Bowling Green

College Football: #23 Miami @ Georgia Tech Preview

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:20:02 -0500

Four games are on the schedule before Saturday, with the big one being an ACC Coastal showdown between #23 Miami (7-3, 4-2) and Georgia Tech (7-3, 4-3). The Hurricanes, currently in the driver's seat in the division, need a win to keep that status since North Carolina lurks just one game behind in the standings. And with the Heels due to take on NC State and Duke to end the season, a loss here could essentially hand the division to a Carolina team that has already defeated Miami and Georgia Tech. The young Hurricanes will have their hands full dealing with one of the ACC's best defenses, led by possible firt-round draft pick DE Michael Johnson.

Not to mention an option attack that once you focus too much on the ground game of QB Josh Nesbitt and RB Jonathan Dwyer, a big play through the air comes by way of WR Demaryius Thomas. How much have the young Hurricane quarterbacks (Robert Marve and Jacory Harris) progressed throughout the season? We'll learn here, but given the crazy nature of the ACC it would be fitting if the Yellow Jackets won this game at home.

Friday's Games

6:00 PM ET Buffalo at Bowling Green

The MAC East is on the line in this one, with Turner Gill's Bulls one win away from clinching the division. A wild overtime win at Akron last week put Buffalo (6-4, 4-2) in this position, but they're going to be tested on the road in this one. QB Tyler Sheehan has played better football of late, helping lead the Falcons (5-5, 3-3) to wins over Kent State and Ohio. There's an equally capable quarterback on the other side of the field in Drew Willy, a major reason for Buffalo's recent turnaround.It'll come down to what the two defenses can do in this one, and with the Bulls leading the MAC in turnover margin they'll win a close one. Expect the phone of Coach Gill's agent to be ringing this offseason.

7:07 PM ET Miami (OH) at Toledo

The Redhawks (2-8, 1-5 MAC East) were expected to contend in the MAC East but they, like Toledo (2-8, 1-5 MAC West), are now playing out the string. This is also the final home game of the Tom Amstutz era, with "Toledo Tom" stepping down to take a fundraising position within the athletics department at season's end. His player surely want to send him out with a win, and they should do just that in a wild affair.

9:30 PM ET Fresno State at San Jose State on ESPN2

The Bulldogs (6-4, 3-3) haven't met expectations this season, currently sitting in sixth place in the WAC and in desperate need of a victory to guarantee themselves somewhere to go come bowl season. But they visit one of the WAC's best defenses in San Jose State (6-5, 4-3), which has found a way to win six games despite having one of the nation's worst offenses. Fresno State has better talent across the board, but I don't think they're admitting how much that early-season loss to Wisconsin took out of them. The Spartans win a close one, and keep an eye on their NFL-ready corners in Coye Francies and Christopher Owens.

-Will Muschamp designated "head coach in waiting" at Texas.

For all the talk about who could fill openings at Tennessee and Clemson, one man's name can now be taken off of that list. Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has been designated head coach in waiting at the school, meaning that whenever Mack Brown decides to retire the job is his. This development, which has happened in college basketball in recent years, has even caught the attention of Virginia Tech athletics director Jim Weaver. With their defensive coordinator, Bud Foster, having interviewed at Clemson there is obviously some incentive to keeping him in Blacksburg besides the fact that he's an excellent football coach. This is an interesting development to keep an eye on this offseason in regards to possible head coaching openings.

MAC Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:17:57 -0500

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Conference Rank: 13th

10 year average: 13th

MAC Conference Page

All-MAC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Al Fisher	Kent State	Sr
G	Michael Bramos	Miami	Sr
G/F	David Kool	Western Mich.	Jr
F	Anthony Newell	Ball State	Sr
F	Jerome Tillman	Ohio	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Michael Bramos Al Fisher		Points: Anthony Newell (Ball) 16.9 Tyrone Kent (Toledo) 16.9 Rebounds: Anthony Newell 8.0 Assists: Michael Allen (Ohio) 4.0

MAC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

41	Kent State	MAC	1	NCAA
73	Miami (OH)	MAC	2	NIT
97	Western Michigan	MAC	3
122	Central Michigan	MAC	4
129	Ohio	MAC	5
173	Akron	MAC	6
178	Toledo	MAC	7
196	Bowling Green	MAC	8
238	Eastern Michigan	MAC	9
256	Ball State	MAC	10
291	Buffalo	MAC	11
298	Northern Illinois	MAC	12

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the MAC?

