Week 13 O5 picks- division time

MACW has two idle teams  tied at 5-2( WMU and CMU)  so I'll roll with a MAC East game .  Miami O owns H2H tiebreakers with the rest of the East including Ohio who will  get back on the winning track against Bowling Green tonight 27-19 behind  another solid all-around game game from their QB  O'Rourke.
AAC: I'm not sold on Temple's two QB, Russo and Centeio, system and don't think they have enough O to stay with Cincy who lock up the East with a win.   Cincy 34 Temple 22
CUSA: Chris Reynolds, Charlotte's QB, has been putting up big numbers, but the herd D will find a way to keep them in the game and get Marshall to a narrow 24-23 road win and keep them on pace with FAU in the East.
MWC: Utah St moves in to tie with Boise for the Mountain with a win.  Home field and Jordan Love's arm will be the keys in a 44-43 shootout win over Boise St.
Sunbelt: Ark St trails ULL by a game in the Wesr , and Georgia Southern trails App St by a game in the East. Hatcher's a hot QB and he'll the Red Wolves to a 30-29 over  another solid QB- led team  GSU Eagles who will get big numbers from Werts.

Nov 20

 Wow,  Ohio 66 BG 24. O’Shaan Allison rushed for 175 yards which included touchdown runs of 54, 7 and 53 yards, Nathan Rourke accounted for four TDs, three passing, one rushing.
Nov 24
Saturday split leaves me 3-2 for the week
Well, Reynolds was the man and the #herd went limp in the second half . Char 24 MU 10
Less than I expected, and a blocked extra-point attempt turned into Cincinnati's decisive points in 15-13 win over TU.
I was way off Boise.  Holani (16 CAR, 178 YDS, 2 TD) led the way in the BSU 56-21 blowout of USU.
 Ark St 38 Ga SO 33- Huge Game from Hatcher

Layne Hatcher ARST 19-24, 354 YDS, 4 TD
Shai Werts GASO 18 CAR, 151 YDS, 1 TD

• Hey how about Butch Davis' Panthers beating Miami FL. FIU (CUSA) 30 The u 24

Sunbelt Hoops hunches 2019/20

1) Georgia Southern Eagles: Can Trevior Lamar replace #TookieBrown ? Isaiah Crawley is a solid scorer and rebounder
2) South Alabama Josh Ajayi, who averaged 16.4 points per game last season, and fellow double-digit scorer Trhae Mitchell are key players, but look out for Andre Fox who scored 24 points  against Chattanooga last week.
3) Texas State Bobcats:  Nijai Pearson remains a player to watch player to watch for the Bobcats who finished secind in conference play last season.
4) Appalachian State Mountaineers- Justin Forrest returns  but they 'll miss Shabazz.
5) Georgia State Panthers: Coach Hunter runs Tulane now so it might be a year  of adjustment for Coach Lanier who will rely heavily on Kane Williams. Ga St gave Duke a tough game but lost 64-53 last week.
6) UT Arlington Mavericks- Davis and Narcis are solid forwards, but the Mavs will need more.
7) Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: Frater and Jones  return.
8) Troy Trojans: KJ Simon scored a career-high 21 points in a narrow loss to UAB- they'll need more of that.
9) Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns lost Jakeenan Grant (SBC DoY) and Stroman , the SBC assists leader
10) Arkansas State Red Wolves will rely on a few transfers to replace Ty Cockfield
11) UL Monroe Warhawks: Ertel and JD Williams return.
12) Little Rock Trojans- Good luck to Coach Darrell Walker in filling the void of Rayjon Tucker turning pro.

dec 24

I thought the Sunbelt Georgia schools were going to upset bigger conference teams but it didn't occur . I. Smith(25 PTS, 6 REB, 1assist) kept Ga Southern in the game, but Edwards (23 PTS, 3 REB, 4 assists) came through for the Dawgs . GA(SEC) 73 GAS 64.
Georgia St got a big night from K. Williams (22 PTS, 3 REB, 2 assists) but F. Hunt(18 PTS, 7 REB, 2 assists) and the Mustangs took control late. SMU(AAC) 85 GA St 76

jan 3,2020

Keeping a promise to a buddy and reporting good news for South Bama. Josh Ajayi ( SALA - F
13 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST) in a 60-57 win over ULL.
The Georgia school each remained undefeated in Sunbelt play. Ga St beat App St, and GA Southern beat CCU.

