2017 Northwestern Football Season Preview: Northwestern will win the B1G West

Ho hum. Just an 8-4 season for Northwestern in 2017, predicts USA Today in its Big Ten (B1G) season preview.   A generation ago, the city of Evanston would have a parade for an 8-4 season, amid decades of one and two win seasons in the 70s and 80s. At first glance, this speaks to how much Pat Fitzgerald has elevated Northwestern football.

With perhaps the conference’s best quarterback and running back combo in QB Clayton Thorson and RB Justin Jackson, along with a talented defensive secondary, 8-4 seems like a baseline standard and it will be hard to call 2017 a success without winning the Big Ten West division. And why not? Thorson and Jackson are likely to go down as the premier duo in school history. A senior, Jackson has three seasons with 1,000 yard rushing, and with even a pedestrian season, he will walk away as only the ninth player in FBS history with four 1,000 yard rushing seasons and become Northwestern’s all-time leading rusher. And I believe that Thorson will follow former Wildcat Trevor Seimian in becoming a starting NFL QB.

Even after Thorson and Jackson leave, NU fans have to feel good about the direction of the program. Fitzgerald--just 41 and the winningest coach in school history-- is responsible for two of the school’s three ten-win seasons. Fitzgerald has overcome the naysayers questioning if he was the man for the job (admittedly, I wondered myself) during the challenging 2013 and 2014 seasons, and he is becoming an institution in Evanston. The 10-3 2015 team proved that the 2012 Gator Bowl team (first bowl win in school history was not a fluke). Last year, in spite of a terrible start, Northwestern won six of its last nine games, beating Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl (Northwestern was the proverbial national champion in 2016, beating Pittsburgh, who handed national champion Clemson its only loss).

For the past few years, I have been cautiously optimistic about Northwestern football, but not this year. Northwestern will win the Big Ten West in 2017, beating Wisconsin, but falling to Penn State and Nebraska, finishing the regular season 10-2. With a loss in the Big Ten Championship game and a bowl win, Northwestern will finish 11-3, setting a school record for wins in a season.

CFP Poll #2 Preview

Like many college football fans, I was surprised to see Washington ranked fifth in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings, which were the first rankings of the season by the selection committee.  You would think that the only four undefeated, power conference schools (Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, and Washington) would occupy the top 4 spots, but instead of Washington, Texas A&M (then 7-1) jumped past the Huskies to grab the fourth and final spot.

In my view, the CFP committee is clearly trying to gain coverage and media attention by getting people to talk about the rankings, not unlike a reality TV show. It seems like the committee is being very inconsistent because in most observer’s minds, there is no way that the committee would leave out an undefeated conference champion during the sixth and final CFP Poll.  So why is Washington being left out of the top 4? By ranking Alabama, Clemson, and Michigan 1, 2, and 3, you are operating on the assumption that these schools are going to win their conference, so why isn’t the same true for Washington?

Look, things will play themselves out. Most schools have three games left, not to mention conference championships and one or more of the four teams will slip up along the way.

This evening (7pm ET, ESPN), the second set of rankings will be released and here are some of the things I am looking for:

Will Washington be ranked No. 4 or No.5 this week?  With Texas A&M losing to Mississippi State over the weekend, there will be a new No. 4. Washington should slot in, but will the committee given Ohio State perhaps a little extra credit for routing Nebraska 62-3. The OSU game against Nebraska was their most impressive showing of the season, but this has been a very up-and-down team all year and J.T. Barrett has lost so much talent over the past few years at receiver to the NFL, with little replacement.  Washington has been a much more consistent team, and combined with the undefeated record, they belong in my top 4. This will all work itself out when Ohio State hosts Michigan in the season finale.

Will USC enter the Top 25? USC was not in the inagural CFP poll, but the Trojans have made a complete transformation throughout the season, since they inserted QB Sam Darnold into the starting lineup. The Trojans are talented as aways, and my favorite player to watch is RB Ronald Jones. USC travels to Washington for what should be a great matchup (6:30pm, FOX). Hopefully they break into this week’s CFP poll.

How about some love for Western Michigan? Western Michigan is 9-0 (they are actually playing their tenth game tonight as part of a mid-week MACtion showcase) for the first time in school history, but was only No. 23 in the first CFP poll. Yes, I know they are in the MAC, but with only five undefeated teams (Bama, Clemson, Michigan, and Washington, and Western Michigan), they deserve some credit for running the table so far. I’d love to see them come in at No. 16 tonight. I love that there is a playoff, but there is no doubt that it has marginalized some of the non-power 5 schools.

Week 2 AP Poll Rapid Reaction

With last night's conclusion of the first week of the college football season, the Associated Press just released its Week 2 Top 25 Poll.

