UMES is 0-9. Nice RPI boost not that it matters.

[gibhunter]

I'd hope that next year we would play CCSU or Rhode Island instead of a team like that.

Ps. Fordham is 1-8. Nice sisters of the poor scheduling there.

 

[cohenzone]

I'd hope that next year we would play CCSU or Rhode Island instead of a team like that.

Ps. Fordham is 1-8. Nice sisters of the poor scheduling there.

If you know from one year to the next what record teams like UMES will have, I want you to invest for me. Every major program in the country has mid to low major teams on the schedule that can vary all over the place in W and Ls. Besides, look at us, we don't have the team this year personnel wise that when our schedules were made that even mid-season last year anyone could have identified. We've had years following very good years where we struggled to make the NIT.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Our strength of schedule is strong just about every year. If you remember, last year we were the classic case (especially prior to winning 2 games in the BET) of a team with a mediocre W/L record but very strong computer numbers. In general, the individuals who make our schedule know what they are doing.

 

[caw]

These next two games do kind of stink but I think it's a great time to play less than decent competition: it allows the kids to work on finals, gets them to work on plays in game and lets them (hopefully) heal up/rest a bit before the BE grind starts.

UConn's SOS may drop a bit the next few games, but this is actually a pretty solid out of conference schedule:

• 4 of the twelve games are against teams in BCS conferences (Wake, NCST, MST, Washington)
• one of the best mid-majors in the country in New Mexico
• a usually solid Harvard squad
• some decent low-majors
• 2 pretty crappy teams
• 5 of those games were neutral court games

Taking away the games versus UConn, at least the opponents so far have a combined record of 48-21.
We could be like a top 10 teams who have played a schedule with 7 home games against teams with a combined record of 27-26 (minus the 7 losses to that top 10 team). Well that team also had one neutral court game in very favorable conditions that really shouldn't even count.

 

[Oxford Bob]

We could have Missouri's home schedule
SIU-Edwardsville
Alcorn St
Nichols St
Appalachain St
SE Misoouri St
Tenn St
S.Carolina St

That's gotta get the home fans excited.

 

[caw]

We could have Missouri's home schedule
SIU-Edwardsville
Alcorn St
Nichols St
Appalachain St
SE Misoouri St
Tenn St
S.Carolina St

That's gotta get the home fans excited.

Cincy and Kansas also have pretty crappy schedules.

 

[UConnSwag11]

we havent beaten them yet, so its not a done deal

 

[Huskymaniac]

We will probably still only win by 8. Seriously, Ollie needs to show he can get these kids up for the crappy teams as much as he does for the good teams. Hustle and winning are a habit and you can't get off the wagon for even a game without risking bad play becoming a habit.

 

[ctchamps]

They aren't playing differently in any of the games as a team. The problem is inconsistency amongst the players which is expected considering everyone is playing new positions. SN has been the one consistent player but teams put their best defender on him and will play off our other guys to make sure he doesn't get hot.

KO is saying it over and over again to the point it sounds like a cliche, but it is true, there is very little margin of error for this team. They have not blown anyone out because they don't get more than two productive players in a game. If they get four productive players, and continue playing with the defensive intensity they've shown thus far, they can blow someone out.

DD, EW and OC could be productive for this team but I classify all three as freshmen. They may not develop consistency ever, but it certainly is very common the first year of extensive court time players struggle and are inconsistent.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

We will probably still only win by 8. Seriously, Ollie needs to show he can get these kids up for the crappy teams as much as he does for the good teams. Hustle and winning are a habit and you can't get off the wagon for even a game without risking bad play becoming a habit.

Well, we jumped out to a 15-2 start against Harvard, so it's hard to argue that Ollie "didn't get the kids up" for the game.

There's a reason why we aren't blowing anybody out. In a typical year, the "lesser" teams wouldn't even bother going to the basket against us because they knew it wouldn't end well. This is not a typical year.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If you know from one year to the next what record teams like UMES will have, I want you to invest for me. Every major program in the country has mid to low major teams on the schedule that can vary all over the place in W and Ls. Besides, look at us, we don't have the team this year personnel wise that when our schedules were made that even mid-season last year anyone could have identified. We've had years following very good years where we struggled to make the NIT.

I can tell you that UMES will always suck. The MEAC is one of the worst leagues in Division 1, with a total of 3 NCAA tournament wins in the conference's history. It always will be one of the worst leagues. Why not save someone the airfare and play another NEC game?

 

[freescooter]

We could have Missouri's home schedule
SIU-Edwardsville
Alcorn St
Nichols St
Appalachain St
SE Misoouri St
Tenn St
S.Carolina St

That's gotta get the home fans excited.

We have had schedules like that. 2007 comes to mind...

 

[caw]

We have had schedules like that. 2007 comes to mind...

True, but then again UConn in 06-07 wasn't supposed to be a top 5 or top 10 team and had 7 freshmen.

 

[Huskymaniac]

A lot of these cupcake games are political. Maybe someone at UConn is doing someone at UMES a favor.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Who cares? We can't get into the dance anyway. Next year we can worry about SOS.

 

[caw]

Who cares? We can't get into the dance anyway. Next year we can worry about SOS.

It matters for a few reasons beyond the dance. Top games attract top recruits. Good games/competition help build players for next year. Overall though it's not a big deal. Similar to how I really don't care how BE teams are doing this year. Normally I would want every BE team to win every game OOC, but this year, f'em.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It matters for a few reasons beyond the dance. Top games attract top recruits. Good games/competition help build players for next year. Overall though it's not a big deal. Similar to how I really don't care how BE teams are doing this year. Normally I would want every BE team to win every game OOC, but this year, f'em.

Nobody will see a game against Maine or CCSU. So it doesn't matter. The national TV games matter. And we already had MSU, New Mexico, WF and NC State. Washington coming up. That's not a bad OOC lineup at all. How bad the bad teams are is irrelevant.

 

[baldinghusky]

There's a reason why we aren't blowing anybody out. In a typical year, the "lesser" teams wouldn't even bother going to the basket against us because they knew it wouldn't end well. This is not a typical year.

I think it's much more likely that we don't shoot anywhere near well enough, nor are efficient enough to average getting beat on the boards by 4+ and stay competitive (I think of WVU and Nova as teams who have managed to win fairly well despite being very poor rebounding teams). We appear to be playing pretty good defense, but we are simply not scoring, and that's why we can't pull away.

 

[whaler11]

I can tell you that UMES will always suck. The MEAC is one of the worst leagues in Division 1, with a total of 3 NCAA tournament wins in the conference's history. It always will be one of the worst leagues. Why not save someone the airfare and play another NEC game?

It's actually more NCAA wins than the NEC which has never won a real NCAA game. But UMES always sucks and MEAC basketball only exists to play guarantee games to fund the rest of the athletic department.

Will UMES really fly to this game?