CUSA 2018 football predictions

EAST
Florida Atlantic- Kiffin  is looking for a Power 5 job ,and  former Nole  De Andre Johnson may be a his key.
Marshall's D held opponent under 20 PPG and returns nine starters  but #herd fans can only hope Doc has a cures for the O's woes.
Middle Tennessee: All rest on QB Stocksill if they can run with the big dogs in the East.
Florida Intl: Butch Davis has a lot of holes to fill, but the Panthers will be a tough foe  by the middle of October.
Old Dominion Monarchs- Wilder is a decent HC, but I'm not sold on the Monarchs' talent.
Charlotte has eleven D starters returning.
Western Kentucky- Year 2 w/o Coach Brohm and more holes to fill.
WEST

UAB's solid QB Erdely and a stellar rushing attack will lead the Blazers to the West title.
Louisiana Tech has a solid D and big hopes for QB J'Mar Smith.
North Texas - Nice job in 2017 by Fine and the Mean Green lads, but you can bet the West will exploit NT's weak O-Line
UT San Antonio: Josiah Tauaefa returns to the D and the Roadrunners need him
Southern Mississippi has great talent but keeps getting stuck when trying to turn the corner
UTEP Miners' Rebuild continues with new HC Dimel.
Rice : Good luck new HC Bloomgren!

8/17/18

#USM senior QB #KwadraGriggs, who started seven games last season, was suspended indefinitely  Saturday for a "student conduct matter." It appears transfer Jack Abraham will get the  starting job.

8/23/18

#WKU will host Cincinnati on 9/20/25 and visit them  on 9/26/26. They've never matched up on the field espite being  about three hours apart.

8/27/2018

Going to be a long season for #rice . Jack Fox kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired to help Rice beat Prairie View

9/15/18

Glimmer of hope for the Cusa. #northtexas qb Fine led the Mean Green to romp over Arkansas.

9/26/18

Focusing on CUSA conference games. Love the #herd behind I Green at #wku. NTEX will be Fine hosting LA Tech. UAB handles Charlotte. #FAU will pull it out at end at #MTSU. UTSA gets by UTEP.
I don't trust ODU coming off the VA Tech win against ECU (AAC)

Sunbelt 2018 football predictions

SunBelt East
Appalachian State and Troy led the  Sun Belt in scoring defense last year and should keep these squads vying for the East slot in the Championship game. The Nov 24 matchup could decide who moves on.  Georgia State and  Georgia Southern tend to find their footing by mid season and could be bowl eligible. Maybe Marvin Sanders, the new DC at Coastal Carolina, makes a difference

West
 Arkansas State's  high-powered offense  led by quarterback Justice Hansen and a  strong receiving corps are the best bet for  the West title game slot. Caleb Evans, ULM QB , will keep the Warhawks  in contention. South Bama has highly touted freshman QB, Cephus Johnson. Keep your eyes on  Ishmael Davis DL, Texas State, for comeback player of the year.  ULL remains in rebuild mode.

Aug 18

Some early ESPN Sunbelt focus Friday, Sept. 14
Georgia State at Memphis  (AAC)   coverage-(ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNews)

Aug 30

In an article about the Sunbelt  which has twelve teams in most sport but only 10 football teams , I found this.   .  Texas-Arlington and Ark- Little Rock do not currently field football teams, though there has been some discussion about Little Rock reviving its long-dormant program.

Sept 2.

#appst knocked off Michigan on 9/1/07 when they were 1AA and took PennSt to the limit  yesterday 9/1/18 before falling 45-38 yesterday- He!! of a game. South Bama took La Tech  to the final minutes before falling 30-26. Meanwhile Ga St and  ULM barely survived 1AA opponents.

sept 6

Can #appst bounce back from the tough loss at #psu and beat #charlotte (CUSA) who barely survived Fordham. Yes Jalin Moore  will gain 100+ for APP in a win.
oct 10- #appst started out slow last night but Zac Thomas got threw 2 TDS and the D was solid in a 35-9 win over Ark St.

