2017 MWC football snap hunches

MOUNTAIN

Wyoming- Josh Allen tosses the Cowboys to another division title.

Boise St.- Coach Harsin will need an instant upgrade on D

Colorado St.- Stevens to Gallop and pray for some D

Air Force- That ground attack keeps them competitive

New Mexico- Lobos went bowling last season and will need some D miracles to do it again

Utah St-Ags open with Wisky and may not recover..

WEST

San Diego St.- Coach Long's Aztecs D will power them to the division title.

UNLV- Armani to Keys suits the Rebs fine

Fresno St- Coach Tedford  wants to get back to the power 5- look for better Bulldogs' football

Hawaii-#drubrown and the O can score but Warriors secondary is porous.

Nevada- Look for Bama transfer #davidcornwell to do a decent job at QB

San Jose St.-Spartans OL is bad

Must see games: #sandiegost @ #unlv on Oct 7, #wyoming @ #boisest on Oct 21

Aug 14,2017

Three Aztecs football players have chickenpox. #sandiegost needs  to play contain .:wink:.

2017 Sunbelt football hunches

SUN BELT teams play alot of Power 5 conference matchup in the first three weeks.

App. St. doesn't have to face Troy and Ark St this season. Rushing duo of Upshaw/Moore is one of the keys.
Arkansas St: Ja’Von Rolland-Jones leads a strong D. Big conference  game @ Troy  and @south bama
Troy opens  If QB #justicehansen has good opener@ #BoiseST , then Sunbelt beware
South Alabama: Decent D and #dallasdavis at QB
Ga. Southern: More Statesboro blues
Georgia State hopes the rivalry game with GSU isn't a cellar-dweller battle.
La.-Monroe- look for QB #garrettsmith to rally the Warhawks
New Mexico St.: A healthy Larry Rose should help the Ags  stay in the middle of the pack.
Texas State: Lot of hype for #damianwillians
UL Lafayette- Need to replace a lot of starters
Coastal Carolina- Likely a rough Sunbelt delay- #austinwilson a QB transfer from Syracuse, has  a rough gig.
Idaho Vandals will slide out of 1A ball

Aug 22: Hey national media is paying attention to the O5:  SI.com ran a profile of #ArkSt DB  #BlaiseTaylor this week for his athletic and academic prowess.

2017 CUSA football snap hunches

Weak #CUSAEast and room for regime change in #CUSAWest
Ganes to watch: Oct 7 #usm /#utsa . Nov 18 #fau /#fiu  Nov 25 #utsa /#louisianatech


EAST
W. Kentucky-  A ton of changes but the East appears weak
M. Tenn. St.- If Stocksill stays healthy , they topple #wku.
Old Dominion- Monarchs slide back a little
FIU-Butch Davis will rile these lads up
FAU- Kiffin has ex FSU QB Singletary
Marshall- #herd lines need shoring up
Charlotte- 49ers need to find a little gold.

WEST
Louisiana Tech- Holtz' guys should prevail but #utsa may turn the tables this season
UTSA- Solid recruiting will finally reap some rewards
Southern Miss- Consistency ?????
North Texas- #meangreen did go bowling last season-keep your eyes on them
UTEP opens at #oklahoma- brutal
Rice- new logo
UAB- slow recovery from no football in two years

Aug 17, 2017 : #DaltonSturm - #utsa is betting a lot on his improvement. just six interceptions over his 13 starts last season.
Aug 25, 2017:#kiffin  hired #briles son, and #butchdavis wants #jimmyjohnson to visit his squad. #FAU and #FIU are getting plenty of ink

2017 AAC football snap hunches

The pre-season #AAC division favorites , #usf , #memphis do not match up during the regular season, but Memphis visits #UCF on Sept 9. I'm intrigued by two matchups on Sept 30. #navy visits #tulsa and a cool regional matchup as #marshall (CUSA) goes to #cincy. #navy and #temple face #notredame this season

EAST
South Florida- Coach Strong will attempt to recover his rep after un- hooking the Horns in Texas. QB #quintonflowers is  a star  but the D needs help.
UCF has enough O to cover D deficiencies
Cincinnati- Fickel moves the Bearcats up a notch
Temple will miss Rhule. Boo birds will be out in Philly.
East Carolina-Where's the D?
Connecticut The edsal is back
WEST
Memphis- Nice squad returning , particularly on O.
Navy- Never under-estimate the lads from Annapolis.
Tulsa Hurricanes aren't so golden on O
Houston- Going to miss Herman big time
Tulane- Green Wave crest a little
SMU- Can Coach Morris keep the Mustang opponents under 30 points a game?

