She’s A Beauty

Today’s theme is all about pimping myself. You’ll see what I mean shortly.

I want to open with a statement about tomorrow. The calendar officially turns to February, which means we get to–officially–start talking about March. This means All CAA teams, late season runs, Bracket Busters, The Bubble, who has done well and who has done poorly, recruiting.

And at large bids.

I’m not making a statment on any of those because it isn’t tomorrow yet. You see, February 1 makes it okay to begin analyzing all of it. Today, you are still a crackpot and talking about something WAY too early. Tomorrow, have at it.

It’s amazing what one day means.

***

I make my teevee debut tomorrow (outside of that disasterous appearance on Cops) on Virginia This Morning, talking up the book and the conference to a regional audience on Richmond’s version of the Today Show. (Side note: I wish it were the actual Today Show, of only to give me the opportunity to punch Matt Lauer in the teeth.)

This weekend I think I’ve got a gig on MSG, thanks to the fine folks at Hofstra University.

And I’ve been told that a New York Barnes & Noble is sold out and has a waiting list of 30 for the book.

And the self-congrats carry on as we get into the…

Predictions

UNCW at Georgia State: We don’t have many rules here at caahoops, but this game is screaming the Flip Flop rule. Perry’s Panthers have been playing poorly (note the alliteration, ye editors looking for a creative writer) and The Dub is coming off of a great win. However Georgia State slept in their own beds and The Mossmen are 0-9 on the road this year.
Final Call: I Still Hate Atlanta 64, I Still Love the Beach 60

Delaware at George Mason: I’m still not over Will Thomas getting just six shots the other night. I’m not over Delaware’s beating of Hofstra. And I’m also not over the end of Arrested Development, but that’s a different story. It’s funny–with the wackiness this season has produced, I would call this game the same way now that I would’ve in October. There are few games that will apear on the schedule that way. (Note the ability to find a nugget when there’s nothing to say, ye editors looking for strong writing analysis.)
Final Call: Washington’s Presidential Scene 74, Washington’s Famous River Crossing 58

James Madison at William & Mary: In less than a year these two bitter rivals will go at it on the gridiron in the initial season of CAA football, but that has nothing to do with this blog or basketball in general. This is a winnable game for Senor Crankypants. Shaverthatmoustache, I’m quickly realizing, is the Anti Bruiser: he frequently crouches on the sideline most of the way down his bench, almost imperceptible. It seems no matter where you look, there is Bruiser. Again, really has nothing to do with this game but gives you something to look for. The Tribe is much-improved and it shows.
Final Call: Jimmie Laycock 71, Mickey Mathews 61

Northeastern at Towson: I find it odd that everybody talked about Towson in the preseason and now they are nearly forgotten. The Tigers, though, are an under-the-radar 5-6 in conference and have the same talent everyone feared in October. The Poor Bills carry the odd-looking record of 5-6, 7-15. Fashion note: now that I saw The Tribe the other night, I’ve seen every team in person. Nor’Easter’s road red is the best looking uniforms I’ve seen. Anthony Grant and Tony Shaver are going to get most of the press for coach of the year, but you should reserve a place on your ballots for Poor Bill. In many ways, what he has accomplished is remarkable. All I can say for this game, though, is that it isn’t being played in Matthews.
Final Call: Black Label 66, Red Stripe 59

Old Dominion at Drexel: I know, this one is tomorrow. Making the call today, though, opens up some time in my Thursday. Granted I’m exposed to uncontrollable factors like it’s going to snow and Frank Elegar getting suspended again, but I’m a risk taker. Brandon Johnson has been ridiculously good in the past couple of weeks, coming into his own and, honestly, surpassing Drew Williamson in terms of value for ODU. But in the Really Good Player Development Arc, this is is the speed bump where Bash Mason contains him to nine points, four assists and five rebounds. ODU is exposed underneath if Crawford takes more than five shots.
Final Call: John Daskalaskis 59, Ted Constant 55

VCU at Hofstra: The big games always go last in the order, and I cannot imagine any game bigger than #1 vs. #2. This one is a tea leaves game: last night in Tuesday Henrico County Men’s Basketball action, I was on fire. I hit six of nine from beyond the arc and commented “I feel like BA Walker.” If that’s not a sign of my idiocy and of karma, I don’t know what one is. Add to that the George Litos Home Team rule and the Just Played Badly rule and the choice becomes clear. (Note the ability to tie in the open and the close, ye editors in search of writing craft.)
Final Call: Flying Dutchmen 74, Green Devils 72

Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

“Damn, that cost us the at large berth.”

