Sun Belt Sports Blog

No. 5 Illinois (24-9) vs. No. 12 Western Kentucky (24-8)

Time/Site: 9:55 EDT/Portland

The winner gets: The winner of Gonzaga-Akron

Summary: Illinois finished in tie for second in the Big 10 with Purdue and lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament to the Boilermakers. Western Kentucky shared the Sun Belt regular season title with Arkansas-Little Rock but won the conference tournament.

Key Players: Illinois – Demetri McCamey (11.5 ppg), G; Mike Davis (11.2 ppg), F. Western Kentucky – A.J. Slaughter (15.8 ppg), G; Orlando Mendez-Valdez (14.0 ppg), G

Key Stat: Illinois – The Figthing Illini average less than 13 free throw attempts per game. Western Kentucky – The Hilltoppers have 427 assists and 426 turnovers.

Illinois will win: If it can overcome the loss of point guard Chester Frazier who is likely out with a right hand injury and the Illini can find some way to get to the free throw line.

Western Kentucky will win: If the Hilltoppers can hit the 3-pointers. They are averaging 37 percent from beyond the arc.

Prediction: Western Kentucky 73, Illinois 67

One of the winningest programs in college basketball history picked up another win last night. No, we’re not talking about Duke, Kansas, UCLA or North Carolina. We’re talking about the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. WKU, a member of the 2008 NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, advanced to the 2009 NCAA Tournament with a win over South Alabama last night in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
After breaking out to a 35-25 lead at the half South Alabama came back to take a 43-39 lead, but the experienced Hilltoppers made sure not to leave their fate up to a committee by winning the game.

Last season, the 12th-seeded WKU Hilltoppers defeated #5 Drake and #13 San Diego to advance to the Sweet 16 before falling to #1 seed UCLA. Now WKU awaits their future destination and matchup in the 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

When the bowl games were announced, Troy knew they would be playing in the postseason. At 8-4 the Trojans had earned their spot in the New Orleans Bowl as the Sun Belt Champions. The next test for the Troy Trojans will be the Southern Miss Golden Eagles of Conference USA, a team that finished the season at 6-6 but won their final four games of the season. The real surprise of the bowl announcements was that the Sun Belt was able to send a second team to a bowl game in 2008 as the Florida Atlantic Owls will face Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl. FAU (6-6) was in a pool with several other 6-6 teams including fellow Sun Belt members Louisiana-Lafayette & Arkansas State, but was chosen ahead of their conference rivals marking the second time in three years that the Sun Belt has faced CMU from the MAC in the Motor City Bowl. In 2006 Middle Tennessee dropped a 31-14 contest to the same Chippewas of Central Michigan.

Up 10-0 in the 4th quarter the FAU Owls had to feel good about their chances at getting an important Sun Belt Conference road victory @ MTSU. But settling for a field goal with 1:15 remaining proved to be the Owls’ undoing as Middle Tennessee drove the the FAU 32-yard line with 9 seconds remaining. That is where MTSU senior QB Joe Craddock launched a Hail Mary pass that came down in the hands of Malcolm Beyah to tie the game at 13-13. The PAT was good giving Middle Tennessee the home win over FAU to improve their Sun Belt Conference record to 1-2 and their overall record to 2-3 on the season. With the loss, FAU falls to 0-1 in the Sun Belt standings and a disappointing 1-4 overall.

Tuesday night football on ESPN2 this week features a Sun Belt Conference matchup of Florida Atlantic @ Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders (1-3, 0-2) came in a 3.5 point favorite at home over the Owls (1-3, 0-1), whose lone win was over a 1-4 UAB Blazers team from Conference USA. MTSU’s lone win of 2008 was a bit more impressive, a 24-14 win over the ACC’s Maryland Terrapins which is one of the top non-conference performances by the Sun Belt this season.

