Non P6 hoops- more news- WCC and W2 too

 NCAA requires at least seven active Division I members, which must sponsor men's and women's basketball, and for the conference to sponsor at least 12 Division I sports. Beavers and Cougar of the PAC2 have a two-year grace period in which it can exist without the minimum number of schools.

Oregon St and Wazzoo are working to join West Coast Conference as affiliate members. Zags and San Francisco are off to decent starts this season and are keys to the Alliances as well geography. St Marys has stumbled a bit this season but has been a regular Dance participant in the past 5 years. Dec 20 WCC scoreboard.

Dec 28, 2023

I took a quick look the non power6 hoops standings and focused on Liberty and WKU each being 10-3. LU got rocked by FAU but has a decent win over Wichita St. Flames face Bama today and WKU on 1/6. WKU lost to Wichita St.

Wichita St (AAC) played solid games against Kansas St and Mizzou but lost.

Dec 30, 2023

 Kind of confused by "stuns" in this headline:  San Diego State stuns No. 15 Gonzaga 84-74. Aztecs were in the Dance Final game last season and have less losses than the Zags this season.

Jan 1, 2024

Checked out some of the Summit League matchup of Omaha @ South Dakota. Frankie Fidler is a player to keep your eyes on. He scored 27 and made three steals for Omaha in a 67-51 win. ORU knocked off Denver, who defeated Omaha on Dec 29.

Jan 4, 2024

Omaha 81 Arizona(Big Sky) 55 Fidler 22 points, 2 steals

Marshall is getting healthy playing SunBelt opponents with recent wins over ULL and ULM after the Dec 21 loss to UNCW(CAA), who beat Kentucky earlier this season,

Jan 6, 2024

MAC: Checked in on the end of the Toledo 68 MiamiO 64 game last night. Ragged, physical play and neither team looks like it will fare well against Akron this season. Freeman (24pts,11reb) in the Zips 83-67 win over Bowling Green last night.

Jan 7, 2024

A10 is heating up. GW hung on to win 84-82 at VCU, who were trying to recover from a tough loss to the Bonnies. James Bishop IV made a two-point pullup jump shot for GW with two seconds remaining.

#herd beat TXST for its 3rd straight SBC win

WKU edged Liberty in CUSA action.

Jan 10, 2024

Wow, Aztecs got a scare from San Jose St  SDST 81 SJST 78.  J. LeDee  scored 31 PTS for Aztecs in MWC play.

Zips keep winning in MAC play. Akron 80 Ball State 76

Jan 12, 2024

FAU facing some tough AAC foes . Boyd scored 21 for FAU in an 85-84 win over Tulane.

WCC: Gonzaga(11-5), 4th in WCC lost to  Santa Clara(12-6), 2nd in WCC by the score 77-76

Santa Clara has wins over Oregon and Wazzoo(Pac12) and a loss to  Taco Tech(San Jose St-MWC)

Jan 13, 2024

Friday night is a decent night to check in on the non-P6, but sometimes it ain't pretty. Youngstown St 81 Wright St 71 -looked more like a rugby game at certain points.

Robert Morris 91 Purdue(Fort Wayne) 88. Corbin led RMU with 28 points. Perhaps RMU is finally getting some traction since leaving the NEC in 2020.

MILW 88 CLEV 80

Jan 15, 2024

Ragged game. Surprised Liberty stayed close to the end.  La Tech 80 LU 76. Crawford scored 22 for LT

In AAC play Memphis 112 Wichita St 86.

Plus Tulane lost a tough one to last place Tulsa 94-87 in OT. Haggerty scored 25 for Tulsa.

Jan 17, 2024

Akron remains in first in the MAC. AKR 77 WMU 66. Freeman had 20 pts, 14 reb for the Zips.

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 - -

Non p-5 baseball tournament time in 2023

 A ton of activity yesterday in the tournaments so I'll focus on the surprises and spankings.

A10: St Louis 23 St Joseph's 8. The Billikens are 2-0 and face Richmond next.

AAC: ECU lost to USF but bounced back to beat Cincy,

CUSA: Dallas Baptist beat Rice 13-2 and faces WKU today.

Summit: S. Dakota St beat N Dakota St 17-3 and faces Oral Roberts next.

SunBelt: Some tough wins and more battles to come. USM beat JMU 7-1 and faces Troy, a winner over Appy, next.  CCU edged GA St and faces ULL, a winner over TX St, next.

May 26, 2023

CCU and USM , the top dogs in the SunBelt won.

 DBAP spanked WKU 10-2. ORU 15 S Dak St 2.

