Fewer Independents in NCAA sports

 I thought Army/BC series had more games. Army won the first nine games from 1917-1959. I'm trying to figure out why the series froze after the 1919 game and didn't return until 1959. BC leads Army 25-13 in the series. They have not played since 2013. I'll go with Castellanos and the Eagles winning 22-20 at Army. 

Oct 8, 2023

T. Castellanos QB - BC 31CAR 142YDS 4TD saved the day BC 24 Army 21

UConn beat Rice(AAC) despite the younger McCaffrey having 100yards receiving and 2 TDs .

Notre Dame lost to Louisville (ACC), and UMass got whacked by Toledo(MAC).

Oct 14, 2023

Troy is a tough SunBelt team and will escape with a narrow road victory of Army.

USC may lack a defense, but Notre Dame can't outscore the Trojans.

The Minutemen of UMass will be down by 24 at Penn St in the first 15 minutes.

Oct 15, 2023

Troy shutout Army 19-0, and UMass got blanked 63-0 by Penn St.

Wow was I wrong on Notre Dame who rolled USC 48-20. I guess all the Caleb Williams QB hype can slow down. His stats: 199YDS 1TD 3INT.

Oct 21, 2023

UConn /USF will be close, and it would be a tie in the old days. USF has regressed since hanging tough with Bama in a loss.

Army visits LSU and hopes it's not a 60-10 loss.

In hoops Chicago St, the last 1A independent, opens at Bowling Green on Nov 6.

Oct 22, 2023

USF survived 24-21, and I got darn close on that Army score. LSU 62 Army 0.

Oct 27, 2023

New England flavor in Independents. UMass is the right tonic for Army coming off the blowout loss to LSU. Army 21. UMass 16

Mora JR's Huskies are going in reverse after showing some promise last season. BC 27 UConn 20

Notre Dame should handle Pittsburg but won't cover the line of 20.5. ND 31 Pitt 20

Oct 29, 2023

Two out of three ain't bad. Wrong on Army and its anemic O.

UConn stayed in the game but lost to BC. Neither team looked good. 

Notre Dame crushed Pitt 58-7.

Nov 3, 2023

Notre Dame by 6 over Clemson.  Does Dabo have any tricks left?

UConn won't stay with Tennessee past the first quarter.

Army /AirForce. Army gets strafed by the Boys in the sky.

UMass plays Merrimack and should win over a lower division opponent. I'm looking for Jack Kerouac's(RIP) hunch. He mentioned the mighty Merrimack River in his early notes and novels about Lowell.

Nov 5, 2023

Dabo has some tricks left: Clemson 31 ND 23. I changed my mind just before kickoff and took Clemson in a Yahoo pickem but was wrong in this blog.

My other incorrect pick was AFA. Army brought them back to earth Army 23- AFA-3 

Tenn 49 UConn 3

UMass 31Merrimack 21

Nov 7, 2023

Rough start for Chicago St Cougars hoops: Bowling Green(MAC) 70  Chicago State 41.

Wesley Cardet Jr.posted 12 points and four assists for the Cougars.

Nov 16, 2023

Who knows what to make of an Army team that lost to UMass but beat Air Force? Coastal Carolina(SBC) 24 Army 17.

UMass can't handle Liberty O. Liberty(CUSA) 34 UMass 13

Notre Dame 38 Wake Forest(ACC) 27

UConn 30 Sacred Heart 10.  

Hoops: Cardet scored 23 for Chicago St in a win over S. Indiana. Cougar are 1-3 . Losses to Bowling Green, Mercer, and CS- Northridge.

Nov 19, 2023

Wow, Army beat CCU 28-21. Incorrect on that, right on the rest.

Nov 24, 2023

Minutemen up 38-36-2 in the series with UConn. I thought Mora Jr would have made more progress at UConn. UMass 31 UConn 30

 Fighting Irish remember being upset last year by Stanford. ND 35 Stanford 23. Perhaps NND listens to Rockne audio during pre-game.  Rockne started a plan of ending every season with a game in CA to aid West Coast recruiting efforts.

Nov 26, 2023

ND crushed Stanford yesterday. UConn beat UMass: C. Edwards

RB - CONN 19 CAR 102YDS  2TD

A. Simpson WR - MASS 6REC 107YDS

In Hoops: Chicago St (2-6) beat Morgan State 84-83 on Nov 22. Jahsean Corbett cored 18 points for Chicago State in a 84-83 win over Morgan State in the third-place game of the Mayan Division of the Cancun Challenge.

