job played a role. 

Navy(AAC) fired HC Niumatalolo, the winningest coach in program history (109-83).

Dec 15, 2022

Bobby Petrino is exiting the HC gig at Missouri St and returning to 1a as offensive coordinator at UNLV(MWC) under new coach HC Barry Odom.

Dec 17, 2022

UAB 24 M-O 20. Correct on UAB , who tried hard to give the game to M_O. Two retired Super Bowl QBs were on the sidelines. Dilfer who's the incoming HC at UAB, and Big Ben, an alumnus of Miami(Ohio)

Troy 18 UTSA 12. Wrong on this one. The Trojans slowed down Harris.

Dec 18, 2022

Cincy D at least tried, the O vanished in Fenway. LOU 24 Cincy 7.  Fresno rolled Wazzo 29-6. Cougars were awful. I got those two wrong, but was correct on USM who road 329 yards rushing from Gore Jr to beat Rice 38-24.

Not usually a ton of news from Kent St, but its QB Schlee transferred to UCLA, and its HC Sean Lewis will become Colorado's OC for Neon Deion

O5 week 12

 AAC: I'm taking ECU at home against Houston, a future B12 member, in a battle of productive QBs, Ahlers(ECU)/Tune (HOU). Houston gave up 77 points to SMU two weeks ago, while ECU is 2-1 against future Big 12 teams, after beating BYU and UCF, and losing 27-25 to Cincy.   ECU 34 HOU 31

CUSA: Frank Harris, the UTSA QB, will remain in high gear @ Rice, in an intrastate matchup and keep the Roadrunners undefeated in CUSA play. UTSA 40 Rice 27

MAC: I couldn't get to all the early MAC games so this is the one I have to pick. Snow is coming to the Buffalo area this weekend, but will only keep the final score lower. BUFF 16 Akron 6.

MWC: Boise State(7-3 6-0 Mountain West) @ Wyoming(7-3 5-1 Mountain West). Cowboys kick 5 FGs and survive. WYO 22 BSU 20

SunBelt: If the NFLN can travel to Hattiesburg, MS to televise a game, so can I. Carter Bradley will toss 3 td passes to keep South Bama on pace with Troy u in the West. USA 27 USM 20

Nov 18

I didn't pick this game, but Tulane crushed SMU 59- 24 last night. 

Nov 20, 2022

MAC game canceled, and I split on the other four.

Correct: UTSA jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back in a 41-7 win. USA withstood a mild late threat from USM, and holy sh^t I guessed the correct final score.

Wrong:  ECU got crushed 42-3 by Houston. The E stands for erratic. Wyoming went up 10-0. but Boise worked its way back slowly and won 20-17.

Nov 21, 2022

If Ohio wins this weekend, than they take the East. Will the MAC re-schedule the Buffalo /Akron game if Ohio loses? 

Nov 22, 2022

I might as well make my MAC week 13 pick here since a few MAC games are being played tonight. Bowling Green rolls into Athens, Ohio tonight. I'll ride with Rourke, Ohio's QB. Ohio 27 BG 17

Nov 23

Ohio started N Harris at Qb because Rourke was still dinged up from last week and didn't miss a beat Ohio 38 BG 14. Ohio clinches the East and will likely face Toledo from the West next week in Detroit for the MAC title. EMU has a chance of tying depending on Friday's outcomes. 

Nov 27, 2022

Toledo meets Ohio in the MAC title game, while Akron travels to Buffalo to make up the snow game.  Who knows with the MAC?

