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,

MACkin into 2020 hoops

Coach Groce rode his success with Ohio to a B10 job at Illinois which didn't go well ,and now it appears he has #Akron on the rise. #XeriusWilliams scored 23 to lead Akron(13-3, 3-0) past Ball St(9-7,2-1). 75-60 just when I thought the Cards were playing well. Akron's OOC losses were close ones to Louisville, West Virginia, and by 13 to Liberty. Kent St(12-3,2-0) and Central Michigan(9-6,2-0) are the other MAC teams undefeated  in conference play. 
Buffalo(10-6, 1-2 )  beat Miami (OH)(7-9, 0-3 ) 83-78 for its first MAC win this season.

Jayvon Graves BUFF (25 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST) . Dalonte Brown M-OH (18 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST)

jan 19

 Marreon Jackson hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 36 points for Toledo in a 99-89 win over Akron(4-1), which is the Zips first MAC loss. Bowling Green(4-1) nipped NIU 66-64 to  move into a tie with Akron atop the MAC East
  Ball State(4-1) used balanced scoring in its defeat of Miami (Ohio) 71-62 to remain atop the MACW.

Jan 25

 #DannyPippen had 20 points for Kent State(4-3) in a 70-66 win over Buffalo(4-3) which ended their three game losing streak . Akron and Bowling Green  sit atop the East with 5-1 records while Ball St(4-1) leads the West.

Jan 29

  Gabe Grant's blocked a shot with ten seconds to go  to preserve  Buffalo(5-3) 77-74 win over Akron(6-2). Troy Simons scored 21 points in Kent St(6-3) win over Toledo. Troy Diggs scored 25 point for Bowling Green (7-1) in a win over Ball St  to take sole possession of first in the East.

Feb 1

  Justin Turner scored 23 points and Dylan Frye added 17  for Bowling Green(8-1) in a 78-77 win over Buffalo(5-4) while Kent St(6-3) edged Akron(6-3). CMU(4-2) and NIU(5-3) are tied for the first in the West.

Feb 6

 Dallas Morgan scored  29 points for  Central Michigan(6-2) in a 92-82 win over Bowling Green(8-2), the East leader,  and moved into a tie for first in the West with NIU(7-3), a winner over Toledo. Ball St (6-3)is a half game back in the West.

Feb 8

Buffalo's win over CMU(6-3) gave NIU(8-3) the chance to gain ground in the West and they did with a narrow 57-54 win over Kent St.  Eugene German NIU - G (27 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST)

feb 12

Akron(8-3) got a big win over Bowling Green(9-3)  in the East battle while Ball St(7-4) gained ground in the West its win over NIU(8-4) . Loren Cristian Jackson scored 28 points for Akron.

feb 15

 Loren Cristian Jackson scored 31 points for his third 30-plus for Akron(19-6, 9-3 MAC)in a 80-67  win over CMU(13-11, 6-5 MAC) . Buffalo(16-9, 7-5 MAC) who defeated Toledo last night. Akron is tied with Bowling Green for first in the East while Buffalo is 2GB. CMU fell  further behind  NIU(8-4) and Ball St (7-4) in the West.

feb 22

Buffalo (7-5) got a big win over Kent St in a wild OT game last night to stay within striking distance of East leaders Akron , and Ball St  who are tied at 10-3.

feb 29

 Loren Cristian Jackson scored 35 points for Akron(12-4) in an 85-73 win over Buffalo which mioves them into a tie for first with Bowling Green in the East.

march 7

Akron hung on against feisty Kent St while Buffalo beat Bowling Green,  which enabled the Zips to win the East and also nab the the 1 slot in the MACT. Ball St trounced NIU to tie for first in the West and get the three seed. BG is the 2 and NIU is the four. Top 4 earned round 1 byes.

