Mid December Other 5 hoops report

Other5= AAC, CUSA, MAC, MWC, & SUNBELT

AAC- SMU handled Michigan easily, but their banned from the post-season. Memphis  has been slowly recovering with strong efforts from KJ Lawson and tonight’s Ol Miss game will show if they’re going to hang tough this season. Temples terrible start is a head scratcher.

CUSA-  WKU and Marshall have  stumbled more than I anticipated. La Tech has some easier games to recovered from  the Ol Miss spanking. Perrin Buford and his fellow MTSU Blue Raiders appear to be serious contenders.

MAC-  Akron & NIU   remain steady in pre-conference games.  Kent St faces SMU Dec 22. Can Kellon Thomas lead them to an upset win?

MWC-  New Mexico has struggled against the stronger conferences . Its two losses are to USC and Purdue, and they face auburn Dec 22. Maybe Fresno St   who played Arizona tough takes the conference?

SunBelt-  I’ll stick with Ark-LR and UTA as pre-season favorites with a passing nod to Ethan Montalvo and the Tx StBobcats.

Bowl time

I’m focusing  on matchups between members of  the three conferences we’ve followed all season :MAC, CUSA, &Sunbelt.

 

BOCA RATON BOWL Marshall /NIU Marshall D will struggle stopping the Hare/Stingley show but Cato will toss a few TDs . MU 31 NIU 27

POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL WKU 47 CMU 45

Doughty(WKU)outduels Rush (CM) in QB shootout

Go Daddy Bowl Toledo/Ark St

Kareem Hunt sparks the Rockets to  a 30 -20 ground battle  win over Ark St

Raycom  Bowl South Alabama/Bowling Green:

BG ‘s QB Knapke has thrown for  2805 yards and 13 TDs , but USA will survive a shootout with a good effort from  Bridge. USA  40 BG 38

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 Dec 24:  I was correct on Marshall winning but  didn’t see them dominating NI. MU 52 NIU 23. The big MU3 were stellar

Passing: R Cato (MRSH) – 281 YDS, 3 TD

Rushing: DJohnson (MRSH) – 15 CAR, 131 YDS, 1 TD

Receiving: T Shuler (MRSH) – 18 REC, 185 YDS, 1 TD

 Dec 25-Got damn close on predicting the final score which was WKU 49 CM 48-  still got the winner. Rush had better stats but Doughty’s team  won.

C. Rush	28/45	493	11.0	7	1	84.0
Central MichigaN

Western Kentucky Passing
	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
B Doughty	31/42	486	11.6	5	0	98.7

Jan 5-Late gewtting back to this blog:  I picked Toledo but they  more than doubled my guess on their point total. Toledo 63 Ark St 44. Hunt was a beast 32 CAR, 271 YDS, 5 TDfor Toedo while Knighten was stellar in defeat  tossing for 403 yards and 5 tds for Ark St.

S.Bama put up a good fight , but  BG’s Knapke to Green combo was too much .. BG 33  USA 28.

 

Three out of four ain’t bad

week 15 title games

CUSA: Marshall La Tech

 

Butler did a nice job filling in for the injured Devan Johnson in the tough loss to WKU to end  their undefeated season but Cato threw 4 Ints.. LT is coming off a rout  of Rice and Sokol is a hot QB. Marshall will re-group and edge LT 40-39.  Game site has not been determined.

MAC :  Bowling Green vs NIU @Ford Field in Detroit.

I’ve been going against NIU a lot this season so now I’ll reverse course. Hare will run and pass NIU over BG- 30-20. NIU Dwill be able to contain BG QB Knapke.

 

dec 6  review

BG hung around for  the first 30 minutes  but was squashed 51-17 by the Hare /Stingly combo  C. Stingily (NIU) – 15 CAR, 116 YDS, 2 TD   D. Hare (NIU) – 218 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT

 

Cato and crew toughed it out in a nice comeback win 26-23 over LT

week 14 , pick 3

 

MAC West  battle for first. I’ll go with W. Mich Terrell/Franklin QB /RB combo to edge the NIU Hare Stingly combo.

Sunbelt: Ga Southern will rebound from Navy thumping  and beat ULM. Breida will have a big rushing day against ULM

CUSA: Can the improving Marshall D stop the high flying Doughty train of WKU? Very tough call but I’ll say MU 35 WKU 34

 

Nov 27: still time to vote in the poll. NIU/WMU kicks off 11AM  Friday

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Nov 29

ofer 2.  needed to nearly double the point total  on the CUSA game. Doughty outdueled Cato.