AAC 2018 FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS

American Athletic East Division
UCF Knights - Coach Heupel has QB Mckenzie which should get them back to the AAC title game but they won't  go undefeated.
South Florida Bulls - D should be solid but plenty of holes on offense
Cincinnati Bearcats- Geddis and Lewis are solid receivers and team reaches .500
Temple Owls finished strong in 2017 but will it carry over?
East Carolina Pirates Rebuild continues
Connecticut Huskies- The Edsels are stuck in neutral
West Division

Navy Midshipmen- Never underestimate the rushing attack
Memphis Tigers will miss QB Riley Ferguson but the team has a lot of talent
Tulsa Golden Hurricane RB #shamaribrooks will get a ton of work
Houston Cougars- Decent D with Ed Oliver anchoring the Line. but how fast can the O adjust to Briles, the new OC?
Tulane Green Wave isn't cresting yet.
SMU Mustangs- Coach Dykes is still in rebuild mode.

aug 22

Tony Pollard #memphis KR ,and  Ed Oliver #houston DL made the CBS  first team preseason All America squad.

aug 24

QB battle in #memphis ends with David Moore’s, last season's backup QB, decision to transfer, #BradyWhite a graduate transfer from Arizona State, will open the 2018 season as the Tigers’ starting quarterback.

aug 28

QB Justin McMillan , the former LSU signal-caller,  was added to the Tulane roster over the weekend for this upcoming season as a graduate transfer.
He is one of the rare grad transfers with two years of eligibility left to use and will likely be a backup in 2018 behind Jonathan Bank

aug 31

The Huskies' "Edsel" runs out of gas again.5 TDs for #mckenzie  #UCF 56 UConn 17

sept 2

Rough weekend for the AAC: Temple lost to 1AA Villanova. Navy lost to Hawaii. #SMU got crushed by North Texas Houston started their game against Rice in a coma but woke up to roll the Owls 45-27. Tulane hung with Wake Forest but fell 23-17. Big time road win for the Cincy Bearcats over #UCLA  . Props to the Bearcats RB,  Michael Warren II  35 CAR, 142 YDS, 3 TD

sept 8,2018

#ECU brass started  the long kiss goodbye by giving  statements of support for #ScottieMontgomery after the loss to NC A&T, an FCS team

sept 21, 2018

#temple beat MD last week and  scored two DTDs in a win overTulsa 31-17 last night. The Owls have made a nice turnaround after opening the season with losses to Villanova (1AA) and Buffalo (MAC).

sept 29, 2018

#Tulane Green Wave rushing attack  led by (D Bradwell 143 yards, two TDs) rolled Memphis last night . Nice recovery from the blowout loss to Ohio St last week.
oct 2-If neither team is playing in league title games, #ECU (AAC) and NC State  will square off Dec. 1 to make up for the Hurricane Florence cancellation.
oct 5-  Houston scored 24 points in the 4th quarter in a come from behind 41-26 win over #tulsa .

MAC 2018 Football predictions

East
Ohio  averaged 39.1 points a game last season and has a potent rushing attack led by A.J. Ouellette
Akron needs an improved D to repeat in the East
Buffalo will rely on Jackson to Johnson aerial show
Miami (Ohio)- Solid D but questions linger about the offense
Bowling Green St Yep, Carl Pelini is out of the shadows and running the D
Kent State -Another long season


West Division
Northern Illinois QB Childers takes the Huskies to the head of the pack
Central Michigan will rely on a solid D until the young offense gets into gear.
Toledo: Woodside's replacement at QB ?
Eastern Michigan- A lot rides on who replaces Roback at QB.
Western Michigan - Will a healthy Wassink return to form at QB?
Ball State  QB Riley Neal  and RB  James Gilbert  are healthy and will need stellar seasons  to improve a squad that averaged 17.9 points a game

sept 2

Rough weekend for #MAC football.  Ohio barely escapes Howard U (DC). Kent St was headed to a big win over Illnois until they were outscored 28-7 in the second half in aq 31-24 defeat. #wmu showed some fight scoring 35 in the 2nd half of a 455-42 loss to Cuse.  #bowlinggreen got stomped by Oregon Ducks 58-24. #Ragland threw for the 357 yards and 3 TDs in Miami of Ohio  35-28 home loss to #Marshall. #CMU went scoreless in the 2nd half of their 35-20 loss to Kentucky, #NIU scored once in the 4th quarter in a 33 -7 loss to Iowa, Buffalo, Toledo,  and EMU beat 1AA schools. Akron game was cancelled.

sept 7

#CMU , who was so-so against UK in a loss last week hosts #kansas who lost to 1A Nichols St last week. Maybe the #MAC beats a B12 team this week.

sept 9

Kansas had an easy day against CMU,  but how about #EMU  eking out a tough win over Purdue of the B10. In defeat Ball St hung tough with Notre Dame and NIU played a decent game against Utah of the Pac12.
Against the AAC: Miami O was shutout by Cincy , but Buffalo beat Temple.
WMU and Bowling Green were trounced by respectively , Michigan (B10) and MD (ACC).
Akron and Kent St won against their 1AA opponents.

oct 6 , 2018

Toledo may struggle  against BG if Guadagni isn't healty enough to play QB. Ohio is tricky and may trounce Kent St. Akron over Miami O. NIU over  Ball St. EMU over WMU.

