College Sports Madness Top 144

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

I figure we're all dying for any morsel of information we can get at this point, so maybe this thread can be a good place to keep track of the ongoing College Sports Madness Top 144. http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/men ... 4-previews
Yesterday they unveiled their #72 team, Temple. It looks like they believe 3 teams are going to be worse than Fordham in the A10, and we haven't been listed yet, so they don't see us taking any kind of step forward or they have us being one of the top 71 teams in the country and one of the top 6 teams in the conference, most likely making the NIT. They have Bryant playing Stony Brook in a 16 seed play-in game in their Bracketology. They project Duquesne and Davidson making the NIT and all other schools listed in this post going to the CBI or CIT. Here's some teams of note.

#144 Fordham: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9320
#138 Bryant: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9335
#128 Southern Miss: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9357
#127 Saint Joe's: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9359
#103 La Salle: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9472
#81 Duquesne: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9666
#76 Davidon: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/9691

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 9 years ago

No way is Fordham better than URI. However, I can't think of three teams below Fordham ... the Bonnies, Geo. Mason (maybe) and who else?

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Saint Louis?

Seems kind of crazy, but they lost a lot.

Davidson finishing 7th in their first year seems incredibly optimistic.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

Thanks for posting RhodyRam. Looking back at last year they had URI at #106 so it would stand to reason that we will be #71 or higher - certainly would not be outside of the Top 144.
I assume they post 1 team per day?

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

ramster wrote:Thanks for posting RhodyRam. Looking back at last year they had URI at #106 so it would stand to reason that we will be #71 or higher - certainly would not be outside of the Top 144.
I assume they post 1 team per day?

Yeah, there's some more about the site on the Early A10 Predictions thread. In particular, twisted noted how badly they missed on GW last year. It's an ambitious undertaking, but the picks are more of a discussion topic than anything else. The preview magazines should be out soon, too, to add to the talk.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 9 years ago

I re-read the other thread and noted the two pre-season projections. Both showed Fordham last and it'd be hard to argue otherwise. Any team that relies on a selfish shooter like Jon Severe is living dangerously.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

I think davidson will finish last, they have a brutal schedule (host the top half projected and visit the bottom half)

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

Yeah, Davidson is in for a world of hurt.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

Most likely it's GMU, SLU and Bonnies not in the Top 70 (San Francisco just announced as the #71 team)
I like URI as 3rd and could even push Dayton for 2nd.
VCU will be a Top 15 Team, Dayton a Top 25 Team.

VCU
Dayton
URI
George Washington
Richmond
UMASS

76 Davidson
81 Duquesne
103 La Salle
127 St Joseph
144 Fordham
St Louis
St Bonaventure
George Mason

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

Rhode Island: With every key player except Xavier Munford back, with the likely upgrade in the post with the return of Jordan Hare (who missed last year due to personal reasons), with the addition of Top 100 JUCO Earl Watson and the addition of Top 100 recruit Jared Terrell, Rhode Island will finish in the Top half of the A10 next season.
The question is how high they rise, and that may depend on two things. First, it will depend on how loyal Danny Hurley is to his veteran players. Jarelle Reischel, Biggie Minnis, and Mathew Butler all played last season, but all three players were extremely inefficient. All three were also 2-star recruits. With the talent that is coming in, they should be used sparingly next year. If that happens, Rhode Island’s offense should take a major step forward. But if Hurley gives these players another chance to prove themselves, it could hold the team back.
Second, there are questions how good the defense will be. Rhode Island’s defense took a huge step forward last year, but it might have been a bit of a mirage. Rhode Island’s opponents made only 29% of their trees and 67% of their free throws last year. Rhode Island probably won’t be nearly that fortunate this season. Obviously the return of Jordan Hare will help, but big improvements on offense might be slightly mitigated with more typical luck on defense.

http://basketball.realgm.com/article/23 ... ource=t.co

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

That analyst had URI in his "hoping for the NCAA Tournament" group of A10 teams.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

I have been following the top 144 the last few years. It is often hit or miss. It made a big miss last season when it didn't even have fellow A-10 member GW in its top 144. The Colonials ended up at 24-8 with an RPI of #29 earning an at large NCAA invite. They had wins over Creighton, VCU, St. Joe's, UMass, Maryland, Georgia, Miami-FL. Not even having them in a preseason top 144 doesn't say much for this listing.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

Good defense is luck?