Hare’s feet made the difference as NIU scored 24 unanswered points in a 31-21 W over WMU

 

Nov 30

GASU 22 ULM 16  saved me from 0fer3, and  captured the Sun Belt Conference title with an undefeated, 8-0 conference record.

week 13 pick 3

MAC Tuesday but I’ll go with a Saturday game. Shootout time : WMU steals won on the road

W Michigan Leaders

Passing: Terrell – 193-277, 2668 yds, 19 tds

Cent Michigan Leaders

Passing: Rush – 191-293, 2416 yds, 18 tds

Sunbelt

I’ll roll the dice and go with App St over ULL .  Lamb /Cox outduels Broadway/McGuire

CUSA

UAB  keeps it close  but the Cato/DJ show  ekes out a close win.

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Nov 23 review:

3 for 3. Winner’s stud players in bold

App St 35  ULL 16: Cox 152 yds , 2 tds rushing
WM 32  CM 20: Terrell 222yds, 2 tds passing
Marshall  23  UAB 18: MU scores a DTD

ODU upset of LT makes the LT/Rice game next week decisive for the  CUSAW

week 12 another 3

 

Early MAC week

I’m going with an old standby. Hare in the air and Stingly on the ground will earn NIU the home winagainst a solid rushing Toledo squad.

Sunbelt

I’ll go with the App St  Lamb/Cox show  in a road win at Ark St, but Knighten will toss enough TDs to keep it close

CUSA

The Rice Owls need a road win badly at Marshall, but Cato’s Kids are too potent even w/o Devan Johnson

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11/12/14

NIU 27 Tol 24 : Stingly  2 TDs, Hare 1Td – got this one right.

11/16/14

Devan J returns and MU rolls over Rice-got this one

Nailed the App St game:  APP 327 Ark st 32

Passing: T. Lamb (APP) – 255 YDS, 2 TD

Rushing: M. Cox (APP) – 40 CAR, 229 YDS, 2 TD

3-0 for the week

CUSA 2014/15 hoops preview and weekly updates

Some CUSA fans thought that the addition of Old Dominion last season would help them get more than one NCAA dance ticket. It didn’t as USM &  Louisiana Tech became just the third and fourth teams in NCAA Basketball history to miss the NCAA Tournament with 27 wins. Tulsa won the CUSAT and took the lone Dance ticket. IMO, the CUSA  rarely gets judged more on it’s weak history than on  it’s improving  quality of teams

1. UTEP Miners : Lew Stallworth, the point guard recruit, from Los Angeles is getting a lot of hype| and could  bolster  big man Vince Huter

2. UAB Blazers | Big time recruit William Lee will be make the Blazers even tougher under the boards.

3. Old Dominion Monarchs | Jeff Jones is a decent coach and has brought in some JC transfers to bolster the Bacate & Batten show.

4. Charlotte 49ers | Pierre Henry & the Niners  could surprise some teams.

5. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | Appelby and Hamnilton are a strong backcourt but  not enough to prevent a small descent.

6. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | Brandon Price and crew will be in the middle of the pack in their first CUSA season

7.Southern Miss Golden Eagles– Eagles lost some starters and new Coach Sadler will be be re-building

8. Marshall Thundering Herd : Is Nikolic from Serbia part of a successful Dantoni plan?

9. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | Raiders lost their biggest contributors from last season.

10. Florida Atlantic Owls | They’ll miss  Bertone, last season’s leading scorer.

11North Texas Mean Green |

12. Florida International Golden Panthers |

13. UTSA Roadrunners |

14. Rice Owls

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New- Western Kentucky

Departed – Tulsa, Tulane and East Carolina

Four new head coaches Dan D’Antoni (Marshall) and Michael Curry (FAU) — joining veteran Doc Sadler (Southern Miss) replacing Tyndall who went to Tennessee,  and rookie Mike Rhoades (Rice) in the league.

 

12/18/14- ODU has 2 nice OOC wins over LSU and VCU

 

1/5/15- ODU  edges Charlotte and stays hot going into  CUSA play

1/17/15

LA Tech and WKU are 4-0 and sit atop the CUSA. Side note :

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24966347/kentucky-ends-talks-with-utep-for-anniversary-game-in-2016

Kentucky reportedly “backed out” of talks to play a game against UTEP in 2016, one which Miners coach Tim Floyd had intended to make a celebration for the 50th anniversary of Kentucky and Texas Western’s 1966 NCAA title game.

1/25/15: MU 78 utep 71. WKU 83 UTSA 74

Impressed with Marshalls front court, particularly R. Taylor 17 Pts, 10 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 St yesterday,  getting their first CUSA win this season  . UTSA gave WKU a fight early but lost. Here’s where I stand with a little more than a month to go.

