UNLV's egg that they laid this weekend in San Diego is somewhat disconcerting. Even if they won, they needed a whole bunch of help to get to a bowl game. Given that scenario, with 6,000 bowl games this year, it would be hard to keep a 6-6 team home for the holidays. Now the Rebels are home for good and Frank Summers has finished his career as well. It was fun watching him barreling through defenses these last two years and I think his teammates have failed him. They also failed Mike Sanford, who may find his previously thought of solid job status to be more shaky than it could have been given a loss to San Diego State. Given the way they choked away a should have won game by not competing, Sanford's seat might be getting warmer. I still think he deserves an extension, but the fact he hasn't is very disconcerting. That being said, UNLV took large strides forward this year with 5 wins. In August, many Rebels fans would have taken that and called it progress. Instead, this team took a promising win over a Top 10 team and choked it away against just barely better than mediocre Mountain West conference schedule.
Here's a radical thought. Hire recently fired Rocky Long to be the defensive coordinator. The guy is a heckva coach and his teams at UNM were always difficult defensively. Besides the obvious upgrade that his experience would provide, it would also give him the low profile, meager expectations that is the antidote to UNM athletics. UNM fans will soon be pining for the days when Rocky pulled a quarterback out of his jacket pocket that somehow, some way got them eligible for a bowl game. The offensive talent is there. Injuries did play a role this year, as Mike Claussen stepped in for a much better than expected Omar Clayton at QB. Unfortunately, Summers getting hurt affected the game plan vs. San Diego and super tall, freshman stud Phillip Payne's two concussions kept him out of games they had a chance to win.
Overall, UNLV was really only out of two games this year. They were never really in it against TCU and the game against Reno got away from them early in the 2nd quarter. The Rebs hung with the Utes through the first half before Utah pulled away. Whether that consists of improvement is only for AD Mike Hamrick to decide. I think the right thing to do is give Sanford one more season to see if he can continue to move in the right direction. This is UNLV football after all, is a 6-6 season too much to celebrate?
Laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Sunday, November 23
Saturday, November 1
Back from the Merchant Marines
Since I have been MIA the past two months, reading basketball previews and jetsetting all over the place in October, I thought I would regale you with my predictions for the upcoming season. The best part is we can all look back at them and laugh at how preposterous my picks were.
College Basketball
Nationally, I really like North Carolina this year, but their early injuries make me nervous if they carry through to the rest of the season. Depending on how the #1 seeds fall out this year, they could find themselves the favorite again to win. I say this not because I'm bitter they lost since they were my pool pick last year, but I just don't like picking the same team two years in a row. I could be pretentious and put up my Top 25 teams, but it probably would end up being a colossal time waster.
Instead, not in the interest of wasting time, I will put up my Mountain West picks for this season, since I do follow the conference pretty regularly and maybe I know something that others don't. Anyways, it's why I bet this conference and not the others, nobody else watches really.
Even though I'm a homer, everyone else (including the media) agrees with me that UNLV is the best team going in. Personally, I think BYU is going to take a step back this year without Plaisted and I think Lee Cummard can only carry the team so far. San Diego State has probably the most talent, but usually does the least with it. It's up to them how good they are. It's hard to count out Utah with ten seven footers on the roster, but their schedule is a bit ambitious and I don't know if they can put it all together. While Boylen gets on my nerves a bit, he seems to have that program on the right track and probably at the top of the conference in two or three years.
Speaking of annoying, Steve Alford has already started whining about the site of the conference tournament being in Las Vegas, which leads me to believe that his team is not as good as others think it could be. When you signed the contract to coach the team, you knew the rules coming in. That's like him complaining about going to Ft. Collins and Laramie, Wyoming in the middle of February. You knew it going in. He hasn't even won a conference tournament game yet, but he's blaming the lack of a true neutral court. Got news for you Steve, BYU and UNLV were the best teams last year and deserved to play for the auto bid. Truly at the end of the day, conference tournaments are about money, not fairness, and the best teams all year should be in the finals. That being said, since the MWC started, it is only the second time the top two teams met in the final. There are always upsets in tournaments and always will be, whether they are on a neutral court or not. If UNLV left the MWC, they would still have their tourney in Vegas because that is where the fans go and where it makes money. The other sites they are considering are not going to be profitable at all. Learn from the Denver mistake, pals and keep it in Vegas. If they get another arena built, move the tournament there. Until then, keep it where fans like to go and can hang out after their team loses. It should be noted that when the tournament was in Denver, it was closer to more MWC teams and should have had better attendance than it did. Nobody stuck around after their team lost, everybody went home. Don't blame 'em, it's cold in Denver in March. It snows. It doesn't snow in March in Vegas.
Anyways, UNM has the most talent coming in, Tony Danridge returning from surgery and they should be better than last year. Unfortunately, with Steve's bloviating I don't think he has the horses to win this year. You build your resume for the tournament throughout the season, Steve. Put together a good year and win some games, beat some good teams. Of course, that means scheduling good teams first.
Air Force has come back to earth after a few seasons of setting college basketball back thirty years. Colorado State and TCU are rebuilding with new coaches and will have another long season. Wyoming needs to get the tough kids that made them successful in the past. They won't have them in time for this season though.