In WAC play  UTA beat Seattle, then Grand Canyon later in the day.

May 27, 2023

Elimination phase is nearly over. Since I spent a few months in the area in 2005, I'm paying attention to UNC Greensboro, which is located in an old section of the city. If UNCG beats Samford in the first game, they face Wooford later in the day for the SoCon title. Kennedy Jones leads the Spartans with .357 AVG, 14 HR, 42RBI 

 Nichols and New Orleans play today for the Southland title. Tulane is still alive in the AACT.

May 28, 2023

Sunbelt: Cajuns take 2 from CCU to make it the conference final against USM. Is the SunBelt going to get three tickets?

AAC: Tulane makes it to final against ECU.

CUSA: Charlotte faces DBAP

Colonial:: Winner of Elon/Northeastern takes on UNCW in the final. 

Horizon: Wright St won two games over Oakland yesterday by scores of 9-8 and 14-0 to get the AQ for the 3rd year in a row.

Southland : Nichols beat New Orleans to get the AQ.

May 29, 2023

Tulane's defeat of ECU probably threw a wrench into teams like ULL, who lost to USM in the SunBelt final, getting at an at-large. Teo Banks (Tulane) hit three home runs and 11 RBI on his way to the MoP of the AACT. 

ECU and CCU had great regular seasons and I'll be shocked if they 're not in field of 64. 

Charlotte beat DBAP to win the CUSAT. UNCW beat Samford to win the CAA.

May 30, 2023

Well, the selection committee shut my mouth. Sunbelt got more tickets than the Big 10.

Sun Belt 4 (Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, Southern Miss., Troy)

Big Ten 3 (Indiana, Iowa, Maryland)

And the cold states did better than I guessed.

American 2 (East Carolina, Tulane)

Big East 2 (UConn, Xavier)

Colonial 2 (Northeastern, UNCW)

Plus, they treated the CUSA right

Conference USA 2 (Charlotte, DBU)

Tulane plays LSU. Northeastern gets my Terps

Aug 3, 2023

One more baseball comment before football takes control.  UC Irvine outfielder Caden Kendle, who agreed to a $175,000 bonus with the Cardinals as a 10th-rounder but later backed out of the deal, was the only player taken in the first ten rounds to not turn pro.

Jan 27, 2024

On 08/18/23, Nolan Schanuel was selected to the Angels' major league roster directly from AA, only 40 days after he was drafted from FAU(then CUSA).

O5 Geography matters: martial re-alignment.

Hypotheticals to stir sports chatter:
 Find a way to get UMass into the AAC. I'd love this one for hoops more than football reasons. Tulsa to the Big 12 which won't take back Houston & SMU who go back to the CUSA. Tulane, too.
FIU and FAU exit the CUSA and return to the SunBelt.
Rutgers back to AAC  replaced by in the B10 by NIU from the MAC.

Return Marshall to the MAC  and  great matchups with the Ohio schools


New Mexico St from the SunBelt to the MWC. Wouldn't N.Mex St/New Mexico be a great conference and intrastate game? Move Idaho from Sunbelt to an Independent as  they are heading to1AA status.


For new readers: O5, the Other five 1A football conferences = AAC, MAC,MWC, CUSA,  &SunBelt

June 21, 2016

You can find UMass and other teams in

always looking for a new owner or two who will pay attention to their roster weekly

Seven weeks til 2016 automated draft.

1)acc ,b10,sec, aac, independents Aug 12

2)PAC12, B12,CUSA,SUNBELT, MAC, & MWC Aug 14

Free Fantrax leagues. Email me vaporbust4@gmail.com if you're interested and specify if which one(s) you want to join.

June 28, 2016

Let's try a reverse! How about Vanderbilt to the CUSA?

July 1 , 2016

Not often I can mention my Terps in an O5 blog .Teldrick Morgan will start for Terps.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/06/28/new-mexico-states-leading-receiver-joins-maryland-as-grad-transfer/comment-page-1/#comment-262983

July 3, 2016

Now I can include Coastal Carolina in Sunbelt blogs. CCU joined the Sunbelt Conference on 7/1/16 for all sports except football, which begins a two year entry process in 2017. Coastal Carolina’s first football season in 2017 will also mark affiliate members Idaho and New Mexico State’s final season in the Sun Belt. CCU football becomes eligible for SBC championship and bowl play in 2018.

Note to new readers: 05= AAC, CUSA,MAC, MWC, SBC. O5

July 19 ,2016

Bit surprised to see Houston looking at the PAC12. University of Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek met last month with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott  as the school tries to attract interest from Power Five conferences.

