12-28-2020, 11:34 AM
Coalherd on the Herdfans board put this together and it has some really good info about CUSA basketball OOC:
What does the League look like heading into conference play? In this era of analytics maybe some numbers from non-conference play can give us some idea.
http://www.sports-reference.com under section cbb (college basketball) has a vast array of stats on college basketball thus far in the 20-21 season. Specifically, the site give CUSA a rating of -5.37 on SOS (strength of schedule) to date which ranks 30th out of 31 D1 conferences (Ouch!). For the 2019-20 season the League ranked a respectable 12th out of 32 (Difference in number of conferences is by the fact that the Ivy League has opted out of this season).
Now in 20-21 thus far CUSA has a rating of -2.07 in the SRS (Simple Rating System) which is a combined rating of the SOS and the average point differential. The CUSA rating is 15th out of the 31 D1 conferences. The CUSA won-loss record in out of conference play is 69-33, a .676 W-L percentage which ranks 9th in the 31 Conferences.
Individually, Marshall at 6-1 has the second best W-L record heading into conference play, just behind
UAB at 7-1. The Herd has a SRS of 10.8 and SOS rating of -1.0. UAB's SRS is 12.3 and a SOS of -11.1. Most of CUSA teams have negative strength of schedule ratings led by Rice and USM at -14.0, LA Tech at -10.7, FAU at -10.5 and FIU at -7.9. WKU's is -0.5, and UTEP and ODU have the strongest SOS ratings at +8.9 and +2.4 respectively.
So I guess all this means that CUSA teams as a whole have been pretty successful in preseason play to date. All this with a caveat that the League's overall strength of schedule hasn't been that good. Of course there are factors that play into these numbers and percentages, the most important being the negative effect COVID has had on the early season, both in caliber of play and in the changes in schedules throughout all of D1 basketball. So, in some, perhaps most of teams' early season records, take them with a grain of salt.
With that, specifically concerning MU, I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I sure would have liked MU to have had a chance to play UK down at Rupp this season, given that the Mild Cats are thus far 1-6 on the season. Same applies to the scheduled game in the CAM with Northern Iowa, now 1-5 after getting waxed by 20 at home today by Missouri State. Coppin State, you say, now 1-7 well I'm sure many of you would have witnessed that "titanic struggle" at the CAM, too.
Some other notes on Herd opponents/potential opponents. Wright State is now 7-1, only loss to MU, after beating Green Bay twice this week end. Robert Morris, another Horizon team and Herd victim, split their two conference games with Purdue-Fort Wayne this week end, winning by 14 and losing by 5. I'll say we're liable to see some swings, maybe wild ones, also in the scores in Conference USA games starting this Fri-Sat when the Conference season opens. As for other cancelled OOC games, we can only guess how the HERD would have fared in road games at Xavier and Virginia Tech, both currently 7-1, and ranked in the top 25!
With that said, for you all to "Digest" at your leisure, let Conference action begin, and GO HERD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What does the League look like heading into conference play? In this era of analytics maybe some numbers from non-conference play can give us some idea.
http://www.sports-reference.com under section cbb (college basketball) has a vast array of stats on college basketball thus far in the 20-21 season. Specifically, the site give CUSA a rating of -5.37 on SOS (strength of schedule) to date which ranks 30th out of 31 D1 conferences (Ouch!). For the 2019-20 season the League ranked a respectable 12th out of 32 (Difference in number of conferences is by the fact that the Ivy League has opted out of this season).
Now in 20-21 thus far CUSA has a rating of -2.07 in the SRS (Simple Rating System) which is a combined rating of the SOS and the average point differential. The CUSA rating is 15th out of the 31 D1 conferences. The CUSA won-loss record in out of conference play is 69-33, a .676 W-L percentage which ranks 9th in the 31 Conferences.
Individually, Marshall at 6-1 has the second best W-L record heading into conference play, just behind
UAB at 7-1. The Herd has a SRS of 10.8 and SOS rating of -1.0. UAB's SRS is 12.3 and a SOS of -11.1. Most of CUSA teams have negative strength of schedule ratings led by Rice and USM at -14.0, LA Tech at -10.7, FAU at -10.5 and FIU at -7.9. WKU's is -0.5, and UTEP and ODU have the strongest SOS ratings at +8.9 and +2.4 respectively.
So I guess all this means that CUSA teams as a whole have been pretty successful in preseason play to date. All this with a caveat that the League's overall strength of schedule hasn't been that good. Of course there are factors that play into these numbers and percentages, the most important being the negative effect COVID has had on the early season, both in caliber of play and in the changes in schedules throughout all of D1 basketball. So, in some, perhaps most of teams' early season records, take them with a grain of salt.
With that, specifically concerning MU, I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I sure would have liked MU to have had a chance to play UK down at Rupp this season, given that the Mild Cats are thus far 1-6 on the season. Same applies to the scheduled game in the CAM with Northern Iowa, now 1-5 after getting waxed by 20 at home today by Missouri State. Coppin State, you say, now 1-7 well I'm sure many of you would have witnessed that "titanic struggle" at the CAM, too.
Some other notes on Herd opponents/potential opponents. Wright State is now 7-1, only loss to MU, after beating Green Bay twice this week end. Robert Morris, another Horizon team and Herd victim, split their two conference games with Purdue-Fort Wayne this week end, winning by 14 and losing by 5. I'll say we're liable to see some swings, maybe wild ones, also in the scores in Conference USA games starting this Fri-Sat when the Conference season opens. As for other cancelled OOC games, we can only guess how the HERD would have fared in road games at Xavier and Virginia Tech, both currently 7-1, and ranked in the top 25!
With that said, for you all to "Digest" at your leisure, let Conference action begin, and GO HERD!!!!!!!!!!!!!