Compton

Wish we'd snuck in our annual game against SIU-C. They're off to their best start in at least a decade at 7-0 with wins against Murray State and Butler.

Norfolk State gives George Mason the Mizzou special, as the Patriots collapse in the last 5 minutes.

Looking beyond the Bills, my primary observation at this point is that the A10 is looking pretty bad. Highly touted Richmond just lost to Hofstra. VCU missed an opportunity losing to Penn State (albeit on the road). Dayton's looking okay with a couple SEC wins. But it's a pretty steep drop off after those potential contenders, with a lot of really uncompetitive looking teams. It's not looking like a three bid league at this point.

Those scenarios remind me of Cameron Biedscheid. Notre Dame, Mizzou, Jacksonville State, maybe Iona (?) with I think some community college(s) thrown in.

I just don't see the case for Colorado. They have no meaningful wins. K State (4-5) and Washington (1-6) are real bad and a far cry from LSU (4-1) and NC State (5-1).

Also, like any head coach at a low level program he might see it as a stepping stone. If he has any ambitions of coaching at a Wisconsin or Marquette, racking up tournament appearances at a Milwaukee, Green Bay or MVC team is one way to get into that conversation.

Wow, so under normal circumstances Sodie is making 2+x of what Barone is pulling down. Crazy. Really shows the difference between the D-1 have and have nots. Looks like HC jobs in the OVC average around $200K, Horizon closer to $300K, MVC around $450K.

Down to us, VCU, Bonnies and Flyers for A10 teams without a bad loss. And the Bonnies are nearly in Fordham's camp with a 2 game non-con.

GW found a way to drop their fourth straight to Charlotte 66-65. GW is now 1-6 on the season.

He does well at UVA, but would still make more as a Horizon head coach.

Seems like he now has the resume for a crack at a coaching a Horizon or OVC team. He has had a winning record everywhere he's gone and now has dancing experience with UVA.

I don't think human error/laziness played a big factor. If you look at the teams behind us in AP voting, it's not like there's a strong case that we aren't deserving of our spot. Arkansas - 7-0 no wins against anyone of consequence. Indiana - 5-2 wins against Providence, Stanford, Butler Clemson - 6-1 wins against Miss. St., Purdue, Maryland, Alabama (only loss to a good Va. Tech team) Florida - 3-1 win against Boston College Georgia - 6-0 win against Cincinnati Colorado - 6-1 wins against K State and Washington (both of whom are garbage) Purdue - 6-2 wins against Ohio State and Notre Dame BYU - 8-2 wins against St. John's, Utah, and SDSU (but a loss to USC and Boise State) Louisville - 4-1 wins against Seton Hall and WKU Northwestern - 4-1 win against Michigan State (an interesting one, they have played two games of consequence, the other being a loss to Pitt who is looking solid after stumbling out of the gate) UCF - 2-1 wins against Auburn and Florida State (with only loss to Michigan) Some teams may be penalized for not having played very many games (Louisville, Northwestern, UCF) and some may be penalized for having 2 losses even if they are to solid teams (Indiana and Purdue), but that's just how it works. I'd put our 6-1 record and LSU and NC State wins up against any of those except perhaps Clemson, who has built an admittedly solid resume.

True. Post-Creighton and Wichita State departures the MVC is pretty thin. But the A10 could use more wins on the level of the Salukis' defeat of Butler last night.

Tough day in the A10, with GMU squeaking out a win against lowly VMI.

I could see us cracking it before Feb. #21 FSU has a clear path out of the Top 25 by mid-Jan after losing to UCF. #26 SDSU's win over Arizona State is increasingly unimpressive, as is their loss to BYU. They could easily lose to St. Mary's tomorrow. That leaves one more to bump off in the next 2-1/2 weeks. But yes, definitely have to keep winning during that time.

Penny Hardaway signs 5 year, $12.25 million extension with Memphis. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30573601/penny-hardaway-agrees-5-year-extension-memphis-tigers 2021-2022 - $2.325m 2022-2023 - $2.325m 2023-2024 - $2.5m 2024-2025 - $2.5m 2025-2026 - $2.6m

Kind of pleasantly surprised. We clearly got some credit for the NC State win - thank God we scheduled and won that game. I thought the punishment for the Gopher loss would be greater than dropping a single spot from 27 to 28. @Pistolsaid in another thread that "we don't need to follow the rankings for the foreseeable future" but being at 28 makes us a live dog. Our path to a Top 10 ranking / high seed is certainly hobbled. But it shouldn't take too many A10 wins to crack the Top 25.

Whether or not specific individuals rise up to fill specific roles that are departing seems kind of besides the point. The line-up/depth for next year is looking pretty solid by A10 standards without even counting any current or future Freshman or transfers (not considering Jimerson a Freshman even if he qualifies): Collins, Jimerson, Jacobs, Okoro, Linssen, Hargrove, Bell, Thatch.

^Makes me think of those kids who are all-state this or national that and then pick Harvard or Penn over Arizona or Michigan State. Can never begrudge that.

Maybe the stats your seeing are games Bishop's had with his German pro team. There aren't any more Crews recruits playing at the college level.

Grambling v. Tulane just ended. Grambling lost by 12, was down by 10 most of the game and went to their bench plenty. No sign of Carte'Are Gordon on the stat sheet or on the sideline. Kind of surprised to not see him even at the game, but I guess this answers any lingering questions about whether the waiver issued earlier this week would allow him to play / result in his first appearance.

Thatch and Hargrove might get the start against UMKC the way Coach was talking after the game.

No colon?

^ & ^^ Agreed on both fronts. The only coaches to have a faster pace of wins in their first 4 seasons than Coach Ford (who had 75) were Ed Hickey (who racked up 85 wins, especially impressive in an era of fewer games per year) and Jim Crews (who racked up 77, heavily weighted to his first 2 years). Coach Ford's rate is particularly impressive considering 1) the state of the team he inherited (Ed Hickey inherited a team that had just won the MVC, Jim Crews inherited a team that had just finished 2nd in the A10) and 2) that he missed out on potential additional wins with the cancellation of the A10 and NCAA tournaments.

If Coach passes RickMa this year then he'd be 5th all-time and would need another season to make a run at the 4 spot. Here's my understanding of all-time wins: Eddie Hickey - 212 Rich Grawer - 159 Charlie Spoonhour - 122 John Benington - 118 Rick Majerus - 95 Travis Ford / Brad Soderberg - 80 Jim Crews - 77 Robert Polk - 72