Dec 9, 2023

Since Army upset Air Force they've been on a roll. I'm taking them to beat Navy 20-19 today at Gillette Stadium and win the Commander-in-Chief Trophy. Tysun Riley rushed for 112 yards in the win over CCU. Look for more of the same from him today. If Navy, who lost to AFA earlier this season, wins then it's a three-way tie.

Navy leads the all-time series 62-54-7

Dec 10 2023

Army 17 Navy 11. Army LB Kalib Fortner scored on a fourth-quarter strip sack and then helped keep Navy QB Tai Lavatai out of the end zone with 3 seconds left.

Belichick spoke to the Midshipmen on Friday night and pulled on a Roger Staubach-era Navy helmet for a TV pregame show to predict the winner.

Dec 12, 2023

Chicago St. hoops beat Stetson and lost to St Thomas. Now a win over Northwestern tonight would be wild. 

They play at UTEP in January at the Don Haskins Center, El Paso.

Dec 23, 2023

Well, Chicago St upset NW(Big10) on Dec 12, then beat UTRGV(WAC) and Bethune (MEAC), but Wisky was too much for them last night. WIS (Big10) 80 CHIC St 53. Badgers held Wesley Cardet Jr to 10 points.

Jan 1, 2024

Chicago St hoops lost to California Baptist(WAC) 74-62 and then to DePaul(BigEast) 70-58 last week.

Notre Dame cruised past Oregon St 40-8 in the Sun Bowl.

Jan 11, 2024

Cougars showing some plus signs. Still think they should apply to join the Summit Conference.

 Jan 2: loss to Kansas State 62-55

Jan 3: loss to Oklahoma State 72-53

Jan 7: loss to UTEP 74 69

Jan 10: win over FDU(NEC) 75-74 w/o Wesley Cardet. A Neal led Chicago St with 14 points.

Feb 10, 2024

J Corbett(21pts, 11reb) was not enough for Chicago St in a 65-60 loss to Duquesne(A10) on Jan31. Today's opponent: S.Carolina St(MEAC).Time to join the Summit or OVC.

Feb 26, 2024

MAC board voted to add UMass as an all-sports member beginning in 2025-26, Well, I've been saying it for about 7 years in various blogs.

UMass was in the MAC as a football-only member from 2012-15. They remained in the A10 for other sports.

UMass Ice hockey plays in the Hockey East Association, separate from any A-10 to MAC move. 

March 23, 2024

I thought the CIT had faded into oblivion after Marshall won it in 2019 Sorry gang,  but it's the CBI occurring. Chicago St got invited to the CBI and faces UC -San Diego (Big West) today. Will Cardet leads the Cougars with 18.1 PPG

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

 C ST 75 Northwestern 73

March 24, 2024

Will Cardet (30pts, 4ast) for the Cougars in a 77-75 win over UCSD and plays the winner of Fairfield(MAAC)/Ark LR(OVC).

march 25, 2024.  : W Cardet scored 25 for Chicago St but they they lost to Fairfield 77-74

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Previous blog:

https://busterother5.blogspot.com/2022/11/countdown-to-less-independents-nearly.html

Week 5 in the O5

 CUSA: Battle of QBs: Reed (WKU) outduels Vattiato(MTSU) in a close one. WKU 34 MTSU 31

I'll take Henigan at home to lead Memphis(AAC) to a 27-24 win over Boise St(MWC).

MACaction: CMU is coming off a big win over South Bama but will struggle to eke out a 16-13 win over EMU.

SunBelt: Coach Elliot has GA St off to a 4-1 start. M.Carroll will rush for over 100 in a win 30-20 win over Troy.

Sept 29, 2023

 I was correct on WKU who won 31-10. Reed threw for 297 yards and 2 TDs.

Jax St beat SHS and are 2-0 in CUSA action.

Oct 1, 2023

I was correct on Memphis and CMU and wrong big time on GA St who lost 28-7. Henigan, the Memphis QB, led them to a comeback win.

Some interesting stats: Marshall won over ODU despite allowing K. Calloway11CAR 236YDS 3TD.

T. Stewart.,RB - BGSU(MAC), 26CAR 138YDS 1TD in 38-21 upset of GTech(ACC)

In the MWC, UNLV rush for 307 yards in a win over Hawaii and is 4-1 for the season. 

Week 4 reality check O5 teams

 UNLV(MWC) is coming off a big win over Vandy while UTEP(CUSA) has stumbled this season. UNLV 24 UTEP 19.

USF played a decent game in a loss to Bama, and Rice has a win over Houston this season. USF in a nailbiter by a score of 22-20 in this AAC matchup. Look for B Brown, the USF QB, to have a solid game.

Ohio returns to MAC play after stunning Iowa St and visits Bowling Green. BobcatsD helps them survive 13-12 at BG.