The first thing that caught my eye was Wisconsin coming in at No. 10 after being unranked to start the season. Saturday's win vs. LSU at Lambeau Field was very nice, but time will tell if they are the 10th best team in the country. The Big Ten West is certainly wide open and the LSU win could springboard the Badgers into a trip to the Big Ten Championship. Will the Badgers be able to keep teams with legit offenses?

One of the inherent flaws of this week's poll (or any September college football poll) is that objectively it is difficult to rank teams based on the small sample size of one game. Do we really think that No. 10 Wisconsin would be able to keep up with No. 13 Louisville for example? Wisconsin has an absolutely brutal start of the Big Ten schedule.  After games versus Georgia State and Akron, they open up the Big Ten with: No. 12 Michigan State, No. 5 Michigan, No. 4. Ohio State, and No. 17 Iowa. The scheduling gods did not do any favors to the Badgers. They could easily be 3-4 near the end of October.

LSU conversely dropped to No. 21, but it is a long season and there is plenty to figure out along the way. They can still win 9+ games, but it seems like the SEC West is Alabama's to lose.

To the casual sports fan, it may be surprising to see Houston at No. 6, but they will continue to get a lot of attention after their big win against Oklahoma. I am also interested in seeing how No. 8 Washington will do throughout the season. The Huskies are this year's media darlings; they started out at No. 14, despite finishing 7-6 last year, and jumped out to No. 8 after beating lowly Rutgers. Their first test will come when they host No. 7 Stanford on September 30th.

Many fan bases are still trying to flush out the memories of Week 1. Speaking of Stanford, the best news is that it is only Week 2 and it is still possible to be this year's Stanford. Last year, the Cardinal lost to Northwestern to open the season, only to rebound and win the Pac 12 and nearly make the College Football Playoff (CFP).

At the end of the season, the only poll that "matters" is the CFP selection committee's Top 25. The CFP Pool typically does not come out until October, so I like to look at the AP poll as a barometer for the season. There is also a Coaches Poll, but I feel like it is kind of a joke since you'd think that the demands of being a college coach would preclude them from getting a good grasp of the national landscape.

New Blood in Old Peoria

One of the best aspects of college athletics is that when an athletic program is successful, it brings students, faculty, alums, and a community together in a way that almost no other cause can. This is perhaps no more evident than in Wichita, Kan., where their beloved Wichita State Shockers have brought great pride to a blue-collar town who turns every home-game into a passion-laden frenzy. The reason for such enthusiasm is their team’s disciplined game, which has catapulted the basketball program—and the school—into the living rooms of so many people around the country.

Meanwhile, in Peoria, the local team continues to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, losing winnable games and playing an embarrassing and undisciplined style of basketball. In turn, Bradley is lucky to fill half of a once-raucous, sold out Carver Arena.

Bradley basketball was once Wichita State. In the 50s and 60s, Bradley was a national basketball power, winning championships on a regular basis. Bradley games were the must-see event in town.

It is time for Bradley basketball to restore its winning tradition and the pride that so many once had for the basketball program, and the university as a whole.  For those who have had the misfortune of watching Bradley basketball over the past few years –argueably the worst in program history—two things are abundantly clear: Geno Ford is not the man for the job, and the team’s undisciplined approach is holding the program back.

Perhaps no one embodies discipline in college basketball quite like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, the winningist college basketball coach in Division I history.  While many established head coaches and rising assistant coaches would never consider the BU gig, I believe it would be the perfect fit for “Coach K’s” promising assistant coach Jon Scheyer, a winner at every level of basketball that he has been a part of.

As an Illinois high school basketball legend and Duke All-American, Scheyer would bring instant credibility that few could match.  Undoubtedly, Scheyer would raise the regional and national recognition of the university and its basketball program. While some may believe Scheyer, 27, would be way too young and inexperienced for a Division I head coaching position, there are plenty of examples of young head coaches succeeding in college basketball. Consider that Bob Knight began his first coaching job at Army at the ripe old age of 24 (and took over Indiana at age 30). Krzyzewski himself became a head coach at 28 and took the Duke job at 33. Jeff Capel, another Duke assistant coach to Krzyzewski, became VCU’s head coach at 27. A year later, VCU earned a berth in its first NCAA tournament in eight years. Wouldn’t it be nice if Bradley could match that feat, much less, field a competitive team in that amount of time?

 The youthful Scheyer likely would be relate to his players and recruits more than an experienced coach, given that he was in their shoes not too long ago.  What Scheyer lacks in coaching experience can be found by veteran assistants who are willing to mentor a rising star and help lead a program back to its glory days. It is clear that Geno Ford is not going to lead Bradley to championships. It is time for some new—and young—blood on the Hilltop. 

