Super Bowl Update

We've got a few of them.

On the hardwood, Troy lost big at Arkansas State, which is an average team. Bottom line, the players aren't as good as the other teams in the league. If they were, they'd be better than 3-10 overall. But for whatever reason, it just hasn't clicked this year. Recruiting in the offseason will be huge and  Troy needs 3 impact players who can start or push for a starting spot.

Troy baseball opens the season this weekend against Central Michigan. Weather permitting, it should be a good one. However, I'd be surprised if Troy doesn't at least go 3-1, and they should sweep. Tyler Ray faces off against Zach Cooper, an MLB Draft pick from a season ago. Info for live stats, audio, etc., can be found HERE

I am not sure if I'll be able to make it to any games this weekend - perhaps Saturday before hoops, depending on the weather.

But, I think Troy has a chance to be very good if the pitchers stay healthy. My bold prediction is that Troy finishes in the top 10 nationally in home runs. They're going to hit a bunch of them.

For my part today, I wrote THIS STORY on senior catcher/DH Blake Martz, who has great power, but is striving to hit for a better average this year. He's relaxed and hopefully primed for a big year.

Troy pitcher Tyler Ray was named to the Golden Spikes Watch List. That's a prestigious list. College baseball has more watch lists and All-America teams than any sport imaginable, so I don't link each one, but this is a good one.

So we all know about Karl Benson being introduced to the media as the Sun Belt commissioner. My story is HERE. If you have a long time, you can go HERE and listen to the audio from the Sun Belt's site. The teleconference lasted about 40 minutes, and Benson, to his credit, answered every question.

Here are some other links.
**The San Antonio News-Express looks at how UTSA and Texas State could be perceived as expansion candidates.
**A perspective from the Denton Record-Chronicle since Benson tried to get UNT to join the WAC a few years ago. Now, he could be trying to keep UNT in the Sun Belt, as well as both or either FIU/FAU, since the new CUSA/MWC doesn't have a presence in Florida or in the Dallas area. I'd guess those are your top three candidates to leave the Sun Belt, if someone does, and if teams join, you'd have to consider Louisiana Tech, UTSA and Texas State.

Benson mentioned going after current FBS schools, and didn't mention any names, so I'm not exactly sure where UTSA/Texas State stand since they are currently transitional, but they make sense since I don't foresee the Belt being able to snatch, say, Southern Miss or UAB. He also pretty much shot down the idea of bringing in some WAC teams from way out west.

But my feeling is that the Sun Belt will be at 12 football members soon, and Troy will be in that 12. And that's not a bad thing. There are plenty of CUSA/MWC teams that are going to really be stretching the travel budgets when all is said and done.