Dec 20 O5 Bowl Games

Charlotte (CUSA) and Buffalo (MAC) hit the road for  Nassau. 49ers QB Reynolds has been a pass/run threat  during the their five game winning streak and Lemay has proven to be a solid rusher. Buffalo season has been a seesaw  but  Jaret Patterson has been amazing rushing for 1626 yards.  CHAR 29 Buff 20
Utah St (MWC) and Kent St (MAC) visit Frisco, TX for a Smoothie. Kent St finished the season winning three in a row with a solid rushing attack while Utah St stumbled a bit in November.  Jordan Love , the Utah St QB, will have a big bowl game. USU 34 Kent St 19

Dec 13:

 coaching note:  UNLV(MWC) new HC is  Marcus Arroyo, former Oregon OC

dec 21

I got Macked opening Bowl day. Buffalo's D and the excellent rushing of Patterson
(32 CAR, 173 YDS, 2 TD) were the main reasons for a 31-9 win over Charlotte.
Kent St won a wild one 51-41 over USU. Love put up big passing numbers  for USU (30-39, 317 YDS, 3 TD) in a losing effort, but Dustin Crum, the Flashes QB tossed for 289 yards and two TDs plus he rushed for 147 yards and a TD.

april 7, 2020

 Kent State(MAC) opened the 2019 season  with a 30-7 loss  at Ariz St, but they're not shying away from future Pac12 road trips. They scheduled a game against Washington in Seattle on   9/3/22. Then three weeks later they 'll travel to Georgia (SEC).

april 17

 Nebraska WR Jaron Woodyard moves on to #Marshall . He doesn't have great stats but he's fast. He's a native of Bethesda, MD, which is near DC, who went to Arizona Western Community College out of high school.

april 18

 Ty'Kieast Crawford, a four-star OL, ex-Arkansas commit, signed with Charlotte(CUSA), but they have to gets his academic status repaired quickly

MAC 2018/19 Hoops Hunches

EAST
Buffalo Bulls: C.J. Massinburg, Nick Perkins & Jeremy Harris are back from last year's team that upset Zona  during March MaDNESS.
Kent State Golden Flashes: Jaylin Walker continues to impress.
Akron Zips: Utomi has been scoring well
Ohio Bobcats: Keep your eyes onJason Carter!
Bowling Green Falcons:  Wiggins & Turner show
Miami (OH) RedHawks: Dalonte Brown may be the guy.

WEST
Eastern Michigan returns four starters, including its top three scorers in Minnie, Thompson, and Paul Jackson, from last season's  squad that finished the year 22-13 overall and 11-7(MAC)
Toledo Rockets : Willie Jackson has been solid  in the first month.
Ball State Cardinals Tayler Persons will keep the Cards from the bottom of the West deck.
Central Michigan Chippewas: Larry Austin Jr  19 ppg this season.
Northern Illinois Huskies: Eugene German  23.4 PPG
Western Michigan Broncos: Seth Duga 18.9ppg  10.6 rbg

dec 19, 2018

How about #buffalo beating  regional foe Syracuse (ACC) 71-59. #massingburg led the Bulls with  25points, 8 rebounds  and  five assists. Big win for the #MAC.
dec 22: #marquette outscored #buffalo 64-47 on its way to 102-85  win. First loss for Buffalo who will probably tumble from its # 14 ranking.

jan 5

I checked in on some Friday night MAC action last night and was impressed at how #BallSt pulled away from Toledo early in the second half and never looked back . Teague scored 20 points with and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Cards.
Montell McRae scored a career-high 18 points in Buffalo's win over EMU.

jan 9

#buffalo scored 65 points in the second half on the way to a 110-80 win over #toledo . 

jan 15, 2019

Yes, Buffalo looks dominant, but Bowling Green and NIU are also 3-0 in conference play. BG 's first chance to play Buffalo is Feb 1 and then they 'll meet in  regular season final game (3/8)  in what could be key games to decide the East. NIU (West) faces Buffalo on Jan 22.

