MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[sludge]

I want to give some props to EMU for their great year.  Elite 8, are you kidding?  You exceeded expectations all year with your slightly wild "bring everything" style of game.

You lost your starting point guard and only senior leader to injury but kept on rolling.  You beat a raft of good teams during the season.  You were one of everybody's least favorite matchups.  You won the ODAC regular season, which is very hard to do.  You beat a really good Whitworth team to make the round of 8.  

You've got a noisy, engaged set of fans.  At Guilford the other night, the EMU fans started out making more noise than the Guilford fans;  Quaker fans heard the challenge and raised the level.

Congratulations to this year's EMU team, coaches and fans.  It is always exciting to see you play.

My advice is, goof off all summer, don't hit the weights, and return out of shape for next year.  
Otherwise, there could be problems.  

[David Collinge]

Hasa,

There are a number of schools (including some that have made it to FFs) that will not play on Sundays for religious reasons.

Ah, hadn't thought of that ... thanks.  DI, however, would seem to have the same mix of religious affiliation as DIII and it's not an overwhelming problem there.

D1 is overwhelmingly comprised of public institutions, and most of the private ones are either secular or have religious ties that are weak or lapsed.  In fact, I can only think of one occasion where playing in the NCAA Tournament on a Sunday presented a problem for a member school--Brigham Young, some number of years ago, which was bracketed in such a way as to have a potential Sunday Round of Eight game.  They had to be re-seeded and switched to a bracket with no possibility of Sunday action, as I recall.  But that was definitely the exception, not the rule as it is in D3.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hasa,

There are a number of schools (including some that have made it to FFs) that will not play on Sundays for religious reasons.

Ah, hadn't thought of that ... thanks.  DI, however, would seem to have the same mix of religious affiliation as DIII and it's not an overwhelming problem there.

As far as I know, BYU is the only such school in D1, so they've been able to work around that.  In D3 there are quite a few, including Calvin, Hope, Wheaton (though I think they will bend if absolutely necessary), and several others I've forgotten - at least most of whom are rarely in tourneys anyway).

Just before I hit post, I saw David's response - I'll post anyway!

[Pat Coleman]

I don't think there are many others than those that have been mentioned. Messiah is on the list, but not sure who else.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

hasanova... there has been plenty of talk about the All-Star game... especially on Hoopsville - you should tune in!

To hear what Chicago Coach Mike McGrath said on Hoopsville's Selection Sunday show... click on one of the two links here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5097717 or http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5102088. McGrath is the committee chair.

The announcements will come along here on Monday, so I have been told. They are taking a look at who the teams are in the Final Four and then going from there with their selections. They also have to look at who might or might not be able to make it to Salem.

[hasanova]

hasanova... there has been plenty of talk about the All-Star game... especially on Hoopsville - you should tune in!

To hear what Chicago Coach Mike McGrath said on Hoopsville's Selection Sunday show... click on one of the two links here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5097717 or http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5102088. McGrath is the committee chair.

The announcements will come along here on Monday, so I have been told. They are taking a look at who the teams are in the Final Four and then going from there with their selections. They also have to look at who might or might not be able to make it to Salem.

Thanks, Dave.  So, what time it the all-star game's tip-off?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

10:30 AM at the Salem Civic Center. Championship game is at 1 PM.

[nescac1]

I think it's fair to guess that Williams may well have lost another game or two had they played in ODAC this year ... ODAC was clearly the top conference in the country.  At the same time, the Ephs are very legit ... they have the same talent level as the top three from ODAC, and would have been right there fighting at the top of the conference.  This team is, to me, about as good as the 03-04 squads that nearly won two titles.  And NESCAC is hardly chopped liver ... although a bit down as a conference this year, Midd was very good, and the Ephs beat them twice, Colby was solid, and Amherst before its star got hurt and they fell apart down the stretch was playing very well ... still a very talented team that Williams beat in the first game they played.   The Brandeis coach after the Williams game was quoted as saying that Wash U. and Williams were about even.  Guilford is certainly more battle-tested than the Ephs, based on who they played in this tourney, playing in four tourneys including one Final Four, and making it through a brutal ODAC this year with very few hiccups.  I don't doubt that Williams will have to raise the level of its game to come out with a victory against a far more seasoned tourney opponent, and one with such a strong interior presence, especially one that knows the gym and will have the crowd behind it.  But Williams certainly has the talent to beat Guilford and I am confident they would have challenged them for the ODAC title had they played in that league this year.  

[hasanova]

I think it's fair to guess that Williams may well have lost another game or two had they played in ODAC this year ... ODAC was clearly the top conference in the country.  At the same time, the Ephs are very legit ... they have the same talent level as the top three from ODAC, and would have been right there fighting at the top of the conference.  This team is, to me, about as good as the 03-04 squads that nearly won two titles.  And NESCAC is hardly chopped liver ... although a bit down as a conference this year, Midd was very good, and the Ephs beat them twice, Colby was solid, and Amherst before its star got hurt and they fell apart down the stretch was playing very well ... still a very talented team that Williams beat in the first game they played.   The Brandeis coach after the Williams game was quoted as saying that Wash U. and Williams were about even.  Guilford is certainly more battle-tested than the Ephs, based on who they played in this tourney, playing in four tourneys including one Final Four, and making it through a brutal ODAC this year with very few hiccups.  I don't doubt that Williams will have to raise the level of its game to come out with a victory against a far more seasoned tourney opponent, and one with such a strong interior presence, especially one that knows the gym and will have the crowd behind it.  But Williams certainly has the talent to beat Guilford and I am confident they would have challenged them for the ODAC title had they played in that league this year.  

I think everyone in the ODAC, and certainly at Guilford, knows what you say is true.  Trust me, any team that's only lost one game is legitimate and will be taken seriously.  If you don't, you do so at your own peril!

Of common opponents, GC defeated RMC twice this season, once in Ashland and once in Salem.  Williams dropped a close tournament game to RMC in Ashland over the holidays.  With that said, GC knows the NESCAC is a quality conference and Williams is a quality team.  It should be a great game!

[2RMCFans]

But Williams certainly has the talent to beat Guilford and I am confident they would have challenged them for the ODAC title had they played in that league this year.  

Not to put too fine a point on it, and in no way selling Williams short, they'd have had to go through EMU, VWC and, ahem, R-MC to have gotten the right to challenge Guilford... not to mention the teams in the middle of the ODAC like H-SC and W & L ---who slayed a few dragons this season, too.

[Emu435]

But Williams certainly has the talent to beat Guilford and I am confident they would have challenged them for the ODAC title had they played in that league this year. 

Not to put too fine a point on it, and in no way selling Williams short, they'd have had to go through EMU, VWC and, ahem, R-MC to have gotten the right to challenge Guilford... not to mention the teams in the middle of the ODAC like H-SC and W & L ---who slayed a few dragons this season, too.

i think the top six in the ODAC made our conference so strong.  I dont think any other conferences had the strength we had this year.  The awesome season from the Royals added to the conference a whole lot. 

i also think the success of us up here in Harrisonburg can give alot of hope to teams like Emory and Henry in the years to come.  If Kirby can turn a program around from nothing i think alot of other programs can learn from what happened this year.

[maroon2]

I think the ODAC from top to bottom is what made it so strong. The bottom teams in our league faired pretty well against other conferences. The ODA top to bottom was brutal this year.

[hasanova]

When you talk about turning a program around, think about Guilford.  Yes, GC's good now and the school has a great basketball tradition, but the first decade or so in DIII was an adjustment and, quite frankly, it wasn't going very well.  When I moved to Greensboro in 1999 (I'd been away since graduating 25 years earlier), we were coming off a 3-21 season and rarely made the ODAC's then 8-team post-season tournament.  I think we won 6 in 1999-2000 and 10 in 2000-01.  After that, we got more players and started being competitive in the league and springing some upsets.   The Ben Strong era, however, is what got us on the DIII map and into national prominence.  There were other key players, of course, but a man of his size - and talent - is a game-changer in DIII.  Once the winning tradition starts, of course, other players will come.  If Guilford can do it, others can do it.

[royalrooter]

I predict that an unblemished run through the ODAC will be nearly impossible in 2010-11. A lot can happen between now and next October but I'm sure EMU will not be surprising anybody next year.

[hasanova]

I predict that an unblemished run through the ODAC will be nearly impossible in 2010-11. A lot can happen between now and next October but I'm sure EMU will not be surprising anybody next year.

The ODAC will look a lot different in 2010-11 ... EMU will probably be the preseason favorite.  I'm not sure who returns for RMC and VWC, but all of EMU's key players at the end of this year were underclassmen.