Ball State

The undefeated Ball State Cardinals still have a bit of business to take care of in their regular season finale. Brady Hoke's team still hasn't clinched a spot in the MAC Championship Game, which would come with a victory over Western Michigan tonight in Muncie (7 PM ESPN2). The winner heads to Detroit on December 5th, while the loser would be at the mercy of the powers that be in regards to team selection for bowl games.

Before getting into a preview of the games on tap for Tuesday and Wednesday, there may be an important development in the BCS. Not who plays in it but which network televises the games. ESPN, according to may sources, is on the verge of acquiring the rights to the BCS from 2011-2014 with Fox unlikely to match their offer. If you're like me, you scratched your head the past few years and wondered why a network that devotes little time to college football during the regular season gets to show the season's biggest games.

MUNCIE, Ind. - Ball State men's basketball head coach Billy Taylor announced the signings of Huzie Hambrite (Indianapolis, Ind./Lake Land College/Northwest) and Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) to national letters of intent Friday during the early signing period. Hambrite and Scaife will begin their Ball State careers during the 2009-10 season.

"We are very excited to get Huzie and Jauwan into our Ball State basketball program as they address some needs in our program," Taylor said.

Another week another set of midweek games from the MAC, with the first featuring an undefeated Ball State team looking to work its way into the BCS. But with games remaining against Central Michigan and Western Michigan the Cardinals will have a hard enough time winning the MAC West let alone going undefeated. But tonight brings a trip to Oxford to take on the Redhawks of Miami (OH), who find themselves in the middle of a heated battle for the MAC East.

 

Conference Rank: 13th

I'm not going to even get into my opinion as to teams playing on Election Day (I sure hope the Miami (Ohio) and Buffalo players get to the polls), but there is football to be played on both Tuesday and Wednesday with all three games being MAC matchups. Could Ball State be a possible upset victim on Wednesday night? Who will take control of a muddled MAC East race after these two days? Here's a preview of the three games on the slate for Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Tuesday: Miami-Ohio (2-6, 1-3) @ Buffalo (4-4, 2-2) 7:30 PM EST on ESPN2

 

Give credit to Wake Forest for making the right decision in naming Dino Gaudio the successor to Skip Prosser. Perhaps the lack of time prevented them from even considering a "bigger name" coach, but regardless of why the decision was made, it was the right one. Gaudio's 68-124 career head coaching record doesn't look good.. but only a magician could have been able to win at Army or Loyola in the 90's.

MUNCIE, Ind. -- Billy Taylor, who completed his fifth season as head coach at Lehigh University, has been named the 18th head men’s basketball coach in Ball State University history, according to BSU athletics director Tom Collins.

MUNCIE, Ind. -- C.J. Clark (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Springs H.S.), Laron Frazier (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan H.S.) and Deontay Twyman (Sandy Spring, Md./Sherwood H.S.) have each signed a national letter of intent to attend Ball State University and compete for the men’s basketball team, according to head coach Ronny Thompson.

“We are excited to add these three young men to our program,” Thompson says. “They each have the ability to contribute immediately and impact our program.”