2014 FCS Playoff Semifinals

We are down to the Semifinals of the FCS Football Playoff. It has been quite exciting so far. The last round I found myself going 3-1 with Sam Houston State pulling off another upset. That puts me at a 14-6 record so far in the playoffs. In the Final Four of the FCS Playoff we have the #1 seed New Hampshire taking on the #5 seed Illinois State, and the surprising team of the playoff unseeded Sam Houston State takes on #2 North Dakota State. I have been very impressed with how all four of these teams have been playing, especially Sam Houston State. I have to give the Bearkats a lot of credit, I didn't see them getting out of the 1st round, and I did not pick them to win any of the games since then.North Dakota State has come away with some close wins which always makes for exciting games. New Hampshire has been dominating throughout the playoff, and Illinois State has been blowing away opponents. So let's see who I think will move into the FCS Championship game.

The first game will be played on Friday at 8:00 pm et, and will feature the Cinderella Sam Houston State and the reigning 3-time champions North Dakota State. So I said earlier that I have picked against the Bearkats every game and they have won every time, and you would think that now I would finally pick them to win right? Wrong. No matter how great Sam Houston State has been I am not going to pick against the current champions. I think North Dakota State will be the team that is too much for the Bearkats to handle. North Dakota has too many weapons that Sam Houston State just isn't ready for. I see North Dakota State coming away with the victory by a score of 27-16.

he second game will played on Saturday at 2:00 pm et, and will feature two of the best offenses in the playoff. The New Hampshire Wildcats will look to knock off the Illinois State Redbirds from championship hopes. Both of these teams are averaging over 35 points per game and are only allowing 21.2 points per game. I think this will be one of the best games so far in the playoff. I expect this to be a back and forth battle of scoring. It will be close throughout the entire game. This will be a game that does not lack in the action department. These teams are very even with each other, and New Hampshire has the home field advantage. The problem is that New Hampshire doesn't get a very big crowd out to the games, so I'm taking the home field advantage out on this one. Like I said before it will be a close game with a lot of action, but ultimately I think Illinois State has been playing better through the playoff. I think Illinois State wins it by a field goal with a score of 35-32.

Feel free to subscribe to my blog to keep up with my latest writings. For more news and predictions you can:
Like me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sportscognition
Follow me on Twitter @SportsCogBlog

2014 FCS Playoffs Elite 8

We have gotten through the second round of the FCS Playoffs and are now at the Elite 8. I ended the first round of predictions with a 5-3 record, which you can see on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sportscognition. The second round saw me finish with a record of 6-2. So now my record through this playoff is 11-5, which isn't too bad I guess. I really thought Fordham would beat New Hampshire, but I was proven wrong. I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong and it won't be the last time I'm wrong. If I was right all the time, I'd be placing bets instead of this. But, I really enjoy doing this and I love to watch the games. I've rambled on enough, so let's get to the predictions.

Tonight we start off the Elite 8 with Chattanooga vs New Hampshire.Chattanooga came off a good performance against Indiana State beating them 35-14, and are looking to keep that momentum going against New Hampshire. The Wildcats have other plans. New Hampshire had a dominating performance against Fordham beating them 44-19. This should be a game where both defenses will be put to the test. Key players to watch for both teams are Nico Steriti (RB-New Hampshire) and Jacob Huesman (QB-Chattanooga). Both guys are coming off great performances last week and should be the key factors for their teams. Chattanooga has the 5th best overall defense in the FCS and will look to take down New Hampshire. It will be a close one, but I think New Hampshire wins by a score of 32-31.

The rest of the games will be played on Saturday with the first game being Coastal Carolina vs North Dakota State. North Dakota State has been the king of the FCs for the last three years and don't show any signs of slowing down. Both of these teams have great offenses and stifling defenses. Coastal Carolina have a couple of running backs that the Bison will have to stop in order to win this game. The Bison however have been in this position before and have a great quarterback and receiver combination with Carson Wentz and RJ Urzendowski. This will be another close game with the North Dakota State Bison coming away with the win with a score of 27-26.

