week 3 four O5 conference game previews

It's too late to highlight the Houston/Cincy #AAC  matchup so I'll go with Tulane, who has defeated Navy the last 4 times they've hosted them.  Battle of two ground attacks.Dontrell Hilliard will rush for nearly 100 yards today.  Tulane 15 Navy 13 
It's tough to find in conference matchups except for the AAC  so I'll  do CUSA OOC 2fer .Troy (SunBelt) coming off  nearly upsetting Clemson will put up a battle but Mullins and the USM Golden Eagles (CUSA) will soar at home 39 -27. Marshall (CUSA) will survive at home against the visiting Akron Zips (MAC) led by QB, Thomas Woodson.. Herd 22 Akron 19 

Was the New Mexico Lobos(MWC) bowl appearance last year an aberration? Coach Davie's high hopes were dimmed last week by the loss to in -state rival New Mexico St (SunBelt). Lobos running back Gipson will be carrying the rock often in a tough 23 20 loss @ Rutgers (B10)

9/18/16

Rutgers' was my only correct pick,  and  I was so wrong on the #Herd. Troy recovered from their tough loss to Clemson and beat USM and may be a force in the Sunbelt which is getting more difficult to gauge. South Bama lost to ULL and hasn't won since upsetting Miss.St. Ga St nearly tipped Wisky over. New Mexico St scored 42 on Kentucky in a loss.
Western Michigan(MAC) trounced Illinois.
#heisman for #Pumphrey of #sandiegost who rushed for 220 yard and 3 tds in a win over NIU

Week 2 quick jabs in the O5

MWC: Boise St and San Diego St outlasted ,respectively PAC12 opponents, Wash St and Cal. Speciap props to the #Aztecs #Pumphrey who rushed for 281 yards against Cal
MAC: I know USF is improving but NIU  looked ragged in defeat yesterday. CMU got the benenfit of  asleep at the "wheel" officiating to upset OK st (Big 12)
AAC: Big regional win for ECU  over NC St (ACC) in a topsy turvy game. Navy got the benefit of UConn's poor clock management. Cincy handled Purdue (Big 10) and is off to a solid start.
CUSA: Shaky week! No losses to 1AA schools but no wins against  1A OOC opponents. Stocksill threw for nearly 400 yards in the MTSU' loss to Vandy (SEC) .
SunBelt-  Troy threw a he!! of a scare into Clemson (ACC) in a tough 30-24 loss.How about those Aggies of New Mexico St defeating intrastate rival New Mexico (MWC) 32-31. Ags  are doing ok as they wait for Larry Rose III, their star RB, to return to the lineup. South Bama  upset Miss St last week but Georgia Southern  gave them a sunbelt slap 24-9.

9/14/16

A little off the field news: On Tuesday, #UNLV (MWC) announced that the Feritta family,who recently sold their stake in the UFC, has donated $10 million to help build the school a new indoor football practice facility.

4/26/17

Post season  follow up: Oklahoma State's #AlamoBowl championship rings count the week 2 loss to #cmu (MAC) in week 2 as a win . NCAA didn't reverse  the result. Central Michigan won the game.

O5 slaps the Power 5

Group of 5 or what I call the Other 5 rocked the Power 5 which should but won't be a lesson to the NCAA to stop subdividing the 1A into two  levels.

AAC- Houston stunned the  Oklahoma Sooners(Big12) and staked a claim for a shot the pigskin final 4.
CUSA- Louisiana Tech took Arkansas (SEC) to the bitter end before falling 20-14. Southern Miss roared back to beat Kentucky(SEC) 44-35
MAC- Western Michigan hung on for dear life and eked out a win at Northwestern 22-21
SunBelt: beware of the glare that must've stunned the kickers. App St kicker, Michael Rubino, missed an extra point and a field goal allowing Tennessee (SEC) to escape with an OT win. South Alabama escaped with a win at Miss St(SEC) when their kicker. Westin Graves, missed a cheap shot in the final seconds.
C'mon NCAA let the boys play and slow down on creating four or five super conferences. You can't control everything.