Jan 16, 2019

 Shawn Roundtree hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points  for CMU as they gave NIU its first conference loss. Turner and Plowden scored about half of Bowling Green's points in a 79-78 win over Ball St that keeps them in a MAC East tie with Buffalo , who got a battle from WMU but prevailed 88-79.

jan 19, 2019

#emu crept close to Buffalo last night, but the Bulls led by  #cjmassingburg (31 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST) pulled away for 77-65 win. Toldeo blew out Ohio 75-52 

jan 20, 2019

I cursed NIU- they lost again this time to Kent St., but Bowling Green(13-5, 5-0 MAC) won their ninth straight game. Miami O beat Akron and Ball St beat CMU

Jan 23

And just like that NIU (4-2 MAC) recovers and upsets Buffalo (5-1 MAC) 77-75. Meanwhile  Bowling Green (14-5, 6-0 MAC)beat EMU to remain undefeated in MAC play and one game up on Buffalo in the East. NIU is one game up on on Toledo and CMU in the West.

Jan 26

#kentst  (15-5, 4-3), who was hosting its first ranked opponent since 1989, gave #Buffalo

(18-2, 6-1) a scare, but Massinburg and the Bulls got it together, particularly on D, to pull out a 88-79 win. Bowling Green (14-5, 6-0) needs to win at Miami O to stay ahead of Buffalo in the East.

feb 2

#bowlinggreen  recovered from it's  loss to Miami O last week to upset #buffalo 92-88 last night. Frye scored 25 points for BG while Massingburg led Buffalo with 26 points
feb 6: Bowling Green beat WMU, and Kent St  edged Miami O
MAC East:

feb 9 Loren Cristian Jackson had 18 points as #Akron  topped KentState 72-53 . MAC East Bowling Green 8 -1                         Buffalo 7-2           Kent St. 6-4                        Akron    6 -4         . Miami (Ohio)     4 -6         Ohio      3 -6  feb 10 Toledo knocked off Bowling Green while Buffalo beat CMU  . Miami O crushed ohio Bowling Green 8 -2                         Buffalo 8-2           Kent St. 6-4                        Akron    6 -4         . Miami (Ohio)     5 -6         Ohio      3 -7 feb 13 Buffalo and Bowling Green won to remain tied for 1st in the East. Massinburg scored 21 for Buffalo in its win over Akron, and Frye scored 23 for BG in its win over  CMU . WMU  beat NIU for its first MAC win this season , and EMU beat Ohio. feb 16 Perkins 26 PTS, 10 REB, 1 BLK doesn't have the best shot selection but he hit a key trey late as Buffalo(10-2) survived Toledo (8-4 East)  88-82 . Bowling Green plays NIU today. feb 20 Buffalo destroyed ohio 114-62  and Bowling Green survived akron  keeping both teams tied at 11-2 in the East.  #ShawnRoundtree had 20 points as Central Michigan(7-6) beat Kent State 84-74 to move within a game of Toledo(8-5) ,who fell to EMU, in the West. feb 23 Bowling Green(11-3-MAC) played poorly and still took the game to OT at Ohio (4-10)  before losing, while Buffalo(12-2) cruised over Kent St(8-6) to take a one game lead in the East. Nick Perkins put up some nice numbers for Buffalo :27 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST.  feb 27 Buffalo(13-2) got a battle from akron but  won 77-64 to take a two game lead in the East  over  fading Bowling Green (11-4)who lost to Miami O . Marreon Jackson scored 19 points  for  Toledo(10-5) in an 80-72 win over Ball St.  that keeps them one game up in the West on CMU(9-6) , a winner over EMU.  March 2 #bowlinggreen (12-4) found a way to win again with a 77-72 win over Kent St which keeps them two game behind Buffalo(14-2) who beat Miami O. Both teams will get rd1 byes in the MACT in Cleveland . Toledo (10-5) and  CMU (10-6 ) are the  strongest candidates for the other two byes. MAC season has 18 games. March 6 A solid game from Jeremy Harris(20 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST)helped Buffalo(15-2) eke out a win over Ohio while Bowling Green(12-5) got trounced by Akron. Toledo(12-5) beat WMU to lock up the West. The final bye slot is p for grabs between Kent St (10-7) and CMU & WMU each 9-8. march 16 Bowling Green stumbled through February but hung on to beat  NIU 71-67 and move on to face Buffalo, who struggled to to beat CMU last night, in the MACT final. March 19 Buffalo hasn't looked dominant  in MAC play in the last few weeks and I have some doubts they'll get by the winner of the ASU/St john's play in game. BTW, Bobby Hurley, the ASU coach and former Buffalo coach, recruited some of those Buffalo players. March 28 And #Buffalo loses another head coach. Oats accepted the job at Alabama  April 7 #Ohio has some lofty expectations : Saul Phillips is out at Ohio after five seasons. He came to the Bobcats after taking North Dakota State into the Round of 32 in 2014  The Bobcats had back-to-back 20-win seasons in Phillips’ second and third season, reaching the CBI in 2016. His replacement ,Jeff Boals, was the head coach Stony Brook and a former team captain of Ohio's 1994 NCAA tournament squad.