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 9 years ago

I think the defense will be better. Interesting point on Hurley and Biggie and JR

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Dan Hanner had it right on the money with that comment.
Loyalty vs. talent development.
We know what CFL would have done. Let's see what Dan does.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

I believe that by about 8 games in talent wins outright. Will be very interesting to see it play out though. Obviously practice will play an important role as well.

But make no mistake about it, Terrell starts from Day 1 and never looks back.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

I agree mostly with what he said in terms of Reischel and Butler.

Last year I screamed for Butler to play, and I was obviously wrong because he shook like a dog shitting razor blades whenever he had the ball. He panicked and could never calm down enough to square up for a shot.

JR is the worst player on this team by a long shot, it's nice to see that someone else noticed that.

I'm not sold on Biggie being a bust yet though - he showed flashes and then got hurt/fat and no longer had someone to push him at that position. I think he'll get some time in the OOC to show what he can do, but whether it's him or TJ in the beginning, I feel like it's Garrett's job by the time conference play rolls around.

That said; this list is smoking some Whitney Houston type crack if they think Davidson is going to finish outside of the bottom 3 in the conference though, nevermind in the top half.

RoadyJay · Unread post by **RoadyJay** » 9 years ago

BlueMan, your talent evaluation skills are exceptional!

theblueram · Unread post by **theblueram** » 9 years ago

Blueman
That is some funny shit. But you are spot on about Davidson. The A10 meat grinder has them in sight.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Biggie got fatter during the season? That might be a first for a Div 1 athlete.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Reischel got just under 20 minutes a game on a team with a 7/8 man rotation. I'm not sure I'd be too worried about him getting too many minutes if he's not performing this season. Hurley's quotes on both Minnis and Reischel were just about perfect and exactly what you want from a coach. If you need a reminder: "Also, Biggie Minnis and Jarelle Reischel are guys who didn’t perform up to their talent level last year. They have much more in them and we have to extract that as coaches and they have to be committed to being better as players." I randomly ran into Biggie about a week ago. He does look leaner. He had bulked up (muscle not fat) during the year of not playing. Main thing I took away- these guys are just so ready and pumped for this season.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

bigappleram wrote:Biggie got fatter during the season? That might be a first for a Div 1 athlete.

Chicken and beer?

Ram Stampede!!! · Unread post by **Ram Stampede!!!** » 9 years ago

So when are we going to start taking guesses at what rank they will have us at???

I don't mind going first, thank you. I'll dare to say they have us at 45th overall

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 9 years ago

bigappleram wrote:Biggie got fatter during the season? That might be a first for a Div 1 athlete.

I might be mistaken, but I do think it's somewhat easy to gain weight during the season vs. the off-season, depending on your work ethic. If you have to worry about being healthy for games, you obviously can't run the players as hard in practices as you would in the off-season, plus it can be hard to discipline yourself to eat decently on the road.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

SGreenwell wrote:
bigappleram wrote:Biggie got fatter during the season? That might be a first for a Div 1 athlete.
I might be mistaken, but I do think it's somewhat easy to gain weight during the season vs. the off-season, depending on your work ethic. If you have to worry about being healthy for games, you obviously can't run the players as hard in practices as you would in the off-season, plus it can be hard to discipline yourself to eat decently on the road.

I actually agree. It's much harder to stay in shape during a season in any sport, you have to work harder. Practices have to include a lot of strategy and technique stuff - whereas the offseason is just training. You have to find your own time to train.

I'm certainly not saying anything about biggie's work ethic or workouts one way or another, I have no idea, but I know that when you're hurt, you certainly can't train like you want to. I think the player we saw in the open practice/italy who was blowing by people is a lot closer to who we saw mid season last year.

"Also, Biggie Minnis and Jarelle Reischel are guys who didn’t perform up to their talent level last year. They have much more in them and we have to extract that as coaches and they have to be committed to being better as players." - but this quote is exactly what the write-up was talking about, and that's what has me worried. We shouldn't hold back developing younger guys with an obvious talent surplus, just because we're not sure we want to give up on older players.

I know Jon Clark loved that strategy though.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Blue Man wrote: "Also, Biggie Minnis and Jarelle Reischel are guys who didn’t perform up to their talent level last year. They have much more in them and we have to extract that as coaches and they have to be committed to being better as players." - but this quote is exactly what the write-up was talking about, and that's what has me worried. We shouldn't hold back developing younger guys with an obvious talent surplus, just because we're not sure we want to give up on older players.

