While we face Elon at 7:00 tonight, some other big games will be going on simultaneously:

Hofstra (5-3) @ William & Mary (6-2)

Clearly the league's marquee game of the night. The two best offensive teams and the CAA's best overall collection of talent in the conference appear on these two rosters. Marcus Thornton, Ameen Tanksley, Juan'Ya Green, Terry Tarpey and Omar Prewitt could all light up the scoreboard in a high-scoring affair.

Since we've already finished our series with the Pride, you would THINK we should be rooting for W&M. But the Tribe have yet to lose at home this season, and of course we want 1st place for ourselves. Will the Pride hand the Tribe their first home loss? Since both teams will be scoring heavily, it could come down to a crucial defensive stop at the end of the game to win this one. In this case Terry Tarpey is the kind of difference-maker that can make that happen. Tribe wins.

PREDICTION: Tribe 92, Pride 86


Northeastern (6-2) @ Drexel (3-5)

The Dragons seem like they should be a lot better than 3-5 this season. They were picked to finish near the top of the conference, but some key injuries for Bruiser Flint's squad have kept them out of competition for the better part of the season. PG Major Canady, gone for the season in October. 6-10 big man Sooren Derboghosian, also lost for the season with knee issues. Luckily, Rodney Williams is back and averaging 7.7 ppg and 8.1 rpg.

Northeastern, meanwhile, is 6-4 on the road and coming off a 16-point loss to William & Mary. Sean Eatherton is leading the charge on offense with Quincy Ford racking up tons of rebounds and blocked shots on the other end. Will we see another disappointing road effort from them, or will they be looking for blood coming off a blown opportunity to seize a firm grasp of first? I see the latter. And you can never count out an f-bomb costing Bruiser's squad big-time in the waning moments of a game.

PREDICTION: Huskies 73, Dragons 67


Delaware (3-5) @ JMU (5-3)

This is easily the most difficult game to predict. Matt Brady, firmly on the hot seat this season as he entered the final year of his contract with the Dukes, has gotten an overachieving James Madison squad to play some inspiring ball lately led by star guard Ron Curry. Either Brady is making a last-ditch effort to earn an extension or he's auditioning for his next job, but either way the positive results have been there. Most recently, they knocked off Hofstra on the road, 69-63.

Delaware, meanwhile, features another Head Coach who has been no stranger to the hot seat in Monte Ross. While a 1-10 start to the season in non-conference play coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance seemed to put him squarely back on said hot seat, Delaware has seen their play improve greatly in CAA play. An 84-80 upset over William & Mary on January 21 puts them at 3-5. 2 points stood in the way of the Blue Hens being .500 in conference play, but alas, they fell to us by just 1 point on January 8th in Trask. Guard Kyle Anderson has been the standout performer for the Hens.

So who wins? It's a coin flip game, but I'll side with the home squad.

PREDICTION: Dukes 71, Blue Hens 68

(01-28-2015 11:28 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  While we face Elon at 7:00 tonight, some other big games will be going on simultaneously:

Hofstra (5-3) @ William & Mary (6-2)

Clearly the league's marquee game of the night. The two best offensive teams and the CAA's best overall collection of talent in the conference appear on these two rosters. Marcus Thornton, Ameen Tanksley, Juan'Ya Green, Terry Tarpey and Omar Prewitt could all light up the scoreboard in a high-scoring affair.

Since we've already finished our series with the Pride, you would THINK we should be rooting for W&M. But the Tribe have yet to lose at home this season, and of course we want 1st place for ourselves. Will the Pride hand the Tribe their first home loss? Since both teams will be scoring heavily, it could come down to a crucial defensive stop at the end of the game to win this one. In this case Terry Tarpey is the kind of difference-maker that can make that happen. Tribe wins.

PREDICTION: Tribe 92, Pride 86


Northeastern (6-2) @ Drexel (3-5)

The Dragons seem like they should be a lot better than 3-5 this season. They were picked to finish near the top of the conference, but some key injuries for Bruiser Flint's squad have kept them out of competition for the better part of the season. PG Major Canady, gone for the season in October. 6-10 big man Sooren Derboghosian, also lost for the season with knee issues. Luckily, Rodney Williams is back and averaging 7.7 ppg and 8.1 rpg.

Northeastern, meanwhile, is 6-4 on the road and coming off a 16-point loss to William & Mary. Sean Eatherton is leading the charge on offense with Quincy Ford racking up tons of rebounds and blocked shots on the other end. Will we see another disappointing road effort from them, or will they be looking for blood coming off a blown opportunity to seize a firm grasp of first? I see the latter. And you can never count out an f-bomb costing Bruiser's squad big-time in the waning moments of a game.

