Welcome to “Second Guess” Tuesday.
Here are some opinions to warm the day.
n Pick an adverb, any adverb.
The Marshall University men’s basketball team is getting robbed, screwed, purloined … or, as Yul Brynner so eloquently put it in the famous old movie titled “The King And I,” “et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.”
What is happening to the Thundering Herd should be a crime.
Just take a look at MU’s schedule. So far, the Herd has played one Conference USA home game during the 2020-21 season.
One!
Meanwhile, Marshall has had to play five C-USA games on the road. Add in a pair of games against Old Dominion on Friday and Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia, and MU will have played seven of its eight league games on the road.
That is so blatantly unfair, it’s border line criminal.
Particularly since no other Conference USA school is suffering through anything near this plight. The only one that came close was Old Dominion, which played only two of its first six games at home. But after the two-game series vs. Marshall this weekend, the Monarchs will have played four of its eight games at home — 50-50.
That should be the norm.
And for the most part it is.
FIU has played five of 10 games at home. Ditto for Louisiana Tech, Rice, UTEP and UTSA. FAU and North Texas have played three of six at home. Then, there’s Southern Miss, which has played four of 10 league games at home.
That’s fairly equitable.
But that can’t be said for the rest of the teams in C-USA.
Charlotte has played six of eight games at home, heading into two road games this weekend at Middle Tennessee. After hosting UTSA for a pair of games this weekend, FIU will have played seven of 12 games at home. The same seven of 12 games at home scenario will apply to Rice after hosting Southern Miss for a pair of weekend contests.
Speaking of Middle Tennessee, after hosting Charlotte for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday, the Blue Raiders will have played seven of 10 games at home. UAB will have the same scenario after a pair of home games vs. UTEP. The Blazers will have played seven of 10 games at home.
And after hosting LA Tech for two games this weekend, North Texas will have played five of eight games at home.
How is this equitable?
Sure, I realize COVID-19 has wreaked havoc with the schedule. But that’s when C-USA officials are supposed to step up and address the inequities.
So far, that hasn’t happened.
By the close of this weekend, every Conference USA men’s basketball program will have played at least four games at home — except Marshall.
The Herd will have played only one.
This is when an athletic director should be raising hell with the league office.
n Poca basketball star Isaac McKneely made a great decision when he committed to the University of Virginia on Saturday.
Given the Poca High School junior’s athleticism, skill-set and academics he made the correct choice. And to the McKneely family’s credit, it did its homework by traveling to Charlottesville, Virginia, and seeing first-hand where their son would be spending four years of his life.
All in all, the process couldn’t have been handled better.
n There isn’t any doubt who most local fans will be rooting for on Super Bowl Sunday.
It’s Tampa Bay.
That’s a tribute to former Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich, who is the Bucs’ offensive coordinator.
Good luck, B.