Bradley Basketball 2012-13: season update

Last season (2011-2012)was unequivocally the worst season in Bradley men's basketball history. It was ugly, and at times, the Braves barely resembled a Division I basketball team. In Coach Geno Ford's first season, the Braves finished with a 7-25 record, which marked a program low. While the team had a few talented players, there was no one on the team that really scared opponents and the Braves especially struggled with their shooting and committed a lot of turnovers. Also, Bradley lacked depth, especially among their big men.

Going into this season, obviously, conventional wisdom says that there is no way the team could get worse. However, I think this season has going much better than most Bradley fans would have hoped for, myself included. Before the season started, I had told myself that I would have been happy with a 13-win season, which would have still been a significant improvement. With four regular season games to go, Bradley has an overall record of 15-12 and is in a tie for 5th place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 7-8 record. The Braves are simply one of the most improved teams in college basketball. Last year at this point (15 games into the 18-game MVC schedule), Bradley was already assured of a last place finish in the conference (7-20 overall, 2-13 in the Valley).

The season started out on a very good note for the Braves. The team sat at 5-1 when Michigan (#3 in the country at the time) came to Peoria for a rare non-conference road trip. The game was very close and Michigan was never really able to pull away, edging the Braves 74-66. Although they did not win, the Michigan game showcased some of the improvements that the team has made this season. Later in December, the Braves struggled in back-to-back games against Virginia Tech and Portland, which were part of the Las Vegas Classic. Although the team has improved, they still do not have the depth of Wichita State or Creighton, the top two teams in the MVC. For this reason, I find it hard to believe they could win three games in a row during the conference tournament and secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament (more on BU's post-season prospects later). With the lack of depth (Bradley plays primarily eight guys), it is hard to see Bradley pulling off this feat.

Moving on to the MVC schedule, Bradley has mostly shown an ability to compete with most of the teams in the league. However, when they are not shooting well in league games, they tend to come out flat both offensively and defensively. Bradley's lowest score in a winning outcome is 66 points, so it is unlikely that the team will be able to grind out games with scores in the 40s and 50s. They have struggled with Northern Iowa, where in both games, the team surrendered huge first half deficits and was unable to climb out in the second halves. Conference play has also showcased the improvement of Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Walt Lemon Jr. into all-conference caliber players. This pair is the leading scoring backcourt in the conference, but has also shined on the defensive end. Simms-Edwards ranks among the top 5 nationally in steals, and Lemon Jr. is second in the MVC in steals.

Going forward, Bradley has a road game at Drake tonight. This game is really important to win because unlike last season, Bradley's final position in the standings is still up in the air. Losing to Drake would leave the Braves in a tie for seventh place in the MVC. Because the top six teams receive a first round bye in the conference tournament, seventh place is a perilous spot to be in. A win would also be important because Bradley has struggled tremendously on the road over the past two seasons. In fact, Bradley has not won a Valley road game outside of a win at SIU since Feb. 6, 2010 (a 24-game skid). Drake is currently in ninth place (11-15, 5-10), so this isn't exactly the biggest challenge ever.


With four games remaining, I still feel good about Bradley reaching the postseason, even if it is not the NCAA Tournament. I think it is realistic that the Braves can take three of their last four games or at least a split, which would leave them at 18-13 or 17-14. With a win the MVC tournament, I think Bradley could make it into the NIT and even with a loss, Bradley would still be eligible for the CIT or CBI, two newer, lower-tier tournaments, which would provide Bradley's younger players with more practice time and game experience. Not too shabby for a team picked to finish second to last in the Missouri Valley.

As a fan, I have been very pleased (and presently surprised) with Geno Ford as the head coach. People tend to forget that other than a few weeks in March 2006, the Jim Les tenure was very mediocre. Les (154-150 in nine seasons) never led Bradley to higher than a fourth place finish in the conference. With a fifth place finish in the MVC this year, something still very possible, Geno Ford isn't too far off of Les' peak in just his second season with the Braves. As a fan, I have been very pleased (and presently surprised) with Geno Ford as the head coach. People tend to forget that other than a few weeks in March 2006, the Jim Les tenure was very mediocre. Les (154-150 in nine seasons) never led Bradley to higher than a fourth place finish in the conference. With a fifth place finish in the MVC this year, something still very possible, Geno Ford isn't to far off of Les' peak in just his second season with the Braves.

On Paying College Athletes

Whether or not to pay college athletes is a debate that never goes out of style. Even ESPN.com jumped on board this summer with "Pay For Play" , a week-long feature on this very topic.

The debate is fascinating to me, as college football and basketball generate huge amounts of revenue for individual schools yet the student-athletes do not get a cut of the revenues, a la the NFL. Of all the sports followed by a large amount of American sports fans, college football and basketball remain on the last frontiers of amateurism. Yes, technically NCAA student-athletes are amateurs, but improper benefits, especially in big-revenue sports have been given to select athletes for decades.

