SB Nation Atlanta: All Posts by Jeremy Mauss

2013 MWC all-conference baseball team: New Mexico cleans up awards

2013-05-23T23:03:57Z

New Mexico not only breezed through the Mountain West regular season, but they also made out big in the post season awards.

The Lobos had the co-players of the year in catches Mitch Garver and third baesman DJ Peterson, they also shared co-rookie of the year awards as Lobos second baseman Sam Haggerty and Fresno State pitcher Blake Quinn earned those honors. Of couse, with New Mexico winning the league, it was Ray Birmingham who won coach of the year.

2013 All-Mountain West Baseball Team
FIRST TEAM
Position	Name	Team	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	Hometown
Catcher	Mitch Garver^	New Mexico	6-1	205	Sr.	Albuquerque, N.M.
First Base	Seth Kline^	Air Force	6-1	225	Jr.	Yakima, Wash.
Second Base	Tim Zier	San Diego State	5-10	195	Jr.	Escondido, Calif.
Third Base	DJ Peterson^	New Mexico	6-1	205	Jr.	Gilbert, Ariz.
Shortstop	Alex Allbritton^	New Mexico	6-2	185	Sr.	Aurora, Colo.
Outfielder	Aaron Judge	Fresno State	6-7	255	Jr.	Linden, Calif.
Outfielder	Josh Melendez^	New Mexico	5-11	190	Sr.	Chandler, Ariz.
Outfielder	Brandon Bayardi!^	UNLV	6-2	235	Sr.	Phoenix, Ariz.
DH/Utility	Garrett Custons!^	Air Force	5-11	200	Sr.	Sarasota, Fla.
Pitcher	Braden Shipley	Nevada	6-3	190	Jr.	Medford, Ore.
Pitcher	Sam Wolff	New Mexico	6-1	190	Sr.	Rapid City, S.D.
Pitcher	Ryan Doran	San Diego State	6-1	175	Sr.	Orange, Calif.
Pitcher	Buddy Borden	UNLV	6-3	210	Jr.	Las Vegas, Nev.
Relief Pitcher	Gabe Aguilar	New Mexico	5-8	175	Sr.	El Paso, Texas
SECOND TEAM
Catcher	Jake Romanski	San Diego State	5-10	180	Sr.	Corona, Calif.
First Base	Ryan Muno	San Diego State	6-1	195	So.	La Quinta, Calif.
First Base	Patrick Armstrong	UNLV	6-0	225	Jr.	Woodbridge, Calif.
Second Base	Sam Haggerty	New Mexico	5-11	175	Fr.	Denver, Colo.
Third Base	T.J. White	UNLV	5-11	190	So.	Las Vegas, Nev.
Shortstop	Chris Mariscal	Fresno State	5-11	175	So.	Fresno, Calif.
Outfielder	David Baska	Air Force	6-0	180	Sr.	Overland Park, Kan.
Outfielder	Brooks Klein	Nevada	6-2	190	Sr.	Blue Diamond, Nev.
Outfielder	Luke Campbell	New Mexico	6-0	200	Sr.	Arvada, Colo.
DH/Utility	Alex Real	New Mexico	6-0	215	So.	Anthem, Ariz.
DH/Utility	Mark Shannon	UNLV	6-0	180	Sr.	Littleton, Colo.
Pitcher	Blake Quinn	Fresno State	6-5	210	Fr.	Fresno, Calif.
Pitcher	Michael Cederoth	San Diego State	6-6	210	So.	San Diego, Calif.
Relief Pitcher	Bubba Derby	San Diego State	5-10	185	Fr.	Monrovia, Calif.
Co-Players of the Year - Mitch Garver, New Mexico; DJ Peterson, New Mexico
Co-Pitchers of the Year - Braden Shipley, Nevada; Buddy Borden, UNLV
Co-Freshmen of the Year - Blake Quinn, Fresno State; Sam Haggerty, New Mexico
Coach of the Year - Ray Birmingham, New Mexico
!2011 All-MW selection ^2012 All-MW selection

2013 NBA Draft: Jamaal Franklin's combine interview

2013-05-23T18:12:08Z

DraftExpress interviews San Diego State's Jamaal Franklin at the NBA Combine.

Craig Thompson: 'I don't know' if playoff will remain at four teams

2013-05-23T13:00:10Z

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson has almost always gone against the grain compared to other leagues. For example, The Mtn. was the first conference specific network and his want for a college football playoff, or adjustments to the BCS.

Thompson is speaking up once again, this time it is about the upcoming College Football Playoff. So it comes to no shock that Thompson has his doubts that the current format will stay at four teams.

