Newbies

[SubGod22]

Games for 02.06.23 - 02.12.23

Record for the week: 7-4

Monday-Wednesday

NO GAMES

Thursday

FAU (23-2) hosts Rice (15-9) 90-81
North Texas (20-5) hosts UAB (17-8) 82-79
Charlotte (14-10) visits UTEP (11-13) 62-53

Friday

NO GAMES

Saturday

FAU (24-2) hosts LaTech (13-12) 90-85
UTSA (7-19) hosts UTEP (12-13) 66-77
UAB (18-8) hosts MTSU (15-11) 92-69
North Texas (21-5) hosts Charlotte (14-11) 67-43
Rice (16-9) visits FIU (13-13) 85-78

Sunday

NO GAMES


Prediction 6-5

[SubGod22]

Games for 02.13.23 - 02.19.23

Record for the week: 8-3

Monday-Wednesday

NO GAMES

Thursday

North Texas (22-5) visits LaTech (13-13) 72-62
25 FAU (24-3) visits MTSU (1-11) 70-74
Charlotte (15-11) hosts Western Kentucky (14-12) 68-64
Rice (16-10) hosts UTSA (8-19) 79-84
UAB (19-8) visits UTEP (12-14) 79-66

Friday

NO GAMES

Saturday

Charlotte (16-11) visits LaTech (13-14) 74-67
UTSA (8-20) hosts UAB (20-8) 78-83
Rice (17-10) hosts Western Kentucky (14-13) 83-77
North Texas (23-5) visits UTEP (12-15) 80-72

Sunday

NO GAMES


Prediction 7-4

[SubGod22]

Games for 02.20.23 - 02.26.23

Record for the week: 7-4

Monday-Wednesday

NO GAMES

Thursday

FAU (25-3) hosts UTSA (8-21) 106-66
Charlotte (17-11) hosts North Texas (23-6) 55-49
UAB (21-8) hosts Rice (17-11) 85-57

Friday

NO GAMES

Saturday

FAU (26-3) hosts UTEP (13-16) 75-49
Charlotte (18-11) hosts Rice (17-12) 70-54
UTSA (9-21) visits FIU (13-16) 95-91
UAB (22-8) visits Western Kentucky (15-14) 72-60

Sunday

NO GAMES


A lot of fighting amongst each other this week. Thursday is nothing but CUSA 6 games.

Different sort of prediction this week. FAU over UTSA. North Texas over Charlotte. UAB over Rice. FAU over UTEP. Charlotte over Rice. FIU over UTSA. UAB over WKU.

That Charlotte v Rice game could be a good one. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rice pull it off.


I did not have UTSA coming from 14 down at the half to outscore FIU 53-35 in the 2nd half. Had that game been in San Antonio, I might have picked the Roadrunners. Didn't think they'd get it done on the road.

[Kel Varnsen]

Their social media guy must have grandparents who lived in Del Boca Vista.

[WstateU]

Their social media guy must have grandparents who lived in Del Boca Vista.

Maybe a step up from Appalachian States, "Hot Hot Hot" promotional video...

[SubGod22]

Games for 02.27.23 - 03.05.23

Record for the week: 6-4

Monday-Wednesday

NO GAMES

Thursday

North Texas (24-6) hosts MTSU (18-12) 64-50
Rice (17-13) hosts FAU (27-3) 74-103
UTSA (10-21) hosts Charlotte (18-12) 78-73

Friday

NO GAMES

Saturday

Charlotte (18-13) hosts UAB (23-8) 91-93
North Texas (25-6) hosts Western Kentucky (16-15) 67-33
Rice (17-14) hosts FIU (14-17) 83-90
FAU (28-3) visits LaTech (14-17) 76-72


I'm seeing a 7-3 week

North Texas over MTSU, FAU over Rice, Charlotte over UTSA, UAB over Charlotte, North Texas over WKU, Rice over FIU and FAU over LaTech.


FAU sure can put up a lot of points. This is their 3rd game scoring over 100. Three others in the 90s and seven in the 80s.

UTSA knocking off Charlotte shocked me. UTSA has had some competitive losses and Charlotte has had some struggles the last month, but I still never even considered that a possibility.

North Texas holding WKU to 33 total points is insane.

[SubGod22]

CUSA Conference Tournament March 8-11 from Frisco, TX

There are apparently two courts wherever this is being played and they'll play games at essentially the same time, staggered by 30 minutes or so.

Wednesday

6 Rice (18-14) plays 11 UTSA (10-22) 72-71

Thursday

1 FAU (29-3) plays 8 WKU (17-16) 75-51
5 Charlotte (18-14) plays 4 MTSU (19-13) 65-66
2 North Texas (26-6) plays 10 LaTech (15-18) 74-46
3 UAB (24-8) plays 6 Rice (18-15) 87-60

Friday

1 FAU (30-3) plays 4 MTSU (19-14) CBSSN 68-65
2 North Texas (26-7) plays 3 UAB (25-8) CBSSN 69-76

Saturday

1 FAU (31-3) plays 3 UAB (25-9) CBSSN 78-56


I thought about listing out the entire tournament, but didn't. Maybe I'll change my mind later.

[SubGod22]

Three of the four remaining teams in the CUSA tournament are future members. FAU plays at 1130 this morning and they're followed by what should be a good game between North Texas and UAB. Both games are on CBS SpotsNet.

FAU dominated the first half of their game and lead 37-25.

MTSU came out hot in the 2nd half and made it a game. FAU wins 68-65. MTSU had a good look from about 30 to tie.

[SubGod22]

North Texas and UAB going at it right now on CBSSN for the right to face FAU for the auto bid.

