Tag: McNeese State Cowboys

LSU baseball gets back in the win column against McNeese on Tuesday night

After falling out of the baseball polls for the first time in a year, the Tigers bounced back with a blowout win on Tuesday.

After falling out of the baseball polls for the first time in a year, the Tigers looked to get some good news. They got just that with a 16-0 victory over McNeese.

[autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer. [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] followed that with an RBI single and [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple to give LSU a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] was credited with two RBI via a bunt single to increase the lead to 7-0.

In the bottom of the third inning, Jones homered once again. This time it was a two-run shot that extended the lead to 9-0.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to right field to increase the LSU lead to 11-0. [autotag]Ben Nippolt[/autotag] was then hit by a pitch with bases loaded to score another run and a wild pitch resulted in [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] scoring to give LSU a 13-0 lead. Jones then hit his third homer of the night as his three-run bomb gave LSU a 16-0 lead.

LSU will be back in action on Friday night when they take on No. 4 Tennessee in Knoxville.

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Where is McNeese State located as the Cowboys play in March Madness 2024?

Cowboys head coach Will Wade didn’t have to travel too far after being fired by LSU in 2022.

McNeese State is going through the most prosperous season of basketball success in program history. All it had to do was hire one of the game’s most controversial head coaches to get there.

Will Wade had never had a losing season as a head coach and had led LSU to what would have been four straight men’s NCAA tournament appearances if not for COVID-19. Despite this, he was fired by the Tigers after the NCAA opened an investigation into his recruiting practices.

That dimmed his star and eventually led to a 10-game suspension and two-year show-cause penalty. Fortunately for him, he’d already found a new job — and it wasn’t too far from Baton Rouge.

McNeese State is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana; a city that, unsurprisingly, sits on the bank of Lake Charles in the southwestern corner of the state. That leaves it roughly 210 miles from New Orleans and 145 from Houston.

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2024 March Madness: Final Four long shots worthy of NCAA Tournament futures bet

Beat the Sportsbook: Here are the best 4 long-shot predictions and picks to make the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

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If its the Big Dance, and if we’re looking for a fairytale-comes-true return on investment then its a Cinderella we want.

Below, we look at 4 teams with decent value and their NCAA Tournament Final Four futures odds from BetMGM Sportsbook’s (OR FanDuel Sportsbook’s) and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.

For this analysis, we’ll stay away from the top 20% of teams listed in the  USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and the top 25% seeds (top 4 each region) in the tournament brackets. We’ll look for teams whose chances of reaching the Final Four may not be a slam dunk, but they will have relative value compared to the risk. We’ll track down 4 teams at diverse price points, but value is value.

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Final Four long-shot predictions

Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 7:37 p.m. ET.

Wisconsin Badgers (+1400)

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Wisconsin (22-13) — the 5-seed in the South Region — lost to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament championship game, but the Badgers led that contest by 9 points inside the 15-minute mark. UW was undone by Illinois going 26 of 30 at the free-throw line.

Wisconsin beat No. 3-ranked Purdue in a Saturday Big Ten semifinal, and the Badgers had played the Boilermakers tough in an earlier loss. Top South Region seeds Houston (No. 1) and Marquette (No. 2) may end up with some injury or injury-return continuity issues, and No. 3 Kentucky needs its potent offense to click to avoid upsets. So, the Badgers have a path.

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San Diego State Aztecs (+2000)

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The Aztecs (24-10) — the No. 5 in the East — are just 6-4 over their last 10 games, but they have the defense (39% field-goal accuracy allowed over those 10 games) and court skills to make for profit leverage at this price point. SDSU’s Jaedon LeDee is a power forward with possible late 1st-round NBA talent, and he could be a difference maker in a lot of key minutes  — and games — as the East Region rolls toward crowning its Final Four entrant.

Alongside LeDee, a 6-foot-9, 240-poinder averaging 21.1 points and 8.4 rebounds, San Diego State sports a veteran lineup. The Aztecs get their 1st 2 potential games in their own time zone (games in Spokane).

The futures market had shorter overall futures odds on SDSU a couple weeks ago, and they fit as a decent value when trying to find a play from back in the pack.

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McNeese State Cowboys (+8000)

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The Cowboys (30-3) are tabbed as the No. 12 seed in the Midwest. Their path lays out with decent matchups, and they are a dangerous 3-point shooting team (39.4%) playing at a slower-than-average pace. That is often the formula for Cinderella runs in March.