Thompson also obvious likes the playoff since it gives more teams a chance to play for the national title. All of these comments came when he appeared on SiriusXM College Sports Nation (Via Eye on College Football):

"I like it for several reasons," Thompson said. "I've been espousing a playoff (during) the 14-year history of the Mountain West. I testified in Congress. I think it's a great step forward.

"I'm probably in the minority in that I don't know we're going to stay at four [teams] for the next 12 years. I know that's what the contracts say and everybody's following the script these days. We'll see. Who knows where we'll be down the road."

Everyone from ESPN, Bill Hancock and other major conference commissioners are on board for keeping the playoff at four teams for the duration of the 12-year contract. While they want to keep it small to keep it inclusive to the power leagues, plus those in charge now are likely not going to be around for the next rounds of negotiations.

Here is a quote from a higher up at ESPN about the contract length toward the playoff:

"The commissioners and presidents wanted to go long because they wanted to stop further speculation about eight teams and 16 teams," ESPN boss John Skipper said earlier this year.

The four-team playoff is in place through the 2026-27, but things can definetly change. Thompson obviously wants a larger playoff so that his league champion can get into the mix, because right now the Mountain West is on the wrong side of the five power conferences. If a playoff were to be at eight teams then there would be a realistic chance that the league champ could get in most of the time.

As it stands now, a Mountain West team will need an amazing year by, obviously, going 13-0, hope that they are ahead of at least two league champions from the power leagues and a SEC team to just have a chance.

Here is the full interview:

2013 college football bowl schedule announced

2013-05-23T02:30:12Z

The 2013 college football season is just about 100 days away (so long), so the news of the day is that the complete bowl schedule has been set. It includes dates, times and networks. The Mountain West has six bowl slots, and with 12 teams hopefully can fill them all, and maybe more.

Once again, a Mountian West team will help ring in thew which will be played on Saturday Dec. 21 for a 2 p.m. ET. In fact, three Mountain West teams will be in action as the Las Vegas and then Famous Idaho Potato Bowl also are in action on that Saturday.

The only problem is that the bowls overlap each other due to the New Mexico and Idaho Bowl being on ESPN, while the Las Vegas Bowl gets prime location on ABC. By staggering these games, the Mountain West teams take a hit from national exposure, well for those teams not named Boise State. However, if the Mountain West goes 3-0 on the first weekend of the bowls the league will get some good publicity.

The others bowls that the Mountain West are a part of is the Hawaii, Poinsettia and Armed Forces Bowl.

Here is the bowl schedule for the Mountain West:

Gildan New Mexixo Bowl
MWC vs. Pac-12 Albuquerque, N.M.
University Stadium Sat., Dec. 21
2:00 p.m. ET ESPN

Las Vegas Bowl
MWC vs. Pac-12 Las Vegas, Nev.
Sam Boyd Stadium Sat., Dec. 21
3:30 p.m. ET ABC

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
MAC vs. MWC Boise, Idaho
Bronco Stadium Sat., Dec. 21
5:30 p.m. ET ESPN

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
C-USA vs. MWC Honolulu
Aloha Stadium Tue., Dec. 24
8:00 p.m. ET ESPN

San Diego County CU Poinsettia Bowl
Army vs. MWC San Diego, Calif.
Qualcomm Stadium Thu., Dec. 26
9:30 p.m. ET ESPN

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
MWC vs. Navy Fort Worth, Texas
Amon G. Carter Stadium Mon., Dec. 30
11:45 a.m. ET ESPN

2013 Mountain West baseball tournament: New Mexico claims top seed

2013-05-20T17:00:07Z

The 2013 Mountain West baseball regular season is in the books with New Mexico winning the regular season title, and thus earning the top seed for the conference tournament. The conference tournament is taking place at Fresno State's Pete Beiden Field and begins with the opening round games on Wednesday May 22, and goes through Sunday May 26.

More: Complete NCAA baseball coverage Follow MWC tournament

New Mexico is the heavy favorite as they finished the regular season with a 35-15 overall record, and 25-5 in league play. The Lobos are also the only team ranked out of the Mountain West as they are No. 16 in Baseball America's top 25, however the USBWA and USA Today have the Lobos in the others receiving vote category.

UNLV earned the second seed and was the only other Mountain West team to have a winning league record by finishing at 18-12, and they are followed by San Diego State who finished with a 15-15 record.

The big news about the conference tournament is that all games are shown live online, and for free.

