San Jose St

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.

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the WAC?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:24:04 -0500

WAC Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:22:02 -0500

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Conference Rank: 14th

Conference Page

All-WAC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Armon Johnson	Nevada	So
G	Kyle Gibson	La Tech	Jr
G	Jonathan Gibson	New Mexico St	Jr
F	Luke Babbitt	Nevada	Fr
F	Gary Wilkinson	Utah State	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
High-Major All-Americans Gary Wilkinson All-Freshman Luke Babbitt		Points: Kyle Gibson 16.5 Rebounds: Chris Oakes 7.2 Assists: Anthony Thomas 4.2 Team Points: Boise State 81.4

WAC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

59	Nevada	WAC	1	NCAA
77	New Mexico St	WAC	2	NIT
124	Utah State	WAC	3
163	San Jose State	WAC	4
217	Fresno State	WAC	5
225	Louisiana Tech	WAC	6
246	Boise State	WAC	7
266	Hawaii	WAC	8
306	Idaho	WAC	9

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the WAC?

Other WAC Content

Head Coach Interviews

Greg Graham: Boise State

Conference Media Poll

WAC Poll & All-Conference Team

Other

Rise & Fall: The WAC

WAC Preseason Poll & All-Conference Team

Press Release — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:20:36 -0400

WAC MEDIA POLL

DENVER – The 2008-09 Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball media poll has tabbed Nevada as this year’s favorite. Utah State senior forward Gary Wilkinson has been named the preseason Player of the Year. Nevada freshman Luke Babbitt was tabbed this year’s preseason Newcomer of the Year.

Nevada received 255 points and 20 first-place votes. Utah State was picked second with 220 points and four first place votes. New Mexico State garnered 201 points and two first place votes for third place followed by Louisiana Tech with 149 points. Boise State was fifth with three first place votes and 142 points followed by San Jose State with a first place vote and 132 points. Fresno State was seventh with 114 points, followed by Hawai‘i (103) and Idaho (34).

Wilkinson averaged 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last season, helping Utah State to a share of the conference regular season crown last year.

Babbitt, a 2008 graduate of Galena High School in Reno, became the third player in Nevada prep history to be named a McDonald’s All-American.

The All-WAC team included Wilkinson, New Mexico State junior guard Jonathan Gibson, Louisiana Tech junior guard Kyle Gibson, Nevada sophomore forward Armon Johnson, and San Jose State junior center C.J. Webster.

The following is the complete 2008-09 WAC men’s basketball media poll with first-place votes in parentheses (points awarded on a 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis):

Rank Team Points

1. Nevada (20) 255

2. Utah State (4) 220

3. New Mexico State (2) 201

4. Louisiana Tech 149

5. Boise State (3) 142

6. San Jose State (1) 132

7. Fresno State 114

8. Hawai‘i 103

9. Idaho 34

Preseason All-WAC Team

Jonathan Gibson, Jr., G, New Mexico State

Kyle Gibson, Jr., G, Louisiana Tech

Armon Johnson, So., F, Nevada

C.J. Webster, Jr., C, San Jose State

Gary Wilkinson, Sr., F, Utah State

Preseason Player of the Year: Gary Wilkinson, Sr., F, Utah State

Newcomer of the Year: Luke Babbitt, Fr., F, Nevada

WAC COACHES POLL

The Western Athletic Conference announced its men’s basketball preseason poll and all-WAC teams, as voted on by the nine head coaches in the league. Nevada was selected to win the WAC, while Nevada sophomore Armon Johnson was tabbed the league’s preseason Player of the Year.

Nevada, the 2007-08 WAC regular season co-champion, received seven first place votes and 63 points. Utah State captured second place with 57 points, receiving two first-place votes. New Mexico State took third place with 48 points. With 43 points, San Jose State was voted fourth. Boise State (30) and Louisiana Tech (29) followed closely behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Hawai‘i (25) and Fresno State (20) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, while Idaho (9) was ranked ninth.

The coaches also voted on preseason first and second all-WAC teams. Nevada sophomore forward Armon Johnson, the 2007-08 WAC Freshman of the Year, leads the list of first-teamers. San Jose State junior center C.J. Webster and Utah State senior forward Gary Wilkinson, 2007-08 all-Newcomer team honorees, also earned spots on the preseason first team. New Mexico State guard Jonathan Gibson and Louisiana Tech guard Kyle Gibson round out the first team.

Second-team selections include Luke Babbitt (Nevada), Brandon Fields (Nevada), Anthony Thomas (Boise State), Tai Wesley (Utah State) and Jahmar Young (New Mexico State)

Nevada shared the 2007-08 regular season title with Boise State, Utah State, and New Mexico State. The team advanced to the first-ever College Basketball Invitational Tournament last season.

