MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

Game write-up from WPI site: http://wpi.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/releases/20130309biapj4 and from the R-MC site http://www.rmcathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/releases/20130309b3f4qn

[Maroons07]

The best job in VA is hands down CNU. State school with D1 facilities and in the 757 area and close to richmond and n.va for recruiting purposes. Yes vwc has traditionally been known to be easier to get into but every program gets a few kids in that others were not able to get in. CNU got a kid in around 5 years ago that VWC wasn't able to get in and i know that VWC got in a couple of kids that RMC was not able to get in. And not saying any names but HSC has a kid on their current roster that was under a 2.0 in hs and below a 760 SAT so dont try and put them in their own category. Also HSC is able to give out the Davis Fellows scholarship which covers all tuition for 4 years. They give out 1 of these each year to a basketball player. Imagine if every ODAC school had 1 full scholarship to give out every year. Say what you want but each school has it perks and each coach is finding its niche and using that to their advantage and that is why the ODAC has become such a strong conference. Good Luck Marlins and Yellow Jackets this weekend. I will be in the "Fish Tank" to support my marlins this weekend.

As someone who works at the College and had a direct relationship to the nominees for the Davis Fellowship, I'll say that you're so far from being right on this.  The Davis Fellowship hasn't even been awarded since 2009.  A current senior is the last person to receive the Davis Fellowship...a baseball player who has played in only one game this season with one AB.  To give you a little more information on this young man, he's a Head Resident Advisor, near the top of his class and he's a Truman Scholar (http://www.truman.gov/news).  The Davis Fellows from the beginning are (without names because what's it to you?):
2004 - kid from FL who played club soccer
2005 - non athlete from VA
2006 - lacrosse player from Richmond
2007 - football player from Richmond who didn't really play and ended up playing baseball his senior season
2008 - non athlete from VA
2009 - baseball player from VA who hasn't really played a whole lot

These guys listed are the only Davis Fellows as the Davis family decided back in 2010 that they weren't going to continue with the scholarship.  As you can see, there aren't any basketball players who were a Davis Fellow.  As for the basketball players, I can assure you that no one on the roster came in below a 2.0 or ANYWHERE NEAR a 760. 

Keep on trying to pull down the Tigers.  Get your facts straight, too.

The only thing pulling down the Tigers is the fact that their two biggest rivals are at the very least going to be hanging Sweet 16 banners in their gyms, while the Tigers have not played on Sunday of the ODAC Tournament since 2007.   

[algernon]

TWO ODAC teams in the sweet 16!!

Congrats to the ODAC!  This is the 4th time in the last 11 years that TWO or more ODAC teams have been among the Sweet Sixteen.

Four Decades of ODAC Teams in the Sweet Sixteen of NCAA Division III:

1975-1983 - 3 teams

1978
   Washington & Lee
1982
   Roanoke - finished in the Elite Eight
1983
   Roanoke - finished in the Final Four

----------------------------------------

1984-1993 - 4 teams

1984
   Roanoke
1988
   Emory & Henry
1991
   Randolph-Macon
1992
   Hampden-Sydney

----------------------------------------

1994-2003 - 9 teams

1994
   Hampden-Sydney
1995
   Hampden-Sydney - finished in the Elite Eight
1996
   Roanoke
1997
   Bridgewater
1998
   Hampden-Sydney
1999
   Hampden-Sydney - finished as National Runnerup
2002
   Randolph-Macon
2003
   Hampden-Sydney - finished in the Final Four
   Randolph-Macon

----------------------------------------

2004-2013 -11 teams

2006
   Virginia Wesleyan - finished as National Champion
2007
   Virginia Wesleyan - finished as National Runnerup
   Guilford - lost to VWC in the Elite Eight
2009
   Guilford - finished in the Final Four
2010
   Guilford - finished in the Final Four
   Randolph-Macon - finished in the Final Four
   Eastern Mennonite - lost to Guilford in the Elite Eight
2011
   Virginia Wesleyan
2012
   Virginia Wesleyan - finished in the Elite Eight
2013
   Randolph-Macon
   Virginia Wesleyan

[donho]

Mapquest is showing a 542 mile trip for VWC, and a 492 mile trip for R-MC. If I understand correctly the Marlins fly while the Jackets ride.

[FISHTANKFAN]

Coach Macedo/VWC has made it to the NCAA tournament for 9 straight years. Have any other coaches/teams made it to the NCAA tournament from the ODAC more than nine years in a row?  Considering Macedo is only in his 13th year coaching, not too shabby a record. 

[DeWayneCarter]

Congratulations to VWC. It was a great game. I thought the student section showed a lack of class at times, but it was a great atmosphere for basketball.

Playing a rival at home with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, I wouldn't expect the student section to be dishing out compliments lol

[Brian Hamilton]

HSC had 8 in a row from the Spring of 1997 to the Spring of 2004 and 10 out of 11 years from Spring of 1994 to Spring of 2004 with the only miss being in the Spring of 1996.

Maroons07, that is a bummer but I'll wait to see how Cabrini ends up doing because the Tigers may have had the hardest draw of the three teams as well.  As for Sunday of the ODACs, I completely agree because we have to get that monkey off of our back.  The steady improvement we've made gives me cause for optimism.  The Tigers also have at least 5 roster spots available next year and have the potential to get a good recruiting class.  Only time will tell.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Mapquest is showing a 542 mile trip for VWC, and a 492 mile trip for R-MC. If I understand correctly the Marlins fly while the Jackets ride.

Well the official mileage for VWC to Williams is 532... and for RMC to Amherst it is 484... but that doesn't really matter ... yes, RMC drives and VWC flies.