Other MAC Content

Head Coach Q&A's

Charlie Coles: Miami

Conference Media Poll

Other

Rise & Fall: MAC

State of 08: Ohio

State of '08: Ohio

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:33:26 -0400

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

OHIO

OHIO STATE - While Xavier has had more consistent success since 2001, its hard to match Ohio State's 2007 campaign: Reaching the National Title game while finishing 1st in the RPI. OSU has also won 20 games in 8 of 10 seasons and reached 6 Big Dances.

XAVIER - Sean Miller has picked up where Thad Matta left off, and Matta followed the success of Skip Prosser, who continued the foundation set by Pete Gillen. Since 1986, there's been a continual run of impressive postseason success at Xavier, including 2 Elite Eight trips in the past 5 years.

KENT STATE - Pretty much whatever success you see at Kent State can still be attributed to the job Gary Waters did in the late 90's, turning a dormant program into a winner. In the last decade, the Golden Flashes have made 5 NCAA Tournaments and 4 NITs, and have won at least 20 games in each of those seasons. In 2009, Kent State is once again the projected MAC champ.

CINCINNATI - This is obviously a storied program, but the post-Huggins era has gotten off to a slow start. There hasn't been a tourney trip in the past three seasons, nor a finish above .500 in conference play. 2009 should be better, but the Big Dance will most likely have to wait another season.

DAYTON - After a hot start, Dayton stumbled to an 8-8 finish in A10 play, their third season in a row without a winning league record. From 2000-2005, Dayton won at least 9 league games every season, and made 3 NCAA Tournaments and 2 NITs.

6. MIAMI - The RedHawks have never been bad in Charlie Coles lengthy career. In fact, just one time in 11 seasons has his team failed to go at least .500 in the MAC. His last five teams have finished in the RPI Top 100, and this year's squad looks postseason-worthy once again.

7. AKRON - Keith Dambrot's four year tenure has been highly impressive. The Zips have been finished in the RPI Top 75 the past four seasons, consistently challenged for MAC titles, and advanced to two NITs. The team does lose a lot of talent this year, so it might be Dambrot's most challenging season.

8. OHIO - Ohio is a solid program that has never gone more than couple seasons here or there without contending for the MAC title. The Bobcats have won at least 18 games the past four seasons (including the '05 Big Dance), though the off-season departure of 8-year coach Tim O'Shea was puzzling.

9. WRIGHT STATE - We might be in thee midst of Wright State's best run in program history. Brad Brownell led the Raiders to the '07 Tournament in his first season, and followed that up with another 20+ win season last year. This year, WSU should once again contend for the Horizon League title.

10. TOLEDO - The Rockets haven't made the NCAA's since 1980, but it hasn't been all bad in the meantime. In 2001 & 2007, the Rockets won MAC regular season titles, but couldn't get over the conference tournament hump. Last year was disappointing, and new coach Gene Cross will need to elevate the program's overall talent-level.

11. CLEVELAND STATE - Twenty years after last making the postseason, the Vikings made the NIT in Gary Waters' second season. The Vikings won 10 league games and 20 overall games for the first time since 1993, and there's a legitimate shot they could earn their first Tourney trip since 1986.

12. BOWLING GREEN - Falcons basketball peaked in the 60's. The start of Dan Dakich's tenure, from about 99 to 02, looked promising.. but things went down hill. The last three years have featured sub-200 RPI teams, though the 2009 squad looks promising.

13. YOUNGSTOWN STATE - The Penguins basketball teams have never been able to match the football teams accomplishments. There are occasional hopeful seasons, but 2001 was the last time YSU really did any damage.

Last: North Carolina - Next: Oklahoma

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

Bowling Green 55 - Wright State 54

Bill Kintner — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 03:00:00 -0500

DAYTON – When Wright State went on a 17-2 run to take the lead at the start of the second half Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich started thinking about what he would say to the media about how it was important to come out strong to start the second half.

But a strange thing happened on the way to what looked like a road loss for Bowling Green, The Falcons starting getting some stops, made their free throws down the stretch, enough to pull out a 59-56 win.

As for Dakich, he had to think of something else to tell the assembled media after the game.

With just 28 seconds left and Bowling Green leading 55-54. Wright State’s DeShaun Wood fouled Darryl Clements.

