Conference Realignment List

With all of the conference realignment news, I feel just as confused as all of you. Here is list to keep you informed, up-to-date, and knowledgeable of the current landscape.  Included are all of the minor football playing conferences and the WAC. List will be continuously updated as more moves are made.

Big East (13 FB)       Join Yr                       Conference USA (14 FB)       Join Yr

Cincinnati                                                      Marshall

UConn                                                           Rice

Temple                                                          Southern Miss

South Florida                                                 Tulsa

^Boise State                2013                           UAB

^San Diego State        2013                           UTEP

SMU                           2013                           Old Dominion                            2013

Houston                      2013                           North Texas                               2013

Central Florida            2013                           UNC-Charlotte                          2013

Memphis                     2013                           Florida International                   2013

Tulane                         2014                           UTSA                                        2013

^East Carolina            2014                            Louisiana Tech                          2013

^Navy                         2015                           Middle Tennessee State              ?

*Depaul                                                         Florida Atlantic                           ?

*Georgetown

*Marquette

*Providence

*Seton Hall

*St. John's

*Villanova

^ Football-only member

* Non-football member

Sun Belt (9 FB)                 Join Yr                         WAC (5)                    Join Yr

South Alabama                                                          New Mexico State

Troy                                                                           Seattle

Western Kentucky                                                     CSU Bakersfield         2013

Arkansas-Little Rock                                                 Utah Valley                 2013

Arkansas State                                                           Grand Canyon             2013

Louisiana-Lafayette

Louisiana-Monroe                                                     * Will not play football in 2013

Georgia State                         2013

Texas State                            2013

*UT-Arlington                       2013

* Non-football member

Aggies and Miners clash on hardwood tonight

By: Anthony Esparza

New Mexico State men’s basketball coach Marvin Menzies admits he tried downplaying the rivalry with UTEP when he first became the Aggies’ head coach.

Menzies, now in his fifth season at NMSU, said he and former UTEP coach Tony Barbie both approached the Battle of I 10 as if it were just another game on the schedule. However, Menzies eventually realized the significance and history of the rivalry. 

Although Menzies has become familiar with the annual home-and-home series with UTEP, he said he hopes his team is also well aware of what’s at stake when the Aggies and Miners clash.

“They do need to be educated as to what this rivalry means to the community and they do need to be educated as to the ramifications of winning these games,” Menzies said. “It does mean more than just another game.”

The Aggies travel to the Don Haskins Center in El Paso tonight for the first game of the season against Miners. The two teams split the series last season, with each team winning on its home court.

UTEP enters the contest with a 1-4 record and on a three-game losing streak. However, the Miners have played stiff competition thus far. UTEP’s losses were to No. 9 Arizona, Oklahoma, Clemson and Vanderbilt, teams with a combined record of 11-4.

NMSU is looking for its first win away from Las Cruces. After starting the season 1-3, the Aggies have won two straight home games to improve to 3-3. 

Although both teams have size in the paint, it will be interesting to see how the young Aggie backcourt performs against the more experienced UTEP guards, especially at the point guard position. NMSU sophomore point guard KC Ross-Miller will take on UTEP senior point guard Jacques Streeter.  

The Aggies will also need to prevent the Miners from getting off to a hot start. In last season’s game in El Paso, UTEP got off to a quick start and led by as many as 16. However, the Aggies would cut the lead but ultimately fell 73-69.

Another intriguing matchup tonight will between UTEP junior forward Julian Wasburn and NMSU senior forward Bandja Sy. The two have plenty of similarities to their games on both ends of the floor.

“That’s a good one to watch because they’re both long, athletic guys with pretty good mid-range games,” Menzies said. “Hopefully we have an edge there with the experience.”