[algernon]

... the Tigers may have had the hardest draw of the three teams as well.

Little question about that, I think.  Cabrini had won 16 of their last 17 games when they came to Fleet Gym and have now defeated #16 Hampden-Sydney and #21 Ohio Wesleyan.  They are a battle-tested team that won 5 NCAA Tournament games last year, with most of the same players as this year, before falling in the national championship game by a couple of points.  Cabrini is going to be a real test for #20 Wooster on 3/16 and, if they get another win, for either #2 Amherst or unranked Randolph-Macon on 3/22.

In contrast, Virginia Wesleyan hosted Delaware Valley, an unranked team that was 19-8 and probably would have been seeded about #7 (lower than Randolph, Lynchburg, and Guilford) if they had been playing in the ODAC tournament.  There's no doubt that Randolph-Macon had a tougher draw than VWC, but even Stevens doesn't have the team that Cabrini does.

The Tigers had their best season since 2004.  Even with the loss to Cabrini, I expect that they'll be ranked in the Top 25 at the end of the season.  They finished 23-5 and were 4-3 against NCAA Tournament participants (wins over RMC, RMC, Wesley, Randolph and losses to RMC, VWC, Cabrini).  They played 5 games against teams in the Sweet Sixteen, so they played VERY high-quality opponents and came out 2-3 ... all three losses by no more than 5 points.  A few more points in the ODAC semifinal against RMC, a Sweet Sixteen team, and the Tigers would have been playing VWC, another Sweet Sixteen team, in the ODAC final.  The ODAC has become a premier conference in basketball, undoubtedly one of the top 4-5 conferences in the nation! 

Another basket in their first round game against their Sweet Sixteen opponent and the Tigers might have gone on the next week to get the win against Ohio Wesleyan that Cabrini did, which would have gotten us 3 ODAC teams in the Sweet Sixteen again, like 3 years ago.  But the Tigers missed a basket here or there that would have made the difference and Cabrini got the win, so we have Cabrini in the Sweet Sixteen instead.  Once again, it reminds me of the 2004 team and Jeff Monroe's missed basket just before the buzzer at Franklin and Marshall ... had the basket gone in, the Tigers of Monroe and Randall would have been in the Sweet Sixteen for the second year in a row; unfortunately, that team went home with "only" a 24-5 season.  This 2013 Tiger team had "only" a 23-5 record, with a 2-3 record against teams in the Sweet Sixteen, and they'll almost certainly be nationally ranked in the Top 25 (along with VWC and RMC) at the end of the season, even if RMC loses to #2 Amherst and VWC loses to #8 Williams (especially if Cabrini gets a 3rd win against a Top 25 team when they play Wooster).

[algernon]

What team in the entire country has played a schedule as tough as the Yellow Jackets?  13 of their 30 games have been against NCAA Tournament participants!

Record vs NCAA Tournament participants: 6-7

11/15    Loss at #27 Christopher Newport
11/17    Loss vs. #38 Transylvania (neutral court)
11/18    Loss at #11 St. Mary's
12/17    Loss at #9 Catholic
1/5    Loss at Randolph
1/16    Loss at #16 Hampden-Sydney
1/30    Win at #25 Virginia Wesleyan
2/6    Loss vs. #16 Hampden-Sydney
2/16    Win vs. Randolph
2/23    Win vs #16 Hampden-Sydney @ Salem Civic Center
2/24    Win vs #25 Virginia Wesleyan @ Salem Civic Center
3/2    Win at #39 Stevens @ Lehman College, Bronx, NY
3/9    Win at #4 WPI

Record vs NCAA Tournament participants since 1/30:  6-1, with wins over #4 WPI, #16 HSC, and twice over #25 VWC.

[frank uible]

Virginia Wesleyan, abandon all hope! One can't get to Williamstown from anywhere on earth.

[hasanova]

Congratulations to VWC and RMC for their Sweet 16 appearances.  Nice. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What team in the entire country has played a schedule as tough as the Yellow Jackets?  13 of their 30 games have been against NCAA Tournament participants!

Record vs NCAA Tournament participants: 6-7

11/15    Loss at #27 Christopher Newport
11/17    Loss vs. #38 Transylvania (neutral court)
11/18    Loss at #11 St. Mary's
12/17    Loss at #9 Catholic
1/5    Loss at Randolph
1/16    Loss at #16 Hampden-Sydney
1/30    Win at #25 Virginia Wesleyan
2/6    Loss vs. #16 Hampden-Sydney
2/16    Win vs. Randolph
2/23    Win vs #16 Hampden-Sydney @ Salem Civic Center
2/24    Win vs #25 Virginia Wesleyan @ Salem Civic Center
3/2    Win at #39 Stevens @ Lehman College, Bronx, NY
3/9    Win at #4 WPI

Record vs NCAA Tournament participants since 1/30:  6-1, with wins over #4 WPI, #16 HSC, and twice over #25 VWC.

They also had the highest SOS in the country and 16 of their 28(?) games before the NCAA tournament were against regionally ranked opponents.

[marlinpg10]

why do people keep bringing up HSC having a tougher road than anyone else? That's what happens when you do not make it to
Sunday of your conference touney. You get seeded lower than the 2 teams that did make it to Sunday. With that being said GO ODAC!!! ODAC vs NESCAC very well could be the 2 best conferences in division 3 basketball. We will see this weekend which conference is the best. I am contemplating making the drive to Williams to support my Marlins!!!

[donho]

 Checking out the NESCAC board and have discovered that some people had trouble with both the Williams and Amherst broadcasts last weekend. Hope we ODACer's who can not make the trip north can at least listen if not see the game. LETS GO MARLINS and JACKETS!!!!!!!