The second game of the day will be Sam Houston State vs Villanova. Sam Houston State will look to take to the sky against Villanova like they did last week against Jacksonville State. The Bearkats have a very good quarterback (Jared Johnson) and wide receiver (LaDarius Brown) combination. They both scored all of the team's 6 touchdowns last week. Villanova's defense is going to have to step up and stop the pass in order to win this game. I think the key to winning this game for the Wildcats is their quarterback, John Robertson, who scored three of Villanova's touchdowns against Liberty last week. I was surprised that Villanova had a hard time with Liberty, and I was also surprised that Sam Houston State beat Jacksonville State. Even though both teams had unexpected games last week, I still think Villanova will play better and get the win against the Bearkatz. Villanova wins by a score of 32-24.

The last game of the Elite 8 will be Illinois State vs Eastern Washington. Illinois State The Redbirds are coming off a 20 point victory against conference foe Northern Iowa last week. Tre Roberson (quarterback) went 22/33 for 382 yards, with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. If the Eagles can't contain Roberson then it's going to be a long night for them. Eastern Washington had a very good game against a very tough Montana team. Vernon Adams Jr. had three touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) with 1 interception. This will be a very fun game to watch, but I think that Illinois State's defense will be too much for Eastern Washington to handle. I think Illinois State wins by a score of 33-28.

For more news and predictions:

Like me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sportscognition

Follow me on Twitter @SportsCogBlog

SEMO vs SIU Buzzer Beater (video)

On Thursday night SEMO took on its regional rival SIU at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, MO. It was a close game throughout most of it, even after the Redhawks found themselves down by 11 in the first half. SEMO came back to tie it and eventually took over the lead in the second half. SIU came back to take the lead by one point. SIU lost the possession by going out of bounds with 0.8 seconds left on the clock. SEMO in bounds the ball to Jarekious Bradley, who then makes a turn-around jumper to win the game. It was an amazing end to an amazing game. It was another game that makes the River Border Rivalry a great one. Here is the video of the winning shot by Bradley with 0.8 seconds left in the game.

Video courtesy of Scott Mygatt.

For more news and predictions from Sports Cognition you can:

Like me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sportscognition

Follow me on Twitter @SportsCogBlog

2014 FCS Playoffs Round 2

Today starts the second round of the FCS Playoffs. This is my first year really paying any attention to the FCS, but I really like how they have their playoff system. Last week I made predictions on the first round of the playoffs and went 5-3. I only have 21 Likes on Facebook and I need 4 more in order to have a Facebook web address, but you can find the link on the bottom of this blog.

The Second Round of the FCS Playoffs start today at 1:00 pm et. So without any further ado, here are my predictions:

Fordham (11-2) vs New Hampshire (10-1). New Hampshire enters this year's playoffs as the #1 seed. Many are expecting New Hampshire to make a run to the Championship game, but I am not one of those people. I think Fordham will knock New Hampshire out of the playoffs today by a score of 36-32.

Indiana State (8-5) vs Chattanooga (9-3). Indiana State surprised me when they defeated Eastern Kentucky, but I think their surprising ends today against Chattanooga. Chattanooga wins by a score of 29-15.

Richmond (9-4) vs Coastal Carolina (11-1). I think Coastal Carolina are faster and more athletic than Richmond and will be too much for them to handle. Coastal Carolina wins by a score of 32-20.

Sam Houston (9-4) vs Jacksonville State (11-1). Jacksonville State has been a pretty awesome team and fun to watch this year. I think Jacksonville State has what it takes to reach the finals and they will make a step towards that today against Sam Houston. Jacksonville State wins by a score of 30-23.

Northern Iowa (9-4) vs Illinois State (11-1). These two Missouri Valley Football Conference teams will battle it out to see who gets to move on to the next round. Illinois State lost to Northern Iowa earlier this season, but I don't think they will share the same fate this time around. This will be a very good game to watch, but ultimately Illinois State wins by a score of 33-28.