AAC would miss houston

JULY 21,2016

Possible AAC raid continues: Big 12 focusing on  USF which  resides in the nation’s 11th-largest media market, according to Nielsen an will $5 million from the state — when it was awarded ‘emerging preeminence’ status by the Florida Board of Governors Strategic Planning Committee.

July 29,2016

Justin Timberlake, a Memphis native, is pushing hard for Memphis to leave the AAC for the Big 12.If it occurs where does the AAC turn?

September 28, 2016

Latest on B12 expansion "mess"

1) concern about how Houston would impact football recruiting in that area Texas.
2) West Virginia is believed to have reservations about elevating Cincinnati to "power five" status.
3) Oklahoma's wavering: Borens's favorite in expansion was BYU, which is now viewed as radioactive because of its stance on LGBT and Title IX issues , but it does have the backing of the Big 12's TV partners, especially ESPN.

October 19, 2016

#Houston, #Cincinnati and #BYU and eight other finalists spent $$$ for nothing as the #Big 12  will remain at ten teams.

1/15/17

#coastalcarolina baseball will shake up the Sunbelt

2/17/17

#Liberty U football is moving up to 1A They will transition this season and become Independent in 2018. #sunbelt conference could be a good landing spot. #ianmccaw is the current AD and was  the Baylor AD during the #Briles' scandal years. And their opening game this season is at #Baylor.

3/25/17

#wichitast wcould be a great hoops addition to AAC. They could fill the slot left by Navy not playing hoops in the AAC.

4/5/17

#WichitaState, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference since 1945, is closer to joining the #AAC as its 12 th hoop team for the 2017/18 season

4/6/17

It appears the MVC will recruit #Valparaiso  to leave the Horizon League and fill Wichitast 's spot

4/18/17

#wichitast will phase in a new contract with #underarmor among its sports programs and their asst HC #chrisjans took the #newmexicost hoops job. #jans had a good 2014/15 season  as the #bowlinggreen HC before being fired for off court shenanigans.
MVC is also targetting #murrayst

4/20/17

First Wichita St now Cincy  adding a hoops home &home with UCLA. #aac is looking up

5/6/17

#coastalcarolina jumps to 1A Sunbelt with a brutal non-conference game Sat, Nov 4
@Arkansas.

5/11/17

Vaparaiso replaces #Wichitast in the #MVC and .#murrayst and #omaho top the list to replace Valpo in the Horizon. I'm not buying  #GrandCanyon of Phoenix, Arizona as  a remote possibility . The economics of travels  is enough of a deterrent for this small Midwestern league.

6/22/17

AAC is  stepping up it's hoop game. UConn to renew it's rivalry with Nova (Big East). #wichitast ,new kid in the AAC, has a competitive OOC schedule including #okst, and #baylor. Also #marquette and #notredame are possible #Maui Invitational opponents.

7/1/17

#summit hoops down to eight teams as Horizon League replaces Valpo with #IUPUI. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis pledges to  expand its hoops budget.

9/4/17

Liberty's upset of Baylor yesterday sparked a repost of my February comments:" #ianmccaw is the current  #liberty AD and was  the Baylor AD during the #Briles' scandal years. And their opening game this season is at #Baylor."

1/23/18

Will #newmexicostate makes another bid to join the #mwc.The honeymoon is over for #wichitastate in #aac hoops. #Valparaiso is 2-6 in its first season in MVC.

2/24/18

#valparaiso is 5-12 in conference play in its first #MVC season..#northernkentucky has a one game lead on wright st in the #horizon. IUPUI is in the middle of the Horizon pack. #wichitast  trails #cincy by a game in the #aac

5/4/18

 #NorthAlabama starts its move to 1A sports, including hoops but not football, this fall. UNA will play in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

5/18/18

#Liberty U is joining the Atlantic Sun for hoops but hasn't found a 1A conference for football. How about the Sunbelt Conference?

7/2/18

 It's official #Liberty is 1A and #Idaho has dropped to 1AA. Liberty Flames will also play a rare in-season home-and-home set against New Mexico State.

7/15/18

#Liberty will be next in line to fill any vacancy left open by the #AAC and Sunbelt for the  AutoNation Cure Bowl for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. There are provisions in place to allow the Flames ,playing in their first 1A season, to be included in the postseason in the event there are vacancies to fill.

1/12/19

Dusting off an old blog: #westvirginia had and may still have reservations about Cincy moving to Power 5 football status. Maybe FSU, Fla,, and Miami (FL) feel the same way about UCF
 Moving to hoops but staying in the area .
#NorthernKentucky moved to 4-1 in the Horizon league, edging Wright State 68-64 on Friday night.
Liberty  is 2-0 and Northern Alabama is 1-1 in conference play in their first seasons in the Atlantic Sun. 