I have found that when "Pay for Play" is discussed in the media, it almost exclusively revolves around college football and basketball programs, their athletes, and the multi-billion dollar contracts that these sports generate. Less often discussed is the fact that most athletic departments actually lose money due to operational costs of the entire department. Also drawing less mention is the fact that if you are going to pay the star quarterback, due to Title IX, you also have to pay the female swimmer as well (This is not an indictment of Title IX, which protects both men's and women's sports. Most men's sports too, do not make revenue for their schools).

In one of the "Pay For Play" articles, Michael Wilbon writes that
that some college athletes deserve to be paid. However, he fails to outline a plan for even the limited number of athletes to be paid. With the expense of running a college athletic program and the revenues where they are at, how could there ever be an effective solution for paying all college athletes. Even in a fantasy world, where all college athletes were just paid a small amount of money per week (say, $120/week), this wouldn't stop the high profile athletes from obtaining or being offered improper benefits.

I don't think the current "compensation" system should be changed. I also don't think its perfect either, specifically, there are hardship cases where it seems like reasonable amounts of money can be provided. A lot of focus goes to the "1 and done" athletes in college basketball and select football players who don't make the most of their education. Behind the scenes, many college athletes are making the most of their education and definitely making do with what they are provided with. College sports are incredibly time consuming and difficult, but in exchange college athletes receive many benefits not offered to other college students.

For its impracticality, the ineffectiveness it would have at cutting off improper benefits, and the benefits afforded to student-athletes, college athletes should not be further compensated.

Check out Pre-Snap Read

If your looking for some in-depth coverage in to college football, I would reccomend visiting Pre-Snap Read , an independent blog dedicated to college football. The blog is edited by Paul Myerberg who can be followed on Twitter @PreSnapRead. My favorite thing on the blog is their on-going Season Countdown where they preview all 120 teams in FBS football, descending in rank from the worse team at No. 120 to No. 1. Every team report is remarkably in-depth, even for some of the lower-level Sun Belt and Conference USA teams. At the end of each report, Paul gives a clue about who the next team is; for some readers, guessing the next team is their favorite part of the blog. Today, Pre Snap Read is on No. 86,Wyoming. I check this blog pretty regularly, so the longer "Northwestern" doesn't show up on the Countdown, the better.

Fallout in Columbus

I was dissapointed to hear about the amount of lying and covering up Jim Tressel did over the past few months, ultimately costing him his job last week. In the coming months, it seems like Ohio State will get hit with signficant penalties, including the loss of scholarships and a possible bowl ban. Ohio State has owned the Big Ten over the past decade, so as a fan of another team, it would be easy to be happy about an apparant "changing of the guard." I do not necessarily feel this way. When one of the conference's marquee teams is down, like Michigan the past few seasons, the brand of the Big Ten suffers.

In the past week, many have compared the issues with Ohio State football to that of USC last year. USC was 8-5 last season after dealing with the initial shock of the Reggie Bush scandal and its accompanying penalties. It was pretty clear that once Tressel covered up for his players, that he would eventually lose his job and Ohio State would face penalties. However, I beleive OSU's penalties will be much more severe than USC.If USC's sanctions were largely the result of improper benefits to just two players, Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo, how can Ohio State not have a smaller penalty admist the reports that have circulated?

The current issue of Sports Illustrated includes a special investigative report into the violations of OSU players under Tressel. SI reported that 28 players, 22 more than what had previously been stated, had traded or sold memorabilia dating back to 2001. The fact that the memorbillia-for-tattoos culture has penetrated several recruiting classes indicates that this wasn't just restricted to a superstar player here and there like at USC.

For Ohio State to get to its typical 10-2/11-1 season, it would take a heck of a coaching job, by a rookie head coach, dealing with all the distractions. Even the most jaded Buckeye fan would admit they are not as confident in this season as in the past. It would not shock me if Ohio State lost three of the four games against Miami, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Nebraska. Despite everything, I would still be suprised if the Buckeyes had a worse season than 9-3.

As far as Tressel is concerned, I honestly can't see Jim Tressel coaching college football again at the BCS level. Maybe at a smaller division of college football, but after all the penalties blow up, no school is going to want to be associated with Tressel. If interim coach Luke Fickell does well, the interim tag will be removed. If not, a host of great candidates will emerge in 2012.