South Dakota State (9-4) vs North Dakota State (11-1). Another pair of Missouri Valley Football Conference teams face off against each other in the battle of Dakotas. North Dakota State has won the championship the last three years. They are the powerhouse in the FCS. North Dakota State rolled past South Dakota State earlier this year by a score of 37-17. I think this game will see less scoring from North Dakota State, but ultimately they get the job done against South Dakota State with a score of 27-13.

Montana (9-4) vs Eastern Washington (10-2). These two teams from the Big Sky Conference will go head-to-head in what should be a very exciting game with lots of scoring. Eastern Washington defeated Montana a month ago by 10 points and I think they beat them again, but this one will be a little bit closer. I see Eastern Washington winning by a score of 39-35.

Liberty (9-4) vs Villanova (10-2). Villanova has been tearing it up this season. While Liberty edged James Madison last week by 5 points, I don't expect to see anything close to that outcome against Villanova. I see Villanova putting Liberty away by a score of 33-21.

For more predictions and info you can:
Like me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sports-Cognition/1551536458393758
Follow me on Twitter @SportsCogBlog

Conference Championship Predictions

I'm going to go through a little run through of my predictions for the Conference Championships today. Today there will be 10 teams playing to become the champions of their conference.

First let's start with Conference USA. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8-4, 7-1 C-USA) will take on the Marshall Thundering Herd (11-1, 7-1 C-USA). Marshall has been plowing through their opponents all year with exception to Western Kentucky, who beat them by one point in OT. I see Marshall coming back in this game hungry and ready to show the Bulldogs why they are a force to be reckoned with. I expect Marshall to get back on track and beat Louisiana Tech easily. Marshall is a -9.5 favorite, but I expect them to beat the spread and win by a score of 41-29.

Next up is the SEC Championship game between the Missouri Tigers (10-2, 7-1 SEC) and the Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1 SEC). Both of these teams have really good defenses so it should be a tough game for both offenses. However, Maty Mauk, quarterback for Missouri has been very inconsistent with his play. He has been doing better the last couple of games since his receivers have returned from injury. I just can't see Missouri getting past Alabama. Alabama is -14.5 favorite, but I only see them winning by 11 with a score of 31-20.

Now for the ACC. The Florida State Seminoles (12-0, 8-0 ACC) will play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-2, 6-2 ACC). Many fans are just waiting to see the downfall of Jameis Winston, and the way he has been playing the last couple of weeks, they almost got to see it. But, the Seminoles have found a way to get the win. I think Jameis Winston will struggle in this game with everything he's been going through the last day or two. Florida State has been to close to losing some games and I think this game will be his first ever loss as a starting college quarterback. Florida State is a -4 favorite, but I like Georgia Tech to get the win against the Seminoles. I say Georgia Tech wins by a score of 31-30.

Now we move on to the Big Ten Championship game between the Wisconsin Badgers (10-2, 7-1 Big Ten) and the Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1, 8-0 Big Ten). This is going to be a tough game for both teams. Melvin Gordon is a beast and Ohio State is dealt with the task of trying to stop him, but I think they are up to it. I don't think Ohio State will completely shut him down, but they will keep him from running all over them. Another thing that Ohio State has going against them is that they are down to their third string quarterback. With all of this said I still like the Buckeyes to come away with a win. I trust Urban Meyer to have this team mentally prepared for the task at hand. Wisconsin is a -4.5 favorite, but I think Ohio State with pull off a close win by a score of 38-37.

For the Mountain West Conference it will the the Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6, 5-3 MW) taking on the Boise State Broncos (10-2, 7-1 MW) in what I consider to be the biggest lopsided game out of all of these. Ultimately Boise State will be too much for the Bulldogs to handle. Fresno State won't get totally destroyed, but they are going to have to comeback in the second half to win. Boise State is a -23 favorite, but I'm going to play it safe and say that they will only win by 17 with a score of 35-18.

For more info and predictions you can:
Like me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sportscognition
Follow me on Twitter: @SportsCogBlog

SEMO at Missouri Preview

Tonight the SEMO Redhawks will take on the Missouri Tigers in Columbia, MO at Mizzou Arena. The Redhawks are coming off an 85-51 win against Alabama A&M on Saturday, and the Tigers are coming off a 74-60 win against Chaminade in the Maui Invitational last Wednesday. Both teams are 3-3 so far in the season, and the Missouri Tigers lead the overall series 7-0. But tonight I think the Redhawks will leave Columbia with a win.

