(02-18-2019 12:00 PM)ODUBB35 Wrote: Razor is a diehard ODU fan. Like many (including myself), he's been dissatisfied with the basketball program over the last few years, and has had no qualms about expressing that dissatisfaction.
Let's take his absence as satisfaction and enjoy the ride for now. At the end of the season (hopefully late March), we'll see if JJ has punched our lists of demands.
(BTW: If Liberty can get a 55 NET by losing to good teams, maybe that needs to be our scheduling gameplan going forward.)
I'm not sure what to make of Liberty's NET. They benefit greatly from splitting two games with a top-40 Lipscomb, but their schedule isn't THAT great (1-1 Q1, 2-3 Q2, 1-1 Q3, 16-0 Q4). Other than the Lipscomb win, the best thing you can say about them is they generally win the games they're supposed to -- the only loss lower than Q2 is Austin Peay on a neutral court, and they're 17-8 with a 125 NET, so even that's not far away from being a Q2. As a frame of reference, the once-infallible RPI puts them at 97, 16 spots below ODU's.
The NET is a nice tool but it's also in its first year, and it's going to be weighed against other factors, including that nebulous eye test. That's why Liberty isn't talked about as a serious at-large contender, nifty NET notwithstanding. For that matter, I doubt Lipscomb gets more than a passing glance in the selection committee's conference room, even with a better NET and a better signature win (@TCU).
A curiosity: ODU, Liberty and Lipscomb have a mutual opponent -- Navy. ODU won 67-44, Liberty won 76-58 on the road, and Lipscomb won 107-81. Make of that what you will.
Bottom line: I don't think Liberty having a good NET means that ODU should be scheduling more like them. The Monarchs just have the misfortune of playing the wrong teams at the wrong time (and sometimes getting the wrong results). To wit: This year, St. Joseph's and Northern Iowa are playing well below recent and historical norms, and ODU went 1-2 against them. Meanwhile, Bowling Green, a hapless team that the Monarchs thrashed last season, is top 100 in NET this season. Other than that, I think ODU does a good job scheduling within its constraints.