2011 ABC/ESPN CFB Primetime Schedule

College football is practically here! Well, not quite yet. However, The World Wide Leader has released its Big Ten prime-time schedule for the 2011 college football season:

•Sept. 1:UNLV at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
•Sept. 10:Notre Dame at Michigan, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
•Oct. 1:Nebraska at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN or ESPN2
•Oct. 1:Notre Dame at Purdue, 8 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN or ESPN2
•Oct. 8: Ohio State at Nebraska, 8 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN or ESPN2
•Oct. 22:Wisconsin at Michigan State, 8 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN
•Oct. 29:Wisconsin at Ohio State, 8 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN or ESPN2

Significance of Games:
Every game involves at least one team in ESPN's College Football Live preseason top 25...all three of the Big Ten co-champions from 2010 (OSU, MSU, and Wisconsin) will be covered at least once...The Wisconsin-UNLV game is a Thursday season-opener...The Notre Dame-Michigan will be the first ever-night game in Michigan Stadium...Nebraska's first two Big Ten conference games, Oct. 1 and Oct. 8, will be carried in prime-time...The MSU-Wisconsin game last year was Wisconsin's only loss of the season...The Wisconsin-OSU game last year was Ohio State's only loss of the season
(Courtesy of ESPN Media Zone iPhone App).

The Big Ten typically gets six primetime games on the ESPN "Family of Networks," but an exception was made for the seventh game. This schedule also doesn't take into account the Big Ten Network's list of prime-time games yet to be released.

UPDATED: Pat Fitzgerald Contract Extention

Updating a previous story, Northwestern extended the contact of Coach Pat Fritzgerald through the 2020 season. The former All-American linebacker at Northwestern finished his fifth season as head coach and has a record of 34-29. His previous contact ran until 2015, so basically, Fitzgerald is getting a new 10 year deal which starts in 2011. The 10 year contract, is the first of its kind in NU athletic history.

This demonstates NU's increasing committment to athletics. Fitzgerald himself, has remained committed to his alma mater in the face of potential offers (Michigan, Notre Dame, and Stanford all rumored to have interest during their recent coaching searches). Fitzgerald was first approached with the extension in January, but he held off until assurance that NU would improve its athletic facilities in order to remain competitive with recruiting.

According to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune, the contract is worth $1.8 million (NU isn't obligated to release its finanical data).


Previous Story:
The Northwestern blog, Sippin' On Purple, is among several outlets reporting the impending announcement of a contract extension for Pat Fitzgerald. His current contract runs out at the end of the 2015 season.

The NU football coach has led the Wildcats to a record of 34-29 in his five seasons at the helm. Yes, the record doesn't seem terribly impressive, but consider that Coach Fitz is the first coach in school history to lead a team to three consecutive bowl appearances. Also, Fitzgerald will enter the 2011 season only 15 wins shy of tying the NU all-time record for coaching victories. Oh, and he's only 36, still one of the youngest (and most charismatic) coaches in college football.

Considering these facts and the team's past futility, NU is clearly enjoying its best years. While Fitzgerald's extension has been in the works for several months, the details will finally be revealed today during a press conference. (Of course, since Northwestern is a private institution, it is not obligated to release the amount of the contract).

NBA Draft Entry Deadline

Yesterday was the deadline for college underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA Draft, so any player who didn't withdraw, forfeits the rest of their college eligibility.

Fortunately for Northwestern, junior John Shurna withdrew from the NBA Draft, as expected. Many players declare for the draft simply to get feedback from NBA personnel on how to improve their game and end up returning to school. The Wildcats lucked out; they are already losing one of the best players in school history in Michael Thompson, so to lose the player who could be the best player in NU history would have been a huge, huge loss.

Other schools weren't so lucky, as noted on the Yahoo! college basketball blog. Texas' pair of star freshman Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson, will remain in the NBA Draft. The Longhorns could have headed into the 2011-2012 as a preseason Final Four favorite, but it seems like now they will struggle to replace the two star freshman. Now that Nebraska and Colorado have left the Big 12, teams will play 18 conference games instead of 16 (so every Big 12 teams plays a double round robin), which won't make things easier for the Longhorns. However, the Yahoo! list of schools doesn't account for schools like Kansas, who had several players (Markieff and Marcus Morris, Josh Selby) announce their intentions shortly after the end of the NCAA season. It looks like neither Texas or Kansas will enter 2011-12 as strong as they usually enter a season.

Also on the Yahoo! list was Butler's Shelvin Mack announcing that he will be staying in the draft and ending his career with the Bulldogs. For those quick to diminish Butler for next season, remember that their best player two seasons ago, Gordon Hayward, also left early for the NBA and then Butler made it back to their second national championship appearance. Even though, Butler also loses Matt Howard, I wouldn't bet against Butler coach Brad Stevens.

Overall, the 2011 NBA Draft is perceived as "soft" compared to past years where their was a consensus top selection. It looks like the previously popular trend to enter college after one freshman season is being put on hold somewhat. Several of the NCAA's top freshmen, Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, Baylor's Perry Jones, and Brandon Knight of Kentucky decided not to enter the NBA draft. In the past few years, talented "one and done players" highlighted the lottery pick selections in the Draft. That is not to say that every star freshman is returning, as Duke point guard Kyrie Irving entered the draft could end up as potentially the #1 overall pick.

