collegesportsmadness.com is rolling-out its college basketball Top 144 Previews list for this season. http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/mens...4-previews As of today, they are up to #64, Oklahoma State. Any chance that our boys are ranked higher? I noticed that our old buddies, the Bruins, are ranked #68.

There is a pretty impressive list of "big names" ranked lower than #68 Belmont, and some names of which I wouldn't have thought to be ranked as high as they are. Here's a few that I found to be interesting:

#68 Belmont
#69 Oregon
#71 Temple
#73 Virginia Tech
#75 Vanderbilt
#77 Iowa
#79 Connecticut
#82 MTSU
#83 Texas A&M
#88 Florida State
#90 Oklahoma
#93 Illinois
#99 Seton Hall
#100 Clemson
#104 Auburn
#105 TSU
#113 College of Charleston
#116 Georgia
#123 Mercer
#141 LSU
#144 St. John's

How about Mercer ranking higher than LSU & St. John's? Belmont's good (O.K., they're real good); but, placing them ahead of Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Auburn, Georgia, and LSU kind of equates them as being at least a mid-level SEC team (I say "at least" because there may be a couple SEC teams to not make the list, putting BU close to the top 1/3 of SEC). Are they actually that good, to be mid-level SEC?

(09-08-2012 02:35 AM)BucSinceTheSixties Wrote:  collegesportsmadness.com is rolling-out its college basketball Top 144 Previews list for this season. http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/mens...4-previews As of today, they are up to #64, Oklahoma State. Any chance that our boys are ranked higher? I noticed that our old buddies, the Bruins, are ranked #68.

There is a pretty impressive list of "big names" ranked lower than #68 Belmont, and some names of which I wouldn't have thought to be ranked as high as they are. Here's a few that I found to be interesting:

#68 Belmont
#69 Oregon
#71 Temple
#73 Virginia Tech
#75 Vanderbilt
#77 Iowa
#79 Connecticut
#82 MTSU
#83 Texas A&M
#88 Florida State
#90 Oklahoma
#93 Illinois
#99 Seton Hall
#100 Clemson
#104 Auburn
#105 TSU
#113 College of Charleston
#116 Georgia
#123 Mercer
#141 LSU
#144 St. John's

How about Mercer ranking higher than LSU & St. John's? Belmont's good (O.K., they're real good); but, placing them ahead of Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Auburn, Georgia, and LSU kind of equates them as being at least a mid-level SEC team (I say "at least" because there may be a couple SEC teams to not make the list, putting BU close to the top 1/3 of SEC). Are they actually that good, to be mid-level SEC?

I don't believe Belmont is even the top half of the SEC. Vanderbilt is really going to struggle this year. They lost their entire starting five, plus their sixth man off of the bench. Their top returning scorer is Johnson who averaged 3.1 per game. Belmont MAY be able to beat Vandy this year, but it's only because Vandy is really down.

b is good,theyll need size to compete in ovc

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No football team, but Rick Byrd's play-by-play guy is going to be the voice of OVC football:





September 13, 2012
Kevin Ingram to Serve as Voice of OVC Football

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Voice of the Bruins Kevin Ingram will serve as the play-by-play commentator for the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference football television package, the league announced Thursday.

Ingram, a versatile and award-winning broadcaster, will be on the mic for six OVC football broadcasts on Fox College Sports this season. The package begins Sept. 29 with Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin.

Beginning his tenth season with the Bruin Sports Network this November as the play-by-play voice of Belmont men's basketball, Ingram also serves as the co-host of the top-rated Wake Up Zone program on WGFX-FM 104.5 The Zone. In addition, Ingram serves as the sideline reporter for Vanderbilt football and co-host of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Hour featuring Belmont head coach Rick Byrd.

Aside from coverage of the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators, the Bowling Green, Ky. native also has extensive high school football and baseball play-by-play experience to his credit.

Moreover, Ingram's renowned impersonations of sports figures such as Rick Pitino, Mike Krzyzewski, and Jeff Fisher have endeared himself to the Nashville community.