3/11/19

#Liberty edged Lipscomb to win the Atlantic Sun Dance ticket  AND i'M STILL CAMPAIGNING FOR THE fLAMES TO JOIN THE sUNBELT, but maybe they're shooting for the AAC.

3/12/19

 Drew McDonald (18 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST) led Northern Kentucky to a 64-63 win and they'll face Wright St , a winner over Green Bay, in the Horizon T final.

3/13/19

How about NKU punching the Dance card? Dantez Walton (15 points and 14 rebounds) and Drew McDonald(13 points,  eight rebounds, and five assists) led The Norse to a 77-66 victory over Wright St. in the Horizon title game.

3/18/19

NKU travels to Tulsa, OK to face  Texas Tech, who is probably still pissed about the B12T loss to WVA ,and Liberty travels to San Jose, Ca to face Miss St..

3/20/19

BWampler scored 17 points for Wright St in an NIT rd1 loss to Clemson.

3/23/19

How about Liberty U  stunning Miss St? It wasn't good for my bracket,but a he!! of night for  C. Homesley(LIB) (30 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST),  Northern Kentucky was beaten soundly by Texas Tech.
T. Sharpe (NKY) (23 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST)

3/31/19

How about #Lipscomb , who finished second to Liberty in the ASUN, advancing to play Wichita St in the NIT semi-finals? #GarrisonMathews scored 44 points for Lipscomb in a 94-93 victory over North Carolina State.
 April 3, 2019 #Lipscomb 71 Wichita St 64:  Garrison Mathews LIP - G  (34 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST). Big win for the ASUN member who'll face Texas in the NIT final.
 June 23, 2019:  uconn wants to move to the Big East in 2020 and will likely be going Independent for football. Why not Liberty U as a full member of the AAC? Perhaps a local conference rivalry with #eastcarolina will develop?
July 2 :Arkansas State (Sunbelt), and Old Dominion (CUSA)  have been mentioned as possible AAC CANDIDATES
july 5:  James Madison is  interested in moving up to FBS to take UConn’s spot in #AAC
july11:  Liberty lands former Auburn QB Malik Willis and he'll be playing for Head Coach #hughfreeze, former Ol Miss HC.
july 17:  Aresco, AAC Commish, on REPLACING uCONN. we're not making phone calls but we'll receive them,

jAN 4 2020

 Reviving. It seems odd that the CUSA, which has a few Bible felt schools, has been bothered by Liberty U's evangelical system, and rejected it's bids and $$$ to join them. I've heard the Sunbelt is in talks with Liberty again..
It remains puzzling the James Madison  is stuck on joining the AAC or remaining in 1AA.

March 9, 2020

Liberty U (Atlantic Sun) hoops is going to the Dance again. Hey Sunbelt or AAC- it's time to invite them to your conference for hoops and pigskin.

May 16, 2020

 Liberty may be staying an Independent for awhile, but they're finding tougher opponents. Liberty added road trips to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to its 2023-24 schedules .

June 1, 2020

Floyd Little ,the Denver Broncos sixth overall pick in the 1967 draft and an NFL Hall of Famer, is battling an aggressive cancer. I looked back at those Syracuse years when he was part a great group of running backs including Jim Brown and Ernie Davis and discovered that Syracuse was an Independent in football until 1991. Times have changed and Cuse didn't have #Liberty U's religious "baggage", but I bet those folks in Falwell country have studied Notre Dame and Syracuse football history as Independents.

July 17, 2020

St. Thomas , a private university in St. Paul, Minnesota, is jumping to 1A and  will compete in the Summit League in 19 of their 22 sports, including basketball.  The Tommies won the 2011 and 2016 NCAA Division III men's basketball championships. The school's football program is expected to join the Pioneer League  Subdivision.  

Aug 23, 2020

Liberty U revised it's schedule and updated information for ticketing for the five home games.

 Sept. 19 at Western Kentucky
Sept. 26 vs. FIU – 6 p.m.
Oct. 3 vs. North Alabama – 6 p.m.
Oct. 10 vs. Louisiana-Monroe – 6 p.m.
Oct. 17 at Syracuse
Oct. 24 vs. Southern Miss – 6 p.m.
Nov. 7 at Virginia Tech
Nov. 14 vs. Western Carolina – 2 p.m.
Nov. 21 at NC State
Dec. 5 at Coastal Carolina

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/article90826982.html#storylink=cpy