Aug 20: #cincy hasn't played one game for #Fickel and the Joining the #big12 winds are whirling. Chill folks!

Early O5 jabs for 2017 football season

Sometimes, colleges need to heed the warning signs: #KevinOlsen began his career with Miami was suspended three times  and transferrred Towson (1AA) then to #charlotte (CUSA) and is now facing indictments on three counts of rape, and other charges.
#UAB returns to #Cusa play after two year hiatus
#AAC wants to make themselves known as part of the Power 6. Losing coaches to the O5 won't help. Ask Temple, Memphis, and Houston
#MWC football. Lotta love out there for Colorado St. Has any 1A school fallen faster than Fresno St?
June 10 notes: 11/18/17 Football at #FenwayPark #Uconn of the AAC  @ BC. Regional rivalry in its infancy.  Boston College  holds the all-time series lead 11-0-2.Game willbe televisedon CBSSN.
June 11 #AAC 2017 season notes:Interesting out of conference games-  #memphis visits #ucla, temple and #navy each visit #notredame, #smu visits #tcu, #ecu travels to #westvirginia and #virginiatech.. Can #newmexico win the MWC after losing nine startewrs on D?
June 14: #wku  lost Coach Brohn to #Purdue. The Hilltoppers toughest OOC matchup is probably Illinois. Coach Sanford has a strong  offensive mind and a #wku background. The transition shouldn't be too painful. Also look for big strides from #utsa.
June 16: #Sunbelt week 1 OOC play #appst visits #georgia , #arkst goes to #nebraska, #georgiasouthern goes to #auburn. I don't see an upset brewing, but maybe #troy gives #boisest a tough game.
June 17: Here's a week 1 matchup #wyoming (MWC) led by QB #joshallen  visit #iowa (big ten) and its big time rushing attack. Iowa won both games played between the teams . Iowa won 21-7 in Iowa City in 1953, and eked out a 20-19 Holiday Bowl  in 1987.

June 19

#MAC teams face some powerhouses in week 1: #WesternMichigan at USC ,  #Akron at Penn State, Kent State at Clemson. Then in a  a more competitve OOC matchup #miamiohio visits the Marshall #herd

June 21

#CUSA : Can ex-Fresno State Bulldog QB,  Zack#Greenlee displace #RyanMetz’sas #utep starting QB ?

june 24

 Kansas State receiver # CoreySutton, a native of Charlotte, NC,  plans to transfer to #AppState, but still has to sit out the 2017 season.

june 27

#tulsa, was 10-3 in 2016 and won its bowl game but  opens at #okst in aninteresting intrastate matchup. On paper it looks like a high scoring Tulsa loss. Oklahoma State leads in the series, 40–27–5

july 3

#wmu still has a solid rushing attack,Jarvion Franklin and LaVante Bellamy , but #toledo led by QB #woodside may take the MACW. #niu will return to the pack.

July 4

  MAC flash : #davidmcmichael, #kent st special teams coach suddenly  retired on June 30

july 7

#CUSA news: #MTSU has an excellent QB #stocksill, but can hiring former Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer as DC improve their D.

july 9

 Can #LukeFickell, new Cincy HC and former Buckeyes' DC,  go .500 in the #AAC this season?

july 10

and this year #Hawaii  #MWC has to travel #Umass. That's some serious travel.

july 12

Big question for #ecu is defense. Will they find any?