Week 9 O5 conference play

 AAC: Cincy @ UCF  Two teams that  are Big 12- bound face off this week . I thought Gus had UCF in gear until  an erratic ECU squad handled them easily last week. Cincy 's run game has carried them to some close wins.  Home team barely. UCF 24 Cincy 23

CUSA: Charlotte @ Rice   AAC probably thought Charlotte was the better choice at the time.  Rice 's leading receiver is CMC younger brother L. McCaffrey (43 REC, 555 YDS, 5 TD). Rice 27 Charlotte 21

MAC: Only two games  on its schedule. I'll take the home team in the Toledo @ EMU matchup in a battle with a lot of FGs.  E.Mich 15 Toledo 12

MWC:  I'll go with the Cowboys in Hawaii. Look for another big rushing game from Titus Swen.  Wyoming 28 Hawaii 16

SunBelt: USM hosts ULL in a battle of two teams playing well lately.  Perhaps Southern Miss QB Wilcke tosses another final minute TD this week.  USM 23 ULL 20

oct 28, 2022

USM got pick6 on D, and TD passed tossed by RB, Frak Gore Jr, in a 39-24 win over ULL. 1-0 so far on my picks.

Oct 30, 2022

Two for four yesterday and 3-2 for the weekend. I laid an egg with Rice who fell to Charlotte 56-23. Reynolds tossed 5 Td passes for the 9ers. EMU led Toledo until the fourth quarter and lost 27-24.

UCF jumped out to a 10-0 led but then Cincy woke up in the second quarter, but UCF hung on for a 25-21 win. DQ James rushed for 174 for Wyoming in a 27-20 win.

It's getting crowded at the top of the AAC.

Week 4: O5 OOC 4-Pack

 Once upon a time Houston(AAC) and Rice(CUSA) were SWC members. Houston will get a much needed win but it won't be easy. McCaffrey will catch a lot of passes for the Owls, but it won't be enough. HOU 31 Rice 26.

Both QBs have decent numbers in the North Texas(CUSA)/Memphis(AAC) matchup, but Aune won't outduel Henigan. MEM 34 UNT 23

Both teams are off to rocky starts.  D. Finn will have a solid game carrying the ball for Toledo, but the Aztecs outkick them at home. SDST(MWC) 15 TOL(MAC) 13

I'm not seeing USM pulling a  Stunbelt-style upset against the surprising Green Wave(AAC) who are coming off a 17-10 win over Kansas St (Big12). Neither team has a player with incredible numbers. Perhaps a pick 6 turns the game around. TUL 19 USM 16.

Sept 23, 2022

Road party for Coastal: CCU 41-G State 24 

Air Force crushed Nevada, and Boise St lost to UTEP, who may be a threat in CUSA play this season.

Sept 25, 2022

Owls gave the Cougars a scare, but Houston prevailed 34-27.

NTX couldn't restrain the Tigers. MEM 44 NTX 34

I got darn close on picking the final score correctly on the SDST 17 Toledo 14

Zach Wilcke threw a pair of touchdown passes, and the USM D got a pick 6 in a 27-24 win over Tulane. I was correct on a pick 6 but wrong about which team got that and a win.

3-1 for the week.

App St got a taste of its own "stun" medicine and lost to James Madison, a new SunBelt member.

Big CUSA win by MTSU over Miami (FLA).

O5 we got Thursday football Dec 10

 FAU was held to three points by Georgia Southern last week and will likely get enough O back against USM in Hattiesburg, MS for a 13-10 CUSA win tonight.

Will Houston have lift off after a four -week "break"? They'll shake off the rust for 24-23 AAC win over a Memphis team with suspect D. 

I'll take Ball State in a 27-25 win  over WMU in a battle  two 4-1 teams in MAC play. Plitt outguns Eleby.

Fresno St  lost to San Jose St last week and New Mexico upset Wyoming. Haener will throw two TD passes  to lead  Fresno to a 23-16 MWC win over UNM.

Troy hosts the undefeated Chanticleers and will be gunning for the upset but McCall and crew will get the job done. CCU 27 Troy 19 in Sunbelt action.

Dec 11

Off to another rough week of picks. USM 45 FAU 31 USM QB Trey Lowe threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, and  his teammate Camron Harrell returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD. Also Gore Jr rushed for 111 yards and a TD. Golden Eagles fans have to be wondering where has this been all season?

dec 13

Two more incorrect picks , Houston, and Fresno St, before I get tot the correct ones, Ball St and CCU.

Tune, the Houston QB, and White , the Memphis QB , were about even in stats so it came down to a FG from Riley Patterson as time ran out to give Memphis a 30-27 win.