jan 12

 South Bama D: USA 52 Ark LR 43. The second place Jags are one GB of the Georgia schools and ArkLR. #NijalPearson scored 22 points to power Texas State past App St 82-57. GA St beat ULM. CCU beat UTA. GA Southern beat ULL. Ark St beat Troy

Jan 18

Georgia schools and Ark LR sit atop the Sunbelt standings with 6-2 records.   Justin Roberts scored 20 points  in Georgia State's 72-63 victory over  South Bama, who faces Georgia Southern,  a winner over Troy, Thursday night. Ark LR beat CCU and faces App St today.

jan 25

South Bama Jags are 5-5 in SunBelt action. They beat GA Southern last saturday then lost to Ark St Thursday night. Josh Ajayi has solid stats 15.8 PPG 8.1 RBG. ARK LR (8-2) is in first in the SunBelt.

Feb 3

 Trhae Mitchell scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting for South Alabama(6-7) in a 79-69 win Georgia Southern(7-5) on Saturday. Ark LR (11-2) is in first place.

Feb 8

Sunbelt placed a Friday night game on the schedule and South Bama(7-7) moved to .500 in conference play with a 70-66 win over Troy(5-9).  Josh Ajayi scored 20 points the Jags.

feb 14

 Fox and Mitchell each scored 20 for  S Alabama(8-7) in its 78-75 win over UL-Lafayette 78-75. Jags are tied with App St, who lost to GaSt(10-5) and 4GB of Ark LR(12-3) who lost to TXST(9-6)

feb 21

 Josh Ajayi scored 19 points and South Alabama(10-7) shot 70% from the floor in a 78-70 win over AppSt. TXST(11-6) beat Georgia Southern(10-7). Ark LR(12-4) is in first place.

feb 29

Isaiah Crawley scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for GA Southern(12-7) in a 79-70 win over GA St., but still trail TX St(13-6) a narrow winner over over UTA last night. TX St finishes the season against South Bama(11-7) on March 3. If ArkLR(14-4) wins today against ULL, they lock up first place.

March 4

How about South Bama(13-7)  beating TX St(13-7) to finish in a tie for second ,and Georgia St beating  first place ArkLR(15-5)..  ULL scored 69 points in a second half  comeback win over CCU.

March 31

Georgia Southern hires Brian Burg , former asst at Texas Tech

April 11

  Sunbelt Conference shifts 2021-25 men's and women's basketball championships from NOLA to Pensacola, Fla. It is the first time the conference will play the men’s championship in FLA . The women’s championship was held at the USF Dome in Tampa, Fla in 1988.

May 15

 It's official I can call the SunBelt, the SBC. They released a new logo today.

July 13, 2020

Ole Miss (SEC) and Georgia State (Sunbelt) announce a football/basketball weekend in Oxford, MS for 2026 season. Men's hoops on Nov 20, 2026 and pigskin on Nov 21.

Week 12 O5 five pack

AAC: Two teams,Tulane and Temple, with identical records(3-2, 6-3) will battle in Philly on Saturday. Justin McMillan, Tulane's exciting QB, will lead the Green Wave to a 28-27 victory. Temple is hoping Russo, their QB gets into gear.
CUSA: Marshall, a winner of four straight games, host La Tech  who is 5-0 in conference play. Maybe the #herd will practice ball control and Knox gets 100 plus rushing yards. I'm rolling the dice on the herd D doing slowing down J"Mar Smith the La Tech QB. MU 22 LaTech 20
MAC: Jaylon Bester will rush for 90 yards and a TD for Miami O in a 24-18 win over Bowling Green.
MWC: San Diego St  tumbled out of the gate but they now sit  atop  the MWC West. Aztecs will recover from the tough loss to Nevada and will eke out a 20-19 win over Fresno, a struggling team. SDSU may need a pick six to get the win.
Sunbelt: Texas St  has been a bit of a surprise this year, and  Tyler Vitt , who tossed for 373 yards and three touchdowns last week against USA, will lead them to a 27-25 a win over Troy to even their conference record at 3-3.