This year marks the inaugural season for Kim Anderson at Missouri. So far the team isn't playing as well as what some Tiger fans were hoping for. Kim Anderson was the guy that a lot of Tiger fans were wanting to see hired after Frank Haith left for the head coaching job at Tulsa. There were big expectations for Coach Anderson with him coming off a D-III National Championship with the Central Missouri Mules. I think having a 3-3 record is ideal for Missouri at this point into the season. The past 7 times that these two teams have faced it has been the Tigers handling the Redhawks with ease. I don't think that is going to happen this time around.

If you compare both teams you will see that SEMO has the statistical advantage over Missouri. SEMO is shooting the ball at 45.2%, that's 4% better than Missouri. SEMO also edges Missouri on assists per game by 2. SEMO is averaging more blocks per game as well, but they are equal in the turnover department. Jarekious Bradley (17.5), Nino Johnson (12.3), and Antonious Cleveland (10) are all averaging 10 or more points per game. Johnson (6) and Aaron Adeoye (6.7) are averaging 6 or more rebounds per game. Johnson is averaging 2.5 blocks per game, and 2.3 steals per game making him a powerful presence in the paint. J.J. Thompson is a point guard that can make things happen averaging 3.7 assists per game. Thompson is very good when it comes to dishing the ball to teammates.

Missouri is no slouch by any means. They are very capable of keeping their undefeated record against the Redhawks, but they are going to need to step it up if they want to win tonight. Missouri only has one player averaging 10 or more points in Montaque Gill-Caesar (13.7). Everyone on the Missouri Tigers are averaging under 5 rebounds per game, except for Ryan Rosburg (5.3). Wes Clark, who had a fantastic freshmen year last season, and Keith Shamburger are really good at moving the ball around. they are both averaging over 3 assists per game.

One of the biggest keys for SEMO to come away with the win is to watch the fouls. The Tigers are shooting 66.4% in free throws. I think SEMO needs to make sure that they get the ball to Johnson and Bradley and try to draw fouls on Missouri. Missouri has 134 fouls so far in the season, so it makes sense for SEMO to attack down low. I think if SEMO can stay aggressive down low and play smart defensively that they can come away with a big win against an SEC team tonight. Johnson, Bradley, Cleveland, Adeoye, and Thompson are going to be the key guys tonight. They need to play smart and collectively tonight. Missouri doesn't have great attendance in basketball so the crowd won't be a factor tonight. I see SEMO getting the victory tonight by a score of 67-58.

SEMO at Bowling Green Preview

Tonight the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks will travel to Bowling Green, OH to take on the Bowling Green Falcons. The Redhawks are coming off two wins in a row and are looking to keep that momentum going tonight against the Falcons. SEMO has a very young, athletic roster, but they also lack solid chemistry and experience. Nino Johnson will definitely be one of SEMO's top scorer's tonight as he is averaging 14.5 PPG, 6 RPG, and 2 BPG while shooting 68.6% in field goals. Jarekious Bradley is also another guy to keep an eye on. He is currently the team's top scorer with an average of 17.5 PPG. Antonius Cleveland is a very athletic guy who can move quickly. He averages 12 PPG and 5.5 RPG.

Bowling Green will have the home court advantage, but since it's Thanksgiving break there may not be a lot of student support tonight. The Falcons are 2-0 so far with wins against Drake and Wright State. They will look to keep that winning streak going tonight against SEMO. While they may not have a player that is scoring as much as the three I mentioned for SEMO, they do have more players scoring. Which leads me to believe that they play better as a team. Bowling Green will have to keep the rebounds up and try to draw fouls against SEMO to pull it off.

