MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

RMC, Bridgewater, Ferrum, Lynchburg, Randolph, and Shenandoah are all off tonight. EMU hosts Mary Washington, so their game won't affect conference standings.

W&L is better now than when the got blown out by 34 at Roanoke on November 20th, plus they are at home tonight. W&L really needs a win to help it secure the 8th spot in the tournament. An Averett upset at VWU and a W&L loss would put Averett and W&L in a tie for 8th with those two playing each other at W&L next Wednesday, the 19th.

[Brian Hamilton]

Roanoke is 37th in NPI and VWU is 38th currently.  A lot of basketball left to play, but unless they improve their NPI, they will be hoping for few upsets in conference tourneys or have to win the ODAC tourney.  Guilford isn't ranked in the Regional Rankings, so they have an even more difficult road to get in without winning the ODAC tourney.

[ziggy]

Roanoke is 37th in NPI and VWU is 38th currently.  A lot of basketball left to play, but unless they improve their NPI, they will be hoping for few upsets in conference tourneys or have to win the ODAC tourney.  Guilford isn't ranked in the Regional Rankings, so they have an even more difficult road to get in without winning the ODAC tourney.

Regional rankings are now just the NPI rankings sorted to only show one region so they are not particularly informational or useful. Guilford certainly has work to do but the good news is that the ODAC is a conference where you will definitely have opportunities to help yourself, starting with Guilford's game against Hampden-Sydney tonight.

[Seatfiller]

Roanoke is 37th in NPI and VWU is 38th currently.  A lot of basketball left to play, but unless they improve their NPI, they will be hoping for few upsets in conference tourneys or have to win the ODAC tourney.  Guilford isn't ranked in the Regional Rankings, so they have an even more difficult road to get in without winning the ODAC tourney.

Just from my limited knowledge of the selection process, Roanoke realistically would have to beat Hampden Sydney and win their remaining games until the ODAC tourney (a lot easier said than done). In the ODAC tourney they probably would have to get to the championship game to at least have a shot at getting selected without winning the ODAC tourney....a very tough task for Roanoke to say the least.

With that being said Roanoke's game against a surging W and L team at home has been pushed back to tomorrow due to the snow (Randolph vs. Ferrum and Mary Wash at EMU has also been pushed back).  The other two games are still on for tonight. The Guilford and HSC game should be a good one. Sucks for Roanoke as they have to try to beat a better W and L team tomorrow and then only have 1 day to prepare for the tall task known as HSC.

[rmc1982]

Roanoke is 37th in NPI and VWU is 38th currently.  A lot of basketball left to play, but unless they improve their NPI, they will be hoping for few upsets in conference tourneys or have to win the ODAC tourney.  Guilford isn't ranked in the Regional Rankings, so they have an even more difficult road to get in without winning the ODAC tourney.

Regional rankings are now just the NPI rankings sorted to only show one region so they are not particularly informational or useful. Guilford certainly has work to do but the good news is that the ODAC is a conference where you will definitely have opportunities to help yourself, starting with Guilford's game against Hampden-Sydney tonight.

I must admit I've never fully understood the NPI/ Regional Rankings. For instance, TWO of our DIII losses have come against H-SC yet we're ahead of them (by hundreths of a point, but still ahead) so it must be SOS. Now, like Brian said earlier its a very miniscule lead and that could all change with HSC's games this week but we're still ahead as of 2/9. I would think head to head would be the #1 priority, then SOS, then quality DIII wins?? Someone , like you DIII experts, would know more about that than me. I know there's a formula but I just don't know exactly what it is.

[ziggy]

I must admit I've never fully understood the NPI/ Regional Rankings. For instance, TWO of our DIII losses have come against H-SC yet we're ahead of them (by hundreths of a point, but still ahead) so it must be SOS. Now, like Brian said earlier its a very miniscule lead and that could all change with HSC's games this week but we're still ahead as of 2/9. I would think head to head would be the #1 priority, then SOS, then quality DIII wins?? Someone , like you DIII experts, would know more about that than me. I know there's a formula but I just don't know exactly what it is.

NPI is quite a departure from the previous system that had discrete criteria that committees had to try to figure out how to weigh against each other and hope to apply that equally as they manually created regional rankings. That is no longer the case as NPI essentially deals with all those things and spits out a single number.

In that way, there is no consideration for ranking HSC vs. RMC because it's really ranking everyone vs. everyone. That is not to say the head to head doesn't matter because it does. HSC very much has an advantage over RMC as a result of those wins when looking at just those games, but when factoring in all games RMC comes out with a slight advantage (at the moment).

Here are some shows we did breaking down and explaining how NPI works.

Unpacking NPI - New Tournament Selection Metric for Division 3 Sports - D3 Datacast - Episode 83
What Every D3 Basketball Fan Needs To Know About NPI - D3 Datacast - Episode 101

[Tigerfan]

Well, that was a slugfest.  H-SC and Guilford took turns smacking the other, until the Tigers got themselves together and handled their business in the second half.  The Tigers went up 50-27 in the first half as the shots were going down and everything was easy.  However.  Tom Palumbo teams are not known for folding up, particularly not against the Tigers.  They started the second half on a 22-2 run.  The Tigers scored 2 points in 8 minutes.  Caleb Kimbrough's teams are not known for panicking.  After Guilford got within 3, the Tigers were able to stretch it to 10 and hold on for the much needed win. 