Bradley News & Notes (5/5)

I received an e-mail today from the Chicago Area Bradley Alumni Network notifying of some upcoming events. It looks like Geno Ford is making the rounds to meet alumni and generate some buzz about the basketball team. On June 26th, at the Oak Brook Hills Marriott, the BU Alumni Network is hosting a Complimentary Reception to meet Coach Ford. The event is from 3-5 pm and more information is available via the BU Alumni Office at 800-952-8258.

Today was a good day for Geno Ford's predecessor, Jim Les, who was hired as the head coach at UC-Davis. Les' son Tyler is a guard on the team, and UC-Davis is fairly close to Sacramento where Coach Les played for the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Even though his coaching tenure didn't end on the best note, Jim Les is an important figure in Bradley basketball history and I hope he has a successful tenure at UC-Davis.

Thoughts on Geno Ford

I just realized that I hadn't made a blog entry since I started working at PNC. My last blog entry occurred on the day before my teller training, and now I have been with PNC for almost two months!

Since I last blogged, undoubtably the biggest event in Bradley Athletics has been the hiring of Geno Ford, replacing Jim Les as the men's basketball coach. I'll be honest, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about college sports, and I had never heard of Geno Ford, who spent the three previous seasons as the head coach at Kent State, before he was hired at Bradley.

A lot of coaches with bigger names (Scott Sutton, Rob Jeter) were rumored to have interest in coaching the Braves, but in the end, Bradley made the proper selection. A coach like Sutton or Jeter just seemed like the type who would leave Bradley for something better. At 36, Ford really has the opportunity to leave his mark on the Bradley program and he clearly appreciates the fan base and the rich history of Bradley basketball. Ford has a great background both as a player and as a coach, unlike Les, the former Brave star guard who had virtually no coaching experience before landing the Bradley job.

In his previous job, Ford led Kent State to the past two regular-season Mid-American Conference championships, and was also the conference's Coach of the Year during the past two seasons. Impressively, Coach Ford led a team with 10 newcomers to earn their repeat championship and finished the season 25-12. Bradley, on the other hand, had one of their worst seasons in school history at 12-20. Of note, Bradley has not won a Missouri Valley Conference championship since 1996 (The Braves finished 4th in the MVC in 2006, Bradley's last run to the Sweet 16). Additionally, attendance at Carver Arena declined last season. In his press conference, Geno Ford promised to rejuvenate Bradley basketball with an up-tempo offense (which can hopefully yield promising recruits.

Personnel wise, some things have changed for Bradley during the off-season. Sam Maniscalco, who sat out this past season with a medical red-shirt, transferred to play at Illinois where he will be immediately eligible due to a graduate transfer rule. Maniscalco is a big loss, but he didn't factor into the past season and only has one year of eligibility left. Another scholarship was opened after Andrew Davis, seen as a project, asked for his scholarship release as well. Davis never played for the Braves. Remy Abell, viewed as Coach Les' best recruit, also requested a release from his scholarship following a meeting with Ford and assistant coach Willie Scott. Two of Les' other recruits, center Nate Wells and guard Donivine Stewart (from the Peoria area), have not rescinded from the Letters of Intent.

Last week, Coach Ford signed Jalen Crawford, the brother of two college stars, as his first recruit. Crawford, a combo guard, should get major minutes for the Braves this season.

Bradley has two remaining scholarships open, which are expected to be filled this weekend or next. On top of the wish list for Bradley: a point guard and a perimeter-shooting forward.

The Coaching Carousel Begins

A day after Bradley fired Jim Les, two other Division I schools made head coaching changes. Texas Tech fired Pat Knight after three seasons after taking over the gig from his legendary father. Also, Pat Kennedy of Towson resigned after a four win season for the Tigers (his son Joe played for Northwestern and now is the Director of Basketball Operations for the Wildcats). Click here to access ESPN's list of NCAA head coaching changes.

Speaking of Les, the Peoria Journal-Star published an interesting list of possible coaching candidates to replace Les. The list is definitely realistic, as Bradley isn't one of the premier jobs in college basketball. Your not going to get a Duke or Kansas associate head coach or even a star coach at a mid-major like Butler's Brad Stevens. With that said, Bradley is definitely an attractive head coaching job. BU is a school where basketball is king, a tradition rich program, pretty good area to recruit from, relatively easy to good players in and for the players to pass their classes.

I think hiring either Greg Gard or Paul Lust, the associate coaches at Wisconsin and Purdue respectively, would definitely be solid hires, if they will listen to Bradley and the national search committee Bradley is using. My favorite name on the list is Tommy Amaker, who is on the verge of leading Harvard to its first Ivy League Championship. While the talent level in the Missouri Valley Conference is better, Amaker would have an easier time getting good recruits to come to Bradley than Harvard. If he could bring Bradley back to being a consistent winner, he would get a lot more credit, in my opinion, then from being the Harvard coach.

