MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

magicman · December 08, 2013, 07:08:16 AM

Quote from: Bengalsrule on December 08, 2013, 12:25:22 AM
Quote from: magicman on December 07, 2013, 11:30:45 PM
Quote from: Bengalsrule on December 07, 2013, 10:55:52 PM
PS I couldn't help but notice that Geneseo is playing @ Puget Sound in Tacoma Washington on 12/30 for a 1 game trip? I'm wondering if there is a 2nd game that is not posted yet on the SUNYAC schedule. Seems like 1 helluva journey for 1 game! I could be wrong. Heck I bet the Bills to win the superbowl this past summer so I have been wrong before!

If you would have looked at Geneseo's schedule you wouldn't have to wonder!! Since they already have 25 games listed, you, of all people, would know that they certainly don't want to schedule #26.

But I do agree with you...it's a hell of a road trip for 1 game.

5,354 mile "road" trip... for 1 game.... to be exact!! They probably would have been better off, $$$ wise, with just 24 games?

I bet there's a certain coach and a whole bunch of players for Buffalo State that wouldn't mind making a 5354 mile road trip in the middle of the winter to a more temperate climate even if it is only for one game.

The costs be damned. (Ain't coming outta their pockets) Whadda you think about that?

Bengalsrule · December 08, 2013, 07:01:09 PM

I can do 1 better... I know 6 coaches and 14 Buff State basketball players who are going to Orlando Fla. for 5 days and 4 nights for 3 games (vs Carthage and North Central and the Orlando Magic vs Sacramento Kings). 81% there today. And its only 2004 miles round trip!

magicman · December 08, 2013, 07:58:01 PM

Quote from: Bengalsrule on December 08, 2013, 07:01:09 PM
I can do 1 better... I know 6 coaches and 14 Buff State basketball players who are going to Orlando Fla. for 5 days and 4 nights for 3 games (vs Carthage and North Central and the Orlando Magic vs Sacramento Kings). 81% there today. And its only 2004 miles round trip!

Now you're changing the parameters.

We weren't talking about Florida and 2 games and seeing the pros play. Buffalo State has obviously got a smart guy as their operations director

and he was intelligent enough to choose a 2 game trip to Florida over a 1 game trip to the West coast.

However, if your choice was a 1 game trip to Washington, or no trip at all, I think you'd be leaving on a jet plane as fast as you could.

Bengalsrule · December 09, 2013, 03:58:17 PM

Damn it.

I just can't win with you!!

magicman · December 09, 2013, 04:57:30 PM

These were the Massey Ratings for the Top 13 teams in the East Region several weeks ago on November 22nd.

#20 Cortland State

#41 Plattsburgh State

#42 Hobart

#47 NYU

#58 Nazareth

#76 Geneseo State

#88 Brockport State

#91 St. John Fisher

#94 Oswego State

#110 Stevens Tech

#117 Buffalo State

#119 Skidmore

#124 New Paltz

These are the Massey rankings for the top teams in the East Region as of today. SUNYAC teams occupy the top 3 spots and 5 of the top 6 positions.

#20 Brockport State. Golden Eagles started the year at #87 went to 88 and now lead the East teams after going 3-0 and winning the
Wendy's tournament. Record is 4-1

#49 Plattsburgh State Cardinals started the year at #69 moved as high as 41 dropped back into the 60's and gained 16 spots with
the win over undefeated Cortland. Best Strength of Schedule in the East Region with #70 out of 413.
Record is 4-2

#60 Cortland State Red Dragons started the year ranked #21. They slowly tumbled down into the 30's despite remaining
undefeated. The loss to Plattsburgh has them where they probably should be. Record is 4-1

#62 NYU Violets opened the year at #56 and moved up as high as 47. Still undefeated, but they continue to slide
downward as their SOS is very weak. Have yet to beat a team with a winning record. Opponents a combined
14-25. Stevens up next but even the Ducks are struggling at 3-3 this year. Record is 6-0

#78 Oswego State Lakers started out with a low ranking at #152 and have slowly improved it as the wins have mounted. Low
SOS early on (as an example Plattsburgh's SOS is 70, Brockport's is 99...Oswego's is 237 and it's better than it
was several weeks ago) kept them from moving up but recent wins especially over the Cards have them on
the way up. Record is 6-1