It’s not exactly the words you were accustomed to hearing from CAA Legions, but they’ve become prevalent this year.

We’ve heard those words a lot today, and from a shocking place: somewhere along I-95 between Newark and Hempstead. I’m still a bit goose-pimply about Delaware’s 72-68 upset over Hofstra last night. I’m still not sure many people have their arms around that one.

I was following along while watching VCU put on a clinic against The Tribe. (When the opposing coach opens up his postgame presser with “Wow…wow…” you know something happened–more on that one later.)

I saw Hofstra pull away a bit–maybe 47-39 or soemthing like that–and my thought was: “there’s the wall…Hofstra’s going to pull away from here.”

Then it was about 58-56 Hofstra and I said: “Great effort for Monte’s guys. A close loss against a 9-1 team will give them reason to smile.”

Then it was, maybe, 67-67 and I thought: “Loren Stokes to the rescue.”

Then the final score was announced and fans in the Siegel Center cheered, perhaps in disbelief. My eyebrows went crooked and remained that way for a full three minutes, or two BA Walker three-pointers.

I don’t know what to say about that, but Tom Pecora does.

“I don’t know how to coach a team that tries to outscore people,” he said. “I know how to coach a team that defends and rebounds.

As to the notion of last night being a trap game, Pecora flatly called that “Manure.”

Wow indeed.

***

There really isn’t much to talk about regarding Bracket Busters right now. ESPN is waiting another few days or a week to determine which games get The Deuce, which one hit The U, and which ones are on that ridiculous ESPN360 concept.

I’d imagine a VCU win in Hempstead gets them on The Deuce, but CAA fans should openly root for Bradley, who has Creighton and Southern Illinois in theeir next two games.

Drexel has an outside shot themselves.

ODU, Hofstra, and George Mason got the other Network games. Other games for the CAA TBD.

Drexel at Creighton

Kent State at George Mason

Holy Cross at Hofstra

Old Dominion at Toledo

Bradley at VCU

In non-televised games involving CAA teams…

Towson (11-11, 5-6 in CAA) travels to Bucknell (12-8, 6-1 in Patriot)

Northeastern (7-15, 5-6 in CAA) hosts Maine (10-11, 5-4 in America East)

James Madison (6-15, 3-8 in CAA) visits Siena (11-10, 6-5 in MAAC)

Delaware (4-18, 2-9 in CAA) entertains Iona (0-21, 0-11 in MAAC)

UNC Wilmington (5-15, 2-9 in CAA) travels to in-state foe UNC Greensboro (12-9, 9-2 in SoCon)

Georgia State (7-14, 3-8 in CAA) hosts Elon (5-14, 3-6 in SoCon)

William & Mary (11-10, 4-7 in CAA) visits Fairfield (8-15, 6-5 in MAAC).

***

Thanks, Rob

POW: BA Walker, VCU: Walker averaged 24.0 points and 5.5 rebounds as VCU extended its winning streak to nine with road victories at George Mason and Drexel. The senior guard scored a team-high 24 points, including 17 in the second half, as the Rams beat Mason 75-62. He also netted a team-best 24 points in a 75-68 triumph at Drexel, with 19 coming in the second half. For the week, Walker shot 62.5% from the floor and was 11-of-16 (68.8%) from 3-point range.

NOW: Matt Janning, Nor’Easter: Janning averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals in leading Northeastern to a pair of conference wins last week. The freshman guard poured in a career-high 23 points and added five rebounds and five steals in a 67-51 victory over James Madison and had 14 points, a career-high eight rebounds and four assists as the Huskies beat Delaware 73-64. For the week, Janning shot 57.1% from the floor and was 5-of-10 from 3-point range.

Side Notes: Walker was also named the National Player of the Week by Fox Sports.com, and Janning continues to excel despite being 13-years old.