Sunbelt on MAC 2017-18 hoops.

It's a two for one deal as I get my  the O5 hoop predictions wrapped up before Xmas:
SunBelt
UT-Arlington- I gravitate  to UTA every season. Hervey/Neal tandem leads the Mavs
Troy- Varnada  & Person lead a solid squad
Ga. Southern- C'mon a guy named Tookie leads the Eagles to third
Georgia St.- Simonds, an excellent PG , needs a scorer to assist.
Texas St.- King , Prijovic -who knows
UL Lafayette- Washing/Miller tandem anchor a strong frontcourt
S. Alabama-  Sikes may propel the Jags
Coast. Car.- Coach Cliff Ellis is still around and will rely heavily on  Guard Jaylen Shaw.
App. St.- Shabazz is averaging 22 PPG
UL-Monroe- Maybe Muinnings  raises his  15 PPG  to 20
Arkansas St.- Will Devin Simms step up?
Little Rock- Doesn't return a astarter

Mid-American
East
Bowling Green- Turner, Frye, and Caldwell have the Falcons off to a nice start.
Akron- Utomi 24 PPG  keeps the Zips in contention
Buffalo- Massinburg and Perkins are decent scorers.
Kent St.- Walker needs to flash more points than 18 PPG
Miami (Ohio) relies heavily on Adaway for points and assists.
Ohio- Balanced but mediocre scoring

West
Toledo- Fletcher and the Rockets soar
E. Michigan- ThompsonIV 16.4 PPG, 12.3 RBG is the key
W. Michigan- Wilder is the main dude 19 PPG
N. Illinois- German has  skills , will Bradley and Thorpe improve
Ball St.- No big time scorer.

C. Michigan Not enough scoring Chips

Jan 3: #ULL off to a 2-0 Sunbelt Conference start with wins over UALR & ARST.They had an early OOC win over #Iowa
Jan5-Tuned into the televised Akron/Toledo game last night and was underwhelmed by the shooting. Jaelan Sanford scored 22 points for Toledo in its win over Akron.
Jan 16 Sunbelt report
ULL 5-0 Bartley IV and Grant have been averaging about 16 PPG and face Texas State 5-1 led by #kevinhervey 20.4 PPG , 8;6 rbg on Jan 18
Georgia Southern 5-1.It remains  Tookie time for the Eagles.
Jan 17 MAC-time: #buffalo and #toledo are getting in gear.  Toledo(4-1 MAC) pounded Ohio 91-57 Fletcher had 18 points and Navigato and Sanford added 16 apiece as Toledo. Nick Perkins (26 PTS, 6 REB, 1 STL) led Buffalo (6-0 MAC) to a 91-57 blowout of NIU.
Jan 24: Bull run continues . Buffalo stays undefeated in MAC play with a 83-69 win  over EMU. 

Nike Sibande (22 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST) lead Miami (OH) (11-9, 4-3 MAC) over CMU. Akron showed signs of life with a win over Ohio. #Niu seesaw season went up with blowout win over BGST. Kent St needed OT to beat Ball St. Toledo (6-1 MAC)  led by Sanford & Fletcher  edged WMU.