He is the man the Raiders wanted to foul, having only shot one foul shot this season. He put wrinkle in the Raiders plan by making both foul shots to give the Falcons, a 57-54 lead.

The Raiders called timeout to set up a play to get DeShaun Wood the ball. As it often happens, Bowling Green broke the up play. Wright State’s Vaughn Duggins dribbled through traffic and heaved up a shot that was good for only two points, a point shy of the tie the Raiders were seeking.

With the Falcons still leading by a point, Wright State’s Drew Burleson fouled Clements and again he made both shots to foil the Raiders’ strategy.

As time ran out Wright State’s Todd Brown forced up a three point shot that missed badly.

Bowling Green overcame a nine point second half deficit to improve to 5-3 on the year and make up for the pounding that Wright State administered last year during the Bracket Busters game.

As Bowling Green started to fight their way back in the second half, the Falcons took the lead for good with 1:08 left in the game when Ryne Hamblet sunk a 3-pointer that bounced around the rim three or four times before it went in.

“When it got tight we couldn’t get the stops,” said Wood who led all scorers with 23 points. “They made that shot that bounced around. He could of missed and we could of come down and made one, but that’s not the way it happened.”

Dakich thought that shot was definitely a difference maker.

“The biggest one was the four bouncer by Hamlet that put us up two, “ explained an exhausted Dakich. “Sometimes those things (shots) go with you. That was probably the biggest shot of the game other than the free throws.”

As for Wright State they looked pretty good on the stat sheet. They out-rebounded BGSU 40-31, took 31 free throw shots and only turned the ball over nine times. They even managed to launch an amazing 61 shots. If the could of just shot 33 percent, they win easily. But the Raiders only managed to shoot a lowly 29.5 percent for the game and an even poorer 8.3 percent from 3-point land.

But Wright State Coach Brad Brownell said this game shows how stats can be misleading.

“We made a concerted effort to drive the basketball in the game and to do a little better job of rebounding some of our misses. And we did those things, explained Brownell. “We had the most free throw attempts by far in a game, our most offense rebounds in a game by far, but if you don’t score, if you don’t make the free throws, if you don’t use those possessions to get baskets it does not mean as much. That is why stats can be misleading.

In the first half the Raiders shot a miserable 25 percent (8-32), while the Falcons shot 54 percent (12-22) and it showed in the score with Bowling Green leading 29-22 at halftime.

For Bowling Green Martin Samarco scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Dusan Radivojevic pitched in 12 points.

For the Raiders Duggins scored 12 points and Jordan Pleiman scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Burleson had a game high 10 rebounds.

Note:

*Bowling Green now leads the all-time series 6-5.

*After the game, the 80s band Survivor played. The Nutter Center set up a stage at one end of the court and draped a curtain across it during the game. The concert could be heard clearly from the media room where the writers were completing their game stories. It sounded great.

*Wright State’s next game is Tuesday at home against Marist at 7 p.m.

*Bowling Green’s next game is Tuesday at home against Northern Colorado at 7 p.m.