Gary Neal went over the 2,000-point mark (2,029) for his career last week after pouring in 36 points in a win over Delaware and netting 29 in a narrow loss to Hofstra.

***

Lest I forget, Hofstra wasn’t the only CAA top halfer to lose to a 1-9 team. George Mason headed down to the beach and was beaten by The Dub 65-58 behind 17 points from My Man Vladie Kools.

Give me a a couple of games and I think I have the Patriots figured out. I can tell you the answer is not getting Will Thomas SIX SHOTS in 35 minutes.

***

Side note from Saturday: I have no idea why I forgot this until now, but Just Be Oveneke had one of the sweetest dunks I’ve seen in a long time. His flush to end the half against VCU was inspiring to those of us that play above the rim.

***

Couple of coaching quickies:

Anthony Grant, asked if Florida “played like a mid major” last year in its run to the national championship.

“You get teams to play together and that’s not an indication of talent level. It’s the same goal.”

Sorry, but I loved that question.

Blaine Taylor, on the CAA in general:

“They called our league the bracket buster league before the ESPN moniker…the mid major term is old hat we need to get rid of that.”

“The guard play in this league takes a back seat to nobody.”

***

Have some fun this weekend. If we couldn’t laugh, we’d all go insane.

Shout

I’m a grand disappointment today. I know this. You know how business meetings go, and I had a doozie. So I’m hamstrung on time. I know I’m shedding tears nobody cares about, but look: if I got paid for this ridiculous blog, I may be able to devote actual time to it. You would get more information and less Shakespeare.

I actually blame it on the conference. This friggin five games in 11 days tests even me. If I didn’t have to worry about Monday predictions and getting to the Shaverthatmoustache/VCU game, I could take my time and write something extraordinarily incisive about Bracket Busters. Sadly, I’ll give you Styx or Stones. (Yes, I’m crying again. But this time I’m deflecting blame. It’s a skill you pick up in the business world.)

***

First, some random thoughts about the Daskaslasiasiaskliasiasklis Center. I think the thing that most impresses me is that the DAC PACK has their own section. And I’m not talking about the “everybody get there early and save seats” kind of section. I mean on the plaquard on the wall that shows the layout of the gym–and that is a kind word for the building–there is actually a section titled DAC PACK. That’s impressive.

These guys are good at what they do, too. Very organized and loud, though they need someone to work with them on creativity. Some guys in blue in the end zone–not the sanctioned DAC Pack section–had the best chant of the day, pumping “Bob-ble-head” at VCUs Eric Maynor. Very funny stuff.

I was told the President of the university was gonig to sit up in the section with them at one point–I think the under 16:00 media time out–but I forgot to check. That means you’ve arrived. In fact, these guys are probably the best student section since UNCWs famous Hecklers from a few years back. Perhaps there should be a pasing of the torch at this year’s tournament in Richmond. At least a ceremonial box or something.

***

Bracket Busters: I don’t know. We’ll talk tomorrow about that.

***

Weekend Wrapup

Nothing exciting or taxing other than VCU winning again on the road over the Elegarless Dragons to move to 10-0 in the conference and creep closer to a national ranking.

Think Wednesday holds any intrigue?

***

Predictions
Pain-free today, because I need to run. Sometimes the best creativity is minimalism.

William & Mary at VCU
Just no letdown in sight, but closer than experts think.
Dayton 73, North Carolina 65

Hofstra at Delaware
Foreigners play a lot tonight.
Lithuania 81, Newark (not THAT one) 66

Georgia State at Old Dominion
Surely there’s a rerun of M*A*S*H on teevee.
Henry Blake 72, Sherman Potter 56

Drexel at Northeastern
Like this couldn’t have been predicted for Poor Bill.
Fire 64, Ice 56

George Mason at UNCW
In November many would’ve called this the CAA championship game.
Gunston 74, Some Guy in a Hawk Suit 60

Towson at James Madison
In November nobody would’ve called this the CAA championship game.
Road Team 79, Home Team 71

I Can’t Wait

Patience, young grasshopper. So very much to get to on this fine morning:

1. My time in the Daskasckassisaskasis Center.

2. Bracket Busters

3. Predictions

4. Other random blather that hits my mind between now and then.

In Your Eyes

This from the conference office:

CAA ISSUES ONE-GAME SUSPENSION TO DREXEL’S ELEGAR

RICHMOND, Va. (January 26, 2007) – CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager has suspended Drexel University men’s basketball player Frank Elegar for one game for unsportsmanlike conduct during the Dragons’ game at the University of Delaware on January 20. Elegar will miss Drexel’s next game with VCU on Saturday.

