Well, I think E&H and W&L are higher. 
Also, Guilford should go higher.   

Guilford is 1/3 through a tough road stretch this week.  I pick the weekend play like this:
Guilford maybe favored at RMC - Guilford
Guilford total underdogs at VWC - Guilford

I'm picking G every game.  You might say I'm crazy, but its worked great so far!

Quote from: GCAlumnus on December 12, 2006, 07:53:14 AM
guilford gets 3 votes in this weeks top 25

Cool!  Its a good start.

Wow, 141 - 98?  The shooters in the west got loose!

If Guilford thinks they can come out against Roanoke today with less than big effort, then they'll go down.  Roanoke beat us at Guilford last year, and the W&L beat us on the road last year, so maybe we've learned about big effort.  Picking Guilford.

Other than that, tough day for picking.   None of them sound easy and I predict I'll be wrong.
I'm picking a hungry Randolph-Macon at Eastern Mennonite
Although Lynchburg is playing well, I'll pick Emory & Henry at home.
Picking Virginia Wesleyan at Hampden-Sydney. Doubts about the pick, but VWC till proven otherwise.
Any of these feel like they could go either way.

I agree with the earlier major kudos for Snipes and Kimbrough.

After the Lynchburg game, someone said that Lynchburg didn't box out.  Well, HSC does know how to box out, which makes the rebounding outcome pretty cool for Guilford.

I don't think the comment about Strong being under-conditioned holds much water, though.  Could be true, but I doubt it.  I think the reason he stayed sitting last night was that his replacement, Tyler Sanborn, was in the process of getting 6 rebounds, 2 points and one assist in 9 minutes time., a real contribution.    I remembering wondering why he was going to sit down!  Also, you don't get to be at or near the top of the ODAC in scoring and rebounding and blocks, in addition being on the receiving end of a ton of fouls, while being inactive on the floor.  Just doesn't seem plausible.

I think HSC is a good team that plays good D and is exciting a pleasure to watch.  I wish HSC joy of the season.

That young Bridgewater team shouldn't get discouraged by the Greensboro College loss.  I saw Greensboro play, and they were quite athletic.  Quite a handful.

Congrats to E&H for defending the ODAC honor.

Looking forward to the Guiford - Lynchburg game tomorrow.  Picking Guilford by 8.

> I am curious to why people are picking Mount Union to defeat the Wasps in the opening game(jdubyadubya, jacketlawyer, brianhamilton) despite the fact that they return basically every major contributor for a team that finished the season going 11-3.

Good point, ODACFan.  The E&H I remember was a threat to score three whenever they touched the ball.  Couldn't beat 'em with just offense.

>>  Ben Strong will be tough to defend this year unless they collapse on him.

Well he's tricky, but he didn't have a good shooting night.  He came through when it counted, though. 

I think the story of that game was more around Guilford's defense, which forced Elon out of the post and bothered all their shooters.  The Team D was really nice, everybody played hard.  Kimbrough had three steals and was looking for more.

The balanced scoring was the other part of the story, and the Quakers seem to have lots of ways to score this year.

Of course, I expect the ODAC to be tougher...

Guilford beat D1 school Elon (Southern Conference) this evening, at Elon  62 - 56.  There was a fine crowd at Elon on homecoming evening, and the game was close and very exciting.  The students were making plenty of noise.

Guilford's attack was balanced, with four players in double figures and others contributing.  Play was very agressive - they really took it to those scholarship players.  The freshmen were beautiful.   Everyone played defense.  The team didn't fade out in the second half. 

You gotta love this team.
The report is at  http://www.elon.edu/athletics/news/?id=43900
--- Bballfan

Here's my take on the Guilford team.

Freshman Tyler Sanborn is a true post big man, and will be likely to add needed depth up front.  Nice rebounding and defense.  He'll need to adjust to the speed of the college game, and to guards that might deliver the ball to him at any time.

Freshman Justin Strickland is a true shooting guard.  He's a threat to score from anywhere.  (Ok, maybe not a Snipes-ian anywhere).  He might need to adjust to adjust to the college speed also, and the defensive load.

I don't know the other Freshmen.  Some of them sound good.  There are a lot of guards!

Thomas Burge, Jordan Snipes, Caleb Kimbrough, and Ben Strong all looked in shape, strong and quick.  These guys are continuing to improve. 

I'm pretty sure that Eric Belkoski will bring his huge heart and continue to play at roughly 1.5 times his size.

I'm especially glad that Ray Edmond, Barry Wells, Josh Payne, George Neville and Matt Stanley are returning.  I think this whole crew will blossom this year.  Fine potential in this group.

Jordan Costin didn't return, not sure why.

There's more that could be said on all of the above, but I'll leave it at that.

I think Guilford is a threat to reach #3 or #2 in the ODAC this year.  #1 is a tough nut to crack as you know, but we're sure going to try.