July 15

Working toward my other 5 predictions, I don't see any O5 team crashiing the power 5 party on New Years Day.  No #western michigan meeting Wisky 1/1/16, or #houston beating #fsu on 1/1/17

july17

MAC kicking game:  Punter  Joe Davidson, Sr. @  #Bowling Green has averaged 44.5 yards a punt..He's 6'7 234lbs

july 18

Checking in with the Aztecs! Is #RashaadPenny the man who can replace #pumphrey (Philadelphia Eagles) in #sandiegost backfield. He's been a top notch kick returner for three seasons.

july 20

#newmexicost (going Independent) and #idaho (downgrading) were voted out of the Sunbelt  and will they  pay their Sunbelt opponents back on the field  this season. Maybe the possibility of joining the MWC will get NMST  in gear? Also see rumors that the MWCis looking at #UTEP of the #CUSA.

july 25

#mwc getting a lot of scheduling  interest. #vanderbit adds #unlv to a home  & home  list that includes #coloradost, #nevada, and #hawaii in the next eight years. This season Vandy plays two #cusa teams, #mtsu and #wku.     
#sdst Aztecs' current contract with Qualcomm Stadium - ends in 2019. and they may have to move to Petco Park, Negotiations are on-going

july 28

#SOUTHFLORIDA  @ #SANJOSESTATE  AAC vs MWC in an Aug 26 matchup w/o much of a history.

aug 1

Can #troy of the Sunbelt pull off a mild upset @#boisest in week 1 ?

.

O5 NIT

#uta plays at #byu- #hervey and crew upset  the Cougars
#fresnost at #tcu- Fresno has been playing better, but TCU beat Kansas last week.
#akron at #houston - Toss up. Zips just missed the Dance. Houston is erratic
#ucf hosts #Colorado- Buffs have a solid guard #derekwhite. UCF has been playing well led by the backcourt duo of B.J. Taylor and Matt Williams.

March 16

Maybe I should 've picked an NIT bracket?
Called the @uta 105 upset of #byu 89. Big game for D Charles
Fresno fell. akron survived Houston
B Taylor led #ucf over Colorado
And on March 14 both#MWC teams won.  #coloradost  beat Charleston. Nice night for Clavell. C. Hutchison BOISE (34 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST) beat Utah.
UCF faces Illinois St next. Boise vs Illinois. Colordo St/Bakersfield Akron /UTA

March 20

Illinois State vs. UCF (AAC), 7 p.m..#bjtaylor will keep the suprising UCF late season run going.

Texas-Arlington (Sunbelt) vs. Akron (MAC), 8 p.m. Look for #hervey to come big for #uta

Boise State(MWC) vs. Illinois, 9 p.m. Hutchinson will play well but #boise loses a close on on #Illinois home court


CS Bakersfield vs. Colorado State (MWC), 11 p.m. #Omogobo and the Rams will take advantage of home court and win by 7

March 21

Great comeback by #UCF. Coach #johnnydawkins did a great job and how about B.J. Taylor  22 points,including a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left .
Texas-Arlington handled Akron with a solid game from Erick Neal (13 PTS, 4 REB, 9 AST)
#boisest fell to Illinois, but got a good effort from Chandler Hutchison (17 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST).
I was wrong on #csu as #csb handled the Rams easily.
Next rd: #ucf vs #illinois and #uta vs Bakersfield

March 23

UCF (AAC) had a great first half and held off beat Illinois  to be the only O5 team to advance.
#hervey and #neal lead the Mavs on a second half comeback, but #UTA fell to CS Bakersfield.
UCF faces TCU  and will need another strong game from BJ Taylor.  CSB faces Georgia Tech.

March 29

#ucf, the last O5 team in the NIT, lost to #TCU. UCF had a two point lead at halftime but had a poor shooting second half and lost  by 15. Matt Williams led the UCF with 15 points.  TCU faces Georgia Tech , a winner over #ucsb, in the final.

April 11, 2017

#MWC:  After 18 season  at #sdsu , #stevefisher  retired and by his long time assistant #briandutcher was promoted. Perhaps his recruitment of Kawhi Leonard explains his success at #sdsu. The big programs thought he was "tweener". "We said, ‘This kid could be a nightmare for the opposition.’”
#AAC: The Lawson brothers are transferring from #memphis to #kansas. Former Memphis Coach Pasternak made their dad an asst coach , but Tubby Smith  moved him to a non-coaching role.

April 12

More MWC coaching news. #NewMexico has hired Paul Weir, who spent eleven season at #newmexicost, ten as an assistant, and last year as head coach he took the Aggies to the Dance.. This should make future intrastate battles more interesting.