McNeese State may have some trouble forcing enough less-than-optimum mid-range looks, but if it can catch an opponent or 2 having off-kilter shooting games it has a legitimate shot at making a run. The Cowboys create a lot of near-proximity and quality perimeter looks when they’re on offense.

Saint Mary’s Gaels (+1400)

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West No. 5-seed Saint Mary’s (26-7) has filed just 1 loss in 2024. The West Coast Conference champs are 18-1 — knocking down triples at a 39.9% clip along the way — over their last 19 games.

Ranked as the KenPom No. 20, they too can slow down a game and drain 3s. The Gaels also excel on defense (KenPom 3rd in defensive efficiency). SMC’s pace could be problematic for speed demons like Alabama or North Carolina, which could well be 2nd- and 3rd-round matchups.

Saint Mary’s has won tourney games each of the last 2 years and may be poised to takes things a step or 2 farther.

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Former LSU head coach Will Wade agrees to extension with McNeese State

Former LSU basketball coach Will Wade signed an extension with McNeese after a 20-3 start.

Former LSU basketball coach and current McNeese State coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] will be remaining in Louisiana.

According to Jon Rothstein, Wade signed a five-year contract extension that will pay $700,000 per year.

If another program wants to hire Wade this cycle, it’ll have to pay McNeese a $1.25 million buyout. Next year, that number drops to $1 million.

Wade is finding success in his first season. McNeese is 20-3 and ranks 76th in KenPom. The Cowboys are a heavy favorite to win the Southland Conference, which would put Wade back in the NCAA Tournament.

Wade coached at LSU from 2017-22, but he was fired following LSU receiving a notice of allegations, largely surrounding the men’s basketball program under Wade.

At LSU, Wade went 105-51. His program appeared in the NCAA Tournament three times, though he only got the chance to coach in one of them.

Wade is well-connected in Louisiana and has recruited well at McNeese thus far, but McNeese is looking at a different level of prospect than LSU, so nothing has come at the Tigers’ expense.

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Former LSU coach Will Wade, McNeese stun Michigan

Will Wade is finding early success at his new gig.

Former LSU men’s basketball coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] is finding early success at his newest stop.

Wade returned to the college coaching ranks this offseason as he accepted a job at McNeese, and despite serving a 10-game suspension as a result of the NCAA allegations against him, which ultimately resulted in his ouster from LSU, his team is 11-2, ranks 54th in the NET and pulled off its most impressive win of the season on Friday night.

The Cowboys stunned Big Ten foe Michigan in a buy game, giving them their second Quadrant 2 win of the season. They have the best record in the Southland Conference by a wide margin and are a likely NCAA Tournament team.

That’s obviously a tough pill to swallow for LSU, which has struggled quite a bit since Wade was fired. New coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] went just 2-16 in SEC play in Year 1, and his team sits at 8-5 heading into what will be a very difficult conference schedule.

Wade, meanwhile, could find himself back in a big-time job sooner rather than later.

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Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

Former LSU coach Will Wade has strong words for NCAA

Former LSU basketball coach Will Wade had some strong words for the NCAA on Friday.

Former LSU basketball coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] is back on the sideline, remaining in Louisiana and leading McNeese State.

Wade was fired by LSU in March of 2022 after LSU received its notice of allegations from the NCAA. That trouble led McNeese to suspend Wade the first nine games of this season, but it now looks to be in the rearview mirror for the polarizing coach.

At a press conference on Friday morning, Wade was candid on his feelings regarding the NCAA. Spoiler alert: He’s not a fan.

“Legally, a lot of what the NCAA does it just flat illegal, I’ve learned that,” Wade said.

“There’s a reason they’re trying to get anti-trust exemption from Congress. They just need to blow the whole thing up and come back with a new model.”

Wade added the NCAA needs to engage in collective bargaining with the players and said until that happens, the NCAA will continue to get “smacked in court.”

This is a strong statement from Wade, who’s no stranger to NCAA controversy. At LSU, seven Level I allegations were levied against Wade’s program.

Despite leading LSU to three NCAA tournament appearances, he was only able to coach in one of them due to his suspension in 2019 and his firing in 2022.

Despite all that, Wade seems to be on to something with the NCAA as this remains an era of radical change for the sport.

McNeese is 9-2 and ranked in the KenPom top 100.

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LSU baseball to hold two more intrasquad scrimmages, exhibition vs. McNeese this weekend

LSU will host scrimmages on Friday and Saturday before facing McNeese in a road exhibition Sunday.

LSU’s fall ball schedule continues to chug along, and it’s starting to wind down to a close.