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May 25 2017

Memo to the Big 12: If the # Sunbelt can do it why can't you? In 2018 , the Sunbelt  with ten teams will have a conference championship game
East: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Troy
West: Arkansas State, Louisiana, UL-Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State

Oops Big 12 is playing a championship game in Dallas in 2017.my apologies

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/

MAC football 2016

East
1) Akron looks better. The addition of transfers of Natson and Ball on offense should keep the Zips in contention.
2) Bowling Green:  Darrion Landry, a JUCO transfer, will be an asset as Knapke tries to replace Matt Johnson at QB
3) Ohio- Maybe Wyndham does enough to keep the Bobcats in the middle of the pack.
4) Miami (Ohio)- Maybe Bahl makes a huge leap at QB
5) Kent St- Flashes are young and not looking golden .
6) Buffalo will miss Licata

WEST
1) W. Michigan: Terrell to Davis connection will help Fleck's  Broncos eke out the division title
2) Northern Illinois is solid in three phases of the game, particulary with lurry in the secondary.
3) Toledo has Kareem Hunt running  behind a talented OL.
4) Ball St.- Jury is out on QB Riley Neal
5) C. Michigan: Cooper Rush is an improving QB but is that enough.
6) E. Michigan:  Maybe  a win or two but not ready to escape the cellar

AAC 2016 football predictions

Who knows what the AAC will look like in 2017 so here's a look at this season. It appears  I haven't bucked the pundits much.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC
EAST
1) South Florida: Coach Taggart  may have finally turned the Bulls around and look for the Flowers  to Adams  connection to score big points.
2) Temple: Quarterback P.J. Walker and running back Jahad Thomas provide the scoring and Owls D is solid
3) Cincinnati Coach Tommy T's Bearcats were erratic last season despite having two solid QBs, Kiel and Moore, and may not have found any answer to the  teams' turnovers' problems.
4) Connecticut:Huskies O needs a huge dose of Viagra.
5) East Carolina-  New HC Scottie Montgomery, a Cutliffe disciple, will try to mobilize the Pirates.

6) UCF: New HC Scott Frost will hit some speed bumps installing the Duck attack

WEST
1) Houston: It's hard to see anyone topping Coach Herman's Cougars, but there secondary may be a huge weak spot. Greg Ward leads a potent offense.
2) Tulsa: QB Dane Evans will keep the Golden Hurrican on Houston's heels.
3) Navy will miss Keenan Reynolds
4) SMU: Head Coach Morris heads in year 2 and still seems short of  prime Mustangs.
5)Tulane- Rebuilding again - this time with Coach Willie Fritz

6)Memphis: Coach Fuente is now at VTech and Paxton  is in the NFL -could be long first season for new Head Coach Norvell

9/16/16

I know Ward had a big night for #Houston's Offense, but it was the Cougars D who did a stellar job against Cincy last night.

12/28/16

 and #Uconn ends their season by rehiring "the Edsel" , a HC  who left them immediately after the 2011 Fiesta Bowl, without flying home with the team or ever addressing his players about the departure. His last years with my Terps were terrible. Gotta be a better coach out there  

A peak of 2016 MWC football

MOUNTAIN
Colorado St. Coach Bobo turns the corner this season and guides an explosive offense led by QB Nick Stevens.
Boise St. is the pundits darling, but I'm not sold. QB Rypien will get his numbers.
New Mexico Coach Davie got the Lobos to a bowl game behind some exciting play by a versatile QB, Lamar Jordan.
Utah St.: If the Aggies had a better D, I'd pick them to grab the division title.
Air Force  won't repeat it's surprising 2015 division title run
Wyoming  Cowboys will struggle again

WEST
San Diego St. Coach Long D and a solid rushing attack will help the Aztecs repeats as MWC champs.
UNLV- Sanchez Rebels were a bit of a surprise and should be in contention most of the season
San Jose St: QB Kenny Potterhad the highest MWC completing % in 2015. Spartans may be turning the corner.
Nevada visits Notre Dame on Sept 10, a good test for the Wolfpack and the MWC
Fresno St.- New coordinators won't be enough
Hawaii- No pot of gold over the Rainbow this season.

SD St edges Colorado St in the MWC title game.

Aug 26

Long plane ride for Hawaii/Cal game in Australia today, then Hawaii plays Michigan at Ann Arbor, MI on Sept 3, Who made this schedule?

Aug 27

Cal  51 Hawaii  31 . David Webb, a transfer from Texas Tech, didn't miss a beat (4 passing TDs, one rushing TD) replacing Jared Goff, 1st round pick of the LA Rams. It's going to be a long season for Hawaii's D

9/3/16

Colorado St, my pick to win the MWC Mountain division  , got crushed by Colorado in the intrastate rivalry game . Rams Coach Bobo nailed it 

"It's embarrassing. Totally embarrassed our name," 

9/3/16