The Lobos ground attack, powered by  Bobby Cole who ran for 138 yards and three of the team's six rushing TD, rolled over the Bulldogs. New Mexico 49 Fresno St 39

A crazy final minute of play ended with Ball St winning 30-27 over WMU and earning a right to play Buffalo in the MAC title game. Plitt and Eleby  were about even in the QB stats.

Jaivon Heiligh caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from McCall with 45 seconds left to keep Coastal Carolina undefeated. CCU 42 Troy 38

dec 13  more news

Arkansas St  hired Butch Jones as its next football coach to replace former HC Blake Anderson who stepped down to take the vacant Utah State job.

jan 5, 2021 news

 It happened.  Doc Holliday 's contract was not extended at Marshall. His record there is  85-54 (55-30 in league play) with a CUSA title in 2014 and three division championships. 

 

.

Shaky four picks week in O5 games

 Tulane (2-1) visits Houston(0-0) tonight in an AAC matchup. Tulane bench their starting QB Howard for Pratt in a win against S.Miss. I'm guessing the home team wins a game filled with field goals. HOU 19 TUL 12

Herd's run game will prevail in a 24-16 CUSA win over WKU , whose QB Pigrome is far from accurate.

In the Sunbelt, I'm going with the high powered TX St Bobcats to roll over Troy 38-22. Bobcats hung tough with SMU and  BC in OOC play this season.

I'll circle back to the CUSA and say Taggart's FAU bunch wins again. This week they'll find a way to slow down the USM  offense and prevail 22-20

Oct 9

Houston pick was correct, but I was way off on the score. Houston 49 Tulane 31. Green Wave D scored two TDs and Houston returned kickoff for a TD.

Oct 11

FAU game was canceled, and I split on the other two picks. Knox 15 CAR, 107 YDS, 3 TD led a solid Marshall U rushing attack in a 38-14 win over WKU. . I'm not sure if Troy finally woke up,but TX St has suddenly fallen asleep.

Gunnar Watson  ( 33-46, 338 YDS, 4 TD) found Kaylon Geiger  ( 7 REC, 121 YDS, 1 TD) , and Kimani Vidal  12 CAR, 106 YDS  led the Troy rushing attack in a 37-17 victory TX ST.

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

CUSA 2019.20 Hoops predictions

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

Jan 10, 2020

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

Jan 17

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

Jan 21

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

Jan 24

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

Jan 28

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

Jan 31-

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

Feb 9

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

 Feb 16

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

feb 24

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

feb 28

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

March 2

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

March 8

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

March 12

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

Week 8 Five- pack -Other5

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

Oct 19

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

 oct 20

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

Playing O5 baseball catchup

 AAC- ECU (17-2) leaders on offense is Bryant Packard with .376 AVG and in pitching its Jake Agnos with 7 wins and 108  K's. I'm a bit surprised that USF and UCF are near the bottom of the conference.
CUSA: USM (19-6) and FAU(18-7) are in a fierce battle for first place. Bryan Bowen is batting .359 for USM and Mitchell Hartigan is batting .341 for FAU.
MAC: CMU  (17-5) is led by Garrett Navarra .371 avg and Zach Gilles 370 AVG.
MWC: Fresno St (16-7-1) Zach Ashford is batting .373 and Ryan Jensen has 8 wins and 74 K's.
SunBelt: Texas St (17-8) leads the West. Jaxon Williams is batting .335 and has five steals.
In the East every teams has a shot except for Georgia St.

May 12: 

 Fresno St hasn’t been to the postseason since 2012.

mAY 15

USM lost it's last two games while FAU split,  leaving both teams at 19-8 in the CUSA .

May 16

Ball St (17-5) has moved to within two games of CMU in the #MAC. #Aaaronsimpson is batting .339 with 14 SB

May 18

#herd beat Rice in ten innings  which should  get them in the top 8  and make them eligible for the CUSAT.

May 19

ECU is easily the favorite in the AACT , but keep your eyes on #JoeyWeimer (6hr, 26 rbi)  and the 2 seed Cincy Bearcats against  7 seed Memphis on May 21.