#101 Geneseo State Blue Knights opened the year at #85 and went up into the 70's but then tumbled all the way down into the
130's. Had more to do with the YAC as a whole, sliding down, than anything to do with Geneseo as they won
their first 2 games. Their SOS of 228 didn't help them either. 2-1 at the Wendy's tournament sent them up
35 spots and sent Hobart tumbling 65 placements. I saw that one coming. Record is 4-1

#110 Skidmore Thoroughbreds opened the year at #143 improved slightly to 119 then 108 but slid back a bit after a close
loss to nationally ranked Middlebury 89-84. They have a solid starting 5 but bench is weak as they have no
depth to spell the starters. Could be the team to beat in the Liberty League. Record is 3-2

#116 St. John Fisher These Cardinals started out at #96 moved up to 91 and then fell all the way down to #201 after an early
loss and uninspired play by the E8 conference as a whole. Going 2-1 over the weekend in the Wendy's
Tournament boosted them up 85 spots. They'll be in the hunt for the E8 crown. Freshman big, Keegan Ryan,
will keep getting better. Record 3-2.

#118 Hobart The Statesmen opened at #72 climbed as high as 42, but slid into the 60's after a loss to Rochester and
really tumbled after losing to Geneseo in the Wendy's Classic. Still a dangerous team and will likely duke it
out with Skidmore for the Liberty League Crown. They have the same problem as Skidmore, a very short
bench with nearly all the points coming from the starting unit. Record 4-2

#138 Buffalo State How fitting that the Bengals are the East team ranked right behind Hobart. Buffalo State lost 85-83 to the
Statesmen back on 11-26. Bengals started the year out at #121 moved up to 117 and then fell into the high
160's after a tough 3 game losing streak (2 games by a 2 point margin). Starting out 2-0 in the conference
has lifted them up 30 spots over the weekend. Let's keep it in the proper perspective though, the 2 teams
they beat this weekend will probably not be in the top 6 fighting for the playoffs. Their next 2 games will tell
us a lot about this club. SOS 5th best in the East but that will get better soon. Record 4-3

#147 Clarkson Golden Knights were #179 back on opening day. Slid to 190 before jumping up 43 spots to where they are
now. I think this is an anomaly and Clarkson is rated too high. 2 of their 5 wins are against D3 provisional
SUNY Canton and they have a loss against Rochester who is ranked #170. I think other East region teams
will end up in front of the Golden knights when it's all said and done. Record 5-2

#149 Stevens Tech The Ducks were #124 at the start of the season and made it as high as #109 but tumbled all the way
down to 189. Nice win 5 days ago against a good Baruch team. That boosted them up 40 spots. I
expect they will be in the hunt for an E8 playoff spot, they usually are. Record 3-3

#170 Rochester Yellowjackets opened in the #138 spot. Much lower than they usually are ranked. They fell all the
way down to #181 after the Oneonta loss to open the season. The win over Hobart and two 2 point losses
in the Wendy's Classic have moved them up a bit. Clearly not going to be a frontrunner in the East Region
this year unless some huge changes are in the future. Record 4-5

Dropped out of Massey's Top 13 East Region teams: Nazareth and New Paltz replaced by Clarkson and Rochester.

Some other Massey rankings of East Teams in order:

#175 Vassar College Was #300 early on, up 125 spots since the year started. Record 4-1

#178 Nazareth College Opened at #65 was as high as #58. On a downward spiral and now at a season low. I think
they will move up though and challenge for an E8 playoff spot. Record 4-2

#187 Hartwick Started out at #149 and has went the other way. Plagued by inconsistent play. Will fight for
a playoff spot. Record 4-4.

#232 RIT The Tigers opened in the #190 position moved up to #167 after opening with 5 wins but
they were against weak competition. They lost 3 straight games and finished 8th out of
8 teams in the Wendy's Classic. I guess that's why they were the 8th seed despite having
the best record going into the tournament. Record 5-3

#236 Oneonta Red Dragons opened the year at #200 but quickly moved up to #139 after their opening
season win over Rochester. It's been mostly downhill since then and they have steadily
tumbled to their present position. I doubt things will get any better for them. Record 2-4

#242 Ithaca Bombers have disappointed so far this season. Started out at#135 and have continued
their freefall as they dropped another 26 spots over the weekend. Maybe they will have a
reversal of fortune similar to what occurred last year when they came on strong in the
latter half of the season. Still think they are in the playoff hunt in the E8. Record is 3-4.