PREDICTION: Huskies 73, Dragons 67


Delaware (3-5) @ JMU (5-3)

This is easily the most difficult game to predict. Matt Brady, firmly on the hot seat this season as he entered the final year of his contract with the Dukes, has gotten an overachieving James Madison squad to play some inspiring ball lately led by star guard Ron Curry. Either Brady is making a last-ditch effort to earn an extension or he's auditioning for his next job, but either way the positive results have been there. Most recently, they knocked off Hofstra on the road, 69-63.

Delaware, meanwhile, features another Head Coach who has been no stranger to the hot seat in Monte Ross. While a 1-10 start to the season in non-conference play coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance seemed to put him squarely back on said hot seat, Delaware has seen their play improve greatly in CAA play. An 84-80 upset over William & Mary on January 21 puts them at 3-5. 2 points stood in the way of the Blue Hens being .500 in conference play, but alas, they fell to us by just 1 point on January 8th in Trask. Guard Kyle Anderson has been the standout performer for the Hens.

So who wins? It's a coin flip game, but I'll side with the home squad.

PREDICTION: Dukes 71, Blue Hens 68

Okay. You picked the favorites.

If you had to pick one most likely upset, which game would it be?

(01-28-2015 11:38 AM)70shawk Wrote:  Okay. You picked the favorites.

If you had to pick one most likely upset, which game would it be?

Hofstra. When 2 offense-heavy teams go at it there's a bit more variability in the results that can happen. If the Tribe goes cold shooting or plays like they did in the 1st half of the game with us in Williamsburg, they'll fall.

Not to mention I sincerely doubt they go 9-0 in home conference games this year. What better time for them to fall than now?

If we win tonight, it will be our best opening record in the CAA since the 2005-2006 season, where we went on to a 15-3 record. Followed by the last gasp of UNCW basketball greatness, in a second half collapse to GW in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, and Brad Brownell parting ways.

If we can pull this out and go to 7-2 tonight, we face two tough road games at Drexel and JMU, then come home for a 3 game stretch against W&M, Charleston and NE that could make or break our season. We've lost to W&M, and had to go to OT against Charleston. If we can come out of the road trip no worse than 8-3, and then go 2-1 at home, a 10-4 record is pretty strong to close out the schedule, and we'd guarantee a winning record in the CAA for the first time since the 05-06 season as well.

If we can stay near the top, we should be able to rely on a rowdy Trask, and regain our "toughest place to play in the CAA" crown.

W&M has Hofstra at home, but then goes on the road for three in a row at JMU, UNCW and CoC. They get two at home against Elon and Delaware, but then have to hit Hofstra and NE on the road. That means they still have 5 games left against the top 5, with 4 on the road, where they are 0-2.

The next two weeks should create some separation in the crowd at the top. W&M may have the best team, but they'll have to prove it against the top contenders, and on the road.

Blast from the past:

"Everyone, that is, except the ever-confident, ever-realistic Flint.

"It's a tough place to play. And they're a good team," said Flint, who kept with tradition and received his fourth technical foul in five trips to Wilmington. "It's the toughest place to play in the league, to be honest with you. A lot of people don't come down here and win, and it's been tough. It's been real tough for us."

We are already 6-2.

Agreed, 82. W&M seems to have the toughest road on paper. If we continue to take care of business against the teams we should, NU and W&M will find themselves having to beat us in Trask to take over 1st place. No small order based on the noise level per capita against Towson.

By the way, looking at JMU's overall body of work this year, it's no longer possible to say this is a 4-way race for the crown. JMU has only one "bad loss" this year (@ ECU), and their 3 CAA losses are all to top teams (W&M, swept by Northeastern).

JMU probably won't be a contender for the reg season crown, but they could pull an upset in Baltimore. As could almost every team in the conference. It's one of those years.

(01-28-2015 04:06 PM)CoastGuardHawk06 Wrote:  JMU probably won't be a contender for the reg season crown

Disagreed. They have a better RPI than Hofstra and beat the Pride on the road. I know the transitive property doesn't really work in College Basketball, but if Hofstra is viewed as a contender, JMU is also a contender. Our matchups with them down the stretch will be telling.

(01-28-2015 03:38 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  By the way, looking at JMU's overall body of work this year, it's no longer possible to say this is a 4-way race for the crown. JMU has only one "bad loss" this year (@ ECU), and their 3 CAA losses are all to top teams (W&M, swept by Northeastern).

Agree. I've been saying five from the beginning.

(01-28-2015 04:12 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(01-28-2015 04:06 PM)CoastGuardHawk06 Wrote:  JMU probably won't be a contender for the reg season crown

Disagreed. They have a better RPI than Hofstra and beat the Pride on the road. I know the transitive property doesn't really work in College Basketball, but if Hofstra is viewed as a contender, JMU is also a contender. Our matchups with them down the stretch will be telling.

I still stand by my opinion. I will also say though, that Hofstra has been the CAA's disappointment in terms of how people thought they would finish. They need to step it up.