The incident occurred midway through the second half of last Saturday’s game when Elegar committed a flagrant act against Delaware’s Sam McMahon.

Everybody Wang Chung Tonight

I’m not sure what’s gotten into me today, but it’s a good thing. Could be the fantastic review or the book’s release being imminent. Might be that I’m headed to Philly for another great CAA matchup–VCU at Drexel–and will try to make it to Towson to see how Tom Pecora plans to defend Gary Neal. Two things I enjoy are CAA hoops and traveling. This weekend is a coup because I get to do both, and The Beautiful One will be alongside.

Maybe it’s just the coffee.

***

Think the national media is glomming onto the CAA? Articles about VCU and Anthony Grant have popped up on Fox, Sporting News, and ESPN, among other outlets. I wouldn’t be shocked if, while waiting in line at the grocery store, I look over and see The National Enquirer headline reading: “Paris’ New Basketball Coaching Beau!”

Maybe not. (Side note: once again, Kyle Whelliston was days ahead of everybody else. Pay attention to that guy, if only because he was the one guy that was touting George Mason in middle January last year.)

But that brings up another quickie I want to address this morning. A handful of Loyalists have emailed me wondering why I haven’t posted as many links to other sources citing CAA references.

First, you have guys like Rich Radford and Brain Mull doing an outstanding job for their teams. Blog links are to the right. Second, you also have some guys from Drexel that do the CAA Insider–great for recruiting stuff, which I hate. Link to the right as well.

I could also go into a long, detailed, baloney explanation, but it really comes down to one thing: there are too damn many of them. If there are two main things that have come from George Mason’s Final Four run, it is the number of teevee games and the number of articles on this friggin conference. (Cue Nicholoson in A Few Good Men: “I don’t have the time nor the inclination to explain…”)

Besides, most of you are too smart. You already know what some guy from the Minneapolis Star Tribune is going to write. Hell, Yoni Cohen follows this sport and he managed to mangle two player names in his VCU article. You’ll get nothing from some West Coast reporter who got the directive from his editor: “I read something about the CAA on ESPN. Give me 300 words.”

***

I stand strong behind my view that we are fans and analysts. All that “one game at a time” mess is great for coaches and players, but we have the luxury of that mantra being completely ineffectual on the season.

First, stop it. It’s silly. You know as well as I do you’ve looked ahead and plotted best case and worst case scenarios for Your Team. Admitting that fact isn’t going to impact the team’s concentration or ability to make free throws.

But I understand there are varying levels of therapy necessary for different people, so I will give you a warning: if you are so very afraid of looking ahead on the schedule, stop reading now and skip to the next section.

And keep an eye out for black cats.

That said, we have a great weekend of hoops set up, but I don’t want you to forget one important thing: this is the Kickoff Saturday for the conference’s second swing into SAT-MON-WED-SAT games.

This is doubly-important because we’re crossing the halfway pole this weekend and teams will start positioning themselves and looking at seeding. A rough stretch could prove incredibly hurtful.

Yes, VCU/Drexel is the marquee game tomorrow and Hofstra is playing a potential trap game, but let’s not forget:

Drexel has to go into Mathews to face the Poor Bills on Monday–no easy task coming off Saturday’s war. VCU is also staring at a Monday trap: home to The Tribe after at Drexel and before at Hofstra.

VCU heads to The Island on Wednesday and ODU heads to Philly (technically THU game but you get the point).

And then with everybody running on fumes ODU has to go to Mason and an improving Towson team is at Drexel.

All I’m saying is that there is a lot more going on than tomorrow’s game. Keep your eyes open.

***

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Creeps in This Petty Pace
The last Shakespeare I read, other than my own book, was in my sophomore year in college. This was when Reagan was in office. I may have mangled that quote myself.