(09-14-2012 12:51 AM)BucSinceTheSixties Wrote:  .


Beginning his tenth season with the Bruin Sports Network this November as the play-by-play voice of Belmont men's basketball, Ingram also serves as the co-host of the top-rated Wake Up Zone program on WGFX-FM 104.5 The Zone. In addition, Ingram serves as the sideline reporter for Vanderbilt football and co-host of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Hour featuring Belmont head coach Rick Byrd.

Wow. A Belmont guy who works for Vandy football on the side? I could just imagine the reaction on this board if Jay Sandos got a job working for UT football. Since according to most on this board you can't be a true ETSU fan and like UT.

Yes most ETSU fans are also UT fans and vice versa. It is the way it has always been and nothing wrong with that. Consider a spectacular day like today and the Buc football game kicking off at 1:00 on campus. It would have been a beautiful day on campus and is the common sense way to schedule things. If only we had something to schedule.

(09-15-2012 06:01 PM)bucfan81 Wrote:  Yes most ETSU fans are also UT fans and vice versa. It is the way it has always been and nothing wrong with that. Consider a spectacular day like today and the Buc football game kicking off at 1:00 on campus. It would have been a beautiful day on campus and is the common sense way to schedule things. If only we had something to schedule.

Watching the TN - FLA game here tonight on TV, camera shots of UT fans show them having some kind of a transformational experience. It is entertaining to watch. I'm sure its some kind of a cultural phenomena that would require a special understanding in order to appreciate and participate in. I wouldn't know because I would be an outsider in that crowd. I've never been in that stadium and never plan to be there. Therefore, I have always not been able to understand that mentality where you are a fan, maybe, of the school where you earned your degree, ETSU, as well as an equal or greater fan of a school where you've never taken a class, UT.

(09-15-2012 08:34 PM)Buc66 Wrote:  Watching the TN - FLA game here tonight on TV, camera shots of UT fans show them having some kind of a transformational experience. It is entertaining to watch. I'm sure its some kind of a cultural phenomena that would require a special understanding in order to appreciate and participate in. I wouldn't know because I would be an outsider in that crowd. I've never been in that stadium and never plan to be there. Therefore, I have always not been able to understand that mentality where you are a fan, maybe, of the school where you earned your degree, ETSU, as well as an equal or greater fan of a school where you've never taken a class, UT.

Maybe because we grew up in the state of Tennessee, and were fans long long before we went to college. You want ETSU to be a regional university and draw fans from all over the area. If that happenes MOST of those fans would not be alumni of ETSU. Why would those people come? It makes sense if you had to attend a school to be a fan that High school football is more popular then College ( I mean alot more people in Johnson City went to Science Hil then ETSU). You have to have fans beyond just alumni.

Well Tennessee is a STATE University and draws fans from all corners of that state, MOST of which didn't go there. Same as Texas,, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Alabama. .etc. Not sure what is so haard to understand. State pride.

(09-15-2012 05:37 PM)RodShaw2 Wrote:  Wow. A Belmont guy who works for Vandy football on the side? I could just imagine the reaction on this board if Jay Sandos got a job working for UT football. Since according to most on this board you can't be a true ETSU fan and like UT.

Although, at least logistically, a Belmont/Vandy bleed-over makes more sense. Belmont and Vandy are seperated by a mere 4 city blocks. To compare, that's 1/6 of the distance between Belmont and Lipscomb, and 1/270 of the distance between ETSU and UT.

(09-15-2012 08:43 PM)RodShaw2 Wrote:  

(09-15-2012 08:34 PM)Buc66 Wrote:  Watching the TN - FLA game here tonight on TV, camera shots of UT fans show them having some kind of a transformational experience. It is entertaining to watch. I'm sure its some kind of a cultural phenomena that would require a special understanding in order to appreciate and participate in. I wouldn't know because I would be an outsider in that crowd. I've never been in that stadium and never plan to be there. Therefore, I have always not been able to understand that mentality where you are a fan, maybe, of the school where you earned your degree, ETSU, as well as an equal or greater fan of a school where you've never taken a class, UT.