nov 14

I was close on Bester's stat line. 9 carries , 85 yards , 2TDS.  Gabbert tossed three TDS in Miami O's 44-3 rout of Bowling Green . Red Hawks are a game and a half up on Buffalo in the MAC East.

nov15

 LA Tech Rumors are true: Starting quarterback J'Mar Smith, wide receiver Adrian Hardy and outside linebacker James Jackson have been suspended for the Marshall game due to an athletic department policy violation. Smith and Hardy will also sit out the UAB game. What a complete meltdown by Buffalo (AAC) last night- blew a 27-10 lead in three minutes, then lost 30-27 on a game ending FG .

Nov 16

  #herd were in trouble when they decided against a FG attempt on fourth down in the second quarter and ran some goofy play in an odd formation that failed, but they roared back behind Green and Knox for the 31-10 win over La Tech. SDST didn't need much O  in it's 17-7 win over Fresno St and took a 1.5 game lead over Hawaii in the MWC West..

Nov 18

I won my first three picks  but lost on Tulane  and TXST to finish the weekend. Temple D-Line made life tough for McMillan plus the Green Wave play calling was sketchy on a 29-21 loss to Temple.
  Kaleb Barke (30-43, 363 YDS, 6 TD) led Troy to a 63-27 win over TXST

WAC hoops 2019/20 hunches

A little twist on this season's prognostications. Who's the next #PascalSiakham,  former #NMST player and budding NBA star with the Toronto Raptors. It's #MilanAcquaah  of California Baptist.
NM State:  Jabari Rice may be  the scorer the Aggies need to repeat as WAC champ.
Grand Canyon: Majerle's kids went the trey way  in a bruising loss to Illinois (B10). Isiah Brown  Jovan Blacksher Jr are players to watch.
California Baptist: #MilanAcquaah , a guard who's been averaging nearly 20 PPg and doing a solid dishing assists and grabbing rebounds, will lead the Lancers closer to the top of the WAC.
Utah Valley- Is Havsa, the guard from Turkey, a potential solid guard who can assist and rebound?
Seattle U:  Terrell Brown is the Redhawk to watch this season
CSU Bakersfield: DeMonte Buckingham is  far way from his  hometown of Richmond VA, but he'll be a major factor in the Roadrunners' on-going improvement improvement.
UT Rio Grande Valley- Tyson Smith and Terry Winn III are Vacqueros  worth watching.
UM Kansas City: McKissic remains the key player
Chicago State:  Cougars won't get out of the basemnt this season but  Xavier Johnson  opened the season scoring 37 points in a win against a non 1A team
Nov 13: Cal Baptist hung  with Texas most of last night before losing 67-54  MILAN ACQUAAH (17pts, 7 reb , 3 assists)
Dec 15: Cal Baptist has the best OOC record among WAC teams and UVU , the worst. I don't catch many televised WAC games but did get to UTRGV lose to Creighton 89-58 the other night.

dec 22

 Quinton Johnson II led the UTRGV Vaqueros (4-8) with 17 points and seven rebounds in a 69-59 loss to Texas Tech, who madeit to the final game of the Dance last season.

dec 25

 Terrell Brown had 17 points, eight assists and four steals in a 79-57  Seattle win over Long Beach St(BIG West). Redhawks needed this win to shake off a rough OOC December heading into WAC play.

 dec 29

Seattle turned around and gets crushed by St Mary's 80-58.  I'm getting an education on school names from the WAC OOC schedule. Cal Baptist beat Ottawa University Arizona 92-75, and UVU beat Antelope Valley 80-65.

dec 30

 Back to more recognizable names: CS Bakersfield was within 3 points (44-41) of Texas Tech with 12:54 left but lost 73-58 last night.

jan 3, 2020

WAC play is underway and nothing changes for Chicago St who lost Utah Valley. UMKC beat Seattle, and  #brandonboyd (25 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST ) led Cal Baptist to a 76-67 victory of UTRGV.