Oct 7,2018

Some rusty picks yesterday , particularly underestimating Miami O with Ragland leading them to a 41-17 win over Akron. Wassink and WMU edged EMU.

MWC 2018 football predictions

MWC West

Fresno State-  HC Tedford may have found a home . QB Marcus McMaryion leads an exciting offense. The D is solid
Nevada QB Gangi turned the corner late last season. Solid receiving corps!
San Diego State- Solid D , solid rushing attack
UNLV Rebels' promises running thin? Is rushing tandem, Charles Williams and Lexington Thomas, going to get them a bowl ticket?
San Jose State 14 returning starters
Hawaii Nine returning starters

MWC Mountain

Utah State rides the love (QB Justin Love) train to the MWC title game
Boise State : Broncos are talented, but I'm not sold on Coach Harsin
Colorado State Coach Bobo has tuned up the O but can the Rams D step up?
New Mexico Lobo slide continues
Wyoming Replacing QB Josh Allen will be tough
Air Force  Limited passing game catches up with the Falcons.

Aug 6: Will the #sdst still be able to play at  SDCCU Stadium, the former home of the Chargers, after 2019? San Diego is trying to get more than the $1.1 million rent hike from the Aztecs for the 2020 season.
Aug 14- Meanwhile San Jose State moves Oct 13 home game in aging CEFCU stadium  vs. Army to Levi’s Stadium, home of the 49ers.
Aug 25 - Just rolling my eyes that this intrastate rivalry #coloradost  / #colorado is taking a brief hiatus in 2021-22. Rocky Mountain Showdown will continue in 2023-24.
aug 26: Big opening night win for #Hawaii:  C.McDonald  threw for 418 yards and 3 TDs in a 43-34 a surprise Rainbows  win over Colorado St., led  Samuels who  threw for 537  yards and 5 Tds .  Nico Evans ran for 206 yards and two touchdown in a #wyoming win in a non -conference game at N Mexico St.
sept 1: #Love and the #utahst hurry up/don't sub Offense had Sparty on it's heels for the first 25 minutes, but couldn't prevail as MSU scored a late TDfor the 38-31 victory.  Nevada crushed Portland St. Rough night for SDST who lost 31-10 to Stanford, and Colorado St who lost 45-13 to Colorado.
sept 2: Hawaii Rainbows' offense is the big news in the #MWC.  #cole mcdonald threw for 428 yards and 6 TDs in a 59-41 win over Navy. He has nine TD passes in two weeks. #Boise rolled Troy 56-20.  New Mexico beat Incarnate, Fresno crushed Idaho, and Wyoming was thrashed by Wash St

oct 2

Hawaii remains the biggest surprise #MWC  team (5--1) and 2-0 in conference play. Cole McDonald has toss 24 TD passes and should lead the Rainbows to a home win over the Wyoming . Colorado St has been a disappointment and their season could get worse if they don't beat SJ ST. Utah St has big intrastate game against BYU (Independent). Boise St/SDST is getting all the ink, but Fresno St has an improing offense and will beat an erratic Nevada squad

oct 7

AFA crushed Navy, Hawaii edged Wyoming, Aztecs over the Blue Turfers. Fresno held Nevada to 3 points. Jones (New Mexico) and Samuels (Col St) each threw four tds in wins over respectively ,UNLV and SJST.

1A Independents 2018

It's my annual piss & moan about why these schools should be in a conference, and I'll include my favorite matchup against another Independentt football school.
Notre Dame with one foot in the ACC plays only teams in conferences so I'll highlight its opening week game vs Michigan.
New Mexico St and BYU, two teams that belong in the MWC, faceoff at BYU  on Nov17.
Liberty  with all your $$$ give the Sunbelt a boost, and why the hell are you playing New Mexico St twice.
Army- you should've stayed in the MAC- faces Liberty on Sept 9.
UMass , the AAC beckons, particularly for hoop reasons, and you have a nice regional match up against UConn (AAC) on Oct 27. The next week you play Liberty.

aug 1, 2018

#BYU faces five P5 schools Arizona  California, Wisconsin, Washington, and Utah. Cal is the only one of those teams traveling to Provo.