In a sloppy game where the offenses seem more interested in moving backwards than forwards, FAU leads 10-0 in the MTSU Blue Raiders with about five minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Final note: Just when I was about to give credit to the MTSU marching band for sounding good on “Word Up” and another song from the stands the ESPN cameras panned the crowd only to show a band full of flip folders. Look, I like the marching bands and feel they can add a lot to the game. But I just cannot respect any band that cannot memorize their music, whether it be on the field or in the stands. It’s unprofessional and high school (heck, many high school bands memorize their music!).

College Sports Fans has released their college football Division I Football Bowl Subdivision preview for 2008 and all 8 Sun Belt teams are included. After a somewhat surprising 6-1 record in the Sun Belt and a New Orleans Bowl victory over Memphis, the 2008 Florida Atlantic football preview takes a look at the Owls as well as their most talented Sun Belt rivals, Troy. The Trojans feature a tough non-conference schedule including a trip to preseason #1 Ohio State and the 2008 Troy football preview looks at the Trojans in ‘08. Louisiana Monroe looks to surpass the .500 mark this season after a 6-6 record a year ago, and the 2008 Louisiana Monroe football preview tells us more. Joining UL-Monroe in the middle of the 2007 Sun Belt standings were MTSU, Arkansas State and UL-Lafayette. The 2008 Middle Tennessee State football preview gives insight into the Blue raiders quest to return to their 2008 bowl-caliber form while the Arkansas State 2008 preview and the Louisiana Lafayette football preview for 2008 review both teams as they look to make a move into the upper-echelon of the Sun Belt football standings. UNT and Florida International shared the cellar of the Sun Belt in 2007, but both look to make improvements this fall. Check out the 2008 FIU football preview and the North Texas football preview for 2008 for more on both teams.

After advancing the the Sweet 16 with wins over #5 Drake and #13 San Diego, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers finally met their match against #1 seed UCLA. The Bruins built a 21-point halftime lead at 41-20 and appeared poised to cruise to a 3rd staright Elite 8. But Darrin Horn’s WKU Hilltoppers cut into the lead in the second half as WKU’s Tyrone Brazelton scored 25 of his 31 points in the second half to cut the lead to as few as four points. But the Hilltoppers would get no closer as UCLA pulled away behind a career-high 29 from media-darling Kevin Love and UCLA topped WKU 88-78.

Buy WKU apparel, WKU hats & more Western Kentucky Hilltoppers merchandise online through DFN Sports partner sites.

College Sports Fans has released previews for all 65 teams in the 2008 NCAA Tournament including the two Sun Belt teams, Western Kentucky & South Alabama. They prevew the matchups for both schools as well as discuss team strenghts & weaknesses while predicting their Tournament results. Find NCAA Tournament scores as well as CBI Tournament scores online through College Sports Fans, and click the links below to view the WKU & South Alabama team previews.

> Western Kentucky (WKU) 2008 NCAA Tournament preview

> South Alabama 2008 NCAA Tournament preview

March is the time of year when a Cinderella story can capture the hearts of sports fans across the globe. Middle Tennessee State looked to extend their own Cinderella story tonight, a night after knocking off Sun Belt favorite South Alabama in the Sun Belt Tournament. But the Blue Raiders ran into Western Kentucky, one of the winningest programs in college basketball history. The Hilltoppers had a slim 34-31 lead at halftime and extended the lead throughout the second half en route to a 67-57 win. With the victory, WKU had made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003 and for the 20th time in school history.

> Buy WKU merchandise online through College Sports Fans!

The New Orleans Bowl matches the Sun Belt Conference Champions against a member of Conference USA, and the 2007 New Orleans Bowl will feature FAU and Memphis. Held on December 21st at the New Orleans Superdome, the New Orleans Bowl will be aired on ESPN2. The Tigers and Owls do have one common opponent this season in Arkansas State; the Owls defeated Arkansas State 34-31 at home on November 10th while Memphis fell @ Arkansas State 35-31 on September 27th. CUSA Fans covers Memphis football and has provided their 2007 New Orleans Bowl preview, and tickets can be found online for the 2007 New Orleans Bowl at Ticket City and Tickets Now.

> Find FAU merchandise online through DFN Sports sites.