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Getting up to Speed. (Football gets first commit of 2008) The workload has been alot busier lately, and I haven't had much internet time. So my apologies for the lack of posting. Here is what has been going on in the world of Cougar sports in the past week, for those of that missed it.
As for the site, still going to post the Recruiting class reviews for each season and cover more in-depth the tail end of Basketball season leading up to "March Madness!" Go Cougars! --Mitch Letter of Intent Day Open Thread Today is National Signing Day around the nation. As for BYU faxes should start to roll in very soon now with these student-athletes Letters of Intent on playing football at BYU. Here is what we expect to see today roll through the BYU Football Office Fax Machines. We will have more analysis throughout the day. There is a special Signing Day Luncheon with Coach Mendenhall for the media and Cougar Club members.
Entry Link :: 2 Comments Does anybody know were playing Utah tomorrow? College Basketball in the state of Utah is a complete afterthought anymore. You wouldn't realize that tomorrow is the big game against Utah at the Huntsman Center to finally avenge all the losses that we have suffered there in the past decade or so. It's amazing how big of a gap there is between football and basketball, in terms of interest and it puzzles me as to why that has happened. A week or so ago, I was watching BYUTV Classic BYU sports, and I saw the '94 BYU vs. Utah game at the Marriott Center with Barry Tompkins and Marques Johnson doing the call. It was a great game to watch, and what I found really interesting was the intensity, the capacity crowd, and how loud the MC was. Last season when BYU hosted Utah there was only 13,000+. Not too impressive especially when you consider about a thousand or two were Utah fans. Unlike the majority of people, I'm really excited about this game, and I feel BYU is finally gonna get that elusive win in the Huntsman Center. I hate having to hear Greg Wrubell after losses to Utah at the JMHC when we are finally gonna break through, and its time to end that and give the Cougar Nation some more excitement. On paper, BYU should dominate but Utah has had BYU's number in recent years and BYU always tends to play one of their worst games of the year against the clowns from up north. Also, thanks to "Hair" Thompson the game will be on the beloved mtn. So if you don't have access to the mtn. and you live in the area get to the Huntsman Center and cheer on the Cougs. Time: 8:00 p.m.
SBN College Hoops Top 25: Week 2 Here's this week's poll from the college bloggers of the SBN network. We have a new #1...
Basketball Roundup: Two big wins in conference Sorry for the lack of posting, but here is a recap of the week that was in the world of Cougar Hoops. It was an eventful week for Cougar hoops this past week, with some big victories that could turn around the team to make a late push at the "Big Dance." Wednesday The Cougars finally got their first road victory outside of the Beehive State last Wednesday with a win in "The Pit" of Albuquerque. Jonathan Tavernari ignited the big win with 18 points coming off the bench. Tavernari is really becoming a very good player, he has a nice shot and has a knack for making plays. He is going to be very good as he continues to develop. BYU was up by nine at the Half and never looked back. The Lobos "star" player J.R. Giddeons received a few boos from the Lobo crowd, but in the 2nd half he injured his ankle and did not return. The future for Lobos head coach Ritchie McKay looks very dim right now with his team struggling mightily and he is losing the fan support quickly. This was a big boost for the confidence of BYU though, a win on the road in the Mountain West is no easy chore. This could be a win that springboards BYU to big things down the stretch and play the way they were expected to in the pre-season. Saturday It was the first sell-out the Marriott Center has seen since the Big Monday 10 p.m. matchup against Utah back on March 1st, 2004. It was "White Out" and $1 ticket day as well so the Marriott Center was pumped to host the ranked Cadets. BYU came out of the gates down 10-4 but pulled together a 8-0 run and the Cougs sustained a lead for the rest of the game. Air Force would make many runs but the Cougars had the ever famous "Marriott Center Magic" on their side in Provo yesterday. Up Next --Mitch SBN College Hoops Top 25: Week 1 The Sports Blog Nation (SBN) from the college bloggers has finally released a Top 25 for College Hoops. Here is the first week from our voting. Each now poll will be posted weekly up until Selection Sunday. Thanks to the Kentucky blog, for putting this together.