I know Jon Clark loved that strategy though.

I honestly wouldn't worry about that too much though. Hurley is saying what he needs to say to keep these guys motivated and in the mix. I don't think anything he has done to this point should make us concerned about how he will handle the situation. And especially in the case of Biggie, we need him this year, so it's important that he come back strong, even if/when Jarvis takes over the point.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Blue Man wrote:"Also, Biggie Minnis and Jarelle Reischel are guys who didn’t perform up to their talent level last year. They have much more in them and we have to extract that as coaches and they have to be committed to being better as players." - but this quote is exactly what the write-up was talking about, and that's what has me worried. We shouldn't hold back developing younger guys with an obvious talent surplus, just because we're not sure we want to give up on older players.

So a coach should publicly say, those guys that bought in and signed early with us, forget them? He's challenging them with saying things like this. Also, don't make the mistake of thinking such decisions can only be determined by playing time in games. You really think a guy like Terrell is not going to play? Matthews is getting it together in a big way, but Minnis and Garrett are the only true pgs they're starting with. You think Garrett, with what Hurley has said about him, isn't going to play? I've known Hurley as a coach for a lot of years. Seniors have sat in place of younger players who were either playing better or had higher ceilings. I mean, that article included Butler along with Minnis and Reischel as someone who got significant minutes last year, so consider the source. Of the things to be concerned about, this probably doesn't even make my list.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

adam914 wrote:
Blue Man wrote: "Also, Biggie Minnis and Jarelle Reischel are guys who didn’t perform up to their talent level last year. They have much more in them and we have to extract that as coaches and they have to be committed to being better as players." - but this quote is exactly what the write-up was talking about, and that's what has me worried. We shouldn't hold back developing younger guys with an obvious talent surplus, just because we're not sure we want to give up on older players.

I know Jon Clark loved that strategy though.
I honestly wouldn't worry about that too much though. Hurley is saying what he needs to say to keep these guys motivated and in the mix. I don't think anything he has done to this point should make us concerned about how he will handle the situation. And especially in the case of Biggie, we need him this year, so it's important that he come back strong, even if/when Jarvis takes over the point.

Agreed. You're both probably right about that, and really Hurley can't say that stuff. We can though, and I just thought it was poignant given that was the main point of most of that write up. We all to live through this crap under CFL, it's hard to get adjusted to a new way of thinking.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

George Washington is picked at #63. Interestingly Marquette was just added at #64, one of the participants in the Orlando Classic
Not too shabby to have 5 A10 Teams still alive for spots in the Top 62 Teams.
VCU
Dayton
URI
Richmond
UMASS

63 George Washington
76 Davidson
81 Duquesne
103 La Salle
127 St Joseph
144 Fordham
St Louis
St Bonaventure
George Mason

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

So who will the next A10 team be on the list? I'd be surprised if it wasn't Rhody.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

GW is way under ranked I think they contend for the title or finish 2nd

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 9 years ago

Twisted is right ....GW is a top 30 team, I think.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 9 years ago

URI comes in at no. 57, 5th in A-10, NIT slot.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

Obadiah wrote:URI comes in at no. 57, 5th in A-10, NIT slot.

Interesting projected starting line up:
Buchanan
Mathews
Terrell
Martin
Biruta

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

not that interesting. TJ finished the season as our PG, all they are doing is assuming he still starts and throwing in our 4* recruit. TJ instead of Biggie for Game 1 is not out of the question IMO. Or even Garrett (but i doubt it to start season). The other 4 are a lock.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

Obadiah wrote:URI comes in at no. 57, 5th in A-10, NIT slot.

Just one spot ahead of #58 Indiana.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

A very realistic prediction imo.

CT Rhody · Unread post by **CT Rhody** » 9 years ago

I don't have an issue with this, we have to prove to people we are better then this before we can project higher in the rankings. I hope this is the year but we still do have a young team which worries me.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 9 years ago

Last season a fifth place finish meant a 10-6 record. This year fifth place will be about a 11-7 and an overall record of 22-9, 21-10, or 20-11 assuming CSM forecast is accurate. Who knows?!!

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

All going to depend on how many close games we win. That has to turn around this year.

Free throws anyone?

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:All going to depend on how many close games we win. That has to turn around this year.