O5 baseball 2017 quick peeks

Conference play starts in abut ten days except for the MWC which is led by #newmexico at 3-0 and scored 59 runs in its three game sweep of Air Force
Sunbelt- Reigning national champ #coastalcarolina opens its debut Sunbelt season at #TXst. #kevinwoodall and pitcher #alexcunningham are off to nice starts for the Chanticleers.
AAC: #usf and #ucf are off to strong starts. #ecu woke up
CUSA- Louisiana tech knocked off #MissSt which is a good sign.
MAC- #ohio is doing okay C. #Ibarra looks decent.
Definitely could use baseball bloggers on these O5 conferences: AAC CUSA MAC MWC SUNBELT
NCAA Other 5 Conferences

March 12

AAC- USF  14-1 before conference play while Tulane is a disappointing 3-11.
CUSA: Lousiana Tech (13-1) remians hot
MAC: #kentst has been improving
MWC: How about those Lobos (13-5) and 5-0 in conference play.
SunBelt: #coastalcarolina is 11-7 and may have tough road to repeating as national champs

March 22

#ULL 11-7 (2-1 Sun Belt)  is in the top 25. Pinero, Edwards, and Abbott are batting above .300. Gruner and Lee are each 4-1.
#rice (CUSA) is having a terrible season

March 26

#cajuns are crumbling- lost five of their last eight games including yesterday's loss to #troy.  #AustinCrook struck out 14 ULL batters, tossed 158 pitches, and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits and five walks over 8.2 innings,  

Crook is 4-0, 2.15 in four starts.

March 27

ODU (19-4, 5-0) has won nine straight. #Bainbridge (5-1) lowered his ERA to 1.62 in the #odu win over #utsa yesterday. Three way tie at 5-1 in the CUSA Standings . #fau , #odu , #usm

April 2

Southern Miss 7-1 has won five straight including two over #wku
Florida Atlantic 6-2 need to beat Rice today today to in the series

Old Dominion         6-2  need to beat Charlotte today to win the series
In the Sunbelt #ULL gets most of the ink but #txst  is up by half of a game. keep your eyes on Bobcats outfielder #DerekScheible

April 8

What kind of squad will #wichitast bring to the AAC in 2017?  some Mid season stars at blog
OF #MattWallner, Southern Miss 333avg 9HR 24rbi 2sb
RP#Nate Harris, Louisiana Tech 3-0 0.76ERA  seven saves

April 12

#houston demoted then suspended ace lefthander #SethRomero, a possible round 1 pick in the MLB draft,  and then swept #ecu in #AAC play . No specific reasons were given for Romero's suspension.

April 13

Time to focus on the MAC. #cmu is 6-0 in conference play. #danieljipping is one of the reasons 5HR, 29RBI, .294avg

April 16

CUSA focus. #USM and #FAU are 11-3 and tied for first , one game up on #odu. TJ Nichting of #charlotte is one the top offensive players with 4HR, 31RBI, 9SB, & a  .390avg.. Nate Harris of La Tech  is 4-0 with 8 saves and a .60 ERA

April 20

#charlotte (CUSA)  upset Wake Forest . How about #tjnichting
#southalabama (SunBelt) ,  with a strong start from #seantrimble ,  upset Miss St.  UT Arlington (sunbelt) beat Texas A&M

April 22

#coastalcarolina has recovered from a slow March and sits atop the Sunbelt East
#newmexico and #sandiegost in a two team race for the #mwc title.
 on the rise: #Fau #tulane

April 25

#cmu remains atop the #mac west and will face #kentst , the leader the in the East, this weekend.
#joeymurray has beeen stellar for Kent St. Five wins , 66ks , 2.40 ERA.