I personally think that North Carolina is the #1 team in the nation, followed by Wisconsin then UCLA then Florida at #4. Another team that I'm very high on but has been struggling as of late is the Arizona Wildcats. The 'Cats have lost three straight Pac-10 Conference games for the first time since the Ronald Reagan administration. The Pac-10 is very good this year, but don't be surprised if come March the Wildcats are making a deep run in the tournament. BYU will be facing the #13 team this Saturday on this poll, Air Force in the Marriott Center at 4 p.m. Should be a very exciting game. Entry Link :: 1 Comment Recruiting Class Evaluations: 1998 Here is the third installment leading up to Letter of Intent Day, evaluating BYU recruiting classes. Spencer Abney TE Orem Eugene Childs WR Los Angeles Logan Deans RB Englewood, CO Kevin Gilbride QB Jacksonville, FL Jernaro Gilford DB Hawthorne, CA
Brian Gray DB El Camino JC Sione Havili RB Salt Lake Isaac Herring OL Mapleton, UT Junior "Reno" Mahe RB Salt Lake Brandon McFerren OL Union City, CA James Morgan OL Dunnellon, FL Moa Peaua LB Reno, NV
Brady Poppinga LB Evanston, WY Jonathan Pittman WR Long Beach City College Dustin Rykert OL Roseville, CA Heshimu Robertson DB Long Beach, CA TJ Sitake RB Salt Lake Chris Stevens LB Hemet, CA Hanale Vincent OL Kailua, HI
Nathan Wente TE Canby, OR Michael Westbrook WR Lakewood, WA Ranking the Class
--Mitch Beck throws TD pass in Shrine Game
 Beck did nothing to hurt his stock at the Shrine game Former BYU QB John Beck started for the West squad in yesterday's East-West Shrine Game, and on the opening drive threw a nice TD pass to Boise State FB Brad Lau. The commentators had many good things to say about Beck in the beginning of the broadcast. Bob Davie said he feels that Beck could be a 1st Day Draft pick, and one day become a NFL starting QB. Beck was featured as a "Impact Player" in the game. The . The MVP was not given to a QB but not Beck, it was Nevada's Jeff Rowe who earned the honor. The next important date for people following John Beck's trek to the NFL is the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on February 21st-27th. --Mitch Cougars collapse in Second Half again on the road Yet again BYU's basketball team came up short in a MWC game away from the Marriott Center. The Cougars were up by two at Halftime but couldn't stop the Rams at all in the second half not being able to get critical stops when needed. BYU shot well from the field as well but they couldn't get the stops on D, to get the win. This is the second straight MWC road game, where BYU collapsed in the second half and trailing by a large deficit. As I mentioned in the game thread, BYU couldn't have a scoring drought and expect to win, and of course a scoring drought took place in the second half and the Rams took advantage creating a big lead. The Rams 7-footers, Jason Smith and Stuart Creason had foul troubles early on forcing them to sit most of the 1st half, but the Cougars couldn't break away due to the hot shooting from CSU's guard line. Stephan Gilling had 16 points, 12 of which came from behind the 3-point arc. Austin Ainge was non-existent today, with zero points, and had no answer to the Rams guard play. Trent Plaisted had a great 1st half scoring 14 points, which ties his season best for points in a half (Michigan State). Plaisted ended up with 27 points but could of had 30+, had he made his free throws. Plaisted missed eight free throw's and one of those was off the front end, so nine points were lost from Plaisted free throws, he has a great touch just needs to get consistent and put them in. Jimmy Balderson who has been a non-factor the past few games played very well today scoring 21 points. If Balderson can continue this kind of play on the road, BYU is going to pull out some victories, he is an "X-factor" when he plays well BYU usually pulls out a win. Aside from the loss, I feel this team made progress today on playing better on the road. Colorado State is a very good team this season. Don't be surprised if the Rams win the conference this season, I came away very impressed with the boys from Fort Collins. BYU is now 13-6, 3-2 in Mountain West play, with a trip to Albuquerque up next on Wednesday. The Lobos are currently dead last in the conference standings, so this would be a good opportunity for the road drought to end. --Mitch BYU (13-5, 3-1) @ Colorado State (13-4, 3-2) Can BYU get their first win on the road out of the state of Utah? Time: 3:30 p.m. Today is a big game in the conference picture. BYU who is oustanding at home, has struggled on the road this season only winning one game and that was up in Ogden at Weber State. A win today in Fort Collins could turn the tide on the season, similar to what happened last year. CSU Projected Starting Lineup This will be a daunting task for KT and Plaisted today, facing two true 7-footers. Jason Smith is the Rams star. BYU needs to get off to a quick start and not have any scoring draughts. BYU over the years has been well known for scoring draughts, and for a team that is struggling on the road in conference, draughts will not get it done. Austin Ainge needs to have a break out performance in controlling the offense and not giving up any out of control turnovers. I wanna say that BYU is going to win this game, but this team is a completely different personality away from the Marriott Center. BYU needs to build a lead in the 1st Half and not let up. I'm expecting a down to the wire game. --Mitch A look at 2007 MWC Non-Conference Schedules I've been following the Pac-10 and SEC scheduling debate over at , and it inspired me to take a look at the 2007 non-conference slate for teams in the Mountain West. The Mountain West is a conference that relies heavily on playing well in the non-conference against BCS opponents. Because being in this league garners no respect from the national media, especially since we are on the beloved also known as "the mtn." With that said lets take a look at 2007's slate. Air Force The Cadets have the two games against the military schools which is a given every season to battle for the Commander in Chief Trophy. Navy is good and currently has a four game win streak over the Falcons. A home game against Northern Colorado is a gimmie game at best, and then a trip to South Bend which is always difficult. But not too bad of a schedule for new head coach Troy Calhoun.