Here are my picks for the end of the year.
1. UNLV
2. BYU
3. San Diego State
4. Utah
5. New Mexico
6. Wyoming
7. Air Force
8. Colorado State
9. TCU
3-4-5 are really a toss up. I'll try to revisit them after the non conference season to see how the season is treating everybody. I do think UNLV will be ranked in the Top 25 for most of the season and if they get a decent draw, they could make some noise in the dance this year. I like Hamga, but the best news is that Darris Santee will start in the middle and UNLV will be able to bring the two seven footers off the bench. If Willis is 3/4 as good as everyone thinks he will be, they will be fine at the point. It's all about turnovers and defense in Kruger's system and if he can buy in, then they should be good. Darger can shoot from outside, but after last year, he's learned he can rebound and post up if needed. Don't underestimate the Bellfield kid, UNLV was lucky to get a kid of his caliber. Next year, with Derrick Jasper and Chace Stanback added to the roster, the Rebels will be fun to watch.
I will get to the NBA later, even though a surprising trade just happened that may shift some things around. Enjoy the fall season!
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
College Basketball
Nationally, I really like North Carolina this year, but their early injuries make me nervous if they carry through to the rest of the season. Depending on how the #1 seeds fall out this year, they could find themselves the favorite again to win. I say this not because I'm bitter they lost since they were my pool pick last year, but I just don't like picking the same team two years in a row. I could be pretentious and put up my Top 25 teams, but it probably would end up being a colossal time waster.
Instead, not in the interest of wasting time, I will put up my Mountain West picks for this season, since I do follow the conference pretty regularly and maybe I know something that others don't. Anyways, it's why I bet this conference and not the others, nobody else watches really.
Even though I'm a homer, everyone else (including the media) agrees with me that UNLV is the best team going in. Personally, I think BYU is going to take a step back this year without Plaisted and I think Lee Cummard can only carry the team so far. San Diego State has probably the most talent, but usually does the least with it. It's up to them how good they are. It's hard to count out Utah with ten seven footers on the roster, but their schedule is a bit ambitious and I don't know if they can put it all together. While Boylen gets on my nerves a bit, he seems to have that program on the right track and probably at the top of the conference in two or three years.
Speaking of annoying, Steve Alford has already started whining about the site of the conference tournament being in Las Vegas, which leads me to believe that his team is not as good as others think it could be. When you signed the contract to coach the team, you knew the rules coming in. That's like him complaining about going to Ft. Collins and Laramie, Wyoming in the middle of February. You knew it going in. He hasn't even won a conference tournament game yet, but he's blaming the lack of a true neutral court. Got news for you Steve, BYU and UNLV were the best teams last year and deserved to play for the auto bid. Truly at the end of the day, conference tournaments are about money, not fairness, and the best teams all year should be in the finals. That being said, since the MWC started, it is only the second time the top two teams met in the final. There are always upsets in tournaments and always will be, whether they are on a neutral court or not. If UNLV left the MWC, they would still have their tourney in Vegas because that is where the fans go and where it makes money. The other sites they are considering are not going to be profitable at all. Learn from the Denver mistake, pals and keep it in Vegas. If they get another arena built, move the tournament there. Until then, keep it where fans like to go and can hang out after their team loses. It should be noted that when the tournament was in Denver, it was closer to more MWC teams and should have had better attendance than it did. Nobody stuck around after their team lost, everybody went home. Don't blame 'em, it's cold in Denver in March. It snows. It doesn't snow in March in Vegas.
Anyways, UNM has the most talent coming in, Tony Danridge returning from surgery and they should be better than last year. Unfortunately, with Steve's bloviating I don't think he has the horses to win this year. You build your resume for the tournament throughout the season, Steve. Put together a good year and win some games, beat some good teams. Of course, that means scheduling good teams first.
Air Force has come back to earth after a few seasons of setting college basketball back thirty years. Colorado State and TCU are rebuilding with new coaches and will have another long season. Wyoming needs to get the tough kids that made them successful in the past. They won't have them in time for this season though.
Here are my picks for the end of the year.
1. UNLV
2. BYU
3. San Diego State
4. Utah
5. New Mexico
6. Wyoming
7. Air Force
8. Colorado State
9. TCU
3-4-5 are really a toss up. I'll try to revisit them after the non conference season to see how the season is treating everybody. I do think UNLV will be ranked in the Top 25 for most of the season and if they get a decent draw, they could make some noise in the dance this year. I like Hamga, but the best news is that Darris Santee will start in the middle and UNLV will be able to bring the two seven footers off the bench. If Willis is 3/4 as good as everyone thinks he will be, they will be fine at the point. It's all about turnovers and defense in Kruger's system and if he can buy in, then they should be good. Darger can shoot from outside, but after last year, he's learned he can rebound and post up if needed. Don't underestimate the Bellfield kid, UNLV was lucky to get a kid of his caliber. Next year, with Derrick Jasper and Chace Stanback added to the roster, the Rebels will be fun to watch.
I will get to the NBA later, even though a surprising trade just happened that may shift some things around. Enjoy the fall season!
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
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