Week #11 - Games of Interest

[Obadiah]

In the AP poll, Dayton moves up to the #13 spot, West Virginia takes over the #12 spot and Maryland falls to #17. In the others category, LSU gets 30 votes and Duquesne gets 9 votes.

In the USA Today/Coaches poll, Dayton grabs the #11 position, with West Virginia holding down the #13 slot, and Maryland at #17. In the others category, LSU gets 22 votes and PC gets one. Gonzaga remains the #1 team in both polls.

The cumulative record of URI OOC opponents is 110-77, 0.588, a nice uptick from the previous week.

With the home win over Davidson and the road win at VCU, all the URI metrics improved over last week.

NET - 67, up 22
BPI - 75, up 14
Pomeroy - 68, up 18
Sagarin - 77, up 28


No Monday games in A-10 or among URI OOC opponents.

[rambone 78]

Need to gain 20-25 in all of the ratings to become a bubble team.

[Obadiah]

Here is a look at the daily progression of the NET Rating for URI over the last 12 days. It shows what we already knew - that what you do on the court, bad or good, has the most impact and that a "bad loss" like Brown severely impacts the ranking; a bigger negative impact than the positive one from the VCU win. URI is now back to where they were after the MTSU game, but without the Brown loss, URI would stand at about 40.

Thursday, Jan. 2     65   * After road win at Middle Tennessee
Friday, Jan. 3       90   * Down 25 - after road loss to Brown.
Saturday, Jan. 4     90   * Stable - few relevant Friday games
Sunday, Jan. 5       80   * Up 10 - OOC opponents go 6-4 previous day
Monday, Jan. 6       91   * Down 11 - after home loss to Richmond.
Tuesday, Jan. 7      90   * Up 1 -  after WVU road win over Oklahoma State
Wednesday, Jan. 8    86   * Up 4 - after Maryland, PC wins
Thursday, Jan. 9     77   * Up 9 - after home win over Davidson.
Friday, Jan. 10      76   * Up 1 - after a 2-2 night for OOC opponents
Saturday, Jan 11     77   * Down 1 - after Maryland & PC losses 
Sunday, Jan. 12      66   * Up 11 - after road win over VCU and 6-2 OOC 
Monday, Jan. 13      67   * Down 1 - only one OOC game, a  win.

[rambone 78]

What could have been, huh?

Well, there's plenty of chances to move up, but even more to move down.

Bad losses are a killer for a mid major.

[R.Kelly150]

If we play the woulda coulda shoulda game than where would the NET ranking be if they beat WV on their home court? It’s all relative. The Brown loss was tough due to their ranking, but I’m giving a experienced Brown team credit that had to deal with a rival having a almost home court advantage on their home turf. I feel the number of URI fans in attendance light a fire under Browns ass and they got their revenge to our detriment! Rhody has small room for error but they can get this done!

[ace]

[adam914]

That's good to hear on Obi. Looking forward to that game.

[Obadiah]

The Ivy League is down this year, but my feeling is this Brown team is no where near as good as last year, especially given the departure of Cambridge for Nevada. Their current NET of 209 is about as high as it will get

[SandorClegane]

I wouldn’t count VCU out against Dayton. I think Santo-Silva is going to be difficult for Dayton to contain inside. If VCUs shooters show up, they could push Dayton.

[Rhodymob05]

Who do we root for in that game?

[JimSidd]

The Ivy League is down this year, but my feeling is this Brown team is no where near as good as last year, especially given the departure of Cambridge for Nevada. Their current NET of 209 is about as high as it will get

It would seem so. Penn has slumped, being swept by Princeton. Harvard with it’s usual injuries. That said, I think it will be tough for Brown to crack the top four and qualify for the Ivy tournament. I think Harvard and Yale will be there. Then it’s Princeton, Penn and Brown fighting it out for spots 3 and 4.

[Obadiah]

On the topic of bad losses, in the remainder of the URI A-10 schedule, barring any significant NET changes, we have the potential of four bad losses - Fordham, GW, and St. Joe's twice. Three of the four games are on the road. PC, on the other hand, has no potential bad loss games left on their BE schedule.This is similar to Q1 win opportunities.