[Tigerfan]

Nick Farrar was nearly unstoppable tonight for the Quakers with 34 points and 14 rebounds.  Caleb Farrish came alive in the second half with 3 treys and Chase Ellis chipped in with 10.  The Proctor brothers combined for 2 points.

The Tiger offense was more balanced.  Shane Fernald had 20, Adam Brazil 16, Travis Stickney 13 and Nick Shryock had a loud 12 along with 7 rebounds.   Shryock's corner 3 off a brilliant Stickney drive and kickout with 2:29 to go to increase the lead to 9 was crucial.  Stickney has been a solid player all year, but has been going to another level on offense lately.

Both teams showed a lot of toughness and resiliency tonight.  Whoever wins the ODAC is going to be a hard nosed battle tested unit. 

[deiscanton]

Nick Farrar was nearly unstoppable tonight for the Quakers with 34 points and 14 rebounds.  Caleb Farrish came alive in the second half with 3 treys and Chase Ellis chipped in with 10.  The Proctor brothers combined for 2 points.

The Tiger offense was more balanced.  Shane Fernald had 20, Adam Brazil 16, Travis Stickney 13 and Nick Shryock had a loud 12 along with 7 rebounds.   Shryock's corner 3 off a brilliant Stickney drive and kickout with 2:29 to go to increase the lead to 9 was crucial.  Stickney has been a solid player all year, but has been going to another level on offense lately.

Both teams showed a lot of toughness and resiliency tonight.  Whoever wins the ODAC is going to be a hard nosed battle tested unit. 

I am not surprised that Nick Farrar would end up being one of Guilford's best players.  I am currently watching last night's Guilford at Hampden-Sydney game on replay, and when I heard that Nick Farrar used to play in the Division 1 Coastal Athletic Association, I looked up his previous game lines when he played Northeastern in the past.  Farrar did make a trip to Matthews Arena in Boston when he played  for the Charleston Cougars in the 2021-22 season, and I believe that his game line that day was 4 points in 11 minutes off the bench for the Cougars.   Farrar played regularly for both the Charleston Cougars in the 2021-22 season and the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks in the 2022-23 season as a bench player, and made regular contributions for the Seahawks off the bench in that season as well, including in their CAA playoff run to finish runner-up in the CAA Tournament, losing to Charleston in the title game.  UNC-Wilmington only played 1 game vs Northeastern that season, and it was not up in Boston.

It is not surprising that Nick Farrar would want to play out his COVID year as a starter for Guilford given his North Carolina roots.  Farrar was the leading scorer for the Quakers when Guilford lost at Emory earlier this season as well.

[Tigerfan]

He started his career at NC State!  He and NYU's (via UVA) Tristan How are former ACC players.

[deiscanton]

He started his career at NC State!  He and NYU's (via UVA) Tristan How are former ACC players.

I wasn't aware of Nick Farrar's ACC beginnings.  I knew Tristan How was a Virginia walk-on, similar to former NYU player Michael Savarino, who was a Duke walk-on and is the grandson of the famed former Duke men's basketball Coach K. (Not to be confused with that other Coach K at Christopher Newport.)

Farrar's NC State stats did not seem much to write home about, though.  He only played in 23 minutes of game action for the Wolfpack in the 2020-21 season, which was the season that most college basketball teams did not play due to the pandemic.   Among those 23 minutes was 5 minutes of game action up at Boston College, where he did not score.  Farrar only scored in 1 game that season-- 5 points vs Campbell.   Not surprising that he would transfer-- the season stats don't scream ACC Rookie of the Year.

[thescottharris]

By the way, it's U of L, not LU or UL.

LU is the neighboring religious zealotry institution whose former president is infamous for a pool boy cuckold scandal.

UL is the school for filthy Cardinals in Kentucky who had a national championship in basketball stripped over cheating.

[Tigerfan]

Regarding Nick Farrar, all of the above is true.  However, I don't know of any ODAC player who was as heavily recruited by top tier D1 schools coming out of high school. He wasn't a walk-on.   I assume that he is friends with the Proctor brothers from the same high school, so it is cool that he got the chance to play with them again.  I look at him as an example of the extraordinary times we are seeing in D3 basketball.  I assume things will go back to normal now that the extra Covid year of eligibility is over.  Then again, there's so much movement among D1 teams and players now that could result in D1 players that are "recruited over" moving to D3.   

[Pat Coleman]

By the way, it's U of L, not LU or UL.

LU is the neighboring religious zealotry institution whose former president is infamous for a pool boy cuckold scandal.

UL is the school for filthy Cardinals in Kentucky who had a national championship in basketball stripped over cheating.

Totally agree that Lynchburg is not LU but you can't actually expect people to not call "University of Lynchburg" by the abbreviation "U of L."

[Tigerfan]

By the way, it's U of L, not LU or UL.

Totally agree that Lynchburg is not LU but you can't actually expect people to not call "University of Lynchburg" by the abbreviation "U of L."

So you are in agreement with TPFKASTH*?   


*The Poster Formerly Known as Scottie Too Hottie