Free throws anyone?

Winning close games will be a must in order to have the break through season we are hoping for. Good free throw shooting will be play a big part of that. Having a go to guy that is able to create and get off good shots at the end of games is another must. We cannot have the missed free throws and inability to get off decent shots as the clock winds down that we have seen these last few seasons.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

I think we have our go to guy now. As far as free throws, it was a nightmare last year. 4 players who played significant minutes last year, Hassan, Biggie, Jarelle and Iffy, all shot FTs in the 50s. Two others, Gil and TJ shot them in the 60s. Only X, at 70, and EC, at 75 shot them at a decent percentage, and even X missed some at bad times, IIRC. As a team, that's not going to get it done.It still has to be a concern. I think Garrett will be a good FT shooter and by conference time, he should have the ball in his hands a lot at ends of games. Terrell should be decent, I think. On the other hand, Hare is back and he is a poor FT shooter. There has to be improvement in this area from key guys, or once again, there will be some close losses.

Ram Stampede!!! · Unread post by **Ram Stampede!!!** » 9 years ago

I like everything you said. But I'm not ready to assume that Garrett will take command of this offense with so many other guards in the mix, at any particular point in this season. Let's not forget that he is still a freshman. It's tough to put so much pressure on a new guy that isn't named Terrell. I think Jarvis will have a good freshman season. But this is D1 college ball. It's going to take some time to get into the pace of the game and Hurley will have his hands full in the 'fight for minutes' contest that he didn't have to deal with the last 2 seasons. But I will say that I would t be shocked if Hurley gave him a shot at running the offense if he shows he can in practice.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

bigappleram wrote:not that interesting. TJ finished the season as our PG, all they are doing is assuming he still starts and throwing in our 4* recruit. TJ instead of Biggie for Game 1 is not out of the question IMO. Or even Garrett (but i doubt it to start season). The other 4 are a lock.

I thought it was interesting because I doubt many would have had TJ starting at PG. It is not surprising though since he played a lot of PG towards the later part of last season and he will be a Senior and will likely be Captain again so his leadership will be key to this year's success. I love the way TJ plays, always have, even back in this Freshman year when he gave it 100% right up to the last minute of the last game his Freshman year under Baron when the season really meant little in the final two months. He also was the leader of his HS Team winning two State Championships -the kid is a leader and a winner.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Garrett is a guy who isn't a kid ,and put a few years in prep school,
playing high level competition.
If this guy isn't the best PG we've had since Tyson, I'll turn in my season tickets.
His playing has little to do with EC or Terrell. His competition is Minnis.
Garrett is faster, quicker, a better passer, and a better shooter from 3 and a better free throw shooter.
TJ is NOT going to start at PG. If watching him last year doesn't convince anyone he's clearly not
a point guard (ask Dan) then I don't know what will.
His role is the kamakaze style defense and energy off the bench, not point guard.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

So in the Projected Line up from College Sports Madness of Biruta, Martin, Terrell, Mathews and Buchanan do you think Mathews will be the PG and not Buchanan? of do you just think they are wrong with the starting line up and TJ will not be in it in lieu of Garrett?

In HS Senior Year TJ averaged 18ppg, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. He averaged 13ppg, 9rpg and 9 asists per game as a junior.

TJ started the last 14 consecutive games last season after not having started any the first half of the year. Sometimes he was PG, sometimes Minnis, sometimes EC and sometimes even Munford brought the ball up. Sometimes it was difficult to see who exactly the point guard was with the style of play. The 2nd to the last game against Fordham was TJ's best with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists in 35 minutes.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

College Sports Madness know shit. Why is anyone acting as if they actually know anything?
Blue Ribbon and Chris Disano's wrap up is the only one with any validity.
Minnis will start the season and Garrett will take over by A-10 season play.
Matthews will NOT be the PG except for limited times.

Ram Stampede!!! · Unread post by **Ram Stampede!!!** » 9 years ago

I think there are a lot more questions with this team than anyone wants to acknowledge. But hey...it's a great improvement from last year!!

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 9 years ago

There are a lot of questions only because there are more options. Two years ago, we had lots of questions, but few options.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

I'm pretty sure whoever did that write up just did some research and saw that TJ played some point last year and has never actually seen him play. TJ won't see much time at PG this year. He can do a lot of things for us and should be a key contributor, but playing point probably isn't one of them.

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