MBB: Conference of New England

[Ralph Turner]

With a ten team league, going to a full double round robin, CCC teams are down to seven non-con games.  Those will decide a lot in terms of whether we're capable of making waves outside the conference.

Curry's got a tough schedule, with MIT and at least two NESCAC squads (possibly a third at the Wesleyan tournament) and UMASS-D.

ENC is going pretty light, their toughest game probably being ConnColl.

EC's got Salem on the sched, but nothing else much.

Gordon has Babson, MIT, Salem, and Tufts along with a west coast swing (likely non-d3).

Nichols doesn't even have their schedule up yet.

RWU's got middle of the pack teams as does SRU.

UNE is going to tournaments at Keene State and Springfield.

WIT is taking a trip to Texas.  WNEC is playing Amherst.

Why is Wentworth going to the Rio Grande Valley to UT-Pan American for just a single game?  Yes I can imagine the D-1 money may  help pay for it, but only 1 game?  Did they try for a second game?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

With a ten team league, going to a full double round robin, CCC teams are down to seven non-con games.  Those will decide a lot in terms of whether we're capable of making waves outside the conference.

Curry's got a tough schedule, with MIT and at least two NESCAC squads (possibly a third at the Wesleyan tournament) and UMASS-D.

ENC is going pretty light, their toughest game probably being ConnColl.

EC's got Salem on the sched, but nothing else much.

Gordon has Babson, MIT, Salem, and Tufts along with a west coast swing (likely non-d3).

Nichols doesn't even have their schedule up yet.

RWU's got middle of the pack teams as does SRU.

UNE is going to tournaments at Keene State and Springfield.

WIT is taking a trip to Texas.  WNEC is playing Amherst.

Why is Wentworth going to the Rio Grande Valley to UT-Pan American for just a single game?  Yes I can imagine the D-1 money may  help pay for it, but only 1 game?  Did they try for a second game?

A WIT representative might be able to shed more light on this, but I wonder if it was a casualty of the league changes.  I know a number of current and former CCC teams have had to change schedules around due to the conference shuffle.  The CCC is going from 13 league games to 18.

[Bill Gorman]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

I also heard UTPA was pretty desperate for a game and offered a generous check.  It's always fun to go to Texas in the winter.

[Bill Gorman]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

I also heard UTPA was pretty desperate for a game and offered a generous check.  It's always fun to go to Texas in the winter.

I'm not going to comment on the specifics of what was offered to us, but at the end of the day it's a pretty good deal.

[Ralph Turner]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

I also heard UTPA was pretty desperate for a game and offered a generous check.  It's always fun to go to Texas in the winter.

I'm not going to comment on the specifics of what was offered to us, but at the end of the day it's a pretty good deal.

Thanks.  Makes sense. +1!

And, yes winter is fun in Texas. My next door neighbors spend their summers in Wisconsin.

[magicman]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

I also heard UTPA was pretty desperate for a game and offered a generous check.  It's always fun to go to Texas in the winter.

I'm not going to comment on the specifics of what was offered to us, but at the end of the day it's a pretty good deal.

Thanks.  Makes sense. +1!

And, yes winter is fun in Texas. My next door neighbors spend their summers in Wisconsin.

Texas-Pan American is also playing another D3 team as they take on the Lakers from Oswego State on Jan 3rd 2012. And like WIT it's the only game the Lakers will be playing on the trip. UTPA must have had some real scheduling problems to end up with 2 games against D3 opponents. I'm sure the Oswego players will be happy to fly down to Texas for a game in the middle of winter.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

I also heard UTPA was pretty desperate for a game and offered a generous check.  It's always fun to go to Texas in the winter.

I'm not going to comment on the specifics of what was offered to us, but at the end of the day it's a pretty good deal.

Thanks.  Makes sense. +1!

And, yes winter is fun in Texas. My next door neighbors spend their summers in Wisconsin.

Texas-Pan American is also playing another D3 team as they take on the Lakers from Oswego State on Jan 3rd 2012. And like WIT it's the only game the Lakers will be playing on the trip. UTPA must have had some real scheduling problems to end up with 2 games against D3 opponents. I'm sure the Oswego players will be happy to fly down to Texas for a game in the middle of winter.

ESPN Magazine had a small article on UTPA in the most recent issue (I got it two days ago).  The coach is a former d3 guy and the school is in that new D1 conference that doesn't have an automatic bid yet.  The program is also pretty new, so they're really just in a building mode anyway.  It looks like ESPN Magazine is going to be following the team all year and doing updates, so perhaps WIT and Oswego will get some pub from their respective games?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

I also heard UTPA was pretty desperate for a game and offered a generous check.  It's always fun to go to Texas in the winter.

I'm not going to comment on the specifics of what was offered to us, but at the end of the day it's a pretty good deal.

Thanks.  Makes sense. +1!

And, yes winter is fun in Texas. My next door neighbors spend their summers in Wisconsin.

Ralph, are you getting royalties from Google+?  You certainly invented the "+1" well before they did.

[Bill Gorman]

Short answer:  We had one opening on our schedule due to something not working out with an opponent we thought we'd be playing. UTPA (their coach is a former D3 guy) contacted us in the late spring with an offer to go down there. We couldn't have played a second game as we would have been over the limit.

I also heard UTPA was pretty desperate for a game and offered a generous check.  It's always fun to go to Texas in the winter.

I'm not going to comment on the specifics of what was offered to us, but at the end of the day it's a pretty good deal.

Thanks.  Makes sense. +1!

And, yes winter is fun in Texas. My next door neighbors spend their summers in Wisconsin.

Texas-Pan American is also playing another D3 team as they take on the Lakers from Oswego State on Jan 3rd 2012. And like WIT it's the only game the Lakers will be playing on the trip. UTPA must have had some real scheduling problems to end up with 2 games against D3 opponents. I'm sure the Oswego players will be happy to fly down to Texas for a game in the middle of winter.

ESPN Magazine had a small article on UTPA in the most recent issue (I got it two days ago).  The coach is a former d3 guy and the school is in that new D1 conference that doesn't have an automatic bid yet.  The program is also pretty new, so they're really just in a building mode anyway.  It looks like ESPN Magazine is going to be following the team all year and doing updates, so perhaps WIT and Oswego will get some pub from their respective games?

We shall see.

There was a really good piece done by CBS' Jeff Goodman who followed Ryan Marks (UTPA coach) on the recruiting trail this past summer:  http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/view/26283066/1?mcctag=2011%20recruiting%20trip

[Ralph Turner]

UTPA has been around for a long time.  They have been an independent and are geographically isolated from other D1 programs, even in Texas.

I guess he is getting whom he can get.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

UTPA has been around for a long time.  They have been an independent and are geographically isolated from other D1 programs, even in Texas.

I guess he is getting whom he can get.

They've not been d1 very long, have they?

[7express]

They've not been d1 very long, have they?

I think 99-00 was their first year playing a D-1 schedule.

[Bill Gorman]

A lot earlier than that. They played in the 1981 NIT. Looking at their media guide from last year (http://www.utpabroncs.com/documents/2011/3/14/2010-11%20Men's%20Basketball%20Media%20Guide.pdf), it looks like the early 1970s they went from D2 to D1 and had been NAIA prior to that.

[Pat Coleman]

Ryan Marks took Southern Vermont to the NCAA Tournament, then went to D-II St. Edward's in Texas.