MAC Recap: 11-18

Ryan Molnar — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:55:38 -0500

The MAC had four teams in action yesterday and last night with all but one team winning. Kent State picked up a good win at home over Detroit. Marquette handed it to Eastern Michigan. Toledo took care of Middle Tennessee State in overtime, and Buffalo came away with an impressive win over Miami (FL). Kent State had a balanced attack lead them to a 61-48 victory over the University of Detroit Mercy at the MAC Center yesterday afternoon. Kent State held Detroit to just 38 percent shooting and withstood a hot start from behind the 3-point line from the Titans. Detroit hit its first three triples, but then proceeded to only shoot three-of-16 the rest of the game. Freshmen guard Rodriguez Sherman led Kent State with 14 points in his first colleigate start. Due to many suspensions of players he was thrust into the lineup and did not commit one turnover in 31 minutes of play. Senior Armon Gates scored 12 points and brought down a career high 8 rebounds. He is known more for his 3 point shooting ability but in this game he was only able to make two three pointers. Kent State returns to action on Tuesday when they host Temple University. Eastern Michigan fell hard to #17 Marquette University 95-62. The Eagles were led by freshmen Devon Dumes who was the only player on Eastern in double figures as he scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while hitting 4-of-7 from behind the arc. EMU stayed with Marquette for much of the first half but could not withstand Marquette’s hot shooting from the field along with its stingy defense. The Golden Eagles connected on 48% of it’s three point attempts while Eastern hit just 38% of theirs. Marquette had five players in double figures and were led by sophomore guard Dominic James who had 17 points. EMU will take on Detroit on Wednesday, November 29th. Toledo got their first win of the year last night but it wasn’t easy. Playing against Middle Tennessee State in the Virgin Islands as part of the Paradise Jam Tournament, Toledo fell down by as much as 18 points at the half but battled back to win it 75-69 in overtime. Senior guard Justin Ingram came up big for the Rockets scoring a career-high 32 points. He also hit the three that forced overtime. Senior forward Keonta Howell came up with 21 points and 6 rebounds and overcame a 20 point deficit with a 22-2 surge late in the second half. Ingram hit the game-tying three with only 0.9 seconds left on the clock. Middle Tennessee State rode their 72.7 percent shooting to a 18 point halftime lead. Toledo will play VCU on Monday afternoon in their last game at the Paradise Jam Tournament. The Buffalo Bulls win over the Miami Hurricanes was the school’s first win over a school from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Bulls defeated the Hurricanes 60-57 in the America’s Youth Classic in Evansville, Indiana last night. Yassin Idbihi hit the game-winning jumper with 3.7 seconds remaining to carry the Bulls to their third win of the season. The senior forward led Buffalo with 22 points and a career high 14 rebounds. Buffalo only shot 36.5 percent but played solid defense and came up big on the boards. Buffalo was able to out-rebound Miami 43-35, including 16 offensive boards. Buffalo will take on Evansville in the final game of the tournament today. Today’s games feature Ball State hosting Prairie View A&M, Bowling Green hosting Furman, Akron hosting Tiffin, Ohio hosting Yale, Buffalo on the road at Evansville, and Central Michigan hosting UMKC. Here are my predictions: Ball State, Akron, Ohio, and Central Michigan all win, while Bowling Green and Buffalo both lose. Yesterday: 1-3. Overall: 6-4.

MAC Recap: 11-16

Ryan Molnar — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:37:55 -0500

With only one game last night it was all up to Bowling Green to help keep the MAC afloat as one of the premier conferences in the nation. They were unable to do this last night as they lost to previously winless Arkansas State. They didn’t help themselves by falling down by as many as 20 points. The one bright spot for the Falcons was that they were able to force 29 turnovers. Martin Samarco finished with a team high 16 points and seven rebounds. The Falcons return home to face Furman at 2 PM Sunday. Three MAC games tonight as Toledo travels to Iowa, Miami hosts Florida A & M, and Buffalo hosts Cleveland State. I’m taking Iowa to beat Toledo, but then Miami and Buffalo will pick up wins tonight. Overall: 2-1

MAC Recap: 11-15

Ryan Molnar — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:52:44 -0500

Once again there were only two MAC teams in action tonight but they both faired a little better than their counterparts did a night ago. Miami took on Kentucky in Rupp arena and was looking to get back on track after a tough home loss to Wright State to open the season. Northern Illinois was looking to open the season on a good note by opening at home against a Division-III team. On to the recaps. Miami got out to a surprisingly good start against the 22nd ranked Wildcats, leading by as much as 10 in the first half. Kentucky pulled back with the RedHawks with a 22-3 run in the second half. Kentucky eventually won the game 57-46. The final score was not indicative of how close a game this really was. Miami stayed tough on the glass against a taller Kentucky squad as the Wildcats finished with only a 32-30 edge in rebounding. The RedHawks were paced by their big senior in the middle, Nathan Peavy. He finished with 17 points and six rebounds. The loss moves Miami’s record to 0-2 but they hope to change that to 1-2 when they take on Florida A & M on Friday at 8:30. The other MAC game of the night pitted Northern Illinois against St. Mary’s (MN) a Division III school. The Huskies shot almost 60 percent from the field on route to a 84-69 in their home opener. Mike McKinney led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field while James Hughes and Zach Pancratz both added 17 points. The only thing that NIU really wasn’t impressed with in this game was their defense. They allowed St. Mary’s to hit 11-of-20 three pointers and to hit 46.6 percent overall from the field. Northern Illinois has a couple of days off until they play Duquesne in Pittsburgh on Monday. Tonight has only one MAC team in action with Bowling Green at 1-0 travels to Arkansas State who is 0-3. Look for the Falcons to continue to stay unbeaten in their unimpressive non-conference schedule thus far. Predicting Power on the season: 2-0