aug 19, 2018

New Mexico St is selling tickets for as low as $3 for first home game on national TV (ESPN) in a decade. #wyoming (MWC) is coming to #LasCruces for an Aug 25 matchup.

aug 26

#NMST falls at home to Wyoming 29-7  Nico Evans ran for 206 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries to help #wyoming beat 29-7. That's one way to replace Josh Allen. attendance 20,322

aug 29, 2018

#Army coach Jeff Monken named Kelvin Hopkins Jr. the starter at quarterback in the opener at Duke. He takes over for Ahmad Bradshaw, who led the Black Knights to consecutive winning seasons for the first time in three decades.

aug 31 2018

NMST was up 10-7 early against Minnesota, and I noticed that #FrankSpaziani, the former the DC then HC at BC, was their Defensive Coordinator. It went downhill for the Ags from there. Minn 48 NMST 10
sept 1: #army passed for more yards (197) than rushed (168) in a 31-14 loss to Duke
sept 15: #army hosts  #hawaii and their rushing attack  eating up the clock may be the best way to slow down the Rainbows' aerial show but they'll losea squaeker 24-21.
sept  29, 2018:  Plenty of road work for the Independents this weekend.
#army travels to Buffalo (MAC): Bulls Tyree Jackson's arm will do enough to edge Army 24-23 in an intrastate battle
#umass travels to Ohio (MAC).  Look for Ohio to slow down their former MAC foe and pull out a 28-27 win.
#Liberty  travels to New Mexico (MWC): Lobos 19 Liberty 14
#BYU travels to UW (Pac12) Another tight game . UW D gets a pick 6 and wina 23 -20
Notre Dame hosts Stanford (PAC12):  Maybe a special teams play turns the gave for the Irish. in a 27-26 win.

Sept 30, 2018

Props to #army and I was 100% wrong on Jackson's arm. Army 42 Buff 14
 The Bobcats roared into gear in the second quarter and never looked back in 58- 42 win over UMass.  N. Rourke, the Ohio QB, tossed three TD passes and rushed for a TD.
I was wrong on the amount of O and the winner as  Jones, the Libert QB, threw  for 417 yards and three TDs in 52-43 win over the Lobos.
UW defense was stingier than I guessed and Browning had a solid game for the Huskies in a 35-7 win over BYU.
ND defense was solid and Book threw four TD passes in a 38 -17 win over the Cards. Three out of 5 correct picks

oct 7, 2018

UMass got trounced  by USF. Notre Dame smacked  VTech, and #Nmst with 4 td passes from Josh Adkins, outlasted  #Liberty 49-41
Oct 13, 2018 7:52AM EST
INDEPENDENTS (FBS) W L
 Notre Dame                        6 0
 Army                                   3 2
 BYU                                3 3
 Liberty                               2 3
 New Mexico State       2 4
 Massachusetts               2 5

Oct 20,2018

Alabama adds New Mexico State to its 2019 and 2021 home football schedule.

Big game for #army (4-2) today to stay in the bowl game hunt as they host Miami (Ohio).

oct 21, 2018

G. Ragland (30-53, 329 YDS, 4 TD) effort for Miami O wasn't enough as Coach Martin's decision to go for a two pint conversion in OT backfired in a 31-30 loss at Army. Woofolk and Thomas led the strong Army rushing attack.

The Other five in 2018 D1 baseball

I'm playing catch up with D1 baseball and welcome input at https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104643398353248786505
When Wichita St joined the AAC, the chatter was about hoops but their baseball team is hanging tough with #ecu led by the pitching of #tylersmith (4-0, 1.07 ERA)
(CUSA) - Southern Miss , Louisiana Tech  are playing well again. Special shout out for #herd pitcher #willray (2-1 , 1.57 ERA)
Coastal Carolina (Sunbelt) Kevin Woodall Jr has 12 HR
San Diego St (MWC) Garrett Hill (6-0, 1.28 ERA)
Miam of Ohio (MAC) Ross haffey is batting .345

April 8

#ccu rocked south bama 14-7. Tough game for Woodall (0-4) but Weisz had a Hr and four RBIs
Gavin Williams pitched seven innings giving up one earned run in the #ecu win over Washington

April 11

Quick hits : #CCU Seth Lancaster hit a home run and knocked in two runs as the Chanticleers beat Wake Forest, 9-2. Gunnar Troutwine hit a home run and three RBIs in #wichitast 10-7 win over #OKST. Here's a twist  Rice (CUSA) and Houston (AAC) may both miss the postseason. The Cougars took care of the Owls last night, 1-0, in the annual crosstown showdown.

april 15

AAC: #uconn took two from wichita st on Friday and moved in to 2nd place behind #ecu. #Feolo is 5-0 for the Huskies.
MAC: #kentst sweopt three from #NIU to move into first.  Mason Mamarella is batting .363 with 23 SB.