UAB is all over North Texas in the first. 22-2 to start the game. With two minutes left in the half, North Texas has it down to single digits (30-21). At the half it's 35-28. North Texas has made this a game.

[1972Shocker]

North Texas and UAB are in the NIT Final 4. North Texas, after beating Oklahoma State 65-59 in OT, moves on to play Wisconsin on Tuesday and will be joined by UAB who plays Utah Valley after knocking of Vandebilt 67-59. North Texas is currently a 1.5 point favorite and UAB is a 2 point favorite to make it to the NIT Championship game.

So a an all-AAC Newbies NIT Final definitely a possibility.

FAU squares off against K-State today in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Tournament.

As far as MBB is concerned the AAC may be losing name recognition with the loss of Houston and Cincinnati but may not be losing much at all in actual quality of play if these year's post season play is any indication. The question is can this AAC Newbies sustain that success over the longer term. Time will tell.

[Maizerunner08]

Could have 3 AAC teams playing still. Amazing. UNT to the ‘ship and UAB still to go.

[ShockTalk]

Could have 3 AAC teams playing still. Amazing. UNT to the ‘ship and UAB still to go.

Held Wisconsin to 13 points in the 2nd half after allowing 41 in the 1st half.

[1972Shocker]

Could have 3 AAC teams playing still. Amazing. UNT to the ‘ship and UAB still to go.

Plus Charlotte finished of their season last week winning the CBI. Not that is all that impressive, but they will be 1 of 3 teams that will finish their season with a win and either North Texas or UAB will join them for sure. FAU is a real long shot to make it 3 for 3 but let's see how that goes.

[WstateU]

[SubGod22]

Speaking of the Newbies

Go Shockers - RH: AAC Newcomers Series: North Texas Mean Green

Listen to the podcast

The American Athletic Conference undergoes a makeover on July 1 when North Texas, Rice, UTSA, UAB, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic join. Those six schools, all from Conference USA, sign on as Cincinnati, Central Florida and Houston move to the Big 12.

Those six schools won 15 tournament or regular-season titles in CUSA last season, highlighted by FAU's sweep in men's basketball and Charlotte winning men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track, men's golf, softball (regular season), baseball (tournament) and men's outdoor track.

The group of new AAC members also earned 13 of C-USA's Sport Academic Awards for its 16 sports.

We start a podcast series looking at the six schools with the University of North Texas.

Tuesday: North Texas, Rice
Wednesday: UTSA, UAB
Thursday: Charlotte, FAU

A look at the schools:

North Texas Mean Green
Location: Denton, Texas
Enrollment: 44,336
One thing to know: Mean Green men's basketball won 18 or more games in each of the past six seasons.
Connections to Wichita State: Former Shocker Tommy Newman, a member of the 1965 Final Four team, coached North Texas from 1983-86. Harry Miller coached men's basketball at North Texas in 1970-71 before taking the top job at Wichita State. The Mean Green played in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1957-75, where it finished with one winning season in men's basketball. North Texas won 13 MVC golf titles, which remains second in conference history behind Wichita State's 21. The Mean Green won four straight NCAA titles from 1949-52 and placed second in 1954, 1955 and 1956.

Rice Owls
Location: Houston
Enrollment: 8,565
One thing to know: The Owls played in the College World Series seven times from 1997-2008 and won the title in 2003.
Connections to Wichita State: Scott Thompson coached the Shockers in men's basketball from 1992-96 after five seasons at Rice. In 1996, Wichita State defeated Rice to advance to the College World Series. In 2003, the Owls defeated the Shockers on their way to Omaha. The Shockers defeated Rice 3-1 in a 2008 NCAA volleyball match in Austin.

UTSA Roadrunners
Location: San Antonio
Enrollment: 34,330
One thing to know: UTSA started its athletics program in 1981 with a 71-42 loss to Arkansas in San Antonio in men's basketball.
Connections to Wichita State: Jason Perez, who scored 1,839 points from 1996-2000 for the Shockers, is from San Antonio.

UAB Blazers
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Enrollment: 21,639
One thing to know: Gene Bartow, former basketball coach at Memphis, Illinois and UCLA, started the athletics program at UAB in 1977. As coach, he guided the Blazers to seven NCAA Tournaments in his first eight seasons. In 1982, UAB highlighted his tenure with wins over Indiana and Virginia before losing to Louisville in the regional final.
Connections to Wichita State: The Shockers are 4-0 vs. UAB in men's basketball. The series started with a matchup of top-10 teams early in the 1981-82 season. The fourth-ranked Shockers defeated No. 9 UAB 75-60 at Levitt Arena. Tony Martin made 7 of 8 shots to score 14 points for the Shockers.

Charlotte 49ers
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Enrollment: 30,448
One thing to know: The 49ers advanced to the 1977 Final Four in their fifth season as an NCAA Division I program. They defeated Central Michigan, Syracuse, and No. 1 Michigan before losing to Marquette in the national semifinal.
Connections to Wichita State: Former Shocker outfielder, assistant coach and 2023 interim baseball coach Loren Hibbs coached the 49ers for 27 seasons. The schools met once on the diamond, a 7-3 win by the Shockers in 2002.

Florida Atlantic Owls
Location: Boca Raton, Fla.
Enrollment: 29,610
One thing to know: FAU's men's basketball team made the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and then again in 2023. The Owls defeated Memphis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, and Kansas State before losing to San Diego State in the national semifinal.
Connections to Wichita State: The Shockers defeated FAU 88-85 in 1998 with Maurice Evans and Jason Perez both scoring 24 points for WSU in Levitt Arena. That is the lone meeting. Wichita State retired Cliff Levington's jersey at halftime.