jan 12

 Brandon Boyd had 16 points as Cal Baptist edged past Grand Canyon 61-57  and trail NMST, who barely beat UMKC last night, by a half a game in the WAC. In other games Seattle beat UVU and UTRGV beat Chicago St.

jan 17

Grand Canyon beat Chicago St 78-64, but either they're low on talent or Chicago St is improving.  Rajeir Jones scored 19 points in the Cougars' loss. NMST(4-0) beat UVU to stay a game up on idle Cal Baptist(3-1) and Seattle (3-1) who beat UTGRV. Bakersfield beat UMKC.

jan 27 

Franck Kamgain registered 16 points and six rebounds for UMKC in a win over Cal Baptist(4-2) who fell two games behind NMST (6-0) , a winner over UTRGV yesterday.

 jan 30

 #De'jonDavis tallied 19 points and 17 rebounds for Cal Baptist in a win over UVU. Big win that keeps them 2GB of NMST .

feb 2

 Milan Acquaah had 18 points and eight assists as Cal Baptist defeated Seattle 72-65 to remain 2GB of NMST, a winner over Grand Canyon, in the WAC. UMKC beat Chicago St. UTRGV beat Bakersfield.

feb 9

Cal Baptist's(7-3) comeback  against an improving Grand Canyon(5-4) squad fell short in 103-98 loss . NMST(10-0) remained undefeated in WAC play witha 67-61 win over UMKC, Seattle(5-4) beat UVU(3-6). Chicago St(0-10) got closer to it's first conference win in a long time, but Lesley Varner II made 4 of 5 treys and 9 of 10 free throws to score 23 points for UTRGV(5-5) in a comeback 75-64 win.

feb 15

Coach Majerlie has Grand Canyon getting into gear for a late season run . They beat UMKC 71-66 to move to 6-4 in WAC play but NMST beat Seattle to move to 11-0. Second place Cal Baptist (7-3) played an OOC game against Westcliff.  UTRGV beat UVU and  Bakersfield beat Chicago St.

feb 21

Seattle(6-6) put the brakes on Grand Canyon's(7-5) recent run with a 95-89 win. Terrell Brown SEA - G(31 PTS, 6 REB, 10 AST) had a big night. UVU(4-8) beat Bakersfield (5-7). NMST (12-0) has 4.5 games lead on second place Cal Baptist(7-4).

feb 23

Yes, Chicago St is a bad team but  they were handed one of their worst defeats this season by Cal Baptist who hit 18 treys in a 95-53 victory. NMSt beat remained undefeated in WAC play with a win over UTRGV. Seattle continued to improve with a win over Bakersfield, while Grand Canyon lost to UVU.

feb 27

 Milan Acquaah scored 24 points and De'Jon Davis added a double-double for California Baptist(20-8, 9-4 WAC) in a 73-66 win over UVU

March 1

 De'jon Davis scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Milan Acquaah added 27 points  for Cal Baptist(10-4) in a narrow win over Seattle. UMKC crushed Chicago St and UTRGV beat Grand Canyon.

mARCH 4

i THINK Chicago St men's hoops may be working its way out of the WAC and 1A hoops  the men's team would not travel to Seattle or Utah Valley for WAC games  this week, and the woman's team won't be hosting the same teams . And also may not attend the WACT. tHE REASON: coronavirus . No response yet from the WAC.

March 6

  Wow, Cal Baptist got a taste of the big dog. NMST 83 CB 50. UMKC beat UVU

March 13

 Tarleton St near Dallas TX, and Dixie St  in Utah are joining the WAC in 2020.
 CAL St Bakersfield is leaving the WAC for the Big West.  UMKC is leaving for the Summit League which leaves Chicago St, the lone member from the Midwest section of the USA. All of these moves were scheduled a few years ago.

March 17

Jerry Colangelo, Grand Canyon strategic advisor,said this after the school  fired Dan Majerle  "GCU has become a premier mid-major basketball destination with its resources, facilities, and student and community support." Just a bit of overhype. So much for Phoenix Suns alumni hanging tough.