And some of the others without the commentary:

#261 Hilbert
#265 Alfred
#270 New Paltz
#292 Elmira
#301 Morrisville State
#306 Medaille
#314 Utica College
#319 St Lawrence They should move up some
#336 RPI
#342 Bard
#347 SUNYIT
#348 Wells
#351 Union
#353 Potsdam State
#354 Keuka
#372 Fredonia State
#382 Cazenovia
#399 SUNY Cobleskill
#404 D'Youville
#406 Houghton

#158 Hamilton Not in our region even though it's in our region

#257 Sage Ditto

magicman · December 09, 2013, 04:59:43 PM

Quote from: Bengalsrule on December 09, 2013, 03:58:17 PM
Damn it. I just can't win with you!!

Now you got it right. Finally.

I'd give you a plus K except I gave you one last night and I can't repeat it yet.

Edit: OK....24 hours are now up so I gave you another one.

Bengalsrule · December 09, 2013, 05:31:45 PM

My man!

P.s. Good stuff on the massey info there oh Magic 1!. Gotta believe that a good winter tourney schedule and successes in those games i.e Plattsburgh vs #38 Wis-Stout, Buff State vs #78 Carthage and #99 North Central illinois, Oneonta vs #116 St. John Fisher and possibly Cortland facing # 52 Catholic University (in the CUA tourney), should bode well if we win more than we lose (especially Plattsburgh and Cortland).

As far as my beloved BENGALS ranking, I would agree with massey. Had we held on to leads vs. Hobart and Ohio Northern, in the last min, then undoubtly we would have fared better in his ranking. It's up to us to make Orlando a place where we show what we have. Plus it will be the first time all 14 BENGALS will be healthy (knock on wood)!

If anyone knows anything about Carthage or North Central from this season then please feel free to share. I know an assistant coach at Buff State that just loves to suck up on the info he can on Non-Sunyac teams!

Bengalsrule · December 09, 2013, 05:38:49 PM

This just In....

Justin Mitchell is named SUNYAC POW

"The senior forward became the 20th Bengal to score 1,000 career points during an incredible weekend where he averaged 31.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in a pair of SUNYAC wins. Mitchell had a double-double with 27 points and 12 boards in an 89-68 win over Oneonta on Friday, and then scored a career-best 35 points in a 109-99 win over New Paltz on Saturday. He shot an astounding 73-percent from the field and also had six blocks in the two games."

magicman · December 09, 2013, 06:55:37 PM

Quote from: Bengalsrule on December 09, 2013, 05:38:49 PM
This just In....

Justin Mitchell is named SUNYAC POW

"The senior forward became the 20th Bengal to score 1,000 career points during an incredible weekend where he averaged 31.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in a pair of SUNYAC wins. Mitchell had a double-double with 27 points and 12 boards in an 89-68 win over Oneonta on Friday, and then scored a career-best 35 points in a 109-99 win over New Paltz on Saturday. He shot an astounding 73-percent from the field and also had six blocks in the two games."

Was there any other options?

Not this week. When a guy scores his 1000th point he almost always is the Player of the Week. When you put up the numbers that Justin did for those 2 games along with scoring your 1000th point, then you should be Player of the Universe. I mean 73%, really... He made 27 of 37 shots. I just hope he was nominated by your SID for the D3hooops Team of the Week. Can't be 5 guys in the country with better stats than Justin had in the past week. One or two maybe but not five. (And maybe not even 1 or 2) Happy for him.

magicman · December 09, 2013, 07:14:05 PM

Geneseo hosts Alfred State tonight. Only game in town.

