Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Northern Illinois Receives Votes in Preseason Poll
4 points, tied for 45th in the country. The Northern Illinois Huskies are one of the favorites to win the MAC championship, and to play in a competitive bowl. Anytime a team in a mid-major conference can break into the rankings it is great, for it to be a preseason shows that many coaches respect what Northern Illinois is doing and how they are building their program.
Check back here soon as I will have a complete preview of the 2011 Huskies!
Central Michigan University Football Preview 2011
After looking at a top team we now go back to the bottom. What a drop off Central Michigan took last year dropping from 12-2 to 3-9. Its tough to lose both your quarterback AND your head coach to another city...Cincinnati (my hometown). Of course one went to the Bengals, the other to the Bearcats. Anyway.
Central Michigan looks to rebound, and quite frankly they may not have enough talent. Scouts.com Kyle Warber in an interview pointed to a lack of recruiting talent as a sign of things to come. Though that does not mean the cupboard is completely empty. The offensive line can still be looked as a semi-strong point of the team and the secondary certainly has what it takes to keep the team in the game. And if you take a look at the game instead of the stats, you would find that Central Michigan came close to being a top tire team once again last year.
the Chippewas where always fighting. One game that pops up into my mind was the Northwestern game where they found themselves with a sizable forth quarter deficit against a team that prides on being mentally tough. Quarterback Ryan Radcliff almost was able to push his team back and steal the victory. That is just one of many times the Chippewas fell just short.
Radcliff owns a 56 PPPR, I am really sold on the guy I just need him to preform on the field. His rating can sky rocket if he shows his potential this season and leads CMU to their rightful place a top the MAC standings.
So, what I am seeing is this year could very well be year number two of 'worst to first' in the Mid American Conference. Radcliff has to be more mature with the ball, and he can not let turnovers get the best of him. Most articles you read point to that being the major downfall of the team last year, which makes since because any turnover kills a team, three or four helps bury the grave.
My prediction of the Chippewas will be optimistic, I say they go 6-2 in the MAC and have a very good chance at going to Detroit.
As all ways check back daily for more season previews.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Akron Women's Soccer Dominates Cleveland State
The University of Akron women's soccer team played in their first exhibition match today against Cleveland State. The Akron women, who finished last year with a .500 MAC record and seventh overall, have some expectations this year as they return many players from last years squad and add some much needed pieces.
Cleveland State, though apart of the Horizon league, really does have a good women's soccer team. They went 9-8-2 last year and finished third in the Horizon. But Akron made them look bad.
Scoring first just over 11 minuets into the match, Akron was not nearly finished. Rachel Phillips picked up her second assist when she passed to Karina Atkinson who put away the second goal of the game. The first was off the foot of Junior Katie Wise.
The scrimmage consisted of three thirty minuet periods. Akron was able to score three times in the last one to make it a blow out. Ashley Hughes contributed two to cap off the 4-0 win for the Zips.
Akron women's soccer team will play at Duquesne this coming Saturday.
I hope to follow all of the women soccer preseason action as it leads right into the regular season.
*Picture taken from GoZips.com, read a complete RECAP HERE
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Men's Basketball Teams Prepare for International Play
Every four years teams are allowed to go abroad and play in places that the team would normally not go. Some bigger schools find themselves going to New Zealand or enjoying it down under in Australia. Sometimes you just have to settle with going to Canada like what Ball State and Akron will be doing in just several days.
Ball State, who finished the season 19-13 (10-6) and in forth in the MAC last year, is scheduled to start their foreign trip on August 10th against Quest University, located near Vancouver. It is safe to say that home court advantage will not be in the Cardinals favor being close to 2446 miles away from campus. After the contest, BSU will go to Trinity August 12th and then to Vancouver Island on the 14th. In between those games, Ball State will take on Victoria Select on the 13th.
Though the teams will take the court on similar days, they do not play the same opponents. Akron faces teams located on the other side of Canada near Montreal and Ottawa. On the 11th they take on Sheridan College. On the 13th it is Quebec University. The Zips will then play a double header on Saturday against Champlain Alumni and McGill University then round up the foreign trip on the 16th with a final game vs. Carleton.
This is a great opportunity to find out how some of the top teams last year are after loosing key seniors last season. Though the teams that they will be competing against are not seen as too prestigious, it does not mean we should not follow these two in their journey.
Be sure to check back here as I will have updates on their progress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)