April 27

Does this catcher have an MLB future  Travis Watkins #EastCarolina .324avg, 5 HR, 32 RBI
O5 upsets the SEC. #tulane beat LSU and #troy beat Auburn

April 30

#tjnichting of #charlotte leads the #cusa in batting avg  (.406)  slugging avg  (.689) and runs scored .(49) and Hits (71). #finfer of the #herd leads in HR (13) and Total bases (106)

May 4

MAC Leaders Kent St (East) Central Michigan (West)
BRETTELL, Michael, CMU.....    6 Wins
ROEHN, Jake, OHIO..........   10 saves

BURCH, Luke, Kent St  .384 AVG

ALLISON, Tanner, WMU.......   55 RBIs

ROBINSON, Daniel, CMU......   19 stolen bases

May 5

Flash on the SunBelt: #connorleonard ,  #appst  1B, has improved his batting average from .156 to .224 . He had 14 hits and two multi-hit games in his first 32 appearances this season but turned it around with  16 hits and five multi-hit games in his last 11 games.

May 7

#usf and #houston   are tied for first in the AAC. Houston:  #jakescheiner 13 hr, 42 rbis .363 AVG and #treyCUMBIE ,   2.61 era   6-1. #ryanVALDES #USF  2.70era   9-0

may9

#sunbelt: Hardy Dylan is batting .349 for #southbama  which tops the East.  #uta tops the West.. Trae Peterson is 6-3 for UTA.

may 13

#usm (21-5) can  clinch the #cusa regular season with a win over #uab  today. #odu (17-9) crushed #fiu 21-1 last night to stay in the race another day . Four CUSA games left.
#AAC is tight
UCF 13-7  #fau (1)  then three against #usf
Houston 13-7 #tulane (1)then three against Cincy
USF         13-8  three against #ucf
UConn 12-9 three against #ecu

may 17

Three way tie with #usf,  #houston, #ucf at 13-8
#usm captures #cusa regular season title
#coastalcarolina is within a half game of #southalabama in the Sunbelt East

may 20 2017

Yes, #USM is a scorching team and the 1seed in CUSAT, but props to #odu for clinching the 2 seed. #TurnerBishop hit a tying three-run homer in the ninth inning and #JaredYoung hit the go-ahead RBI single in the Monarchs comeback win over #fau.
#MWC: #sandiegost has turned its season around and will likely clinch the regular season title.
MWC leaders
Adam Groesbeck Air Force .411avg
Brett Seeburger San Diego State 9 wins

May 23, 2017

Cheers to the MWC, who gives the highest seed host status for the conference tournament.

May 25

Wild one in AACT: #memphis edged Cincy 15-14. They combined for 29 runs on 32 hits and neither team committed an error in the game.
#coastalcarolina  is the # seed- quite a climb from the middle of the pack in their first #sunbelt season.

may 29, 2017

At Large  bids will be announced today,but these teams are in.

AAC - Houston
CUSA- Rice
MAC-Ohio
MWC  San Diego St
SunBelt- South Alabama
______________________
Special props to UMBC (America East), my alma mater for qualifying.

May 30

At O5 large bids
AAC- UCF and USF
CUSA- Southern Miss
#coastalcarolina goes from national champ to no invitation, SunBelt sting.

June 3

How about #southalabama  beating #mississippist . props to  #TravisSwaggerty of #usa  on the three-run homer
June 4
Tough day for three. O5 teams:  #ohio (MAC) pounded by the Hoosiers.. #UCF (CUSA) lost to Florida St  #usf (AAC) lost to florida  However three other O5 teams won.. #houston (AAC) crushed 17-3,  #rice (CUSA)  beat texas southern 13-6, #sandiegost (MWC)  edged #Ucla 3-2.
june 6
All o5 teams eliminated.

june 30

props to #houston of the #aac and #southernmiss #cusa for making the top 25 in most post season baseball polls.

july 21 

Just thought I'd mention some  #mwc players shining in the #MLB
#Aaron Judge, New York Yankees Fresno State
#StephenStrasburg, Washington Nationals San Diego State
and #JoshHarrison, Pittsburgh Pirates Cincinnati of the #AAC

May 26, 2020

 The first College World Series  was played in 1947 at Hyames Field on the campus of Western Michigan University(now in the MAC) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Mississippi River was the dividing line between  the eight teams competing in the Eastern and Western Playoff. The Eastern Playoff featured Clemson, Illinois, #NYU and Yale, while the Western Playoff included California, Denver, Oklahoma and Texas.
Denver U baseball is played at the club level and NYU is moving  up from club level  to D3

George Bush Sr was on the Yale team that lost to Cal in 1947 CWS championship final.