Alfred State is winless on the season with an 0-7 record. The Pioneers aren't just losing they're getting blown out by almost every one they play. Tonight won't be any different. This game will be over in about 10 minutes or less. Hard to put a number to this one as it will depend on the mercy of the Geneseo coaching staff. If they are reasonable it will be something like 85-50. If not it could be 105 to 55.

magicman · December 09, 2013, 07:46:30 PM

Geneseo State leads Alfred State 62-25 at the half.

Matt Curry with 16 points. Gordon Lyons with 8.
Knights had 12 players see action in the half with 11 of them hitting the scoring column.

Jared Bard leads Alfred State with 9 points and Tavon Moore has 7.

magicman · December 09, 2013, 11:59:27 PM

Apparently the Geneseo coaching staff did everything in their power to keep this game from reaching an outrageous conclusion but despite the fact that just about every non-starter had double digit minutes the final margin of victory was almost twice as much as Alfred State scored. The final was 117-43. The MOV was 74 points. It counts as a win but won't help the SOS much.

Geneseo is now 5-1 and will be idle until they fly out to Washington State and take on the Puget Sound Loggers from the North West Conference on December 30th.

magicman · December 10, 2013, 05:40:04 AM

New D3hoops Top 25 is out. Here's the link: http://d3hoops.com/top25/men/2013-14/week3

No East Region team in the Top 25 as Hobart falls completely off the charts with their 2 losses over the weekend. I was surprised they even made it into the Top 25. A number of East Region teams were more worthy than the Statesmen.

One of them is Brockport and the Golden Eagles are getting some attention as they picked up 15 votes and come in at #36. The Wendy's Classic Champions will not be back on the court for over 3 weeks and may suffer in the polls because of that. They return to action when they travel to Hamilton on December 30th to take on the Continentals, a game I think they will win.

NYU comes in at #37 with 5 votes. Every year the Violets get some early love due to the easy pickins they put together on their non-con schedule. As I mentioned in another post, earlier today, their opponents have a combined 14-25 record. Not the stuff that legends are made of. Massey has 3 SUNYAC teams all with losses on their record ranked ahead of unbeaten NYU.

No other East Region team received a mention this week. SUNYAC hopes will have to ride the wings of the Golden Eagles for the time being. I don't see any of the other teams getting much support unless someone like Plattsburgh, Cortland, Geneseo, or Oswego can put together a substantial winning streak. The problem as usual is that we take turns beating up on each other (Oswego over Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh over Cortland in just the first weekend of action) and unless one of the aforementioned teams goes on a nice run we will remain on the outside of the Top 25.

magicman · December 10, 2013, 06:00:04 AM

The SUNYAC has put together a rather middling 27-22 out of conference record through games of 12-09. Three of those wins have been recorded against out of region opponents so as far as the NCAA is concerned our official won-lost log is 24-22. The bottom 4 teams have combined for a paltry 5 wins since Potsdam's lone W came against SUNY-Canton and is one of those non-region games. Those same 4 teams have 15 of our 22 losses and unfortunately all of those count.

The Massey Ratings count all of our games and after last night's Geneseo win (which doesn't count in our official record) is added, it will show us to have that 27-22 record. That will put us in 19th place out of his 47 placements. A long way from where we were a few short weeks ago (in the top 10). Thank goodness for the 5-1 record (actually a 4-1 record for NCAA purposes since the Port's win over Roberts Wesleyan is a non D3 win) that Brockport and Geneseo put up in the Wendy's tournament.

There are 20 more non-conference games remaining to be played. I think we may go 11-9 in those 20 games. Plattsburgh, Buffalo State, and Cortland all have 2 games each in holiday tournaments. The competition in those 3 tournaments will be pretty strong. Plattsburgh and Buffalo State could both go 0-2 but I'm projecting both to go 1-1.

I think Plattsburgh, who travels to Florida at the end of December, defeats Millikin, but will stumble against nationally ranked #19 UW-Stout. Buffalo State plays 2 CCIW teams, North Central and Carthage, also in Florida in 10 days. Neither one is currently ranked but North Central was as high as #4 earlier and is still receiving votes. I think they beat Carthage and drop a close one to North Central. I sure hope I'm wrong on those projected losses. That would be a big boost for the individual teams come tourney time as well as help our conference ranking if we both went 2-0 in the Florida tournaments.