Here is the schedule for the tournament:

2013 Mountain West Baseball Championship
Game	Time	TV/Webcast
MAY 22 (WEDNESDAY)
Game 1 - #3 San Diego State vs. #6 Air Force	3 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
Game 2 - #4 Fresno State vs. #5 Nevada	7 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
MAY 23 (THURSDAY)
Game 3 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser	11 a.m. PT	Mountain West Network
Game 4 - #2 UNLV vs. Highest winning seed of Game 1/2	3 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
Game 5 - #1 New Mexico vs. Lowest winning seed of Game 1/2	7 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
MAY 24 (FRIDAY)
Game 6 - Winner of Game 3 vs.Lowest losing seed of Game 4/5	11 a.m. PT	Mountain West Network
Game 7 - Winner of Game 6 vs. Highest losing seed of Game 4/5	3 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
Game 8 - Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5	7 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
MAY 25 (SATURDAY)
Game 9 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Loser of Game 8	3 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
Championship Game - Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9	7 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network
MAY 26 (SUNDAY)
If Necessary Championship Game same teams as Saturday 7 p.m. if both have one loss	1 p.m. PT	Mountain West Network

2013 NCAA baseball bracketology: New Mexico expected to be in the field of 64

2013-05-20T12:00:06Z

The New Mexico Lobos were the best team in the Mountain West all year as they won the league's regular season title, and also are nationally ranked by Baseball America. With conference tournaments getting underway, there are plenty of NCAA tournament projections.

First off, New Mexico is not expected to be hosting a regional round, mainly because they are not considered one of the nation's 16 best teams. The Lobos are pretty much guaranteed to earn a NCAA tournament berth, but to rest comfortably New Mexico should win the conference tournament since their RPI is No. 61.

Here are websites that predict New Mexico to be part of the field fo 64:

College Sports Madness:

Tempe Region:

No. 1 Arizona State vs. No. 4 Rice
No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 New Mexico

ESPN:

Corvallis Regional

No. 1 (No. 4 national seed) Oregon State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma State
No. 2 New Mexico vs. No. 3 South Dakota State

College Baseball Daily:

Eugene Regional

No. 1 Oregon (No. 7 national seed) vs. No. 4 South Dakota State
No. 2 New Mexico vs. No. 3 San Francisco

Chasing Omaha:Tempe Regional

No. 1 Arizona State vs. No. 3 Columbia
No. 2 New Mexico vs. No. 4 Columbia

2013 NBA Draft: Jamaal Franklin's injury is not affecting draft stock

2013-05-19T23:00:05Z

San Diego State's Jamaal Franklin arrived at the NBA Combine in Chicago with a boot on his sprained ankle and did not participate in any of the physical activities. Normally an injury heading into a pre-draft workout is a hindrance to one's draft stock, but in the case of Franklin it did not matter. The injury occurred back on May 4 while staying in shape in Las Vegas, and the boot is there for precautionary reasons.

While in Chicago, Franklin met with nine NBA teams and went through the interview process. June 3 in Dallas is when Franklin is going to be able to begin working out for various NBA teams. His agent, Brian Elfus, is hearing a lot of good news with Franklin moving up, and possibly being taken as a lottery pick:

"I'm very encouraged by the feedback and calls I've been receiving," Elfus said. "The range is pretty wide but it's narrowing, from late lottery to mid-20s."

Upside is also being tossed around when describing Franklin, part of the reason is that he has been asked to play out of position at power forward despite being just 6-foot-4. Despite spraining his ankle back in May, teams are not shying away from the possible gem they could get in Franklin.

Outside of the Mavericks being interested, Franklin is also getting word that the Hawks, Nets, Cavaliers and Bucks could be a landing spot in the draft.

2014 San Diego State football recruiting: DB Maurice McKnight all in to be an Aztec

2013-05-19T21:00:05Z

San Diego State picked up three defensive players this past week at their camp, and the one of those to commit was three-star defensive back Maurice McKnight (Arroyo Valley/San Bernardino, Calif.). The 6-foot, 167-pound defensive back was almost certainly going to commit during his visit, and it became official once he toured the school.

McKnight high interest on the Aztecs is due to the 3-3-5 defense where he will play safety, but could see time at cornerback, too. He needs to add some muscle to his frame but being 6-feet, fast and having length will certainly help him be able to make plays in this scheme.

The way San Diego State's defense operates in the secondary is something that McKnight is very familiar with:

"They run a defense that I'm comfortable with and the coaches and everybody were nice and the environment is just beautiful out there."

"When the coaches showed him their scheme, a light just clicked on and he told me, 'Coach, this is what you've been talking about,'" Anthony Brown, McKnight's 7-on-7 club coach added. "He felt real comfortable with it and then when they actually went over the film and asked questions, McKnight was on point. He felt at home, because that's what he's been doing and been taught to do."

Understanding a unique defense that Rocky Long runs will be a big plus when it comes to fighting for playing time as a freshman in 2014.

Here are highlights of McKnight:

McKnight is set on playing for San Diego State, and said that he is very firm on his commitment and can not wait until he can take his official visit.