May 20

Sunbelt: Seeds 7-10 will play-in for the 7 and 8 seeds.  Texas St is the 1 seed and Georgia Southern is the 2 seed.

 May 23

  #CUSA rd1: Marshall first baseman Shane Hanon hit a two-RBI single in the with two out in the top of the 12th to provide the decisive runs in 6-4 win over La Tech.

may 25 

D1 O5 baseball bubble watch:  TXst (sunbelt)  , UCF and Houston (AAC) may get in  and USM (CUSA) may not.

MAY 27, 2019

Automatic Bids: AAC-Cincy, MAC- CMU, MWC- Fresno St, CUSA-USM, SunBetlt - Coastal Carolina.

May 28

At large from O5- FAU (CUSA). AAC: ECU, UConn
June 2: All O5 teams remain alive in the CWS. Fresno St got a big win over Stanford yesterday.
June 4:  ECU (AAC) is the sole O5 team to make the round of 16. The Pirates double-dipped Campbell to move on and face Louisville.

June 8

ECU was pounded 14-1 by Louisville and needs to beat Cards today or they're done 

June 9

 ECU lost 12-1 yesterday. Louisville swept ECU and scored its 26 runs off of 32 hits, none of them home runs.

April 17, 2021

So I got curious about some the players mentioned in this blog since 2020 was a terrible year for kids in the MLB minor league system.

LF #BryantPackard, who played for ECU, was assigned to West Michigan Whitecaps in the Detroit Tigers' system.

May 12, 2021

Nevada's #TylerBosetti ( 5-10, 170 pounds)  homered in his ninth consecutive game, breaking an NCAA Division I record of 8 consecutive games.  It was his 11th homer in 10 games.  

May 26, 2021

Four Memphis players hit home runs, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back dingers by Alec Trela, Austin Baskin, and Taylor Howell in a 11-1 AACT upset of 11th ranked ECU. This is the fourth straight time the AACT  1 seed  lost to the 8 seed in the quarterfinal round. 

May 31, 2021

Automatic bids for O5: Sun Belt South Alabama,  AAC South Florida, CUSA Old Dominion

MAC: Central Michigan,  MWC Nevada: regular season winners

At large bids will be announced later today.

June 8 2021

Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick is stepping down at the end of the month to become special assistant to university president Jerome Gilbert for one year and will focus on fundraising and planning for the university's baseball stadium project. Gilbert, who  is leaving in 2022,  appointed associate AD and chief of staff Jeff O'Malley as interim AD, effective July 1.

july 25, 2021

#SamBachman RHP, Miami (OH) of the MAC went 14th overall to the Angels in the recent MLB draft. His fastball has been clocked at 101MPH. Later in the draft they took Tulane's(AAC) Braden Olthoff.

March 28, 2022

I was looking around to see if any O5 teams were in the top 25 in baseball and only see TX ST (Sunbelt). 

Then I notice Maryland dropped to 18-5 on the season, after falling to Dallas Baptist(MVC) twice in three days. MD/DB regular season games are not a common occurrence. 

Also, Liberty who's on a path to the CUSA is in the top 25. 

April 9, 2022

Update on how one of these kids is doing. #TylerBosetti returned to Nevada(MWC) for his senior year and the infielder if  off to a solid start with 19 RBIs and 4 SB s. 

June 7, 2022

Sweet 16 in CWS 2022 has two O5 teams: ECU(AAC) and Southern Miss(CUSA). Sunbelt adds S.Miss next season.

