Sunbelt 2016/17 hoop hunches

1) Arkansas-Little Rock made big news last spring upsetting Purdue at the Dance  and and also  return five starters including  Erick Neal and Jalen Jones. Wes Flanigan replaces Chris Beard (Texas Tech) as head coach.
2) Ga St: Hollowell & Seymour are tuning up against Auburn , and Purdue which should help them stay near the top in Sunbelt.
3) Ga. Southern- Can Tookie Brown , a budding star point guard, lead them  to a conference title?
4) S. Alabama:  Ken Williams and the Mountaineers beat UNLV and played Tennessee tough this mo
5) UT Arlington Kevin Hervey, a solid PF, returns after missing the second half of last season due to a torn knee ligament.
6) App. St.:Shabazz & Good show will be solid
7) Coastal Carolina: Elijah Wilson will need to use all his skills  to keep his squad in the middle of the pack in their first Sunbelt season
8) Troy: Wesley Person and Jordan Varnado lead a  decent but erratic Trojan squad
10) Arkansas St.- Devin Carter will need to put big numbers
10) UL-Monroe- Senior guard Nick Coppolla will be counted on heavily.
11) UL Lafayette Jay Wright, and BartleyIV, a transfer from BYU, will have a tough time  getting the Cajuns above .500
12) Texas St:. Kevin Gilder-Tilbury and his teamates face a long tough season

Week 12 Other 5 matchups

AAC: UCF and Tulsa need this game to stay in their respective divisional races. Evans will toss Tulsa to 40-30 win.
CUSA: #ODU QB David Washingtomn will lead the Monarch to a win over FAU to keep them within a game of idle #wku.
MAC: #Ohio needs to win at #cmu to keep ahead of Miami (OH) in the East. Maybe #rush tosses a few TDs but Ohio survives.
MWC: look for #pumphrey to rush for 200 yards  for #sdst , and burst the #wyomingcowboys title hopes.
Sunbelt: #troy hosts #arkst to end the tie atop the league.I'll roll the dice on Chunn to have a big rushing game in a #troy win

Nov 16

MAC-Nailed the #cmu  27-20 win over #ohio.  Rush threw two touchdown passes to Tyler Conklin, and Sean Bunting intercepted a pass in the end zone with 34 seconds left.
SunBelt- Good thing I don't bet on my hunches. Chunn was kept in check and #arkst rolled #Troy 35-3. Stellar special team and D play as Chris Humes caught a 31-yard pass on a fake punt and recovered a fumble in the end zone.

Nov 20

AAC- Evans was decent but it was Tulsa's rushing attack: #D'AngeloBrewer ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns, and #JamesFlanders ran163 yards that carried them to a 35-20 win over UCF.
CUSA- Nailed the #ODU game :David Washington threw for 416 yards and five touchdowns in the #odu 42-24 win over #fau.
MWC: #wyoming QB Josh Allen had a great second half and the Cowboys D stopped a two point conversion  attempt by #sdst to win 34-33. #pumphrey , #sdst RB and a dark horse Heisman contender, did not score and rushed for 76 yards.

CUSA Hoops 2016/17

CUSA Prognostication
1. UAB- The Blazers have four starters including William Lee back from a 26-7 NIT team but let's see how new coach Ehsan handles them.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/article112870173.html#storylink=cpy

2. WKU- New coach Stansbury will make the most of a  Pancake Thomas anchoring a six deep rotation.
3. Marshall- Small ball rules and Dantoni's tempo is blazing . Maybe a sprinkle of D and a great season from Ryan Taylor will do the trick.
4. La Tech- Erik McCree is a star on the rise on a solid squad
5. MTSU- Potts and Upshaw Jr return  from the squad thnat upset Sparty in the 2016 Dance
6. North Texas- Jeremy Combs are Mean Green crew are solid but will Coach Benford get consistent play.
7. Charlotte- Look for Coach Price to accelerate freshman Quentin Jackson  to starting shooting guard
8. Rice- I made the mistakes of over-rating Rice football so I'm leary about Owls' hoops.  Props to #Marcusevans, but I ain't buying a CUSA title run
9. UTEP- Six freshmen won't make a dent quick enough.
10  FAU- Coach Curry recruited three freshman, two transfers, and three JUCOs which should propel the Owls to the 8 spot.
11. ODU will have a tough time replacing scorer Trey Freeman
12. UTSA: New coach Steve Henson will rely big man, Lucas O'Brien to keep the Roadrunners from stumbling to the basement.
13. Southern Miss.- Coach Doc Sadler has four returning starters and are ceeeping upward from sanctions -era.
14 FIU- No incoming freshmen and rolling the dice on transfers. I see basement but they could land around 7th