Cortland still isn't listing their opposition in the Catholic University Tournament and neither is Catholic U. All websites say TBA on the games. Don't know what the big secret is. I would think you would know what the matchups are going to be for a tournament that is just 25 days away, at least for the 1st round games.
WHERE IS FRAN ELIA WHEN I NEED HIM? I'm guessing the Red Dragons will go 1-1 at worst. I think they can beat Catholic if they play them but don't know who the other 2 teams are. And Cortland may not face Catholic but get both of the unknown teams. Catholic has moved up into the ORV category of the rankings and sits in 30th place nationally.

Oneonta heads south to play 2 games against 2 USA South Athletic Conference teams. It's not a tournament so they will play the Averett Cougars on December 30th in Danville, Virginia on the Cougars home court and then take on the Greensboro Pride in Greensboro, North Carolina on New Year's Day. Neither one of these teams will be unbeatable for Oneonta but I'm not sure if the Red Dragons can win down there on the road. I anticipated a pair of losses in those 2 games.

I see Cortland winning 2 games against the Utica teams, SUNYIT and Utica College. Oswego has their 2 cupcakes left, Cazenovia and Cobleskill. Fredonia will win their remaining non-con against Alfred State which will do absolutely nothing for us since it won't count, (except for Massey) and Potsdam should win 1 of their remaining 2 games, since Merchant Marine is not a very good team. The Bears without Rob Duquette, aren't a very good team either, but they should still have enough to win that game. They play Manhattanville on January 7th in Potsdam and with Duquette in the lineup they could win that game but I didn't plan on it.

Brockport should beat Hamilton and if you're wondering why we only have 69 non-con games instead of 70 (10x7=70 remember) it's because the Golden Eagles are the 1 YAC team that only has 6 games out of conference. Someone probably saw some tape of Coach Dunne's "helter-skelter press you all over defense" and backed out of playing them.

Just a guess. So if any coaches that need to fill up their dance card are listening, give Coach Dunne a call he has an opening.

I think Oneonta drops their game against St. John Fisher, but an upset is certainly possible there. I hope Geneseo wins their last non-con game against Puget Sound, I put it in the win column. The only other OOC game left is New Paltz at Hamilton. I don't think the Hawks will win this game, especially at Hamilton, but they could surprise. I put it in the loss column.

The final non conference game for the SUNYAC will take place on January 7th at 7:30 PM when Plattsburgh State travels to nationally ranked #18 Middlebury to face their interstate rival in Pepin Gym. The Panthers have owned the Cardinals for the past 5 years and although there have been some extremely close contests, the Panthers have emerged victorious. I don't think this year will be any different. If we had them at home this time around I'd pick the Cardinals but beating them on the road will be a tough row to hoe. The early line has the Panthers favored by a 4 point margin. If our big man Reggie Williams was back in action I'd feel a little better but without him, the size of the Panthers frontcourt and their replacements will be a major concern. Middlebury graduated 3 all conference performers from last years team but the Panthers, as they have done for the past 8 years or so, have simply reloaded. This game will be a barnburner and the chance for a Cardinal win is a definite possibility, I'm just not putting it in our column at this time.

So 27-22 at present with a projected 11-9 finish will leave us with a 38-31 record. For Massey's Ratings that will give us a win percentage of .551%. For the NCAA it will be a 34-31 log that will be a win percentage of .523%. I was hoping it would be higher than that this year. Maybe we can hit the jackpot over the holidays and bring home some bling.

FranElia · December 10, 2013, 12:00:50 PM

I'm here, Magicman, I'm here...

Sorry I haven't posted the Catholic matchup yet - just found out recently myself. I guess Catholic waits until the season starts to decide who they're going to play in the first round of their tournament. Cortland will face Catholic in the first round. Not sure of game time.

And a little late on this as well, but here our some highlights from Cortland's games last weekend vs. Potsdam and Plattsburgh (courtesy of Cortland sports info grad. asst. Brendan Hourihan):

Cortland-Plattsburgh highlights:
http://youtu.be/_PUv97Gp2v0

Cortland-Potsdam highlights:
http://youtu.be/dVVkRADxRBk

Keep up the good work - love the info and analysis. Would love to see more fans get involved on this board with insight from the games they're watching.

Fran