South Bama(SBC) is coming off a blowout W over OK St. CMU(MAC) has lost to Notre Dame and Sparty. L Webb rushes for over 100 yards and the Jags win 27 -20 over C. Michigan.

Sept 22, 2023

M. Carroll RB - GAST 29 CAR 150YDS 1TD in a win over Coastal Carolina. I would've had that pick wrong.

Sept 24, 2023

Correct on UNLV, USF, and Ohio, but wrong on USA who lost to CMU. Quite a day for two USF players:

B. Brown QB - USF Passing:435YDS 2TD, Rushing 14CAR 82YDS 1TD

N. Simmons WR - USF 8REC 272YDS 1TD 

How about Wyoming's win over Appy, and the #herd win over VTech(ACC)

It turns out WYO/APP game was the second half of a 2015/2021home /home series. The 2021 game was re-scheduled, probably due to the covid crisis.

Week 3 O5 wacky style

 Lobos(MWC) host Ags(CUSA) in an intrastate battle:  Neither team has been impressive this season. UNM 20 NMST 19.

Utah St wins 21-17 on the road at AFA. Legas will be tossing a lot of passes for Utah St..

Cordeiro will be winging the ball around the Glass Bowl for San Jose St(MWC). SJST 30 Toledo(MAC) 23

Tulane(AAC) showed some mettle in its loss to OL Miss last week and will win 27-24 at USM(SBC). Makhi Willis rushed for 92 yards for Tulane in that loss.

Sept 16, 2023

Michel rushed for 3TDs in AFA's 39-21 win over Utah St. One wrong.

Army won at UTSA(AAC). The injured Frank Harris DNP for the home team.

NMST was in the WAC from 2005-12. NM left the WAC in 1998

Sept 17, 2023

I was wrong on both MWC picks, NM and SJST yesterday. Only correct pick was Tulane over USM. 

The sh^t talk from Little Miam fans is probably nuts on Twitter after the win over Cincy. The size of the OK St loss blows my mind, and Webb of USA ran all over them (151 yards,2TD). Ohio U has a stellar D. OHIO 10 Iowa St 7

Back to the MWC: UNLV beat Vandy, Fresno blanked Ariz St, and Col St took Deion's Buffs to OT before losing. 

NMST was in the WAC from 2005-12. NM left the WAC in 1998.

Sept 18, 2023

AAC took a beating, but NTX fought off La Tech rally for the W.

Week 2 O5 matchups along the Atlantic.

 Miami (Ohio) visits Amherst, MA and wins a close one over UMass 20-19. Rough game for the Redhawks' Gabbert last week, but he'll return to form this week. I hope UMass returns to the MAC soon.

I've enjoyed this Marshall(SunBelt)/ECU(AAC) matchup over the years. Ali has a big game for the Herd and Garcia is not Ahlers yet for ECU. MU 27 ECU 19

FAU(AAC) hosts Ohio(MAC). Larry McCammon has a big game rushing for the Owls in a 24-20 win.

In a SunBelt matchup, ULL visits ODU in Norfolk, VA. Both are coming off tough matchups which they lost. ODU lost to VTech and ULL lost to Houston. Home cooking in a low scoring game. ODU 17 ULL14

Sept 10, 2023

G. Larvadain WR - M-OH 8REC 273YDS 3TD in a 41-28 win over UMass

The Herd took their time getting into gear and scored 21 points in the 4Q for 31-13 win over ECU.

FAU fell 17-10 to visiting OHIO. My only incorrect pick.

K. Wicks carried the ball 17 times for 103 yards for ODU in a 38-31 win over ULL.

Toss up on biggest upset yesterday. Rice (AAC) beat Houston (Big12) or James Madison(SunBelt) roaring back to beat Virginia(ACC).

Sept 12, 2023

App St (Sunbelt) took UNC to OT before falling. No games scheduled in the future for this intrastate match. UNC is up 3-1 in the series. Appy won in 2019.

Wyoming (MWC) plays TX this week. Got me thinking that's where Fred Akers was HC before he took the TX HC job. He was also Purdue HC after he left TX.

Week 1 O5 matchups from the gut

It's early and I'm trying to get a feel for O5 ball so I'm going from my gut.

 Army marches south to visits ULM(SunBelt). Bowden's boys survive 20-19.

Cal visits Denton and loses 24 -20 to NTX(AAC)

Tulane (AAC) gets a rough test from South Bama. TUL 27 USA 23

Sept 1, 2023

UCF 56 Kent St(MAC) 6. The entire off-season folks discussed how Sean Lewis' exit from the Kent ST HC job to become Deion's OC at Colorado was going to sting. It sure does. Rough first game for HC Kenni Burns.