After tonight’s contest, the two teams will not meet again until Feb. 23 in Las Cruces. 

truTalk 11-26-12

Zack and Anthony discuss Denver leaving WAC and Grand Canyon joining WAC, Aggie volleyball's upcoming NCAA Tournament match against BYU, men's and women's hoops, and finish with the Topic of the Week on conference realignment. For listener feedback, tweet Anthony at @trusportsnmsu and Zack at @zackp012

Aggies cruise past Northern NM; host Louisiana-Lafayette Friday

By: Anthony Esparza

The New Mexico State men’s basketball team did what it was supposed to in its 67-37 win over Northern New Mexico Wednesday at the Pan American Center.

The win was much needed for the Aggies regardless of the opponent. NMSU entered the contest on a two-game losing streak after falling to Bucknell and Niagara on the road last weekend.

“We did drop a couple that we could have won and should have won,” sophomore guard Daniel Mullings, who finished with six points and seven assists Wednesday, said. “It was good just getting back on the court and getting back in that win column and hopefully being able to continue that on Friday.”

A total of 12 Aggies saw action against Northern New Mexico, which was a plus for a team still in the process of figuring out its offensive identity. Junior forward Renaldo Dixon came off the bench and finished with a game-high 12 points on 6-7 shooting.

“I think we’re still a work in progress. We’ve got a lot of new guys in a lot of positions…” Mullings said of the Aggies’ offensive. “Our chemistry will come along as we continue with each game.”

NMSU is now 2-3 on the year and concludes its two-game home stand Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Louisiana Lafayette, who currently sits at 2-2. NMSU head coach Marvin Menzies said the Ragin’ Cajuns are a quick team that applies a lot of ball pressure on the defensive end.

“They’re a little undersized but they’re very aggressive,” Menzies said. “They’re Division I kids, all of them, so it’ll be a good challenge for us.”

NMSU enters WAC Volleyball Tournament as one of four favorites to win

By Zack Ponce

The final Western Athletic Conference regular season volleyball matches will be played on Thursday before the 2012 WAC Volleyball Tournament kicks off on Monday. 

New Mexico State will be one of four favorites along with Utah State, UTSA, and Idaho to win the WAC Championship and earn an auto-bid into the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

The 2012 volleyball season has been filled with parody and had seen many upsets along the way, including: Utah State being swept by sixth-place San Jose State; and New Mexico State losing to seventh-place Texas State. 

In summary, there is no clear favorite to win the tournament and the Aggies have as good of a shot as anyone to win the title.

“Confidence is going to be key for us. The post-season is like a new season in itself so anyone can win on any given day,” outside hitter Bradley Nash said.  “We’ve been punched in the face a few times this season so we have to go in with a good outlook and be ready to play.  That’s the key: looking forward and not back.”

NMSU head volleyball coach Mike Jordan echoed Nash’s sentiments.

“It’s just a matter of us playing well when it counts.  We know we are capable of doing it and I think everybody else knows we are capable of doing it,” he said.  “Everybody in this conference knows that every match is going to be a barn-burner.”

The New Mexico State Aggies could enter the 2012 WAC Volleyball Tournament as high as a No. 2 seed and as low as a No. 4 seed, depending on the outcomes of Thursdays’ final regular season matches throughout the WAC.

The Aggies (19-9, 12-5 WAC) host Idaho (14-13, 12-5) Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m.  The Vandals sit directly behind NMSU in fourth place in the WAC.  An Aggie loss would drop them to the No. 4 seed entering the conference tournament.

However an Aggie win coupled with a UTSA loss at San Jose State would mean NMSU could slide into the No. 2 spot.  Utah State (19-8, 14-3) has already clinched the No. 1 seed.

“I’m not concerned whether we get the No. 2 seed or the four seed, it doesn’t matter to me,” Jordan said.  “I really don’t care about the matchups at all.  Who we play and what order it doesn’t matter.  We’re going to have to beat good teams to win it.”

Jordan said he will have the teams’ top-killer Meredith Hays sit out of NMSU’s final regular season match against Idaho in order to rest and be at full strength heading into the conference tournament.

“She needs to get that body fresh and jump a little higher; hit a little harder; and she’ll be fine,” Jordan explained.

