Memorial Day is fast approaching, which can only mean one thing.

Football. Of course. I mean, why wouldn’t it?

The guys at CollegeFootballNews.com are always thinking about football, and they’ve just released their preview of the 2007 grit iron gridiron Falcons. As you might expect following last season’s trainwreck, the CFN crew isn’t exactly predicting a return to dominance for this year’s team.

Dig this:

Last year was about reloading; this year is about producing. The East, the easier of the two divisions, is certainly winnable by anyone with some offensive pop, and defensive consistency, and while Bowling Green might still be a year away from being a title contender, it should be far better.

Makes some sense, right? As hard as 2006 was to stomach, at least Gregg Brandon et al were able to get a bunch of reps for Anthony Turner, Freddie Barnes, Chris Bullock, Jacob Hardwick, Jarrett Sanderson, Jahmal Brown and a bunch of other young players. And they’re right. This year’s team should be far better.

But here’s where I get off the CFN train:

The season will be a success if … the Falcons win six games. The young team has the potential to improve by at least two games after the 4-8 season as long as it doesn’t get too down after an almost-certain rough start. As long as they win the games they’re supposed to, and are able to come up with at least one good home win over a top MAC team like Ohio or Toledo, six wins is a more than attainable goal.

6-6 is a success? As far as I can tell, this team’s ready to win right now.

Oh, they’re not going to be as good as the team that won in West Lafayette. They’re not going to be as good as the team that embarrassed Memphis in the GMAC Bowl. They’re not going to crack the Top 20. If things go terribly wrong, they could lose nine games. But look around the MAC. Who’s clearly better?

As TG knows all too well, I’ve got a soft spot for Kent State, but the Flashes lost their best receiver and arguably their three best defensive players from a team that went 6-6 and lost to Buffalo by four touchdowns. Ohio won the division in ‘06, but lost most of its strong linebacker corps and 40% of its offensive line. Akron’s clearly rebuilding, having lost quarterback Luke Getsy and four starting offensive linemen. Miami went 2-10 last year and lost its only big-time offensive weapon in Ryne Robinson. Buffalo and Temple are Buffalo and Temple.

Does that make BGSU the favorite to win the East? Probably not, but it certainly makes a division title and a bowl game a realistic goal.

Now then. Onto the other sports.

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Greg Christopher answered some questions on the bgsufalcons.com website today, including throwing cold water on BG’s participation in the Patriot Bowl. Suffice to say, the Falcon Nation rejoices at the goal: six home games at the Doyt.

I blogged on this over at my Falcon Nation blog. Feel free to take a look–I’m interested in what people think.

He also said that the hockey program is safe. I’m not sure anyone really thought it was in trouble. We have some hard questions to answer about our sports programs–namely, with an emphasis on I-A football, are we being unrealistic to expect to compete in hockey and hoops. Most of the schools our size do not have all three. But, those questions need to be answered carefully, not just by lopping off a sport.

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Just to keep the ball rolling along…

-Congrats to JD Campbell as he moves on to a new position heading the communications department for the men’s basketball program at Indiana. They kind of like their basketball a little bit in Bloomington, I hear.

-Good luck also to the women’s softball team as they head into the MAC tournament at Midland, Michigan. They’ve blown away the school record for longballs in a season, here’s hoping they have a few left for the tournament.

-The Louis Orr era has it’s first recruit, still-growing at 6-foot-9 Cameron Madlock out of Whitefish Bay, WI.  He didn’t play as a junior, but averaged 14 points and 8 boards on a 21-4 team his senior year. It seems like he might be a little raw, but looks to have what people who drool over high school kids for a living love to talk about, “upside”. Whether he pans out or not (and I believe he will and then some from the snippets I’ve read), its great to see that Orr’s image of the team involves 6-9 forwards that can rebound and run the floor. Should be exciting.

Speaking of Coach Orr and the Falcons, be on the lookout  for the first issue of Ray Mernagh’s HoopWise newsletter. Stay tuned to HoopWise.com for information coming soon.

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DD was on the Ticket today, and reported (in between hailstorms) that John Reimold has quit his overseas hoops career and started a mortgage business in Las Vegas, where he lives with Germaine Fitch and Patrick Phillips.  That’s quite a trio…

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