[reef]

Who do we root for in that game?

I would think we want Dayton to win all its games except for when we play them

We want to put that 2nd best resume in conference

[rambone 78]

This Wednesday's game and the Fordham game are the 2 I'm concerned about.

You know, past history and all that.

Have to add the away UMass game too. When do we win there?

Some scrub usually goes off on us from 3 pt. land in that game.

[Rhody83]

[rambone 78]

Ankle sprains that haven't fully healed have the real potential to get aggravated.

Then more time is missed. They will need him against St. Louis.

That's like playing a football team.

[RhodyRam86]

Who do we root for in that game?

I would think we want Dayton to win all its games except for when we play them

We want to put that 2nd best resume in conference

agree with you Reef....though if we had a crystal ball and knew we were going to win all our games except at Dayton (haha!) then i would say it would be nice to have a couple other teams in the conference get a quality win so it makes our wins against them look that much better. But given the way we expect the season to play out, i think it's best if dayton beats VCU at home.

[eli#10]

Absolutely we want Dayton to win!

[NYGFan_Section208]

This Wednesday's game and the Fordham game are the 2 I'm concerned about.

You know, past history and all that.

Have to add the away UMass game too. When do we win there?

Some scrub usually goes off on us from 3 pt. land in that game.

I want to win the conference...so, everyone with a better conference record---> lose, please.

[Obadiah]

Updating the weekly rolling summary of the NET rankings for URI and A-10 and OOC rivals.

NET RANKING* of A-10 TEAMS

School	       Week 7  Week 8	  Week 9   Week 10   Week 11

Dayton	         #10	 #14       #12       #8        #8		
Duquesne	 #20	 #66       #105      #66       #47	
Richmond	 #22	 #54       #77       #53       #63		
VCU	         #52	 #58       #52       #34       #43		
Saint Louis	 #66	 #61       #60       #74       #48		
George Mason	 #67	 #72       #71       #119      #140		
Rhode Island	 #72	 #80       #69       #91       #67		
Davidson	#101	 #99       #94       #94       #112		
La Salle	#130	#123       #119      #136      #179		
UMass	        #158	#139       #128      #121      #127		
St. Bonaventure	#189	#180       #176      #169      #141		
Saint Joseph's	#228	#210       #210      #222      #221		
GW    	        #235	#232       #226      #256      #244		
Fordham	        #258	#267       #266      #258      #284		
				

NET RANKING* of URI OOC OPPONENTS

School	        Week 7	Week 8	  Week 9    Week 10    Week 11

Maryland	 #11	  #20       #16       #14       #17	
West Virginia	 #12	  #10       #9        #12       #10		
LSU	         #26	  #57       #41       #30       #28		
W. Kentucky	 #84	  #95       #122      #118      #119	
Alabama	         #96	  #77       #65       #64       #61		
North Texas	 #98	 #110       #111      #105      #102		
Nicholls State	#114	 #193       #192      #162      #136		
Providence	#146	 #119       #129      #100      #90		
Long Island	#231	 #247	    #256      #270      #274	
Brown	        #256	 #252       #259      #237      #209		
Manhattan	#260	 #273       #274      #246      #226		
Mid. Tennessee  #283	 #291       #296      #311      #319
				
* Rankings continually change with new game results, but both ranking comparisons are based on rankings as of Monday morning of each week. 

[PeterRamTime]

Who do we root for in that game?

I think VCU because that would almost lock them into being a quad1 win for the rest of the way.

[Obadiah]

Trying to keep the conversation in the right week, so here we go....

Tuesday games in the A-10:

Richmond at Davidson, 7 PM. On ESPNU.

VCU at #13 Dayton, 8 PM. On CBSSN.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

LSU at Texas A&M, 7 PM. On SECN.

TCU at #12 West Virginia, 6 PM. On ESPNU.

#17 Maryland at Wisconsin, 9 PM. On ESPN2.

[Shinze88]

Absolutely we want Dayton to win!