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/

2016 Week 1 can O5 take down Big 5 teams

   SunBelt: Appalachian St  went to and won it's first bowl game last season and the Mountaineers march into Knoxville as a 22 point dog. Maybe Marcus Cox, a tailback on the Doak Walker watchlist, can keep them in the game I don't see them  duplicating their  2007 upset of Michigan @ Ann Arbor.
MWC: Hawaii  host Cal in August then travels to Michigan where the Rainbows will be lucky to score ten points. Fresno St may put a scare in the slow starting Nebraska Cornhuskers
MAC: Bowling Green Linebacker Austin Valdez may need to make ten tackles in the first half half to keep the Falcons competitive  @ Ohio St. Miami (Ohio) decent D-Line will keep them in the game until the third quarter @ Iowa. Western Michigan won the MAC West last season  and has Corey Davis a great WR. Look for a  mild upset @Northwestern.
AAC: Houston hosts Oklahoma- now this could be a good game between two pre-season top 10 teams. Two transfers , Duke Catalon, an RB from Texas, and Ra'Shaad Samples, WR from OK St, could help the Cougars pull off an upset of the Sooners.
CUSA- Louisiana Tech will struggle against the rising Arkansas Razorbacks. I'm curious if Southern Miss has improved enough to give Kentucky a hard time. Charlotte will be overwhelmed at Louisville

8/7/16

 Louisiana Tech starting quarterback Ryan Higgins was arrested early Friday in Ruston on a DWI charge. If Holtz suspends him for Game 1 , Arkansas  should cruise.

CUSA baseball March 26

Three teams tied at 4-1:
USM  : Jake Sandlin batting .386 leads a potent lineup
FAU’s offense has a .305 batting avg and is led by senior Billy Endris and junior CJ Chatham.
Rice 's centerfielder, Ryan Chandler, gets on base often and is stellar in the field and went 3-4  in a win  overODU (3-2)  in game 1 of their current series.
Louisiana Tech and Charlotte are also (3-2)

Marshall (2-3) has a solid lineup led by Sam Hunter &Tommy Lane
Rest of the CUSA:
FIU   2 3
UAB 2 3
WKU 1 3
MTSU 1 3
UTSA 1 4

April 28

USM remains atop the CUSA.

Louisiana Tech, UAB, and WKU are on hot but time is running out as they sit in the middle of the pack. May 3 Rice and USM sit atop the CUSA with 15-6 record. FAU (14-7) and Marshall (13-8) follow them. CUSA Batting leaders: Tommy Lane (Marshall)  11 HR. Tim Lynch (USM)   47 RBI. Danny Hudzina WKU .434 AVG. Corey Bird (Marshall) 23 SB May 13 Southern Miss 18-6  Rice 18-6  Florida Atlantic 17-7   Marshall 16-8 0.667   Louisiana Tech 15-9  Hudzina (WKU) .408 avg. Lane -(Marshall) 13 HR, Shearer (Charlotte) and Lynch USM tied with 49 RBI Byrd( Marshall)  24 SB Salinas (Rice) and Cockrell (USM) tied with 7 wins May 16 #herd feasted on WKU and moved into 3rd. USM still ahead of Rice in a battle for  first. May 22 #Herd took two of three  from ODU to move up to a #2 seed. Rice fell to a #4 seed. Here's opening day schedule for the double elimnation 2016 CUSAT. Game 1 (5) Louisiana Tech vs. (4) Rice 9:00a Game 2 (8) Charlotte vs. (1) Florida Atlantic 12:30p Game 3 (6) Old Dominion vs. (3) Southern Miss 4:00p Game 4 (7) FIU vs. (2) Marshall 7:30p Conference  stat leaders  Danny Hudzina WKU .409 AVG. Tommy Lane (Marshall)  13 HR. Logan Sherer (Charlotte) 52 RBI Corey Bird (Marshall) 32 SB Four pitchers with sevin wins Chase Boster Marshall,Jon Duplantier  Rice, Cord Cockrell Southern Miss, Ricardo Salinas Rice Cameron Ragsdale (FAU) topped the league with 13 saves. May 27 Bracket One:  – Rice, 2-0 – FAU, 1-1 faces LaTech, 1-1 in an elimination game today. – Charlotte, 0-2 (eliminated) Bracket Two: – SoMiss, 2-0: Sandlin's grandslam was the key blow in their win over Marshall 1-1 who now needs to beat  FIU, 1-1 today – ODU, 0-2 (eliminated) May 29 Marshall left too many guys on base again and lost to USM who faces Rice in the final. Rice outslugged (barely) a tough LaTech team.