Delaware at Nor’Easter: I was listening to the radio this morning and they said it was four degrees in Boston. Fahrenheit. Now, Mathews Arena is usually at four degrees when it’s 70 degress outside. I can’t imagine Harding “Herb” Courtney scoring well while wearing mittens. Monte Ross finds himself in a Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Final Call: Palace of Theseus 60, I Am Sam Quince 51

George Mason at James Madison: Senor Crankypants, we hardly knew ye. This is the kind of game that reinforces things Dennis Green style–they are who we thought they are: GMU good, JMU not so much. Truly a tragedy. Will Thomas shoots 8-11 from teh field and the Patsies head home. If there were ever a dramatis personae in this conference, it would be Jim Larranaga as Julius Ceasar.
Final Call: Et Tu Brute 75, Cassius Swanstonius 58

Hofstra at Towson: Upon further review, I don’t know that Hofstra is the kind of team that can suffer from a trap game. Pecora won’t let that happen. That aside, Towson is quiety playing much better basketball. I can see a Taming of the Shrew here, because Two Gentlemen are better. Valentine nets 28, and Proteus goes for 22 in a high scoring a fun affair. (Note the crossover.)
Final Call: Verona 81, The Lord’s House 76

Georgia State at William & Mary: I need a breather. Shaverthatmoustache has too much and The Tribe rolls in a defensive battle.
Final Call: Mark Antony Shaver 56, Cleoperrytra 52

Old Dominion at UNCW: This is a wrong game at the wrong time matchup. Things are getting very ugly down at the beach and ODU is due its annual Arnaud Dahi Turnaround Game. I had forgotten the three witches were named Vasylius, Marsharee, and Arnaud. And let’s not forget–my Far Side calendar says today is Australia Day. I have no idea what that means, but I think Sam Harris actually scores a field goal tomorrow.
Final Call: Duncan 67, MacBenny 56

VCU at Drexel: There are so many subplots to this one and twists and turns it could take, the only Shakespeare I could think of is Romeo and Juliet. Clearly the heroes could all die in the end, as well. Frank Elegar has to pass out of double teams effectively, and the Drexel defense has to stop the wave of guards VCU will offer. I’m nto sure which way to choose, but let’s put it this way: I’m not callnig Bruiser Flint a woman.
Final Call: Romeo 64, Juliet 62

If You Could See What I See

I’m not altogether sure what Blaine Taylor said in the Old Dominion locker room last night, but I’m pretty sure what it was not. Taylor isn’t a blowhard; there was no torrent of f-bombs, chairs may have been rearranged in a hostile manner but not thrown. He may have needed a new white board pen. (Side note: he is a white board junkie.) You can bet he had the attention of his team. I am nice.

Who would blame him? At the half, ODU trailed William & Mary by 13, in a football-like 27-14 game. ODU had six field goals and five turnovers. Shot on the south end of 20%. At home.

But they scored the first 14 points of the second half and ended up cruising home 59-44.

And now it appears ODU beat reporter Rich Radford has solved the mystery as to why ODU was so horrid one half, and so good the next. Ditto for Shaverthatmoustache. The teams combined to go 2-26 from threeland at the south goal in the Ted Constant Center and Radford smelled a rat.

Radford brought his own tape measure and found that the north end basket at the Constant Center is exactly 10 feet high. Check. The south basket? 10 feet and 3/4 inches high.

Now I see Taylor’s speech clearly: “don’t worry guys, we’re shooting at the good basket this half.”

And to think my rant last year was that they spent $59 million on the building and didn’t outfit it with wireless.

***

Down at the beach, I completely misread how the Drexel/The Dub game was going to go, even though Drexel did win 66-50. I blame it on Benny Moss. See, Moss didn’t tell me he was going to go all Chris Mooney on me and start three freshmen.

Bruiser didn’t bother to tell me Chaz Crawford was sitting down, either.

Here’s what I can’t figure out: The Dub sat down My Man Vladie Kools, who played just 12 minutes. They at times had five guards on the floor; truly an inventive approach. And here’s the rub: they outrebounded Drexel 41-35. I promise I’m going to figure that one out, but part of it may be the long rebounds caused by the combined performance of two of those freshmen, Montez Downey and Darryl Felder. The duo combined to go 1-19 from the field (including a bagel for 10 from beyond the arc).

