I’m not too pompous to admit my faults. I can stand to lose a few pounds. I tend to drop profanity while in mixed company. I might owe the city of Conway a parking ticket fine. But most egregiously, I presented Louisiana and Georgia State as legitimate threats to Arkansas State men’s basketball.

They way I figured, the Cajuns (a longtime foe) would want to put out extra effort in punishing Kobe Julien, who joined Arkansas State from Louisiana over the off season. The Red Wolves soundly drummed the Cajuns by 20 points. I calculated that Georgia State’s recent three game win streak was a sign that this team of transfers was gelling. Arkansas State went on a 29-0 run to eventually win by 26. One would be hard pressed to find a challenge in either game.

This week, the degree of difficulty is increased fairly significantly. On Thursday, for a game to be broadcast nationally on ESPN 2, the Red Wolves welcome Appalachian State to First National Bank Arena. The last time Arkansas State saw the Mountaineers was in last year’s Sun Belt Basketball Tournament, with the Red Wolves muscling out a two-point victory. Coach Dustin Kerns has a much different team now, with many of his star players like Justin Abson, Tre’Von Spillers and Terence Harcum have split.

However, as my friend Shane Mettlen once said, nobody gets more out of a roster than Dustin Kerns, who still has the massive 6’11” CJ Huntley beneath the rim and human bucket Myles Tate to harass opponents. Tate and Huntley rank third and seventh in Sun Belt scoring, the latter also ranking 10th in scooping rebounds. While the rest of the team isn’t exactly filling the cylinder, the team defense more than makes up for it, with South Alabama the only team stingier. The Mountaineers have won five straight games, including two over defending Sun Belt champion James Madison.

Does it get any easier when Texas State busses into Jonesboro on Saturday? Maybe a little! The Bobcats are in the midst of a two game win streak over Southern Miss and Georgia State and are among the five Sun Belt programs currently sporting a 4-3 conference record. 6’6″ senior forward Tylan Pope has been ejecting protons lately, scoring 27, 28, 20 and 28 points his last four games. In the revenge game against Southern Miss on Saturday, junior guard Coleton Benson put up 20 points. There’s talent on head coach Terrence Johnson’s team.

Both opponents represent a NET upgrade of Georgia State and Louisiana, who are both 300+ NET teams. As of Monday, the Bobcats rank 161 and the Mountaineers 122.

For the Red Wolves, head coach Bryan Hodgson revealed on Kara Richey’s Show that he’s open to putting on the court an “all Arkansas rotation:” Rashaud Marshall (Blytheville), Zane Butler (Paragould), Derrian Ford (Magnolia), Joseph Pinion (Morrilton) and Avery Felts (Bono). Will we see it fielded against Appalachian State or Texas State? Hard to say, though Coach Hodgson stated that such a rotation needn’t even be deployed in a blowout.

Check Out Raising Howl if You Want To

FunBelt Podcast has created a true charcuterie board of podcasts with Dusty Thibodeaux launching Beleav in the Warhawks, Shane Mettlen introducing NETtlen, and me putting out Raising Howl, which focuses exclusively on Arkansas State.

Why add another podcast to the nation’s trash heaps of podcasts. I. Don’t. KNOW! Anyway, Chris Hudgison of KAIT Region 8 News joins me this week to analyze the psyche of NEA fans.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Carla Wehmeyer – Arkansas State