March 28

Looking back to 1962:  The WAC’s  original six-team league: Arizona, Arizona State, Brigham Young, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. AZ and ASU exited the Pac 10 in 1978. 

March 31

look who's back: Tarleton St who's moving to 1A and the WAC hired #BillyGillispie , who had decent stints at the first two schools: UTEP, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech. He 's been a coaching at Ranger College, a community college in TX, since 2015.

may 7 2020

  I was kind of surprised Chris Jans, the NMST HC, considered replacing Forbes, who took the Wake Forest job, at E Tenn St (Southern Conference). At best it would've been a lateral move with maybe a few more $$$$. ETSU elevated Shay an asst to the HC job.

may 20, 2020 

#WAC hoops stays in the off-season spotlight. Dan Majerle, ex GC HC,  is suing Grand Canyon for waging a campaign to disparage him as part of its effort to avoid its severance obligation. He was replaced by  former Valparaiso and Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew.

May 26, 2020

#terrellbrown (PTS 20.7  REB 6.2 AST 4.9 last season), a native of Seattle , used the grad transfer portal and left Seattle U for Arizona.

July 10, 2020

Is hiring ex NBAers to be  college head coaches a growing trend?  Mark Madsen had a rough season(11-18, 5-11) at UVU(WAC) replacing Mark Pope who went 24-8 at BYU(WCC) and was probably going to get the Cougars to a No. 6 or No. 7 seed.

dec 10, 2020

 #BillyGillispie , who had decent stints at the first two schools: UTEP, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech has  Tarleton (WAC) off to a 2-2 start including battling Texas A&M hard before falling 73-66.e slated to play Kansas on Dec 13.

Week 11- Late on MAC the n the rest of the O5

Two Tuesday night games with Toledo edging Kent St and WMU edging Ball St leaves me with one game to guess on. I'll go with O'Rourke and the Bobcats at home 28-27 tonight over Miami (Ohio) in a battle for 1st in MAC East.
AAC: ECU is a team on the rise and gave Cincy a scare last week, but will fall by 8   at SMU. Buechele will toss 3 td passes.
CUSA: It's always tough traveling to west Texas for road games , but Charlotte, led by Lemay's solid running will edge UTEP 24 -22.
MWC: Aerial fireworks with Hawaii coming out on top  51-44. McDonald (HAW) and Love (SJSU) will combine for 1K in passing yards..
Sunbelt:  Georgia St needs this one badly to stay in the race in the East but I don't think they'll contain ULM QB Caleb Evans. ULM 37 Ga State 30.

Nov 7

Close score but I picked the wrong team . ORourke had a so-so game for Ohio and #SamSloman hit a 53-yard field goal with 3:48 to play to give Miami O  a 24-21 win and the lead in the MAC East.

Nov 9

 I didn't pick this game: I watched the final 25 minutes of the Tulsa 37-34 upset of UCF. UCF crumbled. Twelve men on the field penalty with a chance to get the ball back in the final minute.

Nov 10

Too bad I didn't put $$$$ on my other 4 picks.
SMU survived a 59-51 shootout with ECU and the same for Hawaii holding off SJSU. Evans (ULM) was too much for Georgia St, and  Chris Reynolds (24-35, 354 YDS, 2 TD ) led Charlotte  back on the road at UTEP  28-21. Charlotte (5-5) is closing in on a bowl bid.
Special mention for #wku (CUSA) rocking Arkansas (SEC) and App St beating South Carolina (SEC)

April 12, 2020

This kid must be be great. #BrandonCouncil, an OL grad transfer from Akron(MAC) commits to Auburn over Baylor and  Missouri. LSU and USC were also interested.

April 15

 Other 5(Group of Five) asks the NCAA to waive the minimum football attendance requirements and the requirement for a minimum of 16 varsity athletic teams.

May 5, 2020

 Ohio(MAC) quarterback Nathan Rourke was selected with the by the BC Lions with the 15th pick of the CFL draft. Rourke was born in Victoria, British Columbia.