I need to chat with my favorite official, Sean Hull. Poor guy was exposed to that massacre.

***

The other biggie was VCU running past George Mason 75-62. Not much to take from the stats here: VCU shot 60% from three point land and Mason made just nine of 21 free throws. (Insert that scene from The White Shadow where a not-grossly-overweight Ken Howard implores Coolidge to make his: “It’s free, Cool. That’s why they call it a free throw.”)

This one though, was indeed about matchups. Jordan Carter is a serviceable point guard, but he is too small and not confident enough to match up well against VCUs bigger and more athletic players. Plus, when VCU would double on Will Thomas, Mason had no alternative but to have the off-wing jack a three. Having a guy athletic enough to dribble-drive the lane would’ve resulted in more Thomas layups and fewer long rebounds. (VCU point guard Eric Maynor had 10 rebounds.)

No matter, the other telling thing is that Mason is the conference’s best team defense and VCU scored 75 points. Win, lose, or draw, that is a notable stat.

***

We’ve reached the halfway point. Your standings:

Team CAA Overall
VCU 9-0 17-3
Hofstra 8-1 15-5
Drexel 7-2 15-4
Old Dominion 6-3 13-7
George Mason 5-4 11-8
Towson 4-5 10-10
Northeastern 4-5 6-14
William & Mary 3-6 10-9
Georgia State 3-6 7-12
James Madison 3-6 6-13
UNC Wilmington 1-8 4-14
Delaware 1-8 3-17

Note to file away: it was at this time last year that Loren Stokes hit 15 of 24 shots and scored a career-high 32 points in Hofstra’s loss to Nor’Easter. I made the comment then that Stokes is “rounding into form.”

Seems to me the same thing is happening this year.

***

Tomorrow: weekend preview as I need to gas up the car for Philly and the John H. Daskasckaskiaskasckasklis Center.

How could the schedule-maker have known?

Groove is in the Heart

Oh, I am so shameless. But I can’t help it. I’m told books will be hitting the publisher’s warehouse floor any day now, and from there they are shipped to a store near you.

That’s not the shameless part. Oh, no.

The first review came in today…the first real review from a real professional who has no ties to the CAA, basketball, or my family. In short, it is unbiased.

It’s from Booklist, which is a trade pub that goes to booksellers and librarians.

This chronicle of the rise of “mid-major college basketball” (teams in the middle strata of the NCAA) chronicles the historic and headline-grabbing Final Four drive of the George Mason Patriots during the 2005–06 season. The author writes with enormous enthusiasm, almost breathlessly, as though he’s so excited about the story he is telling that he can barely contain himself. Litos was granted full access to the Colonial Athletic Association’s teams—players, coaches, the works—and he stumbled into some major news stories along the way, such as the rape trial of one of the players and the shooting of another. Some readers may be reminded of the energetic 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams, which also captures the thrill of the game, and the dreams of its young players. The book fairly bubbles over with excitement, an underdog story so uplifting that readers will cheer—out loud, mind you—at the end. A must-read for college basketball fans. —David Pitt

Hump de Bump

First, I want to thank those of you that pointed out my “issue” with home teams in the BracketBusters. I generally think CAA first and everyone else later, which means that every now and then I don’t bother with facts. Kidding of course–a mistake and this is my mea culpa.

What it came down to was that I don’t know why ESPN doesn’t grab Butler and a couple other random mids and add them to a heaping CAA/Valley challenge. (Notice the CAA is listed first.)

***

Predictions
Today, we’re going to talk about the concept of team. This is the part two to my reaction to the thrilling Oklahoma State/Texas three-OT barnburner last week. It was actually reinforced the other day while watching Louisville demolish Connecticut despite shooting just 30 percent. (Side note: after getting to see Jim Calhoun up close and personal last year, it never gets old seeing those guys lose.)

I’m absolutely shocked at the number of possessions where these teams run up the court and force the first somewhat-available shot. I’ve never seen so many immediate threes in the Oky State game, and I noticed in the Louisville game the number of time three guys stood around a watched one guy pass to another guy who made a move and shot the ball.

The youth excuse is usually posited and it is bunk. Put a fanny on the bench and that crisis will pass.