Maybe because we grew up in the state of Tennessee, and were fans long long before we went to college. You want ETSU to be a regional university and draw fans from all over the area. If that happenes MOST of those fans would not be
alumni of ETSU. Why would those people come? It makes sense if you had to
attend a school to be a fan that High school football is more popular then College (
I mean alot more people in Johnson City went to Science Hil then ETSU). You have
to have fans beyond just alumni.
Well Tennessee is a STATE University and draws fans from all corners of that state, MOST of which didn't go there. Same as Texas,, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Alabama. .etc. Not sure what is so haard to understand. State pride.

Wonder how those fans in Alabama, Florida, Texas, and places like South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, et al pick which school to give them their "state pride" fix?

(09-15-2012 05:37 PM)RodShaw2 Wrote:  

(09-14-2012 12:51 AM)BucSinceTheSixties Wrote:  .


Beginning his tenth season with the Bruin Sports Network this November as the play-by-play voice of Belmont men's basketball, Ingram also serves as the co-host of the top-rated Wake Up Zone program on WGFX-FM 104.5 The Zone. In addition, Ingram serves as the sideline reporter for Vanderbilt football and co-host of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Hour featuring Belmont head coach Rick Byrd.

Wow. A Belmont guy who works for Vandy football on the side? I could just imagine the reaction on this board if Jay Sandos got a job working for UT football. Since according to most on this board you can't be a true ETSU fan and like UT.

Kevin Ingram freelances ALOT. He hosts the morning show on 104.5 down here, as well as does Vandy and Belmont stuff as an independent contractor. I think he may have even pulled a double one day last year when Vandy's play by play guy got really ill and lost his voice.
The difference between Ingram and Jay is Jay works for ETSU, Kevin is an independent contractor for Vanderbilt and Belmont while working for Cumulus Media. It would be like Bobby Rader doing things with the Vol Network and then helping out with ETSU.
The stuff about Ingram's voice work is very true. He does a SPOT ON Rick Pitino.

O.K., I'm somewhat of a music nut. I'm happy that we have Kenny Chesney as a grad. It was neat to have a former fellow A-Sun school Belmont with so many of its own famous music grads (Josh Turner, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood....and bunches more according to their Wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont_University). But, this one threw me for a loop! I recently learned that, though not an actual grad, Ke$ha attended class at Belmont. Ke$ha? At Belmont? That's crazy! I wonder what Vince Gill would say about that?

Ke$ha:

.

Could the OVC be a 2-bid league this season?


copied from: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/wr...index.html

Ohio Valley again stacked with Murray State, addition of Belmont

Conference USA hasn't done it. Neither has the MAC or Missouri Valley. Even the Horizon League, with its extended run of significant success, doesn't qualify for this exclusive list. In fact, outside of the top 10 or so conferences in America, only one league has put a team into the NCAA tournament's round of 32 in each of the last three seasons: the Ohio Valley Conference.

Having produced a top-10 team last season, and with multiple pro prospects and former Atlantic Sun heavyweight Belmont in the league this year, OVC no longer stands for "the Other Valley Conference." The league that famously made Dick Vitale do a headstand 25 years ago is doing just fine today. A combination of on-court success and improved talent levels on many rosters has created heady, optimistic times in the usually low-spotlight conference.

"The league is really good, and hopefully with the addition of Belmont, it gives us an opportunity to maybe have a two-bid league," said Murray State coach Steve Prohm, who went 31-2 in his debut season last year. "It won't happen every year, but some years it may present itself."

Often nestled just above other small Southern conferences in overall performance and well below some in basketball budgets, the OVC has actually been a quality talent producer for many years. Ever since streetball legend James "Fly" Williams starred for Austin Peay in the 1970s, the league has developed a number of solid future pros, including Kevin Duckworth, Anthony Mason, Carlos Rogers, Bubba Wells, Popeye Jones and Kenneth Faried. Tennessee Tech's Kevin Murphy was a second-round pick this year by the Utah Jazz, and NBA scouts are eagerly eyeing current seniors Isaiah Canaan (Murray State) and Robert Covington (Tennessee State).