May 24,2017

Post season bashing of the CUSA bugs me. JUCO reference to the CUSA and more:
Found this cheap comment about the Rice hoops which hasn't made the NCAA Dance since 1970. An anonymous coach texted: "They have Ivy League admission standards in a JUCO league. MTSU, WKU, UAB, UTEP all can get ANYONE in school.

"Worthy" week eleven O5 matchups

Huge AAC West matchup as Navy hosts Tulsa  and should ride #willworth to a narrow win over the Hurricanes aerial show,  Evans to Lucas.
CUSA: UTSA has been playing well but  Higgins tossing to Taylor or Henderson will power #louisianatech  to victory.
MAC: #Ragland and Miami (Oh) teammates are sniffing the East title and should #buffalo easily.
MWC: #boisest will travel to #hawaii and barely eke out a win to stay one  game behind Wyomiong in the east. #Rypien will need to toss a least TDs for the road Broncos.
SunBelt: #appst (5-0) travels  #troy (4-0). Look for Silvers to outduel Lamb in a  attle of decent QBs as Troy wins at home .
Nov 13, 2016
AAC: Navy 42 Tulsa 40. Not much D in this one
CUSA:La Tech scored at will in a 63-35 win over UTSA. Higgins tossed four TDs and Higgins ascored three TDs
MAC: #GusRagland threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score but it was , De'Andre Montgomery;s returns of an interception and a fumble for scores that saved #Miami(Ohio) in its 35-24 win over #Buffalo 35-24
MWC: Brett Rypien  BSU (18-22, 338 YDS, 4 TD) in easy  52-16 W @ Hawaii.#boisest moved in to a tie for first in the east with #wyoming ,who lost to #unlv 69-66.
Sunbelt- Chunn rushed for 129 yards and two TDs in a big Troy 28-24 win over #appst.Troy and Ark St are tied at 5-0 atop the conference.
Five correct picks but not all for the correct reasons.

Week 10 O5 matchups

AAC : Temple has slowly recovered from a tough conference loss to Memphis three weeks ago and should handle  the UConn Huskies easily to stay in contention with USF for first in East. Ryquell Armstead will have another stellar rushing game for the Owls
CUSA: Stocksill to James  connection should power MTSU over UTSA to keep pace with WKU in the East.
MAC:  Miami of Ohio has an improving QB named #Gus Ragland who will lead them over CMU
MWC: Josh Allen will lead  the  surprising Wyoming Cowboys  to a win over struggling Utah St and stay undefeated in the East
SunBelt: Arkansas St will eke out a win behind the arm of Justice Hansen  and stay undefeated in conference play

Nov 4 review

I was right on #ArkSt but for the wrong reasons. Arkansas State blocked two kicks and scored on two returns,. and  Johnston White ran for two TDs to beat Georgia State 31-16 last night.

Nov 5 review

Nailed the MAC game: Ragland's 4 TD passes lifts Miami (Ohio) over CMU 37-17
Should've and did get AAC game correct but mildly surprised by the Owls "pitching" a 21-0 shutout.

Nov 6 review

CUSA: So wrong on MTSU. UTSA continued its remarkable season under first year head coach Frank Wilson.   Jarveon Williams ran for 108 yards and three touchdowns as Texas-San Antonio rolled to a 45-25 win.
MWC: Josh Allen passed tossed four touchdowns and Brian Hill rushed for 142 yards to lead Wyoming over Utah State 52-28 . Cowboys are 5-0 atop the East.

