The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Just a thread for non ODU related hoops.

One thing to note that scoring is up through the first few days due to the new charge/block rules, which I'm a big fan of. More free throws, but I think that will be ironed out.

Mehki Long came off the bench but played 22 minutes. Jaylin Hunter played 31 minutes but was 1-9 from 3.

Battle for the Belt:

Great concept, IMO. Troy beat Ohio last night.

Tonight we have JMU at Kent State with Kent State a 3.5 point favorite. It looks like MAC is the favorite in the first couple games but the SB has 8 teams in the KenPom top 200 compared to 5 for MAC.

Also interesting to me that Andrew Taylor averaged 20 points a game last year, transfers to Miss State and plays 11 minutes off the bench.

If Radford somehow beats VCU on 11/15 and then we beat Radford on 11/29, we can at least claim victory over VCU by transitive property this year. So we have that going for us, which is nice.

Penn upsets #21 Villanova 76-72

How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

(11-13-2023 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

Really? Oh I don’t know, maybe beating #4 at home…or beating a team with a 23 game home win streak in 2OT on the road, or scoring 107 against a crap team, but absolutely dominating teams they should. They are good and we’ll just be 3 more wins for them.

(11-13-2023 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

Bc the rankings are based on buzz and JMu got buzz from the Michigan State win. They dont really play many tough teams so they have a chance to stay up there but they are 85ish in KenPom.


There are good. They are probably not top 25 good

(11-13-2023 10:30 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  

(11-13-2023 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

Bc the rankings are based on buzz and JMu got buzz from the Michigan State win. They dont really play many tough teams so they have a chance to stay up there but they are 85ish in KenPom.


There are good. They are probably not top 25 good

Are any metrics worth **** this early on? Human poles aren’t any better but they have a couple good wins early, so people take notice. If they keep winning they will probably keep their spot but drop a game and it’s over. Still some nice early resume games that we missed on.

(11-13-2023 10:30 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  

(11-13-2023 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

Bc the rankings are based on buzz and JMu got buzz from the Michigan State win. They dont really play many tough teams so they have a chance to stay up there but they are 85ish in KenPom.


There are good. They are probably not top 25 good

Maybe thats the trick. Schedule one ranked team early on where they can be tripped up early. If you get lucky, you win and get ranked. Then just play nobodies until conference play. Build up buzz, convert that into recruiting wins and enjoy it until the holidays. Something tells me if we had snuck past Ball State and somehow won tonight ODU would not be ranked next week though. Just saying. Ill be so glad to beat them this year.

(11-13-2023 11:24 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(11-13-2023 10:30 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  

(11-13-2023 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

Bc the rankings are based on buzz and JMu got buzz from the Michigan State win. They dont really play many tough teams so they have a chance to stay up there but they are 85ish in KenPom.


There are good. They are probably not top 25 good

Maybe thats the trick. Schedule one ranked team early on where they can be tripped up early. If you get lucky, you win and get ranked. Then just play nobodies until conference play. Build up buzz, convert that into recruiting wins and enjoy it until the holidays. Something tells me if we had snuck past Ball State and somehow won tonight ODU would not be ranked next week though. Just saying. Ill be so glad IF WE beat them this year.

Fixed it for ya LOL

I just have to believe there are some transitive properties between having a nationally ranked football team and upsetting a nationally ranked basketball team on the road. Put it all together, you get a nationally ranked basketball team ( for a while).

Whatever. We were ranked before they were

(11-13-2023 11:24 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(11-13-2023 10:30 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  

(11-13-2023 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

Bc the rankings are based on buzz and JMu got buzz from the Michigan State win. They dont really play many tough teams so they have a chance to stay up there but they are 85ish in KenPom.


There are good. They are probably not top 25 good

Maybe thats the trick. Schedule one ranked team early on where they can be tripped up early. If you get lucky, you win and get ranked. Then just play nobodies until conference play. Build up buzz, convert that into recruiting wins and enjoy it until the holidays. Something tells me if we had snuck past Ball State and somehow won tonight ODU would not be ranked next week though. Just saying. Ill be so glad to beat them this year.

This pretty much sums up VT football during the Beamer years #overrated.

(11-13-2023 10:30 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  

(11-13-2023 10:23 PM)monarx Wrote:  How the heck does JMU get ranked with just one good win? Just looked at their schedule and it’s so weak. They’ll probably stay ranked until conference play because they may run the gauntlet ooc.

Bc the rankings are based on buzz and JMu got buzz from the Michigan State win. They dont really play many tough teams so they have a chance to stay up there but they are 85ish in KenPom.


There are good. They are probably not top 25 good

Agreed - they are good, but they're not the 24th best team in the country.

Tonight would be a good night to check out Princeton. They are a good team. Duquense is also good and has been on fire.

Also Radford/VCU.....can we see Radford take them??

At the half. Radford 33 - VCU 33

Really good win for Princeton

(11-15-2023 09:54 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  Really good win for Princeton

They look good. They can shoot, they can handle the ball, and those back door plays are back breakers. But they make just enough mistakes that we might be able to pull this one out. They step on the sideline just as much as we do.

I watched some of the Radford/vcu game last night. Radford has a decent team and a pretty good schedule this year. They will be tough in the Big South. They wilted down the stretch, but vcu shot the ball much better in the 2nd half and the refs at the Costco Center were not giving Radford anything. vcu has some pieces and will win some games, but that team's not scary.

Speaking of vcu it's funny how irrelevant they seeming are as a program and how little I think of them (and Mason) these days. With the renewed rivalry with JMU that's been kicked up several notches and all our other nearby Sun Belt foes, I don't really miss a couple of vcu basketball games as much as I thought I would. This year is a good example - we replaced a mediocre vcu team with playing a ranked JMU a few times. Rams fans are probably beside themselves. I certainly wouldn't trade what we have with football and the Sun Belt for a game with vcu. In fact, without football and nearby conference foes, I think vcu continues to slip into irrelevance. They may spring up in March every now and then, but other than that they seem to be an afterthought around the state, especially this time of year, when football is center stage.

FYI - Radford plays JMU tomorrow night at 7 espn+