The competition thread

[712_VT]

I was at the game. They won the game. I saw it with my own eyes. But they cheated to win it, so it doesn’t count. It is an easy concept

I’m just saying I would take a national title or final four run at UR even if it was done by not following all the rules and possibly having it vacated later. I would much rather have that than doing what they are doing now and never coming close to winning anything. But hey if you want to just keep going .500 or a little better and having no national relevance at all power to you!

 

[plydogg]

I’m just saying I would take a national title or final four run at UR even if it was done by not following all the rules and possibly having it vacated later. I would much rather have that than doing what they are doing now and never coming close to winning anything. But hey if you want to just keep going .500 or a little better and having no national relevance at all power to you!

I would rather not cheat than cheat. It’s that simple.

 

[712_VT]

I would rather not cheat than cheat. It’s that simple.

Have fun being a middling A10 program then.

 

[urfan1]

Have fun being a middling A10 program then.

I would prefer to hold my head high than hide in shame -- cheating to win is a hollow feeling

 

[CH_Spider]

This is obviously subject to change, but I did a lot of this last season. Here's what our scheduled opponents are up to on Wednesday as of now:

11/25/2020

Charleston vs #16 North Carolina - TBD @ Chapel Hill, NC
Rhode Island vs Stephen F. Austin - 11:30 - Mohegan Sun
George Washington vs Navy - 12:00 - Annapolis, MD
Tusculum vs Furman - 4:00 - Greenville, SC
Morehead State vs #10 Kentucky - 6:00 - Lexington, KY
Hofstra vs Monmouth - 7:00 - West Long Branch, NJ
High Point vs Davidson - 7:00 - Davidson, NC
Iona vs Fordham - CANCELED
Texas A&M vs #15 West Virginia - CANCELED

I'll update if we have any more cancellations

 

[SFspidur]

SLU's amended schedule...LSU and Minnesota obviously good, Indiana State is okay, but the rest of their schedule is garbage. Not great for a team looking to build an at-large résumé.

Billikens’ Nonconference Schedule Released - Saint Louis University

Games will be held without fans to start the season

slubillikens.com

 

[Eight Legger]

They don't need a good schedule -- Rothstein already advanced them to the Final Four.

 

[SFspidur]

Tennessee is pausing activities after multiple positive tests, including Rick Barnes. UT was supposed to host an MTE with VCU and Charlotte this week. Hasn't been officially canceled yet, but hard to see how it goes forward.

Edit: Yep, canceled.

Volunteer Classic Basketball MTE Canceled - University of Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee has announced that this week's Volunteer Classic basketball event has been canceled.

utsports.com

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee.....

 

[SFspidur]

URI reportedly replacing Baylor in Mohegan Sun, getting a game against Arizona State and either Villanova or BC.

Sources: Rhode Island likely to replace Baylor in Empire Classic at Mohegan Sun

Rhode Island is the likely replacement for Baylor at the Empire Classic at Mohegan Sun, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The Rams would be slated to play Arizona State on Wednesday night and then the winner/loser of Villanova/Boston College on Thursday. The...

collegehoopstoday.com

 

[kneepadmckinney]

What's going to be really interesting will be the "free market" for makeup games in January and February as teams start to see how much of an RPI boost they will need.

My glass half full view is that while we are likely to fall victim to cancelled games at some point before New Years, perhaps we'll be able to make it up on the fly a little later in the year with other teams that need a good opponent to boost their resume.

It's gonna be wild.

 

[SFspidur]

My glass half full view is that while we are likely to fall victim to cancelled games at some point before New Years...

Only took a couple hours after your post...

Anyway, Wichita State is now on pause and out of the Bad Boy Mowers event, and that means VCU is in. Utah State in the first round, WVU or S. Dakota State in the second, and then a third game.

 

[Eight Legger]

Gonna be a lot of empty expenses racked up all over the country this year, flying to games that never happen. And flying to South Dakota, one of the worst places on earth for COVID right now? I bet a few of those teams will regret going.

 

[SFspidur]

Shouldn't be too concerned about heading to South Dakota as long as you fly charter and bubble there. You'll have hotel and food exposures, but those can be managed pretty well. They'll be more isolated than they are at home.

 

[Eight Legger]

The South Dakota college basketball bubble, in a place where no one takes this seriously, is a bit different from the NBA Disney World bubble. Just saying, if you go there you better be willing to to wipe the next two weeks off your schedule.

 

[SFspidur]

Even in SD, they'll hardly have to interact with anyone. Really don't think the risks are all that much different than anywhere else as long as you're careful. They're not going out to bars and restaurants.

 

[SFspidur]

Not a bad swap for WVU...home opener December 2 against Youngstown State got canceled after the Penguins went on pause, and now WVU is going to play Gonzaga in the Jimmy V Classic.

