Series vs. UMass coming

[upstater]

Sorry to pollute the board.

AD Ryan Bamford: UMass basketball 'close' to scheduling series with rival UConn

Games at Storrs, Amherst, Hartford and maybe Boston

 

[Stainmaster]

Someone check in on Paesano and see if he's doing okay.

 

[John]

Sorry to pollute the board.

AD Ryan Bamford: UMass basketball 'close' to scheduling series with rival UConn

Games at Storrs, Amherst, Hartford and maybe Boston

great news, hopefully we can lock up that UMBC series too.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Good. If we are going to play New England teams let's not make it Maine or NH or BU.
Schedule UMass, Northeastern, PC, Harvard, Yale....
It is clear the committee values competition over record (a la Syracuse last season, and it ended up being the right selection).

 

[TRest]

"Rival"?

 

[upstater]

Good. If we are going to play New England teams let's not make it Maine or NH or BU.
Schedule UMass, Northeastern, PC, Harvard, Yale....
It is clear the committee values competition over record (a la Syracuse last season, and it ended up being the right selection).

RPI is still something they look at. A school like Boston U. that is often atop their conference has an inflated record against scrubs, but they also schedule top teams often. In other words, BU's RPI is usually a lot higher than the quality of the team.

 

[alexd]

Next up.....PC fans' heads explode... "UMass???....UConn is scared of PC".

 

[80shusky]

Last year's RPI of the above teams in this conversation:
UMASS 174
BU 185
PC 32
Yale 43
Harvard 187

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

RPI is still something they look at. A school like Boston U. that is often atop their conference has an inflated record against scrubs, but they also schedule top teams often. In other words, BU's RPI is usually a lot higher than the quality of the team.

Fair enough. I obviously never said they don't look at RPI, but I'd feel better about the team heading into the postseason and our chances to make the tourney being 20-10 with losses to 9 tournament level teams than a better record with little/no significant wins.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Last year's RPI of the above teams in this conversation:
UMASS 174
BU 185
PC 32
Yale 43
Harvard 187

Harvard has a top 15 recruiting class coming in and is consistently good. UMass plays in a solid conference. Wouldn't your rather play them than Maine, NH, etc.

 

[80shusky]

Harvard has a top 15 recruiting class coming in and is consistently good. UMass plays in a solid conference. Wouldn't your rather play them than Maine, NH, etc.

Yes, I wasn't disagreeing with you. Out of curiosity I looked up the RPIs and decided to post them.

 

[upstater]

Last year's RPI of the above teams in this conversation:
UMASS 174
BU 185
PC 32
Yale 43
Harvard 187

Well, I said most every year. The year we played them Boston U. was 90.
But even at 185, you're getting a team that is not really in that echelon (i.e. equivalent to Harvard and UMass).

The good thing about top low majors is that they don't require a home-and-home, and they have RPIs that help you (between 90-200). PC for instance with a 32 RPI isn't going to give you a free home game.

I wonder if the Boston game is a lynchpin to all of this.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Yes, I wasn't disagreeing with you. Out of curiosity I looked up the RPIs and decided to post them.

The natural instinct on the Boneyard is to attack everyone that responds.

 

[Matrim55]

Harvard has a top 15 recruiting class coming in and is consistently good. UMass plays in a solid conference.

FWIW both Harvard's & UMass's recruiting classes are ranked anywhere from 25-35, and UMass has a chance to add another good class this year with Bede & French.

I think they're going to be pretty good for a while.

 

[Yonick]

Next up.....PC fans' heads explode... "UMass???....UConn is scared of PC".

Yeah, this ought to rile up friarJ amongst others.
If true, I suppose Cloth Frog will return here.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Well, I said most every year. The year we played them Boston U. was 90.
But even at 185, you're getting a team that is not really in that echelon (i.e. equivalent to Harvard and UMass).

The good thing about top low majors is that they don't require a home-and-home, and they have RPIs that help you (between 90-200). PC for instance with a 32 RPI isn't going to give you a free home game.

I wonder if the Boston game is a lynchpin to all of this.

Yeah,
There's also not really much to complain about in terms of our non conference schedule this year, and the series scheduled going forward. I guess there's not much to complain about with Wagner, N. Florida and NE as our "scrub" teams, atleast compared to recent years. Got SEC, B1G, ACC, Big East on our schedule and potential for NC, Oregon, Wisconsin. Good stuff.

 

[Brochacho]

So our H/Hs under the new administration (assuming this is finalized) are Auburn and UMass. Cool.

 

[Pudge]

Sure ... we can play RPI too.

(tongue in cheek)

 

[Tenspro2002]

I'm all for upgrading the cupcake portion of our schedule, but the fact that these will be a home/road/neutral series suggests that this is actually being billed as a "marquee" matchup, not merely an upgrade over UNH/Maine.

That's pretty uninspiring and not great optics either. It looks small-time, regional.

The only upside I can see to it is maybe the ability to assert our presence in the Boston/Mass market.

 

[Deepster]

Is the b-ball.com "rivalry" board going back up too?

 

[80shusky]

Well, I said most every year. The year we played them Boston U. was 90.
But even at 185, you're getting a team that is not really in that echelon (i.e. equivalent to Harvard and UMass).

The good thing about top low majors is that they don't require a home-and-home, and they have RPIs that help you (between 90-200). PC for instance with a 32 RPI isn't going to give you a free home game.

I wonder if the Boston game is a lynchpin to all of this.

185 is still good compared to some of the 200+ teams we played the last two years. I'd take that as our botom end.

 

[80shusky]

I'm all for upgrading the cupcake portion of our schedule, but the fact that these will be a home/road/neutral series suggests that this is actually being billed as a "marquee" matchup, not merely an upgrade over UNH/Maine.

That's pretty uninspiring and not great optics either. It looks small-time, regional.

The only upside I can see to it is maybe the ability to assert our presence in the Boston/Mass market.

Actually it isn't terrible. They have a chance in the A10 to be a top 100 RPI team if they can compete over the next few years. There are certainly worse match ups out there for us.

 

[Paesano]

Someone check in on Paesano and see if he's doing okay.

So long as we win.

 

[Paesano]

Is the b-ball.com "rivalry" board going back up too?

Good times.........

 

[Paesano]

So our H/Hs under the new administration (assuming this is finalized) are Auburn and UMass. Cool.

I don't think umess deserves a home game. Hartford is a short drive for them. Make them drive.