Not yet, though. Coach Jay Johnson’s defending national championship team will take the field at Alex Box Stadium two more times this weekend as it will host intrasquad scrimmages on Friday at 5 p.m. CT and Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

Both scrimmages are open to the public with gates opening 15 minutes prior to first pitch.

Then, on Sunday, the team will hit the road to go to Lake Charles and take on McNeese in its first exhibition. Tickets to that one are already sold out.

Johnson is looking to build a dynasty after winning a title in Year 2, and he once again brought in a talented haul with the transfer portal and high school recruiting.

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Five takeaways from Florida’s convincing win over McNeese State

The Florida Gators welcomed the McNeese State Cowboys into town this weekend and dominated them. Here’s what we learned from the win.

Florida followed up a lackluster Week 1 loss against Utah with a convincing and dominant win over the McNeese State Cowboys.

The Gators looked like a completely different team on both offense and defense this week, due in part to a relatively weak FCS opponent. Florida nearly shutout McNeese, 49-7, surrendering a touchdown in the final minutes of the game after a fumble from the fourth-string running back, Eddie Battle.

Despite losing the turnover battle, UF’s defense was sound and even forced a safety earlier in the game. The offense scored at will and found the end zone on its first seven drives.

Florida executed its game plan to near perfection Saturday, but the real test comes next week when Tennessee comes to the Swamp. Here are five takeaways from Florida’s Week 2 win.

Billy Napier is more than satisfied after beating down McNeese State

The Florida Gators dominated in the home opener Saturday night and head coach Billy Napier is pleased with the direction his team is going.

The Saturday night lights flickered in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, setting the good vibes for a Florida Gators beatdown over McNeese State, 49-7.

The team performed well enough to redeem the embarrassing loss to the No. 12 Utah Utes last Thursday and wiped the slate clean before the Tennessee Volunteers come knocking next week.

Napier said in his opening statement that the attitude of the players was an improvement compared to the post-game in Salt Lake City.

“I appreciate the response that we saw from the players after last week, which was obviously disappointing,” said Napier. “But I think the leadership on the team, we said it was going to be about the mindset, the effort, the attitude, and I think we had the right things early.”

“We’ll enjoy tonight, and when we wake up tomorrow we’ll get ready for the big one next week.”

Saturday’s victory ended head coach Billy Napier’s four-game losing streak dating back to the Florida State bout in Tallahassee last season, where the Gators were brutalized, 45-38.

Napier thought ending the streak was vital for his players and hopes the “noise” will become positive.

“One of the things about college football and I would say the University in Florida in particular is it gets noisy sometimes, good and bad,” Napier said.

“If it’s bad, then it gets loud, and if it’s good, it gets loud. I think the ability to stay consistent in your approach and evaluate things objectively is important, not only for myself and our staff but I think also for the players, and I think we’ve got some maturity in that locker room that helped do that.”

The second-year head coach showed appreciation for the much-improved Florida defense, who shut out the Cowboys through 45 minutes of action.

“Defense was ready to play, and I think we’ll continue to get better,” said Napier. “We’ve got a lot of young players out there playing, and I think those guys will get a little bit better, not only at game day but their routine during the week I think will be beneficial.”

The Gators made too many mistakes against Utah last Thursday, including a special teams foul where two players wearing the No. 3 jersey were on the field at the same time.

Florida looked like a whole new team Saturday night, making very few blunders in the rout of McNeese State.

“Certainly we had too many (mistakes) last week,” Napier said. “To come back and play cleaner I think was a positive. But we all understand we have to continue to improve, to evolve. Bigger challenges are coming.”

Napier is right.

The No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers travel to Gainesville next week after a dominant 30-13 win over Austin Peay on Saturday. The Florida Gators will use the momentum from their latest victory to charge forward and start a new win streak.

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Sunday Hash: Breaking down Florida football’s win over McNeese State

Pat Dooley gives us his next-day breakdown of Florida’s first win of the 2023 college football campaign.

The opponent was pretty irrelevant on a glorious Saturday night in the Swamp. Heck, the media members and UF staff workers are still arguing over whether to call it McNeese or McNeese State.

But Florida certainly needed a feel-good game.

After four straight losses, the Gator Nation just sought out a game with no stress and gaudy stats.

McNeese and McNeese State both offered that.

And after a week of the Gators and Billy Napier being treated like low-hanging fruit by the so-called experts, it was nice for UF fans to walk out of that building with a smile.

We also were not fooled. We know what is coming.

Today’s Sunday Hash looks back at Florida’s 34 straight wins in a home opener, this one 49-7 against McNeese.