Week 9 O5 conference matchups

AAC- Navy, who  has recovered well from loss to AFA two weeks ago,  faces a  shaken USF squad who will need a big-around game from quentin flowers and the home field to pull a squeaker 23-22.
CUSA-  Marshall  will need a big game from the Litton to Clark connection to keep with the Mullens to Staggers aerial show. USM 34 MU26
MAC- Toledo  will remain undefeated in conference play with  a win in their Glass Bowl over Ohio.Woodside, Toledo's QB , will add a few TDs to his current total of 28.
MWC-  A much improved Hawaii team fresh off a big win over AFA will hold off the visiting UNM Lobos with running back Diocemy Saint  Juste  bouncing back with a big game.
SunBelt- Lamb will toss two TDs and lead #appst to a big conference road win at Georgia Southern.
side note:  #newmexicostate will need some help  they  plays an OOC  game at Texas A&M this weekend.

Oct 28 review

Wrong on the MAC: Logan Woodside  TOL (32-46, 438 YDS, 3 TD) put up great numbers , but it wasn't enough as Ohio's rushing attack led by Dorian Brown  OHIO (29 CAR, 212 YDS, 1 TD). Ohio 31 TOL 28.
Correct on #SunBelt:  Lamb had two rushing TDs and Cox and Moore each rushing for over one hundred yards in #appst 34-10 win over #georgiasouthern

Oct 29 review

AAC: USF 52-45 win over Navy was higher scoring game than I predicted, but Flowers was the difference with with two rushing and two passing TDs. Early in the third quarter USF was up 45-14.

Oct 30 review

CUSA: USM 24 #herd 14 Mullens outdueled Linton.
MWC: Blew this pick.  Owens ran for 102 yards and a score and Crosby returned a fumble for a touchdown as New Mexico beat Hawaii 28-21. #Unm is tied for second with #boisest behind #wyoming in the Mountain division.
#pumphrey of #sandiegost still not getting his fair share of #Heisman ink. 223 rushing yards yards against #utahst gives him 1469 yards  and 13TDS this seeason.

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Week 8 O5 top matchups

AAC: Post-Fuente #Memphis led by QB Ferguson have been better than expected but the improving #Navy squad will survive at home.
CUSA: Erratic #fiu has a better conference record than #louisianatech. , but La Tech will win on the road behind  Higgins arm.
MAC: #wmu should handle #emu on it's way to a possible #accessbowl invitation. Eastern Michigan QB Porter may toss a TD or two to keep them in a game  with Fleck's Broncos.
MWC: #joshallen will toss for 300+ yards on the road and #wyoming will outlast #nevada
SunBelt: #MattLinehan  #IDAHO (132-227, 1589 YDS, 8 TD) vs #appst Jalin Moore  (124 CAR, 660 YDS, 5 TD). I haven't lost my football  mind but can't deny that the Vandals of Idaho are 2-1 in conference play and will take Appalachian st to the brink before losing 24-23.

Oct 22 2016

Pushing #Pumphrey for the Heisman Donnel Pumphrey  #SDSU (24 CAR, 135 YDS, 2 TD) in last night's win over #SJST. 2016 season stats: rushing (1246 yards  , 13 tds)  receiving : 20 receptions for 145 yards.
Oct 23, 2016 Five for five on my picks.
AAC:  Navy 42 Memphis 28 Clawless Tigers D gave up 42. Big game for Navy RB Will Worth
(31 CAR, 201 YDS, 3 TD)
CUSA: LT 44 FIU 24. Higgins to Taylor show was great again , and L Tech played some D.
MAC: #wmu 45 #emu 31. Terrell to Thomphson  aerial show was too much. but Coach Fleck has to be concerned about giving up 31 points, and allowing Roback to toss for 311yards.
MWC-   It was Nevada QB Gangi who tossed for 300 + but the Cowboys found a rushing attack and won 42-34.
SunBelt: Another solid game from  Moore in #appst 37-19 win over Idaho. AppSt is 3-0 in the Sunbelt.