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College basketball season is just around the corner. Team media days have come and gone and practices are now in full swing. The first games of the season come on November 8. CappersPicks is going to give you a look at power rankings in many different conferences.
College basketball season is just around the corner. Team media days have come and gone and practices are now in full swing. The first games of the season come on November 8. CappersPicks is going to give you a look at power rankings in many different conferences.
Utah has been a decent team for the last few years, but they haven’t been a real contender since the days of Stockton and Malone. Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap were the faces of the franchise last season, but neither of them is on this year’s roster. Utah is rebuilding, but they aren’t necessarily going to be short on talent either.
The Boston Celtics went just 41-40 last year, and they were dispatched of pretty quickly in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Danny Ainge decided in the offseason to speed up the rebuilding process and ship off a couple long-time Celtics stars. It wasn’t necessarily a popular move at first, but I think it ends up being a big boost to the Celtics hopes in the long run.
The Houston Rockets made as a big of a splash in the free agent market this season as anyone. There were several bidders in the Dwight Howard free agency contest, but the Rockets ended up winning out. Houston put up a nice fight in last year’s playoffs, and expectations are now much higher for this year’s team.
The Atlanta Hawks have been winning a decent team for quite a while, but they have never been able to take the next step. The Hawks continually get knocked out in the first or second round of the NBA playoffs, and they win about 43-45 games each year. Atlanta decided to change things up in the offseason.
San Jose State’s football program had just two winning seasons between 1993 and 2011, but Mike Macintyre did an amazing job getting this team going in the past couple years. The Spartans had a tremendous 11-2 season that was one for the ages last year.
The Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks put together their first winning season since joining the FBS ranks in 1994 last season. The 8-5 season included a huge win at Arkansas and a tough overtime loss at Auburn. Louisiana-Monroe showed they were a team to be reckoned with last season, and they return 17 starters and 45 lettermen in 2013.
Sun Belt 2013 College Football Previews: UL-Monroe Warhawks
Head Coach: Todd Berry
2012 Record: 8-5
Louisiana-Monroe Gambling Odds to win BCS Championship: +2,000 (Part of Field)
Louisiana-Monroe Gambling Odds to win Sun Belt Conference: +250
Todd Berry is in his fourth-year at Louisiana-Monroe, and he has successfully changed the expectations at this school. A year ago the fan base was absolutely just hoping for some good things to happen. After last season, expectations are infinitely higher for 2013. In fact, if the Warhawks don’t win the Sun Belt Conference this year this season will likely be considered a disappointment by many.
Here’s a closer look at the Warhawks strengths and weaknesses heading into the season.
Kolton Browning was the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year in 2012. Browning dealt with some injury trouble in the middle of the season, and Louisiana-Monroe wasn’t even close to the same team without him. He is healthy heading into this season, and Browning’s ability to both run and throw the football accurately make him an extremely dangerous weapon.
The Warhawks play a 3-3-5 defense, and the three linebackers in the middle are the strength of this team. Cameron Blakes and Ray Stovall are the major play makers at the linebacker spots, but they have plenty of depth behind them. It also doesn’t hurt that the team has two big run stuffers at the defensive tackle spots.
The big guys on the front line take pressure off the linebackers and allow them to make big plays.
The Warhawks have a solid offensive line which allows Browning to have plenty of time to make his decisions in the pocket. Center Josh Allen is one of the best offensive linemen in the league. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The secondary is a real problem area here. Louisiana-Monroe’s safeties are pretty good, but the cornerbacks just aren’t good enough in coverage. The coaching staff knows the secondary is their weakness, which is why they have 5 guys deep. Even with five guys deep, the Warhawks were constantly torched by good passing games last year. The 42-17 loss to Ohio in a bowl game last year showed just how much room for improvement there is in the secondary.
The Warhawks offense really needs to find some help for Browning in the running game. Browning is certainly a capable runner, but it isn’t a good thing that he led the team in rushing last season. Louisiana-Monroe needs to take some pressure off him and reduce his risk of injury.
The past two seasons the tailbacks haven’t gotten going at all. That will need to change this year.
Lousiana-Monroe’s schedule sets up nicely for the team to make a run at the Sun Belt Conference title. Their conference opener at home against Western Kentucky is an absolutely huge matchup.
Their November 30th matchup against Lafayette could very well decide the winner of this league as well. I like that the Warhawks have a difficult non-conference schedule that will get them ready for league action.
Look for Louisiana-Monroe to be a bit better than they were a year ago.
A Sun Belt championship shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
8/31/13 7:00 PM ET @OKLA
9/7/13 TBD GRAM
9/7/13 7:00 PM ET GRAM
9/14/13 12:30 PM ET @WAKE
9/21/13 TBD @BAY
9/28/13 TBD TULN
10/3/13 7:30 PM ET WKU
10/12/13 7:00 PM ET @TXST
10/26/13 TBD GSU
10/31/13 7:30 PM ET @TROY
11/9/13 TBD ARST
11/23/13 TBD @USA
11/30/13 TBD @ULL
The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns found a great coach in Mark Hudspeth. In three years as head coach of this program, Hudspeth has led Lafayette to an 18-8 record. The Ragin’ Cajuns won the New Orleans Bowl last year to finish 9-4. It was their second straight New Orleans Bowl victory.
The Northern Illinois Huskies had an amazing season in 2012. They went undefeated in the MAC, and ended up playing in the Orange Bowl. Though they did fall 31-10 in that game, the season was still a huge success. Dave Doeren moved on in the offseason, and the Huskies will have Rod Carey as their new head coach.
Rocky Long wasn’t necessarily a popular hire when San Diego State brought him, but his first two years with San Diego State have been tremendous. He has done a great job building on what Brady Hoke started. The Aztecs return six starters on the offensive side and nine on the defensive in 2013.
The Utah State Aggies football program had an unbelievably successful season in 2012. This was a program that was accustomed to losing season after season, but they went 11-2 and picked up some great wins last year.
The Boise State Broncos have gotten so good that an 11-2 record seemed like “down” season for the Broncos. Chris Petersen has established himself as one of football’s top coaches. Boise State is one of those rare smaller teams that is able to reload instead of rebuild on a yearly basis.
Fresno State grabbed a share of the Mountain West Conference title in Tim DeRuyter’s first year as head coach. DeRuyter certainly walked into a nice spot since Pat Hill did a great job building up this program, but not many people expected the Bulldogs to be as good as they were last year.
The Buffalo Bulls went 2-8 in 2010. They went 3-9 in 2011. In 2012, the Bulls went 4-8. The team has slowly been getting better, and expectations are definitely higher for the 2013 season. Jeff Quinn will have his most talented team since he has been here.
Kent State had a special season last year, but they’ll have to do it in 2013 without Darell Hazell who is now the head coach at Purdue. Hazell did an amazing job turning around this Kent State program, and losing him will almost certainly hurt this team.