 

[plydogg]

Well, GW was the first A-10 team to kick off play. And they lost to Navy. Let’s hope the rest of today’s games go a bit better

 

[ur-2005]

Currently watching the WKU and UNI game with both teams arguably being the 2 best midmajors outside of the a10. I am incredibly impressed with the 3 point shooting of UNI. They just don't seem to miss from outside. WKU also looks very good and could see them as an at large team.

 

[spider23]

Watching URI vs AZ state. Rhody has a lot more options this year, they have the ability to be much much better.

 

[plydogg]

Not our opponent this year, but St. Francis (PA) just beat Pitt! Something about opening day for them...

 

[SFspidur]

Davidson struggled with High Point until putting them away in the final four minutes. Only 5 points off the bench for the Cats.

SLU rolled over SIUE, no surprise there...Billikens were up 30 at the half and cruised from there.

Hoping URI can pull this out, but I'm not optimistic. Fatts has fouled out, but he also missed a ton of shots.

 

[plydogg]

The URI game has been a bit ugly to watch. Lots of whistles (31 fouls in the first half) that saw Fatts with 4 and three other Rams players with 3. Lots of technical fouls that didn’t need to be called, but I love the fight in a game it looked like URI would lose by 15-20 after the opening 10-15 minutes.

 

[SFspidur]

*sad trombone*

 

[SFspidur]

Anyway...URI gets the loser of Villanova-BC.

As for the rest of our opponents today, Charleston unsurprisingly fell to UNC, Furman cruised past D-II Tusculum, and UNI fell to WKY.

And finally, S Dak St wouldn't go away, but WVU took care of business.

 

[spider23]

VCU hitting 3s early, Bone leading the way.

 

[CH_Spider]

Gameplan for Rhode Island:
Take the ball to Fatts every single possession. He played with zero control tonight. Wondering if it was just the jitters, but regardless he is a playmaker on the court.

 

[SFspidur]

Utah St./VCU game has been fairly entertaining. Back and forth after VCU's hot start. Queta is still a load and he's got some decent pieces around him. VCU fouling a lot, so they're throwing a ton of bodies out on the court. Definitely took advantage of Utah State a few times by jumping into passing lanes, and of course Bones was hot from outside.

 

[ur2K]

Gameplan for Rhode Island:
Take the ball to Fatts every single possession. He played with zero control tonight. Wondering if it was just the jitters, but regardless he is a playmaker on the court.

It floors me that folks put Fatts in the same category as Crutcher and Gilyard.

 

[spider23]

It floors me that folks put Fatts in the same category as Crutcher and Gilyard.

agree, he is a good talent but out of control

 

[SFspidur]

Always hard to root for VCU, but a nice win for the conference. Hopefully Utah State has a good season even with Merrill gone.

 

[urmite]

Sets up a nice scouting game for tomorrow...

 

[spider23]

Yes, good start for VCU, they had terrible chemistry issues last year, a d looked a lot better in game 1. Merrill was last pick in the second round and could make shots all day long with guys glued to him. Will be interesting to see how they do this year. I think they have a very good coach and will be good, so that will be a good win. The URI and VCU games just solidify my thought that conference games against the top 8 will be a dog fight every night.

 

[SFspidur]

Worried about the URI game today. BC went toe to toe with Villanova, and the Rams can’t afford to drop this one with limited opportunities in a shortened OOC schedule.

 

[SFspidur]

8 minutes in and VCU still doesn’t have a field goal. WVU is tough, but some of it is also self-inflicted. And somehow WVU is still “only” up 10.

 

[SFspidur]

UNI falls to 0-2 after St. Mary’s wins on a last-second shot. St. Joe’s takes Auburn to OT but can’t get the win. St. John’s rolls over La Salle. Not a good day for us so far.

 

[712_VT]

UNI falls to 0-2 after St. Mary’s wins on a last-second shot. St. Joe’s takes Auburn to OT but can’t get the win. St. John’s rolls over La Salle. Not a good day for us so far.

Better beat Kentucky then lol

 

[SFspidur]

URI falls to BC. GooMoos up one over D-II Queens at the half. 🤮

 

[spider23]

URI has a lot more ability to get buckets and compete this year, but they really need to play more disciplined. I can see why this BC team is picked last in the ACC, they are freaking stupid, up about 5 or 7 with 2 minutes to go, and guy dribbles up the court and launches a 35 foot 3pt shot 2 seconds into the shot clock. Next possession guy tries to dunk from 10 feet out 5 seconds into the shot clock.

URI may give us some trouble this year, but not a well coached team IMO.

 

[plydogg]

URI has a lot more ability to get buckets and compete this year, but they really need to play more disciplined. I can see why this BC team is picked last in the ACC, they are freaking stupid, up about 5 or 7 with 2 minutes to go, and guy dribbles up the court and launches a 35 foot 3pt shot 2 seconds into the shot clock. Next possession guy tries to dunk from 10 feet out 5 seconds into the shot clock.

URI may give us some trouble this year, but not a well coached team IMO.

Their inability to make free throws really cost them big in both of those games. The margin was so close that those missed free throws come up big. If they shoot even 75% from the line in either of those games there’s a real chance they come home with a victory