Throw in new league member Belmont's Kerron Johnson, and the OVC has a heavy-hitting trio of top talents, with multiple other players from last season's all-league teams also returning. The talent influx has raised the stakes on the court, and in turn, also in recruiting.

"The one thing you realize is you gotta get those guys if you're gonna win in this league now, be a dominant program or put yourself in position to win a conference championship," Prohm said. "You've got to have elite perimeter guys, you have to have good guys up front."

It's team success that gets leagues noticed, though, and if you count Morehead State's opening-round win in 2009, the OVC has had a team walk happily off an NCAA tournament court in each of the past four seasons. That's tremendous by almost any league's standards, and the extra win shares coming to the league in the upcoming seasons should help budget lines and allow for more selective scheduling. Teams like Murray State and Belmont may have trouble getting on people's schedules, but even a couple fewer buy games replaced by winnable ones for teams lower in the league could provide a nice RPI/KenPom boost. Combine that with a good team at the top racking up a record like Murray State did last season, and suddenly there may be an NCAA tournament safety net available.

With Belmont now in the fold, there's no questioning the quality atop the league, even if the two presumed favorites may not be as good as they were last season. Murray State returns leading man Canaan and athletic shot-blocker Ed Daniel but has lost a trio of significant senior contributors and also Latreze Mushatt to an Achilles injury, meaning four important rotation guys need to be replaced. That doesn't even count guard Zay Jackson currently being suspended from team activities in the wake of an automobile incident where two people were injured. Prohm is going to have to sift through a lot of options and hope that he can find a couple more Donte Pooles, longtime reserves who step up when given starter's minutes.

Belmont, which has all-Atlantic Sun guard Ian Clark to go with Johnson, will be significantly smaller this year having graduated Scott Saunders and Mick Hedgepeth, its frontcourt standouts from last season. Coach Rick Byrd said the Bruins will stick with their system that annually yields one of the more efficient offenses in the nation, but as they weren't able to land a preferred option at the five in this year's recruiting class, they'll have to somewhat modify their approach.

Does this flux open the door for someone like Tennessee State, which was the only squad to beat the Racers during the regular season last year (on the road, no less), and lost the rubber match in the OVC final in the final seconds? In addition to Covington, an unselfish 6-foot-9 forward with a balanced inside-outside game, the Tigers have other solid rotation guys back and will put new coach Travis Williams' stamp on what was a CIT team last season, the Tigers' first postseason appearance since 1994.

"We're not going to change it up too much, but we're going to have my DNA and what I totally believe," Williams said. "I believe in a defensive-minded team. I believe in no excuses, no attitude, no bad body language."

Because of Belmont's arrival, the league has changed to a two-division format, and Murray State looks set to benefit in year one. The Racers play Belmont and Tennessee State once apiece, and both of those games are at home. That said, throw in traditional league heavyweight Austin Peay and a Tennessee Tech team that returns a first-team all-league talent in scoring/rebounding guard Jud Dillard, and there is plenty of reason to watch and wonder. This shouldn't be the runaway last season was for the Racers, and all of the coaches are looking forward to both the challenge and the opportunity.

"It might make a tougher path to the NCAA tournament than we've faced," Byrd said about his program's maiden OVC voyage after a dominant period in the Atlantic Sun, "but I also think playing people like that, having people like that in your league, improves your own program."

A so-called friend of mine in Nashville sent me this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyA1ddAkAzQ

Spot has been running for awhile. They have a radio ad too

(09-25-2012 08:05 AM)Buccaneerlover Wrote:  Spot has been running for awhile. They have a radio ad too

They've been running that as a commercial? Wow. They really are proud to be in the OVC. Hopefully, we can join them one of these days. But, that would mean we'd have to play them again. Ugh.

I'd rather play a good team and lose, than beat a bunch of "tomato cans".