MBB: NMSU hosts Southeastern Louisiana in Home Opener

Aggies Look to Bounce Back from Loss at Oregon State 

By: Anthony Esparza

The New Mexico State men’s basketball team looks to rebound from a 71-62 season-opening loss at Oregon State when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana tonight at the Pan American Center.

Southeastern currently sits at 0-2 on the year after falling to Wisconsin and Marquette, two teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season. The Lions were within striking distance of the Golden Eagles late in the contest Tuesday, trailing 57-51 with 4:13 remaining. However, timely baskets and free-throws propelled Marquette to the 64-53 victory.

“They got two high-level games that they’ve played on the road, so they’ll be a little battle tested in this early part of the year…” NMSU head coach Marvin Menzies said of the Lions. “We’re going to have our job cut out for us. I think that team will win a lot of games this year.”  

Southeastern returns four starters from a year ago, including junior guard Dre Evans who leads the team in scoring with 10.5 points per game. Because of the lack of size on the Lions’ roster, the team relies heavily on the production of the backcourt.

As for the Aggies, Menzies said he was pleased for the most part with his team’s defense in the season opener against Oregon State, particularly in the second half. However, NMSU was unable to contain junior guard Ahmad Stars, who scored a game-high 33 points for Beavers.  

“We did a horrible job in some areas in reference to Starks and guarding him,” Menzies said. “We let him get going and didn’t do a great job at having team awareness in stopping him, and that’s something that we’ve got to do better at.”

Offensively, the Aggies scored 34 points in the paint against the Beavers. However, Menzies hopes to see more organization on the offensive end tonight against Southeastern. Also expect NMSU to make the most of its size advantage and score inside against the Lions.

“Our offensive flow and rhythm was kind of ‘herky-jerky’ so we’ve got to improve that as well,” Menzies said.” I think we’ll do that and get more touches for the post inside.” 

What: NMSU (0-1) vs Southeastern (0-2) men's basketball game

When: Tonight at 8:00 p.m. 

Where: Pan American Center

Media: Aggie Sports Network  

Rozendaal, Williamson power NMSU to an overtime victory

Photo By Daisy Hernandez

By Zack Ponce

The New Mexico State Aggies stormed out of the gate and fought through adversity to win their first game of the 2012-13 women’s basketball season against Loyola Marymount 77-76 in overtime.

Sophomore point guard Danesia Williamson, a newcomer who transferred from San Diego, hit a jump shot with 28.7 seconds left in the second half to tie the game for the Aggies at 69-69.  The NMSU defense then held the Lions to a tough shot that fell short of the basket to send the game to overtime.

Senior forward Kelsie Rozendaal then proceeded to lead NMSU during the overtime period and helped the Aggies clinch a victory. 

“After being down at halftime I decided I was going to take (the game) on my shoulders and carry this team,” Rozendaal said.  “We know this is the year that we can do something big and today was our first test.  We came out and we showed that we can finish games.”

Rozendaal grabbed a key rebound after forcing LMU’s Alexis Love to shoot over her arms.  Rozendaal then hit three of her four free throws down the stretch to extend NMSU’s lead over LMU to 77-73.

“Kelsie was big time…she’s a tough kid,” said NMSU women’s head basketball coach Mark Trakh.  “I was happy with the way we came back.”

Rozendaal led the team in both points (22) and rebounds (11).  She shot 8-of-13 from inside the arch and 1-of-4 from three-point range.

Williamson showed the potential to be a solid floor general for the Aggies.  She scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, but also had seven turnovers.

New Mexico State stormed out to an early lead over LMU and led by as much as seven, 21-14, with just over 10 minutes left in the first half.  A string of offensive turnovers and blown defensive assignment for NMSU allowed the Lions to erase the deficit.

“We just can’t afford to give up easy points, but unlike last year we scored easy points too.  We struggled for everything last year,” Trakh said.

Loyola Marymount led 37-30 at halftime, but NMSU slowly chipped away at the LMU margin and regained the lead at 56-55 with 9:34 to play in the second half on a jump shot by guard Jasmine Rutledge.

New Mexico State will travel tomorrow to play UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday in Calif. at 8:00 p.m. mountain time.