SB Nation Cleveland: All Posts by Jeremy Mauss

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.

New Mexico to receive $625,000 buyout from Steve Alford

2013-05-19T16:00:05Z

The New Mexico Lobos and Steve Alford have finally agreed (well almost, the paper work still needs to be signed) to the buyout for the former coach. Initially, New Mexico was seeking $1 million, while Alford was going to pay $200,000. The new number is $625,000 which is a combination of payments and also savings through deferred compensation owed to Alford.

Alford and/or UCLA will be paying New Mexico $300,000 and then the rest of the $350,000 comes from Alfords' final pay check that was not picked up which equaled $75,485.63, $100,000 in defered compenstaion and another $165,000 in incentive pay from winning the league title and other achivements.

The agreement is still not offiicial between the two schools, but this compromise is beneficial to both sides -- well unless you ask some UCLA fans. Alford/UCLA owe just $300,000 while New Mexico does not have to pay out the extra compensation. It is not the $1 million that the Lobos were seaking, but getting over half off of that for Alford leaving is a nice compromise.

ROOT SPORTS contract is a seven-year deal

2013-05-19T01:14:14Z

Details of the Mountain West's latest television deal with ROOT SPORTS Rocky Mountain has been revealed, and the Albuquerque Journal was able to get some more insight of the deal. The agreement is a seven-year deal and worth approximately $2 million per year when including revenue and savings from production costs.

This timeframe matches up with the deal that the Mountain West has with ESPN and CBS Sports, and having all of those deals line up for the same amount of time makes it much easier when it comes time to renegotiate their next contract.

The way the amount comes to $2 million is that ROOT SPORTS Rocky Mountain will be producing these games themselves, this taking on the cost. Last season, some of these games were produced locally but picked up on ROOT SPORTS. The rights fees being paid are $500,000 per year but New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs esitmates that the production savings are near $1.5 million, so that is where $2 million.

The other great news is that those who do not have ROOT SPORTS Rocky Mountain are able to access those games on the Mountain West's new digital platform at no cost. The extra viewers may not be all that many but it could work nice for those who want to watch a game who live out of the areas, or give people the option to watch online and TV as well.

Another positive note is that after ROOT SPORTS picks the 10 or so games it decides to broadcast, teams can still shop their remaining games to local providers. While ROOT SPORTS is the offical regional televison partner, the press release does not state it is the exclusive regional partner, so it could be possible for Altitude or TimeWarner SportsNet to pick up some games like those channels did last season.

2014 San Diego State football recruiting: Donavin Buck commits to be an Aztec

2013-05-19T00:47:26Z

The second linebacker that San Diego State earned a verbal commitment during their camp this past weekend was Donavin Buck (Brawley Union/Brawley, Calif.), he is on the smaller side at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds. Despite the smaller frame, he is a three-star recruit and the 40th linebacker in the country.

He also was receiving offers from San Jose State, SMU, Arizona, Washington State, Oregon State as well as Rutgers. Buck's decision to go with San Diego State over those other schools is due to the relationship he has with recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach Tony White.

In his junior year Buck had 80 tackles, 21 for loss, 10 sacks and also two interceptions. He basically was all over the field and making plays, and that ability could earn him early playing time. That is the reason why he wants to go to San Diego State:

"I love San Diego State's program, it's the best fit for me and I have a good chance to play there early," Buck said. "I love the way they attack the ball, they go gang tackle everybody. Everybody's hungry, everybody's going after the ball."

However, before he made the decision to go to San Diego State, he had to get his parents on board. Head coach Rocky Long was able to answer all of their questions, and at the end of those conversations, Bucks parents were on the same page as their son.

Here are highlights of Buck:

2014 San Diego State football recruiting: Aztecs land ILB Cameron Griffin

2013-05-16T19:43:20Z

San Diego State had players visit the campus for an invite-only camp this past week, and the Aztecs came away with three verbal commits to their 2014 class -- bringing their total to five.

One of those commits is Inside linebacker Cameron Griffin (View Park Continuation/Los Angeles) is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and made his verbal pledge on May 13. He chose San Diego State over his other offer of Fresno State. He did have interest coming from Boise State, Washington and Washington State. As of now. Griffin is not yet rated by the recruiting services, but that should change once he begins his senior season in a few months.

Heading into his visit, Griffin already thought about committing to San Diego State. However, he wanted to check out what they offer on the academic sides of things. Griffin has a 3.7 GPA and plans on being a mechanical engineer major. Once he took a look at the academics San Diego State offers he wanted to discuss with some friends about the school, so he left without making a decision.

San Diego State did offer Griffin before any other school when cornerbacks coach Tony White saw his athleticism. The decision to attended San Diego State came when Griffin was introduced to the 3-3-5 scheme that Rocky Long utilizes:

"I really thought about committing during the visit then," Griffin said. "It was probably when he was telling me how I'd be used in his 3-3-5 system, and that's what I think is the best fit for my talents. They like that I can blitz and my speed to the ball. I can bring leadership too."

Here are highlights from his junior season: