MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[hasanova]

Guilford over E&H by 40 tonight in Emory, 81-41.  Guilford's a good team, but definitely not the overwhelming powerhouse they were last year.  The Wasps must have had a fairly bad night.  Quakers improve to 11-6, 5-3 and I think E&H remains winless in the ODAC at 0-8.

[2RMCFans]

R-MC over Lynchburg:  83-44

The freshmen all got in the game & it was fun to watch them in the last 5 minutes.

GO JACKETS!!! 

[Brian Hamilton]

Surprised more scores from games on Wednesday haven't been posted.

HSC 72 - W&L 66  - I heard the end of the game and foul shooting almost shot the Tigers in the foot.  Ben Jessee came through near the end to solidify the win.  Big game for Harrison George in his return to action with 26 points, 20 of them in the 2nd half.  Ru White had another solid game with 13 pts.  The story of this game was defense for HSC and that is what they are going to need the rest of the year.  

Now we get to move on to "The Game."  After what happened the last time we played Macon, we should have plenty of reason to be excited and ready to go for this game.  I also believe that there will be a very large student contingent present.

I feel like it has been forever since I have HSC play.  Their last home game was Saturday before last against Roanoke.  The schedule does not get any easier now, but the Tigers do have more games at home than on the road now since 6 of their first seven ODAC contests were road games.  Safe travels to everyone going to games this weekend.

[algernon]

Yes .... the Tigers play 7 of their next 8 ODAC games at home (before their final game of the season at Macon).  The Tigers' only ODAC road game during this upcoming stretch is at Emory & Henry, and that's certainly very winnable.  So we could see a 2-5 conference record change quite a bit, and I hope to see the Tigers finish the season somewhere between 8-8 and 10-6 (15-10 to 18-7 overall).  We'll see ....

[algernon]

Thinking about the Top 25, I'm wondering if anyone out there can tell me what are the quality wins that result in Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst being ranked ahead of Randolph-Macon and EMU?

The NESCAC always beats up on the rest of New England.  The ODAC would also beat up on the rest of New England, if they had the chance (except for the NESCAC, where they would play pretty even).  Where are the tough wins that result in such a high ranking for 3 NESCAC teams?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Thinking about the Top 25, I'm wondering if anyone out there can tell me what are the quality wins that result in Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst being ranked ahead of Randolph-Macon and EMU?

The NESCAC always beats up on the rest of New England.  The ODAC would also beat up on the rest of New England, if they had the chance (except for the NESCAC, where they would play pretty even).  Where are the tough wins that result in such a high ranking for 3 NESCAC teams?

I've wondered that myself, and on the Posters' Poll my ballot has Midd, Williams, and Amherst (in that order) dead even on average with Va Wes (my #1 team), Randy Mac and EMU (in that order).  (My ballot DOES reflect the d3 poll, in that all three NESCAC teams are between Va Wes and RMC.  I'll carefully double-check before the next poll to see if I can justify that.)

[yj424]

Saturday's night contest of "The Game" will be huge. The atmosphere there can not be beat. The students for Hampy  Syd will be out in force. I feel for those who deprive themselves of witnessing such a classic showdown. Why is ESPN not there?

[Pat Coleman]

Thinking about the Top 25, I'm wondering if anyone out there can tell me what are the quality wins that result in Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst being ranked ahead of Randolph-Macon and EMU?

The NESCAC always beats up on the rest of New England.  The ODAC would also beat up on the rest of New England, if they had the chance (except for the NESCAC, where they would play pretty even).  Where are the tough wins that result in such a high ranking for 3 NESCAC teams?

Eastern Mennonite isn't a particularly good comparison, with games against Shenandoah, Penn State-Brandywine, Southern Virginia, Lancaster Bible, Penn State-Beaver, Berkeley ... the rank-and-file teams on Middlebury, Williams and Amherst's schedule are better than that.

[rmc1982]

Thinking about the Top 25, I'm wondering if anyone out there can tell me what are the quality wins that result in Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst being ranked ahead of Randolph-Macon and EMU?

The NESCAC always beats up on the rest of New England.  The ODAC would also beat up on the rest of New England, if they had the chance (except for the NESCAC, where they would play pretty even).  Where are the tough wins that result in such a high ranking for 3 NESCAC teams?

Eastern Mennonite isn't a particularly good comparison, with games against Shenandoah, Penn State-Brandywine, Southern Virginia, Lancaster Bible, Penn State-Beaver, Berkeley ... the rank-and-file teams on Middlebury, Williams and Amherst's schedule are better than that.

Then how about R-MC Pat? The loss at Wabash was early and the loss at home to VWC was a 2 pt loss that could have gone either way......IS there justification for this?

[2RMCFans]

We don't mind being at #10... helps keep us off the radar of some of those other contenders outside the ODAC & a 15-2 record in our conference speaks for itself.

Wishing good luck & safe travels to the Jackets & to all the ODAC teams on the road this weekend.  Looks like it's going to be a big weekend for all of us.

GO JACKETS!!!!

[algernon]

Thinking about the Top 25, I'm wondering if anyone out there can tell me what are the quality wins that result in Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst being ranked ahead of Randolph-Macon and EMU?

The NESCAC always beats up on the rest of New England.  The ODAC would also beat up on the rest of New England, if they had the chance (except for the NESCAC, where they would play pretty even).  Where are the tough wins that result in such a high ranking for 3 NESCAC teams?

Eastern Mennonite isn't a particularly good comparison, with games against Shenandoah, Penn State-Brandywine, Southern Virginia, Lancaster Bible, Penn State-Beaver, Berkeley ... the rank-and-file teams on Middlebury, Williams and Amherst's schedule are better than that.

While I agree that many of EMU's non-conference wins are against some pretty shabby teams, I'll also note that EMU has beaten Ferrum (15-2) and Southern Virginia (an NAIA team that is now 5-1 against DIII competition, including a win against Ramapo).  Two of their three losses are by a mere 5 points to #10 Randolph-Macon.

Thanks for your response.

[rmc1982]

We don't mind being at #10... helps keep us off the radar of some of those other contenders outside the ODAC & a 15-2 record in our conference speaks for itself.

Wishing good luck & safe travels to the Jackets & to all the ODAC teams on the road this weekend.  Looks like it's going to be a big weekend for all of us.

GO JACKETS!!!!

I agree-I also don't mind being at #10....I was just wondering what the justification was.....I don't keep up with the conferences in the Northeast as much as i should so I was just curious.Maybe there IS.....Whatever.....we just need to take care of our OWN business and everything else will work out....

[Pat Coleman]

Thinking about the Top 25, I'm wondering if anyone out there can tell me what are the quality wins that result in Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst being ranked ahead of Randolph-Macon and EMU?

The NESCAC always beats up on the rest of New England.  The ODAC would also beat up on the rest of New England, if they had the chance (except for the NESCAC, where they would play pretty even).  Where are the tough wins that result in such a high ranking for 3 NESCAC teams?

Eastern Mennonite isn't a particularly good comparison, with games against Shenandoah, Penn State-Brandywine, Southern Virginia, Lancaster Bible, Penn State-Beaver, Berkeley ... the rank-and-file teams on Middlebury, Williams and Amherst's schedule are better than that.

Then how about R-MC Pat? The loss at Wabash was early and the loss at home to VWC was a 2 pt loss that could have gone either way......IS there justification for this?

And Macon is several spots higher than Eastern Mennonite for that reason, wouldn't you agree? Randolph-Macon is sandwiched into a small range of spots -- behind Wabash because they lost there and ahead of Eastern Mennonite because of the sweep.

I know you guys know the NESCAC top teams traditionally have been just as good as the ODAC top teams. There's not a huge difference between them in the poll, especially considering Macon has two losses. Macon is the highest-ranked two-loss team.

[algernon]

I know you guys know the NESCAC top teams traditionally have been just as good as the ODAC top teams. There's not a huge difference between them in the poll, especially considering Macon has two losses. Macon is the highest-ranked two-loss team.

All of this is very true.

[algernon]

In my opinion, these are the best wins to date for these 6 ODAC and NESCAC teams:

Virginia Wesleyan - 2-pt. win over Macon @ Crenshaw.
Middlebury - They haven't yet played any top-ranked opponents ... perhaps the best was a 17-pt. win over RPI (9-4) or their 13-pt. victory over Bates (9-8).
Williams - Their best game was probably their 3-pt. loss to Amherst (15-0).
Amherst - 3-pt. win over Williams (15-1).
Randolph-Macon - Both 5-pt. victories over EMU (13-3).  2-pt. loss to VWC (16-0).
Eastern Mennonite - Both 5-pt. losses to RMC (15-2).  6-pt. win over Ferrum (15-2)