Overall this should be a very good game. I think SEMO has a really good chance to pull off the victory, but in the end I think the lack of chemistry and discipline will be the downfall for the Redhawks. SEMO also has a tendency to let teams get close to within them in the last minutes of the half. I think that Bowling Green has more experience and better chemistry and will pull off the victory by a score of 71-59.

Things Are Looking Up: SEMO's 2014 Football Review

The SEMO Redhawks have finished their 2014 season with a 5-7 (3-5) record. This is the best record that SEMO has had since the great 2010 season where they finished 1st in the OVC with a 9-3 (7-1) record and a trip to the FCS Playoffs. They finished 6th in the OVC where previously they finished 7th and 8th.

This was the inaugural season for Coach Tom Matukewicz at SEMO, and he has already taken this team to another level from where they were before. SEMO beat the Southeastern Louisiana Lions (ranked #3 at the time) at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau. That was the defining game for the Redhawks this season. Before this year, there probably wouldn't have been anyway that SEMO would have won that game. SEMO also beat a top ranked Tennessee State team at Houck Stadium. With Coach Tuke bringing in a new attitude and fire to the team they have elevated their game this year. Fan attendance rose this year compared to the last three years as well.

Starting senior quarterback, Kyle Snyder, had a tremendous year. He finished the season with 2,582 passing yards, 23 TD's, and completed 61.3% of his passes. He also rushed for 661 yards with 9 TD's. He finished 8th in Points Responsible For. Snyder played a big role in the success of this team's season. Sophomore kicker, Ryan McCrum, had a record breaking year as he broke SEMO's single-season record for field goals in a season with 18.

Injuries really hurt this team. Many of their starters on defense and offense were out for many of the games. Hopefully Coach Tuke can recruit some good talent to add more depth to the roster.

I do not have a lot of knowledge about SEMO before this year, but I do know that this season has sparked new interests in the team again. SEMO doesn't have a great history of winning seasons in football, but after this season the future is looking pretty good. This team has surpassed my expectations for this season, and I'm looking forward to next year. The only thing that worries me a little bit is that they are losing 20 seniors. But, they do have a lot of their starters returning back to the team which makes me feel as though that next season can be just as good, if not better, than this season. I think that this SEMO team will be pretty tough in the next coming years. This is a very exciting time for this program.

No Faith, Just Support

The 2013-2014 season for the Missouri Tigers basketball team has come to an end. And even though they finished 23-12 and made it to the second round of the NIT, it was considered a disappointing season by many of the fans. I was disappointed with the season, but at the same time I felt that if you make it to the post season then you had a pretty good year. Yes, it could have been better by at least making it to the NCAA tournament, but the last two seasons have shown us that even if Missouri makes it to the NCAA tournament the fans still won't be happy. Missouri has made it to the big dance the last two seasons, both of those times they lost in the first round, but they still made it to the postseason. That was not enough to satisfy the fans. On top of that, this season has had many fans calling for Frank Haith to be fired. I understand how fans can overreact, but Frank Haith does not deserve to be fired, yet.

Frank Haith has not met the high, and sometimes unreasonable, expectations of the Missouri fans. I was not very happy with the hiring of Frank Haith, and I'm still a skeptical fan of of his. Haith's record at Missouri is 77-29, that's a pretty good record if you ask me, and it's well above .500. Yet, fans want him gone, now. Personally I don't think any coach should be fired before the end of his contract, unless of course there were some major rules or laws being broken, or if the coach only wins a very small amount of games. But Haith hasn't had any of that, and yet fans of Missouri are calling for his head. Sounds pretty crazy right? I agree, but I feel that if Missouri keeps declining like it has been since Haith's arrival then he should be let go at the end of his contract.

Frank Haith has shown that he is a great recruiter, there is no doubt about that. Haith has the ability to draw talented players to his team, but he lacks the ability to coach those players. In Haith's first year at Missouri he coached the Missouri Tigers to a 30-5 record, and won the Big 12 Tournament. Many people thought that Frank Haith was going to be the savior of the Missouri basketball program, and at first it did appear that way. But, lets look at that season in more depth. Haith arrived to Missouri to take over for Mike Anderson, who left Missouri to take the head coaching job at Arkansas where he had been an assistant for 17 years. All of the players on this team were players that Mike Anderson recruited, these players had been together for most, if not all, of their college careers. These guys new how to play with each other, they knew how to pass the ball to each other, where each guy would be, and what role each guy had. There are a lot of people that want to give Frank Haith credit for that terrific season, and I believe he deserves some of the credit, but mostly the players deserve the most. This is how I think it played out, I think the players got together and pretty much coached themselves through that season. That team had great leadership, and that leadership is what got them through that season.

