Opponents' preseason rankings with Sagarin's game predictions...

17 Gonzaga L
20 Cincinnati L
74 Iowa State L
141 Robert Morris W
142 East Carolina L
184 Charleston Southern L
192 CAMPBELL
211 Coastal Carolina L
223 UNC Asheville W
225 Northwestern State W
234 Seattle L
235 VMI LW
246 Appalachian State W
252 High Point WL
265 Winthrop W
270 Liberty WW
284 UNC Wilmington W
292 Gardner-Webb W
310 NC A&T W
311 Radford WW
314 Jacksonville State W
315 Presbyterian W
324 Northern Arizona W
328 Longwood WW

Take away one win since we won't play either NoAriz or JaxState and we're 18-9. Add Ws for the 3 non-D1 games for 21-9. That just leaves the home Bracketbusters game, which will hopefully be another W.

So, is 22 regular season wins a fair expectation for the Camels?

(11-07-2012 08:36 AM)OrangeCamel Wrote:  Opponents' preseason rankings with Sagarin's game predictions...

17 Gonzaga L
20 Cincinnati L
74 Iowa State L
141 Robert Morris W
142 East Carolina L
184 Charleston Southern L
192 CAMPBELL
211 Coastal Carolina L
223 UNC Asheville W
225 Northwestern State W
234 Seattle L
235 VMI LW
246 Appalachian State W
252 High Point WL
265 Winthrop W
270 Liberty WW
284 UNC Wilmington W
292 Gardner-Webb W
310 NC A&T W
311 Radford WW
314 Jacksonville State W
315 Presbyterian W
324 Northern Arizona W
328 Longwood WW

Take away one win since we won't play either NoAriz or JaxState and we're 18-9. Add Ws for the 3 non-D1 games for 21-9. That just leaves the home Bracketbusters game, which will hopefully be another W.

So, is 22 regular season wins a fair expectation for the Camels?

I guess you could say 22 is fair. However, I don't see us completely dominating the Big South as it looks like is predicted. Also, I understand we have a great chance of losing to bigger schools like Gonzaga, Iowa State and East Carolina, but that's why we play the game. I mean, last year, we beat Iowa and East Carolina and kept it close against sweet 16 team NC State on the road. Plus, if the losses pile up early from those noonceonference games, I feel like the chemistry, morale, and confidence of the team will hold them back from reaching their full potential as a Big South championship contender. For me, it's all going to come down to the drive in the players and the coaching. The players have to want it, while Coach Laing and company need to figure out how to make it work.

Since our Camels didn't survive very well in the desert vs A&T and NAU, I looked at this again and now Sagarin has us finishing the regular season 13-17 (sans the BracketBuster game) and 8-8 in conference play.