Bradley cans Coach Les

After a season of speculation, Bradley coach Jim Les was relieved of his duties today by the university, days after finishing his ninth season on the Hilltop. As a fan, during the season, I had gone back and forth on whether I thought the university should fire Coach Les. My contention was that Les deserved another year (in part due to the Sam Maniscalco and Taylor Brown injuries), but if he was fired than BU would have been justified in doing so.

Based on the performance of this past season, especially the last 10 games, Jim Les clearly deserved another season. At one point, Bradley was 6-16 on the season. Bradley ended the season with a 6-4 record in their last ten games and Les had been a key factor in helping the team bond and weather the storm of injuries that hampered the Braves this season.

Ultimately, the decision to fire Les wasn't based on this season alone, but rather his whole body of work at Bradley. Other than the Sweet 16 appearance in 2006, and an NIT appearance the following season (my freshman year at Bradley), Bradley basketball has consistently been in the middle of the Missouri Valley Conference during Les' tenure. Les' record of 154-140 indicates the mediocrity of Bradley basketball (save for the Sweet 16 over the past decade).

Les, though, should be commended for his character during his time on the Hilltop. Bradley has developed some real quality student-athletes, and this isn't something that every coach can necessarily do in college sports. Les has definitely ran a clean program unlike John Calipari or Bruce Pearl, or some of the other scumbags in college coaching.

I think Bradley is going in the right direction, as I think they can regularly compete for MVC Championships. I think they can legitimately make the NCAAs every three years with the right coach. I hope they hire someone who will value character and student-athlete performance as much as wins. Aside from President Glasser, the head basketball coach is the most prominent ambassador for BU. Don't get me wrong, wins matter, but I'll be really disappointed if Bradley hires someone like any of the following people: Calipari, Pearl, Tim Floyd, Kelvin Sampson, Larry Eustachy (google their college basketball rap sheets).

Bradley vs. Drake (MVC Tournament Preview)

Tonight at 8:30, Bradley will play Drake in an opening round game of the MVC Championship Tournament. As the Peoria Journal-Star's Dave Reynolds points out, Bradley faces an uphill battle in its attempt to win the tournament and the MVC's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Bradley has its work cut out for itself as no team has made it from the Opening Round to the Championship game.

This is the third game of the season between the two schools. In the regular season finale this past Saturday in Peoria, Bradley crushed the Bulldogs 90-64. Bradley shot 63 % in the game, which was one of the Braves' best offensive performances in years.

Will Bradley win? I think so. By 26? Probably not. As Drake coach Mark Phelps mentioned, the game will take place on a neutral court so that will somewhat level the playing field. Also, I don't think that Bradley can shoot as well as they did on Saturday. However, I don't think Drake can stop Andrew Warren. If they set up double- and triple teams on Warren, I don't think the Bulldogs can stop Bradley from exploiting the paint area with their slashing guards and their bigs. It would be great if Bradley could build a big lead and take out the starters, as the Braves play again tomorrow (if they win), and have three possible games in the next three days. This game will be a lot closer.

Prediction:
Bradley 68, Drake 60

Arch Madness Starts Today

Starting tonight and lasting through this weekend, Arch Madness, the Missouri Valley Basketball Championship will take place in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center.

Of significance, the winner of "Arch Madness" gets an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

In my opinion, Arch Madness is among the best conference tournaments in college basketball and this year's tournament should be interesting to watch. While the MVC doesn't have a dominant team like Northern Iowa last year, the conference is very competitive. This is the year a team like Bradley, who struggled during the first half of the season, can definitely make noise during Arch Madness.

Tonight is the opening round and which features the 7/10 and 8/9 match ups, followed by the quarterfinals tomorrow and Saturday's semi-finals.

The games except for the final can be found on Fox Sports, Sunday's final will air at 1:05 Central on CBS.

The Fight for the No. 9 Seed

Bradley (10-18, 3-13 in Missouri Valley play) and Illinois State (11-17, 3-13) square off tonight in Bloomington-Normal, IL for the return game of the "War on 74" series between the two rivals. Tonight's game might be remembered for the wrong reason, as the loser of the game will be locked in to the No. 10 seed for Arch Madness and most certainly finish in last place in the MVC.

Last Game:
Bradley traveled to Tennessee-Martin as part of the BracketBusters series and rallied to beat Tenn-Martin 81-75. Without point guard Dodie Dunson, freshman Walt Lemon started and scored a career-high 20 points, including four made three pointers. Fellow freshman Jordan Prosser recorded his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Last Game vs. ISU:
The first game between the rivals this season was a heart-breaker for Bradley, suffering a 79-78 overtime loss to the Redbirds. In that game on Jan. 26, the Braves had jumped out to a big lead, 23-8, and even lead 61-52 with 2:40 left in the game. It appeared that Bradley would win its first MVC game. This was not to be, and the Braves fell to 6-15.