I would think the opposite might be more desirable for URI. Dayton is going to be a Q1 team throughout the year and while a win vs Dayton would obviously be great, a loss (or 2) to Dayton is not really hurting our NET. Its more likely we beat VCU at home for another Q1 win and the inside track on a top 4 seed for the A10 tournament.

[eli#10]

My thinking is that Dayton is a huge favorite to win the league and we will be fighting for 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. Therefore another VCU loss gives us a leg up on them in the standings.

[NYGFan_Section208]

To win the conference, teams with a better record have to lose.

[Rhody83]

[PeterRamTime]

My thinking is that Dayton is a huge favorite to win the league and we will be fighting for 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. Therefore another VCU loss gives us a leg up on them in the standings.

Standings dont matter as much as how our numbers look in the big picture.

If we can win at VCU. We look like a good bet to get a bye.

We dont want VCU to fall off because we want them to remain a quad 1 win.

[ATPTourFan]

[Rhody83]

Richmond up 8 at half. Davidson is not good. They were down 13.

[CHICO 78]

And Richmond ....is better than expected.

[SandorClegane]

VCU playing Dayton physical. Looks to be the only way to knock them off their game. Neither team had been able to pull away.

[rambone 78]

Davidson is terrible. Stick a fork in them.

VCU and Dayton is close. Toppin looks limited.

We will play Dayton physical also. Just like against VCU.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Clemson beating Duke...Tiger just ripping up Tobacco Road. Lovn it.

[bigappleram]

With Richmond it’s really their defense that is a big difference this year. They used to really struggle with stopping people and getting rebounds. Mooney seems to have put a lot of focus on that end of the floor in offseason. Also Sherrod (injury) and Francis (Transfer) have been big additions

[Rhodymob05]

VCU and Dayton both with some big runs. Obi alley-oops are dangerous.

[Rhody74]

After a close first half Dayton is running away with it. Dayton Clearly is the class of the league

[PeterRamTime]

Dayton taking control of what was a competitive game.

They are final 4 contenders.

[rhodysurf]

Dayton went on a 22-0 run and is pounding VCU

[Rhodymob05]

Incredible run by the Flyers. Doesn't help that VCU can't shoot.

[SmartyBarrett]

Can Maryland win a road game?

[rhodylaw]

Dayton taking control of what was a competitive game.

They are final 4 contenders.

They are - and I still think we take a game from them this year.

[Rhodymob05]

We could lose our Q1 win over VCU at this rate.

[Obadiah]

After blowing a big first half lead and falling behind, LSU comes back to take down Texas A&M in OT, 89-85.

[ramster]

Santos-Silva with an ugly (0-4) FTs. It would be good if we sent him to the FT Line more in our next match up January 31.

I learned tonight that Obi Toppin leads the NCAA in Dunks. I was not aware that statistic was maintained. He is a phenomenal player. Exciting that we have his Brother here at URI.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Santos-Silva with an ugly (0-4) FTs. It would be good if we sent him to the FT Line more in our next match up January 31.

I learned tonight that Obi Toppin leads the NCAA in Dunks. I was not aware that statistic was maintained. He is a phenomenal player. Exciting that we have his Brother here at URI.

Can't wait to see them on the floor together

[Rhodymob05]

Scary how similar they are , obi is Jacob in a few years (I hope)

[SmartyBarrett]

Can Maryland win a road game?

Nope.

[Rhody74]

Jacob has the physical tools but he’s still got some learning to do. To reach Obi’s level.

[steviep123]

After a close first half Dayton is running away with it. Dayton Clearly is the class of the league

[Obadiah]

Wednesday action in the A-10:

Rhode Island at Saint Joseph's, 7:30 PM. On ESPN+.

Fordham at Duquesne, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

George Mason at George Washington, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

UMass at St. Bonaventure, 7 PM. On ESPN+



In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Long Island U. at St. Francis (BKN), 7 PM.

Northwestern State at Nicholls, 8 PM.

St. John's at Providence, 8:30 PM. On FS1.

#4 Auburn at Alabama, 9 PM. On ESPN2.