Everybody on a team has a role, and standing around is not a role. It takes screeners, rebounders, shooters, and slashers. And they have to work in tandem. Think through that when you have senior guards leading the way, and you’ll eventually get yourself to understanding how easy it is for a mid major to knock off a phony major.

And also why there is this scheduling conundrum. Coaches are smart. Some more than others, but they all know how to protect their hind end.

And we’re not going to get into how much prettier the game is when played in synch.

With that in mind, your Team Oriented prognositcations, with apologies to Kyle. (Hey–I try to have some fun…)

Hofstra at Georgia State: This is another that doesn’t pass the sniff test to me. If possible, Hofstra has quietly done nothing but win games, and you can just see Loren “Loren” Stokes getting better, if that’s possible. I like the team with the better players, despite being on the road.
Final Call: Jimmy Hoffa 71, Mike Vick 64

James Madison at Northeastern: I’m telling you, I’ve never seen anything like what is happening to Poor Bill Coen. He gets Senor Crankypants this week, who has never lost a game in his coaching career. This makes me angry that I trotted out my Kelly Leak reference so early.
Final Call: 2004 JMU Football 78, The Beanpots 74

William & Mary at Old Dominion: I smell this one, too. It’s not going to be pretty. ODU is mad. And in my best Josey Wales: in a “plum mad dog mean” kind of way. They have mad players, mad fans, and a mad coach. Heck, there are a few folks still mad at the separation from the College in the 1960s. Look, my golf swing is far better after I take one angry swing after the three bad swings. This is the swing. The math is easy. The result, not so much.
Final Call: 2009 ODU Football 81, The Bruce Hornsbys 63

Delaware at Towson: This is actually turning into Sniffly Wednesday. See above game, only remove all the references to mad.
Final Call: 2000-2001 Baltimore Ravens 82, 2003 Delaware Football 68

Drexel at UNCW: Definitely Sniffly Wednesday. This game has trap written all over it. Well okay, it has Drexel not performing its best because it’s a long trip to play a team in 11th place and Drexel plays an undefeated team on Saturday so they are thinking of that game and thus this game is far closer than anyone thinks and there is a possible upset written all over it. Either or.
Final Call: 1982-83 Sixers (fo, fo, fo) 58, Screen Actors Guild 54

VCU at George Mason: It’s a matchup thing, and I don’t think it favors the Patriots. This is also a pick that flies in the face of my father’s advice, and we know how those have gone this year. I’m choosing the road team. Besides, the well-deserved ripping of VCUs early season schedule looks ominously like Mason’s five-game streak.
Final Call: 1995 Richmond Renegades 66, Hail to the Redskins 61

Short Fat Texas

Thanks, Rob
Co-POW: Loren Stokes, Hofstra and Gary Neal, Towson
NOW: Pierre Curtis, JMU (The legend of Senor Crankypants grows…)

VCU is the first CAA team since Old Dominion in 2004-05 to open league action with eight straight wins and no CAA team has started 9-0 since James Madison in 1991-92. VCU is the only Division I team in the nation with an 8-0 conference mark. VCU is at George Mason on Wednesday.

I may have already given you this, but I’m too lazy to look: The Hofstra backcourt duo of Loren Stokes (20.7 ppg) and Antoine Agudio (20.3 ppg) is the highest-scoring backcourt tandem in the country. They are also one of only two sets of teammates in Division I who are averaging better than 20.0 ppg along with VMI forward Reggie Williams and guard Chavis Holmes.

Speaking of George Mason…they extended their winning streak to five after defeating William & Mary (76-63) and Northeastern (78-53) last week. Mason’s average margin of victory during the streak is 21.8 ppg. The Patriots lead the league in FG percentage (46.7%). Mason tops the CAA in scoring defense (56.8 ppg) and has held the opposition to fewer than 70 points in 16 straight games.

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BracketBusters announcement is Monday. Unfortunately, Butler is playing at home, as is VCU and Hofstra. But Drexel is a road team. I’m just saying.

Drexel at Butler
VCU at Missouri State
Hofstra at Northern Iowa

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Coach Speak

Tom Pecora:
On why Loren Stokes doesn’t have a great nickname: “Loren is a funny enough name.”

That’s it. I have a life. Bad day for rooting for the gems within Lalooshisms.