April 19, 2018

#nevada baseball is on the rise. The Wolfpack is 14-4 behind the offense of Grant Fennell (.394 avg , 7 SB) and the the six wins from Jake Jackson. UNLV is next at 9-6 behind six wins from Alan Stromg. It's time for third place SDST to get into gear.

april 23, 2018

#usm  #Sandlin is back:striking out 12, not walking anyone and allowing one hit in five shutout innings against #mtsu.

april 26, 2018

#rice rumblings that  the Owls are paving the way for Coach Graham to exit  nicely. #houston has been playing better and may make the playoffs.  #ecu on the bubble for a top 8 seed the playoffs ?

april 29, 2018

It's been two weeks since I checked on the #MAC. Miami O has dropped to third behind #kentst and #cmu. Mamarella has 27 SB. #joeymurray is 7-1 for Kent St.

May 2, 2018

 The Eastern Michigan University baseball team led for the first seven innings before a late rally wound up being the difference in a crushing 6-4 loss at the University of Michigan . #emu is in the middle of the MAC pack while UM sits atop the Big 10. They meet again tonight.

May 3, 2018

#emu got pounded 12-5 by Michigan. Back to #MAC play.

May 5, 2018

#AAC #ECU  Pirates were swept by Houston at home. Both teams should make the field of 64. In the Sunbelt Coastal Carolina has been erratic but should make the playoff while South Bama is fading from view.

May 8, 2018

#AFA baseball has moved into third in the #MWC behind Nevada and SDST. Air Force catcher #robdau is batting .361

May 11, 2018

In a bit of an aside, can casino funds help #herd baseball and its other sports? #wva also hopes to receive a cut of the possible legal sports gambling revenue in West Virginia.

May 12, 2018

Three #AAC teams in the top 25: UConn, East Carolina, & South Florida
Bryant Packard #EastCarolina  is ranked 10th in BA  .405

May 16, 2018

#louisianatech took 2 of 3 from #usm and moved back into the field of 64 hopefuls. Hunter Wells is batting .348  and Mason Mallard has 25 SB for the season.

May 20, 2018

#coastalcarolina  finished the season strong and goes in to the Sunbelt Tournament in good shape to make the field of 64. Watch out for Kevin Woodall JR who has 17 HRs this season. Nick Kanavas is batting  .373 for Kent State as the MACT nears when Miami of Ohio, who took 2 of 3 from them this weekend, appears to be their biggest roadblock.

May 26, 2018

Don't look now but those #Rice Owls are hooting in the CUSAT after a so-so regular season. Rice   plays the 9am CST game today against Florida Atlantic.

May 27, 2018

#cusa paybacks: Last year #usm rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off home run against #Charlotte to force a win-or-go-home CUSAT contest. Yesterday Charlotte's  #TommyBullock’s three-run, walk-off  home run capped a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth of a 7-4 win over USM.

May 28, 2018

#usm bats roared in the CUSA final . USM 12 FAU 3
Coastal Carolina defeated Troy 11-6  in the Sun Belt tournament title game to claim the league title and scored 42 runs while going unbeaten in its four games.
Eli Kraus tossed a a two-hitter and 12 strikeouts in #kentst  14-0 shutout  of Miami (OH) in the MAC championship game.
#sandiegost pounded unlv 14-5 in the MWC title game
#ecu edged Uconn 4-3 to win the AAC title game.

May 30 2018

American: 4:   Uconn Houston USF  ECU
Conference USA: 2:   FAU USM
MAC   Kent St
MWC  San Diego St
Sun Belt: 2: Coastal Carolina    Troy

June 2

I'm not sure if this will reverse trends but selling beer outdoors has made #fresnost happy. Beer sales at  Bulldog Stadium  took in some $90,000 from six home football games in 2017 and added another $20,000 from sales at baseball and softball games.

June 5

All O5 teams were eliminated. Probably the biggest suprise is #stetson (Atlantic Sun) going to Omaha.

July 11, 2018

#cusa baseball coaching news
Wayne Graham out Matt Bragga,  leaves Tennessee Tech after 16 season to take over at  #Rice
Jim McGuire out Jim Toman, head coach at Liberty from 2008-16 in #MTSU