On the left my prognostications. Nailed NT, way off on WKU.

1. UTEP Miners :	Western Kentucky
2. UAB Blazers |	Louisiana Tech
3. Old Dominion Monarchs |	UAB
4. Charlotte|	Middle Tennessee
5. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs |	Old Dominion
6. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers |	UTEP
7.Southern Miss Golden Eagles-	UT San Antonio
8. Marshall Thundering Herd :	Rice
9. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders |	Florida International
10. Florida Atlantic Owls |	Charlotte
11North Texas Mean Green |	North Texas
12. Florida International Golden Panthers |	Florida Atlantic
13. UTSA Roadrunners |	Southern Miss
14. Rice Owls	Marshall

2/15/15

Big win for Marshall yesterday-Loop was great, and they’ve made serious progress since my Jan 25 th post. UTEP has moved to 2nd. In () is  my pre-season prediction. really got Charlotte wrong, so far.

La. Tech(5)	11-2	20-6
UTEP(1)	10-3	18-7
Western Ky.(6)	9-3	16-8
UAB(2)	9-4	13-13
Old Dominion(3)	7-5	18-6
UT-San Antonio(13)	7-6	13-11
Rice(14)	6-6	9-15
Middle Tenn.(9)	6-7	13-13
FIU(12)	5-7	12-13
North Texas(11)	5-7	11-13
Marshall(8)	5-7	9-16
Charlotte(4)	4-8	11-14
So. Miss(7)	2-11	7-17
FAU(10)	1-11

week 9 quick 3

Hurrying up for a Tuesday Sunbelt game which also makes my list.

SunBelt Ga Southern is 4-0  in conference play but Ark St and ULL are also undefeated (2-0). Ark St has a decent rushing game led by Gordon,  Knighten(QB) and White.  McGuire, Broadway(QB), and Harris  will get the better of the ground warfare . ULL 25 Ark St 19

MAC- Again, I’ll take  the Minutemen led by Frohnappel (2483 yards, 18TDs, 6 ints) in an aerial invasion of Toledo. UMass 35 Toledo 26

CUSA: FAU has re-gained some swagger and look for Jay Warren averaging 5 yards a carry to keep the Owls close at Marshall, Cato’s arm and Devan’s legs will  outlast them . Marshall 30 FAU 27 CUSA will get my poll vote this week.

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Post game reviews:

Oct 23: Bigger score (ULL 55 Ark St 40) than expected  and McGuire and Knighten exploded.

Passing: F Knighten (ARST) – 344 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT

Rushing:  E McGuire (ULL) – 19 CAR, 265 YDS, 4 TD

Oct 27:

Devan Johnson  272 yards , 4 tds rushing  MU  strong second half put away FAU 35-14

 

UMass scored 35 but Toledo scored 42. Frohnapfel threw 5 TDs for UMass,  but that wasn’t enough as  Woodside threw 3TDs for Toledo and the rushing tandem of  K.Hunt 198yards , 1 Td &  Swanson 97 yards , 2TDs  provided more support.

 

Two out of three for the week 

 

 

 

Week 7, quick 3

CUSA: It’s hard to ignore the Thundering Herd O led by Cato and Devan J, and they ‘ll come out a winner  in a close one against the rushing attack of MTSU led by Whatley & Parker.

SunBelt- Tough week for a good matchup so I figure the  NM St Aggies  led by Mr Rogers will steal a close one at Troy

 

MAC:  After getting crushed by Marshall, Akron upset Pitt and zipped by E.Mich. They ‘ll survive Miami (Ohio) by a FG .

Oct 12 review

Akron had a tough time before holding off Miami (Ohio) 29-19 in the closest game of  the three. Herd crushed MTSU so  I was barely correct. And I never foresaw Burks gaining  a 176 yard on 10 carries  as Troy pulled away from NM St in the 4Q.

Another two out of three week.

week 6, best game poll

CUSA:

Marshall Herd  should  eventually ride away from ODU. Cato and Devan Johnson will prevail in a battle at ODU .Monarchs QB Heinicke will keep them in the game for three quarters.

MAC

NIU survives the Kent St flashes in a home nailbiter

Sunbelt

Passing Pete Thomas will lead the Warhawks in a shootout W @ and over Ark St

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10/4/14

Another 2 out of 3 week:   Correct on: Marshall 56 ODU 14 , NIU 17 Kent 14

 

Wrong about Ark St 28 ULM 14:  It was their Knighten to McKissic connection, not Thomas of  ULM