May 14, 2020

 East Carolina gets second SEC transfer in less than a week. Arkansas RB Chase Hayden. On May 7 it was Alabama cornerback Nigel Knott.

May 17, 2020

   Dan Ellington,  the GA St starting QB for the past two years, is now on its coaching staff. That was quick!

Aug 13, 2023

Back from Canada: Nathan Rourke(OhioU) got some playing time and scores last night for the Jags in a pre-season win over Dallas.

Week 10 Five pack-Other 5

Sunbelt: Georgia Southern has a solid running game and has played well lately but App St behind the passing of Zac Thomas and the running of D. Evans will pull off a 27-23 victory.
AAC: SMU Mustangs travel to Memphis . Can the Mustangs  contain the passing of Brady White or will they suffer their first loss? Memphis D isn't much better. Buechele will outduel White in a 40-39 SMU win.
CUSA: The passing of Reynolds and the running of Lemay have made Charlotte competitive and they 'll give MTSU a good game but fall 30-28
MAC: Slim schedule: Harbison has solid running game for NIU in a road win at C.Michigan.
MWC: Patrick Obrien will lead the  resurgent Colorado St  Rams  to a 40 26 win over the  fading UNLV Rebels. UNLV has struggled since upsetting Vandy

Nov 1

One game , one pick wrong.  Ga Southern's option attack was decent in the first half then got two touchdown runs of 68 and 55 yards from #wesleykennedy  in the third quarter to give them a 24-7 lead. GS 24 AppSt 21.

Nov 3

Wrong on SMU  NIU
Buechele and White each tossed three TDs  in a wild game in which Memphis survived a late SMU rally for a 54-48 win.
CMU had too much O for NIU . Ward and Lewis rushed 281 yards for CMU in a 48-10 win
Correct on  Colorado St and Charlotte
# AnthonyHawkins returned  the opening kickoff for 99 yard touchdown for CSU who went on to a 37-10 win over UNLV.

The rushing duo of C. Lewis(104 yards 2TD) and A.McAlister (103 yards  1TD) led Charlotte to a 34-20 win over MTSU

Week 9 Nickel's worth on Independents

Liberty @ Rutgers (B10). Flames QB, #stephencalvert is having a solid year and will lead Liberty to a 22-19 win over  the Scarlet Knights who've been blanked three times this season.
Army will re-group at home and survive an improved  San Jose St(MWC) squad that upset Arkansas earlier this season. Hopkins will toss a TD pass for Army and lead a strong rushing  attack  in 24 -23  narrow win over the Spartans, who will get two passing TDs from  Josh Love.
I miss New Mexico St playing in the Sunbelt.  Aggies RB Jason Huntley has a nose for the end zone,  but Georgia Southern(Sunbelt) will control the clock and win 20-16.
UMass # Connecticut (AAC): Can either D stop anyone? Minutemen fade at the end to the Huskies 33-31.
#NotreDame visits the Big House. Is it time to realize that Harbaugh 's  O is lacking or believe Book and the Irish boys are the real deal . Charbonnet spills in to the end zone twice and UM win 27 -26.

Oct 27

3-2 for the week. Theme of the days was yards per carry. Two incorrect picks:  Liberty got off to a fast start but flamed out . Johnny Langan(21 CAR, 118 YDS, 1 TD) for Rutgers in its 44-34 win.
Army couldn't keep pace with Josh Love's three passing  TDS and lost 34-29.
I was correct on the outcomes but not the path in these three games. NMST scored first and then got run over 41-7 by Georgia Southern. #wesleykennedy of GA Southern : 6 carries 143 yards 2TDs.
Mich 45 ND 14:  Haskins of Michigan- 20 CAR, 149 YDS
UConn 56-UMass 35:  Mensah of Uconn-: 19 CAR, 164 YDS, 5 TD 

May 17, 2020

 #Army scheduled future home-and-home series with Troy(Sunbelt) and  UTSA (CUSA). Army has never faced Troy , and they beat UTSA last season.

May 28, 2020

I read this: Ex-Georgia WR Josh Moran transfers to New Mexico St, then i read further and found that he was a scout team player who never saw game action. He should get some game action for the Aggies.