fully intended on making etsu my only play tonight.
but i know im gonna kick myself if i pass this one up, so going with this game too.
ball state (-4)
to me, everything favors ball state here.
* first and foremost -- theyre the better team. theyve got a huge edge athletically as well. does that mean a lot? certainly it doesnt mean everything, but bg just doesnt have the same athletes theyve had in the past. the reason bg is winning is because theyre playing very unselfish basketball and reimold has been a great leader for them. on paper though, ball state is a lot more talented at almost every position.
* ball state is a solid team at home and bowling green has struggled mightily in this gym (2-10 since it opened).
* scheduling really favors ball state for two reasons.
1) ball state has been off since last wednesday and has only played two games in the last two weeks.
2) bowling green is playing their 4th game in 9 days and this game is a big-time sandwich game for them. falcons played home to undefeated western michigan a few days ago and then have a huge home game up next with rival toledo (which is the premier rivalry in this conference).
* assuming ball state doesnt catch pre-game influenza, bg is finally gonna face a stiff road test, something they havent had since the first game of the season. they caught emu shorthanded last week, so this one will tell me a lot about bg.
my main hesitation is the coaching. dakich is such a damn good coach that its tough to go against him. but this is a great spot for ball state. even if this game was played in a vacuum, ball state is better. throw in bg's struggles in muncie along with the sandwich spot and bg's 'four in nine' and bsu's light work schedule the last 2 weeks.... theres no reason ball state shouldnt win by 8-10 points.
so im going with east tennessee and ball state tonight and feeling good about both.
but i know im gonna kick myself if i pass this one up, so going with this game too.
ball state (-4)
to me, everything favors ball state here.
* first and foremost -- theyre the better team. theyve got a huge edge athletically as well. does that mean a lot? certainly it doesnt mean everything, but bg just doesnt have the same athletes theyve had in the past. the reason bg is winning is because theyre playing very unselfish basketball and reimold has been a great leader for them. on paper though, ball state is a lot more talented at almost every position.
* ball state is a solid team at home and bowling green has struggled mightily in this gym (2-10 since it opened).
* scheduling really favors ball state for two reasons.
1) ball state has been off since last wednesday and has only played two games in the last two weeks.
2) bowling green is playing their 4th game in 9 days and this game is a big-time sandwich game for them. falcons played home to undefeated western michigan a few days ago and then have a huge home game up next with rival toledo (which is the premier rivalry in this conference).
* assuming ball state doesnt catch pre-game influenza, bg is finally gonna face a stiff road test, something they havent had since the first game of the season. they caught emu shorthanded last week, so this one will tell me a lot about bg.
my main hesitation is the coaching. dakich is such a damn good coach that its tough to go against him. but this is a great spot for ball state. even if this game was played in a vacuum, ball state is better. throw in bg's struggles in muncie along with the sandwich spot and bg's 'four in nine' and bsu's light work schedule the last 2 weeks.... theres no reason ball state shouldnt win by 8-10 points.
so im going with east tennessee and ball state tonight and feeling good about both.