BYU Coach Mendenhall has expressed that he wants to find "balance" in scheduling, and I believe he did with the 2007 schedule. Arizona will be a revenge game at home to open the season with a new QB, Arizona is looking to improve off its six win season. UCLA returns 20 of its 22 starters from last season that beat USC. UCLA is a pre-season sleeper for '07 already. Then the Cougs go to Skelly Stadium for the first time since '96 to face a team who BYU destroyed by 25, they will be gunning for the Cougars. After those first three contests there is some conference games and then Eastern Washington in the middle of October, which I think is a smart move. If BYU comes out of the gate 3-0 with that schedule expect big things the rest of the year. Colorado State Colorado State still needs to fill two vaccancies in its schedule. They have the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown in Invesco to open the year. Then the Rams bring in a Pre-Season Top 25 team in Cal to Fort Collins. These are two good programs that if CSU could get wins over would be good attention for the MWC. The Rams return star RB Kyle Bell next season. As for the last two games, expect two easy D-1AA opponents, therefore brings down the grade. New Mexico The Lobos have a good mix in this schedule with a up and coming BCS program, one of the better mid-majors and an in-state rival. The Lobos beat the Miners last season Albuquerque. Expect Rocky Long to get a D-1AA opponnet at home to fill the final vaccancy, like most schools do. San Diego State The two games the Aztecs have scheduled are very difficult, but this is nothing new to the Aztecs who have travelled to the "Horsehoe" of all places in recent seasons. The MWC always wants to beat the Pac-10 foes, but the problem is, its San Diego State. Have they ever won? Not since the Faulk days at least.
TCU TCU is going to have a lot of pre-season hype in this league, coming off that Poinsettia Bowl performance so there are big plans in Fort Worth. The first thing that catches your eye in this schedule is of course Texas. TCU has went into big-time Big XII environments before and won (Oklahoma in 2005). All of the Frogs games are in the state of Texas until a trip to Palo Alto to face Jim Harbaugh's Cardinal in October, who only won one game last year but is still a "BCS conference" foe so its still a good game. A very good schedule.
UNLV QB Rocky Hinds returns and the season oppener should get his confidence up with a easy game at Utah State. Then the Rebs host Wisconsin who is a National Title contender next season with P.J. Hill in the backfield. The Rebs have won against Wisconsin before, in Madison to be exact. Then another good game against Hawaii who has Colt Brennan coming back. And finally another WAC opponent in Nevada who has become a solid football program as of late. Three WAC teams, and a National Title contender at home, pretty good. Utah As all of us BYU fans know, Utah is not known for playing the toughest of schedules in the non-conference. But the Utes like they always do are taking some notes from Provo on how to schedule. Oregon State is coming off a Sun Bowl win, and the Beavers also beat USC earlier last season. UCLA as mentioned is a sleeper team, travels to play the Utes one week after playing BYU. Then the "Battle of the Brothers" against Utah State which is a must every season for the Ute faithful. Then a trip to Papa John's Stadium to play Brian Brohm and the Louisville Cardinal who are going to be a pre-season Top 10 team. So other than Utah State this schedule is very difficult for the Utes. Wyoming Wyoming has a chance at revenge against Virginia in War Memorial to open the season. I'm surprised to see a ACC team travelling to Laramie, never thought I would see that. Then Utah State, and for the second year in a row the Pokes go to Boise. Wyoming shut down Boise's offense holding them to only 17 points on the smurf turf. Then a game at Frank Solich's Ohio Bobcats. Source for dates: --Mitch Hoops get commit from local Point Guard Dave Rose for the Spring signing period from Davis High Point Guard Nick Martineau. Martineau, a two-sport star, has made an oral commitment to play basketball for the Cougars. He'll play for BYU next year before serving an LDS Church mission. Martineau had scholarship offers from some smaller football schools, but he rejected them for the chance to play Division I basketball for the Cougars. He said the better basketball offer, however, didn't play into his decision-making process and that BYU is the right place for him to go. Point Guard Situation in 2007 --Mitch
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The Class of 2008 recruiting is off to a big start with the the highly touted TE out of Bingham High School. Holt just this past summer was listed in The Sporting News High School Football preview as a Top 25 prospect for the Class of 2008, so this is a big get. Imagine a TE tandem of Devin Mahina and Austin Holt? BYU is gonna be loaded as always at TE for years to come.
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