Ugly start for MAC continues. Miami FLA rolls Miami O. Sparty rolls CMU.

Sept 3, 2023

Right on ULM and Tulane, way off on NTX.

He!! of a comeback: ULM 20 Army17

I doubt if Mean Joe Green could've saved NTX yesterday. Cal 58 NTX 21

Tulane took care of Biz: TUL 37 USA 17

Powerful early season upsets: Wyoming(MWC) over Texas Tech. TX St(SunBelt) over Baylor. NIU(MAC) over BC (ACC)

If UTSA(AAC) came close but no cigar against Houston. That may have been too much sh^t talk for the State of Texas.. HOU 17 UTSA(AAC) 14

Sept 5, 2023

Charlotte (AAC) visits my Terps this Saturday. I'm on upset alert. Biff Poggi, the 9ers HC, was born in Baltimore, MD and coached at St Francis Academy High School in Baltimore City.

Sept 10, 2023

When I turned on the game, the Terps were down 14-0. They got in the gear and won 38-20. Glad I was wrong on Charlotte, but I still see think the 9ers will be worth keeping an eye on in AAC play this season.

J. Mack, WR - CLT 4REC 106YDS 1TD 

Warming up for the 2023 O5 season

 Aztecs pay some legal fees to stay in the MWC another year while they wait for the Pac12  to get a deal with Apple or anyone. SDST host Ohio(MAC) in its opener

Funbelt  usually pull some upsets early, but I don't see many serious possibilities except Coastal Carolina beating UCLA at the Rose Bowl. McCall returns at QB for CCU, and Coach Chip Kelly's teams often stumble out of the blocks. Of course, Coach Chadwell is at Liberty U and Tim Beck is running the Chanticleers.

Rick Rod is back as a Head Coach and his JaxSt squad host UTEP in the season CUSA opener. 

Rice (AAC) will likely get spanked in Austin by the Horns, but I like seeing ex-SWC matchups.

 Tulane finished ahead of UCF in the AAC last season and beat USC in the Cotton Bowl. Coach Fritz has a good thing going. Sincere Haynesworth anchors a solid OL. Green Wave hosts South Bama in its opener

CUSA:  I noticed a lot of "love" for WKU in pre-season CUSA polls. I'm still wondering about their D. It was OK until the loss to Auburn then weaker until the end of the 2022 season.

July 26, 2023

 Tyrice Knight, who led UTEP(CUSA) with 95 tackles last year, skipped a portal move to a P5 team. "I'm more of a loyal guy... I couldn't walk out on them." Big hit on twitter and its fits our group posts. BTW, the Miners may be sniffing upset of Northwestern scandalCats on Sept 9.

July 30, 2023

Week Zero: Intrigued by games 2 and 5

UMass vs New Mexico State(CUSA) 

Ohio(MAC) vs San Diego State(MWC)

Hawaii(MWC vs Vanderbilt

San Jose State(MWC) vs USC

FIU vs Louisiana Tech: CUSA game

Aug 1, 2023

Seems like a longshot and that's if the Pac 12 gets in gear soon:   ULNV joining the P12. Rebels play at the new Raiders-owned Allegiant Stadium, and the A's are bringing the MLB to town.

Aug 5, 2023

Well gang, looks like I may be chatting about Cal, Wazzoo, Stanford, and Oregon St next year in non p5 sports. Crazy day yesterday with the death of the Pac 12.

I'm looking at week 1 and thinking UCF better prepare well for Kent St(MAC). Not a good look getting upset in game 1 as a member of the P5.

I was looking at the FIU /La Tech game in week Zero, and if Coach MacIntyre can get to .500 this season. Looked back at FIU coaching tree. Don Strock, the ex-Dolphins back QB, was its first HC.

Aug 16, 2023

reading some amusing tweets: NMST /Umass game on ESPN will get more eyes than San Jose St/USC on P12N on week 0.

Dae Dae Hunter (Liberty) will sit out the 2023 season and transfer for 2024 season. That stings!

Announcers should have fun on Nov 4 when Jax St plays South Carolina. Both teams are Gamecocks.

Aug 27, 2023

I thought FIU would play LA Tech close, but hard way to lose by being outscored 9-0 in the second half LT 17-FIU 13.

Ohio gave SDSY a tough game but fell 20-13

Rich Rod wins first game as Jax St HC. Jax 17 UTEP 14

NMST lost to UMass 41-30- tough loss.

Hawaii hung with Vandy but lost. Vandy 35-Hawaii 28. Next up possible upset against Stanford.

aug 16au