If you compare Haith's first year at Missouri to the two previously you will see that there is a big lack of leadership on his teams. Haith is not one to provide great leadership to his teams, and he has not been able to recruit great leaders on his teams. Laurence Bowers was the leader for the Tigers in Haith's second season at Missouri. Bowers would have been on the 2011-2012 team but he tore his ACL before the season started, and had to sit out. He came back the following season and was the key leader for the Tigers. There were many times during that season where it looked as though there wasn't much leadership either, but when you have a point guard in Phil Pressey that wanted to take the winning shot in close games, it's hard to lead the team. Haith has said repeatedly that he talked to Pressey about taking those shots and that he did not want Pressey to take those shots, but Pressey still attempted to win the game on his own. That says something about the lack of leadership from Frank Haith.

The Missouri basketball program has been on a decline every year for the past three seasons. Haith has had mostly transfers from other schools come to Missouri, maybe he just needs time to recruit the kids he wants out of high school. Haith's first year at Missouri had the Tigers finishing with a 30-5 record, a Big 12 Tournament Championship, and were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Norfolk State. Haith's second year saw the Tigers struggling on the road and they finished the season with a 23-11 record (11-7 in the SEC), and were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Colorado State. Going 11-7 in a weak SEC Conference was very disappointing, and many fans can see the huge decline from the previous year. In this past season the Tigers went 23-12 (9-9 in the SEC), and were beat in the NIT Tournament by Southern Mississippi. Missouri has a worse conference record this year than they year before, and they didn't make it to the NCAA Tournament. This shows a pattern of the program declining, but I wouldn't say it is completely dead.

Anybody that expected Missouri to produce seasons like Haith's first season at Missouri doesn't understand to circumstances that surrounded that season. Even if you go back and look up Haith's time at Miami would tell you that Haith isn't going to produce Final Four teams. But, if anybody thinks that a guy with a .726 winning percentage at Missouri is going to get fired, then you are wrong. I think the people who say "fire Haith" are letting their frustrations get the best of them. Those fans do not have the answers, so they want to make drastic decisions.

I am not a huge fan of Frank Haith, but having him fired is not going to help matters any. I think that fans are upset and want to blame Haith for everything, and that firing him will make everything better. If that happens, you will still be left with players that have no chemistry, and a new coach will have to come in and try to coach kids that he didn't recruit. I do think Haith is mostly responsible for the lackluster season at Missouri, but I am not one to say that he should be fired. I don't have the answers to the problem, if I did I would be in charge, but I don't, and I'm not. I don't know many coaches, if any, that came in and took over an average basketball program and made them National Championship contenders overnight. It is going to take time for this program to get better. There is no guarantee they will get better or worse. But Haith deserves time to try. Fans of Mizzou need to realize that Haith isn't going anywhere for a couple of years at least. Mike Alden isn't a governor or anything, he doesn't get voted in by the public, so he doesn't care about fan approval. If the Missouri basketball program continues to dwindle then I think Haith should be gone at the end of his contract, but he deserves that allotted amount of time to try and get Missouri to be a really good program. What Mizzou fans should do, always, is support the coach and the team. If you are a true fan of Mizzou, then you will support them through thick and thin. It won't do any good to constantly ridicule the team (coach included) and boycott games. It isn't going to make a quality coach want to come to school with a fan base that act like crybabies because they can't get what they want. I'm not saying you have to like Haith, you don't have to like the decisions he makes, but you need to at least support him and the team. Remember fans, you support the Tigers, not the individual. Frank Haith is a Tiger right now, show some support.

2014 NCAA Tournament Bracket