Analysis:
Bradley and ISU come into this game in opposite directions. Bradley has won four of its last six games and has looked like a completely different team from the one that lost its first 11 MVC games. ISU has lost its last six games. While winning this game wouldn't appear to be that big of a deal, it would be a huge boost for Bradley not to end up as the No. 10 seed. Hopefully, Dodie Dunson will be able to return to the lineup. One of the big differences, I think, will be the fact that Bradley is no longer the Andrew Warren show. Bradley has other options and I expect Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Jordan Prosser to continue to preform at a high level.

Prediction:
Bradley 75, ISU 66.

Weekend College Basketball Review (2/12-2/13)

Its been a pretty good weekend of college basketball, and there are no longer any undefeated teams. #1 Ohio State lost on the road to Wisconsin and Jordan Taylor. Taylor scored 27 points and is having a breakout season, yet somehow, was not named a finalist for the Bob Cousy award for the nation's best point guard. I still think that Ohio State should keep the #1 ranking as the loss came in a really tough environment, and there are only a handful of teams in college basketball with one loss. #2 Kansas, by comparison, suffered their only loss at home.

Northwestern (14-10, 4-9) lost pretty badly to Penn State today, 65-41, which makes two bad, ugly losses in a row for the Wildcats. I haven't seen either of the past two games (fortunately), but it seems like there hasn't been a ton of effort from NU anyway...

It's kind of telling that I would rather watch Bradley (9-17, 3-12) who beat the hottest team in the MVC, Evansville (had won 5 of their last 6) pretty impressively and displayed a lot of effort and teamwork. Dyricus Simms-Edwards continues to emerge as up and coming star for the Braves, recording a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds in the win. Jake Eastman added seven rebounds and took four charges, the kind of energy and effort you need to win.

Andrew Warren, who passed 1,500 career points in the win, was featured in a an Indianapolis Star article written yesterday

Next up for Bradley: a home game this Tuesday against Northern Iowa

After profiling Valparaiso yesterday, they took care of business and beat Wright State in a close game yesterday. They are in good shape to claim that double-bye as one of the top two teams in the Horizon League tournament. Their next game, this Wednesday at Wisconsin-Milwaukee is probably the toughest of their four conference games left. They also have the BracketBusters game next Saturday when they host Missouri State.

Speaking of the Horizon League, Cleveland State's Norris Cole had a ridiculous game yesterday, recording 41 points and 20 rebounds. Cole's 40-20 game was the first in college basketball since Blake Griffin in February 2009. What makes it even more impressive is that Cole is a 6-foot-2 guard.

Team to Watch: Valpo Basketball

This year hasn't exactly been the best year of college basketball in Illinois and the Greater Chicago area. The state's two Big Ten teams, Illinois (16-8, 6-5 in the Big Ten) and Northwestern (14-9, 4-8), are not living up to their preseason expectations. Several of the Chicago schools are in the middle of rebuilding projects such as UIC (7-19, 2-12) and DePaul (6-17, 24 losses in a row in the Big East), and Chicago State (6-19). All three of those schools have first year coaches. In the Horizon League, Loyola (13-12, 4-10) is barely better than UIC.

In the MVC, Bradley (8-17, more here) has suffered injuries, and ISU (11-14, 3-11) has taken a step back. Southern Illinois, who has made several NCAA tournaments in the past decade, ditto (11-14).

Across the state, as you can see, teams are struggling. Two teams in the Chicago area, albeit in Indiana, Notre Dame and Valparaiso are having very good seasons. Notre Dame gets plenty of attention as the #7 team in the country, improving to 21-4 after beating South Florida today . Under the radar, Valparaiso, (18-7, 10-3 in the Horizon) is in first place and in control of their destiny.

During the preseason, the Crusaders was picked to finish fourth in the Horizon, which was expected to be dominated by Butler again who won last year's Horizon League regular season and tournament. After losing to Butler in the season's first match up, Valpo beat the Bulldogs for their first win over Butler since joining the Horizon League in 2007-08.

Lead by guard Brandon Wood (16.3 ppg), Valpo ranks 23rd in the nation in assists per game, and 24th in field goal percentage. Valpo is also receiving votes in the national polls for the first time since 2002, and could potentially finish the season as a Top 25 team if they keep winning.

Valpo plays host to Wright State tonight, as they look to improve their lead in the Horizon League. One of the cool things about the Horizon League Tournament is that the top two teams get a double-bye into the semifinals (in most conferences, the best teams just get a single-bye), which will make the Crusader's chances of making an NCAA tournament even easier if they finish the season strong.

Next Saturday, February 19th, Valparaiso will play Missouri State at 4 PM on ESPN2, as part of its BracketBusters series, which matches up teams from strong non-BCS conferences.