2008-09 Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

Rank Teams (1st Place Votes) Points

1. Nevada (7) 63

2. Utah State (2) 57

3. New Mexico State 48

4. San Jose State 43

5. Boise State 30

6. Louisiana Tech 29

7. Hawai‘i 25

. 8. Fresno State 20

9. Idaho 9

Preseason All-WAC Teams

First Team Second Team

Jonathan Gibson, Jr., G, New Mexico St. Luke Babbitt, Fr., F, Nevada

Kyle Gibson, Jr., G, Louisiana Tech Brandon Fields, Jr., G, Nevada

Armon Johnson, So., F, Nevada Anthony Thomas, Jr., F, Boise State

C.J. Webster, Jr., C, San Jose State Tai Wesley, So., F, Utah State

Gary Wilkinson, Sr., F, Utah State Jahmar Young, So., G, New Mexico St.

Player of the Year: Armon Johnson, Nevada

Portland State 72 - San Jose State 63

Press Release — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 23:59:14 -0500

San Jose, CA - Juma Kamara's big second half combined with the overall excellence of Scott Morrison led the Portland State Vikings to a 72-63 non-conference win at San Jose State.

Kamara hit four three-pointers in the second half and scored all 15 of his points after intermission. Morrison posted a season-high 19 points on 9-12 shooting. He had nine rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals in a career-high 36 minutes.

Portland State raised its record to 7-3 on the season, winning its third straight game and sixth in the last seven. San Jose State dropped to 1-8 on the season.

It was a seesaw affair through the first half. The Vikings jumped to a quick 15-7 lead on a Dupree Lucas layup with 14:26 to go in the first half. But San Jose State rallied, going on a 15-3 run to take a 22-18 lead at the 7:49 mark.

PSU regained the lead and took a 30-28 advantage into halftime. The Vikings shot just 36% from the field and were outrebounded 27-19 in the half, but used 14 Spartan turnovers to maintain the lead.

The Vikings went down six early in the second half, but bounced back to go ahead by eight at the 8:40 mark and held the lead the rest of the way. The Vikings made 16-26 from the field in the second half for a .615 mark.

Deonte Huff also had a big game for the Vikings, scoring 12 points with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Portland State ended up shooting 46% for the game, but poor three-point shooting continued. Going into the game, the Vikings were hitting only .284 from long range. PSU managed only 5-20 against the Spartans.

Tim Pierce hit four three-point field goals and had a team-high 17 points for San Jose State.

- Portland St Media Relations -

Daily Dribble: 12/11

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 23:36:07 -0500

Sunday was rather tame compared to such a wild slate of games on Saturday. The big game of course was Texas vs LSU, which didn't disappoint by going to overtime. The Longhorns won 76-75 thanks in large part to DJ Augustin's ability to drive to the hoop, and AJ Abrams threes in overtime. The best freshman wasn't Kevin Durant, but Augustin who ended up with a career high 25 to go along with 5 assists. I found it a bit odd at the end of regulation that they gave the ball to Abrams at the top of the key in the closing seconds instead of Augustin. Augustin is clearly better at beating guys off the dribble, and it makes more sense to have Abrams, your best shooter out on the wing. For LSU, Glen Davis and Tasmin Mitchell combined for 44 points and 20 boards. Towards the end of the game though, it was big threes by Garrett Temple that really kept LSU alive. Big Baby did his thing in the post, but his opportunities were limited thanks to a Texas defense that crowded him with two, sometimes three guys down there. As good as his final numbers were, he still made multiple bad decisions shooting ill-advised jumpers and his 4 missed free throws could have made the difference. Jared Dudley's 20 and 12 led Boston College to a home win over #22 Maryland. The Terps, who have lost 2 of 3, are in danger of dropping out of the Top 25. Besides Dudley, Boston College also got a huge performance out of big man Sean Williams. The junior ended up with 10 points, 11 boards and 7 blocks. Williams came into the game leading the nation in blocks with 5.8 per game, so the 7 aren't even that much above his norm. Florida State improved to 8-2, their third win in a row since beating Florida last Sunday. The Noles pulled away from SE Louisiana early, and were able to spread the scoring around with five guys hitting double figures. FSU was 34th (going by votes) in the AP last week and has a chance to move in considering that Xavier, Georgia Tech, and Maryland may very well drop out. Congratulations to Dartmouth for picking up their first win of the season, defeating James Madison 74-70. The Big Green are usually offensively challenged, but they shot an impressive 57% from the floor in the win. Northern Colorado picked up their first win over a D1 team by beating 1-9 Denver. Denver's only win: against Northern Colorado 3 weeks back. Both of these teams are putrid, so at least they were lucky enough to schedule each other twice this year. It looks like it will be another awful season for San Jose State. The Spartans haven't won more than 7 games in the last four years. At 1-8 following a loss to Portland State last night, it looks like more of the same this year. Portland State though is now a solid 7-3 and they've beaten a Pac-10 team for the second season in a row: ASU earlier this season and Oregon last year. - Click the link below for Shawn Siegel's Blog.. then bookmark it.. -