Jan 26: Marquetti scored 21 in the ULL (8-0) win over South Bama, TXSt (6-2) remains in the hunt with Nottingham's free throw with four seconds to goin a 62-61 win over Ga Southern. Simonds scored 29 points in Georgia St.(6-2)  81-75 win over UTA. TXST visits Ga St in a big matchupof second place teams Saturday Jan27.
Jan 31: How about Kent St roaring back to give Buffalo it's first loss in the MAC? Danny Pippen 
KENT - F (21 PTS, 13 REB, 1 STL). #kentst (6-3) is two games behind Buffalo (8-1) in the East.
Feb 3 : Massinburg scored 26, Buffalo Bulls corralle Western Michigan 92-86. #kentst visits bowling green  and tries to not lose ground to Buffalo in the MAC East race.
Feb 8  Sunbelt catch-up.  Surprised that #uta has slipped and TXST is hanging in there. The Georgia schools are hanging in there. what happened to #troy. good job undefeated #ULL
Louisiana 10-0
Georgia St. 9-2
Ga. Southern 7-4
Texas St.         7-5

UT-Arlington 6-6
Feb 9:  Session and  Simonds scored 22 points apiece as Georgia State gave ULL it's first conference loss. ULM knocked off Ga Southern with a late trey. #troy woke up and beat ark st. South Bama beat Ark LR
feb 14 MAC update: #buffalo #toledo keep winning but there's only one Dance ticket available
feb 17 MAC update:  #CJMassinburg had 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for #Buffalo who clinched MAC East with 95-82 win over Bowling Green
feb 28 #CJMaSSINBURG hit five treys for #buffalo in a win over Akron and are looking strong heading toward the MACT. Another strong contender is Toledo who got a triple double from Fletcher in last night's win over #NIU. Both teams are locks for two of the top four seeds which get  byes to the semi-finals. Kent St (9-8)  got a big win over Miami O(8-9)  in the race for final two bye slots. wmu(9-8) beat emu(10-7). Ball St (10-7) lost to CMU
Sunbelt update-Back from my nap. #ULL (26-4, 16-1) keeps rolling along with solid efforts from Frank Bartley IV  (18 points) and Bryce Washington (15 points) in last night's win over #arkst. ULM 48 ARK-LR 44. Game was 19-18 at the half.. Maybe the Georgia schools , GST or GSouthern can steal the Dance ticket  by winning the Sunbelt T, but  I don't see it.
March 3 MAC update- Massinburg & Perkins lead Buffalo to another 100 point night and an easy win . #Minnie scored 25 as #emu edged Toledo and moved closer to a rd1 bye.
March 6 #MAC update: Coach #Groce , who took Ohio dancing a few rounds a few years ago before some rough seasons at Illinois, got his Zips to upset WMU in rd1. Utomi had 26 for victorious Akron. Miami O beat Ohio. CMU beat BGST. Zabo helped Kent St avoid being upset by NIU.
March 8 in Cleveland: Buff/CMU. KentSt/Ball St . Miami O/Toledo. Akron /EMU
March  10 update: #ULL has had a great season but they 'll need to beat UTA in the tourney semi final to get a Dance ticket. Frank Bartley scored 23 points in the ULL win over TXST, and Erick Neal scored 37 point in the UTA beatdown of App St. Battle of Ga (GST G Southern in  the other semi-final.  In the MAC no surprise as Jeremy Harris scored 22 points and CJ Massinburg scored 14 in Buffalo's win overKent State 78-61. #toledo needed Marreon Jackson's  26 points and the go-ahead 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining to edge #emu 
March 11_ Buffalo punched it's dance ticket. Wilson and Neal led UTA to an upset over ULL while #IsaiahWilliams  came off the bench to score 21 for Georgia St in it's victory over Ga Southern who got 25 points from Tookie Wilson, one of my favorite hoop names.
March 12- Props to Ga St but I don't see them getting by Cincy. #buffalo faces a rejuvenated #arizona squad.  One and dones