Criers' Nonconference Schedule

[xubball93]

is a joke. Towson? Lehigh. Presbyterian - really? The only decent teams are GTech and Creighton. With that cupcake schedule, I don't see them staying in the top 25 very long.

[jcubspoe]

is a joke. Towson? Lehigh. Presbyterian - really? The only decent teams are GTech and Creighton. With that cupcake schedule, I don't see them staying in the top 25 very long.

Nice analysis. Ever thought of doing basketball commentary for a living?? Last I checked, you usually never fall out of the top 25 by winning games. We will win those games you listed. IF, we start 3-1, we might fall just outside the Top 25 but then should win enough to get back in. 3-1 may not even drop us out if the loss is to Nova and a 4-0 start, although unlikely would probably cement us in the Top 25 for the rest of the year, just by looking at the rest of the schedule.

I'll analyze it a little more then you did. Ya, I and others wish it were better but at the end of the day, UD will still finish with a Top 40 RPI and a decent SOS. SOS is so hard to predict because any of these little piddly teams could still do well, thus boosting our SOS by default, you just never know.

But here's the big problem with our schedule, it is fairly tough if you look at the road/neutral games....at Miami (OH), at George Mason, at New Mexico, and of course the game with Ga Tech and possible matchup with Nova. Those are all winnable games (minus Nova) and if we do win them then this discussion of our schedule is a moot point. I don't see UD losing all three of those games. But those games are tough and I guess I'd rather get clobbered at Duke or at UNC then lose a close one at Miami (OH).

[A10fan]

The biggest problem with the UD schedule is that it doesn't set them up for the high seed that they should be hoping to get. IF they lose to GT, there won't be any other marquee opportunities other than the X games. That's too thin a margin for error to feel at all comfortable.

[jcubspoe]

The biggest problem with the UD schedule is that it doesn't set them up for the high seed that they should be hoping to get. IF they lose to GT, there won't be any other marquee opportunities other than the X games. That's too thin a margin for error to feel at all comfortable.

I agree with this but the schedule is also good enough that if we "just win" then we'll get a 3-5 seed. By beating Ga Tech and losing to Nova then winning the next game in the tourny (Indiana, Ka. St, Ole Miss, ect) I still think UD can get a 4-5 seed. If we just win, this is a non discussion. There isn't much margin for error I agree, but if we're a legit Top 25 team then we should beat Ga. Tech and start 3-1. If we start off 2-2 then we don't belong in the top 25 and will be battling all year long to get in.

[SixFig]

I smell a replica of the George Washington team a few years back. A lot of cupcake wins and a high rankings, but a very low seed (8 I believe).

[XURunner85]

I really think that this OCS is going to hurt UD in the conference...to many teams have improved enough that any game UD plays on the road will be a tough game and I can see them being .500 on A10 road games with a couple of losses at home. This will be good enough for the NIT......but now this is just my opinion but I think realistic....

[XavierGJG]

They will end the season ranked and miss the tourney because they are going to have one or two bad lossed and no good wins.

[jdm2000]

I agree with this but the schedule is also good enough that if we "just win" then we'll get a 3-5 seed. By beating Ga Tech and losing to Nova then winning the next game in the tourny (Indiana, Ka. St, Ole Miss, ect) I still think UD can get a 4-5 seed. If we just win, this is a non discussion. There isn't much margin for error I agree, but if we're a legit Top 25 team then we should beat Ga. Tech and start 3-1. If we start off 2-2 then we don't belong in the top 25 and will be battling all year long to get in.

I can't see this unless you think UD is going to go 15-1 or 14-2 in the league or something. Heck, even then I can't see it. Last year's X team had wins over Memphis, Va. Tech, Mizzou, and LSU in the non-con (not to mention other lesser non-con wins like Miami, UC, Auburn, and Virginia), went 12-4 in conference and got a three seed. I just don't think that--even beating GT and Nova--UD's non-con will have the juice to get them that high of a seed.

Given the out-of-conference schedule, I see the Flyers maxing out at a 5 seed--maybe a 4--if they were to absolutely dominate the league. I think it far more likely that they beat GT and lose to Nova, drop one at New Mexico (the Pit can be tough), finish near the top of the A-10 and get a 6-8 seed.

[X Factor]

I don't think any team has ever finished the regular season in the Top 25 and missed the tournament.

UD will probably win a lot of games this year, but they only have a few chances to get a "name" win or marquee win. If they lose a couple of those, they will still have a lot of wins, but it will affect their seeding in the tournament.

I could see UD winning 25-27 games and still only getting a 7-10 seed. Not what you want when you have your best team in years.

Xavier went into the tournament last year at 25-7 and got a 3 seed. If Xavier wins 25 games this year in the regular season, we'll be looking at a 3 or 4 seed again.

[jcubspoe]

I really think that this OCS is going to hurt UD in the conference...to many teams have improved enough that any game UD plays on the road will be a tough game and I can see them being .500 on A10 road games with a couple of losses at home. This will be good enough for the NIT......but now this is just my opinion but I think realistic....

I don't know about this. Ya, teams have gotten better, some have gotten worse. You can't say UD hasn't probably at least gotten somewhat better over last year so I'm not worried in the least about conf play. I think we finish one or two again this year and anything less then 12-4 would be very disappointing imo. I don't see us losing 2 at home this year in conf play. We are undefeated there with Wright in the lineup and I think only X will give us a run for our money there...maybe Creighton but that's OOC. If healthy I don't think we do worse then .500 on the road in conf play...

[jcubspoe]

I really think that this OCS is going to hurt UD in the conference...to many teams have improved enough that any game UD plays on the road will be a tough game and I can see them being .500 on A10 road games with a couple of losses at home. This will be good enough for the NIT......but now this is just my opinion but I think realistic....

I don't know about this. Ya, teams have gotten better, some have gotten worse. You can't say UD hasn't probably at least gotten somewhat better over last year so I'm not worried in the least about conf play. I think we finish one or two again this year and anything less then 12-4 would be very disappointing imo. I don't see us losing 2 at home this year in conf play. We are undefeated there with Wright in the lineup and I think only X will give us a run for our money there...maybe Creighton but that's OOC. If healthy I don't think we do worse then .500 on the road in conf play...we get on the road, Fordham, X, Joes, Sbon, SLU, Duq, Temp, and Richmond. X, Rich, Duq, and Temple all have the potential for losses but I don't see us losing all 4. If we go 12-4 in conf and 12-2 ooc that puts us at 24 wins going into tourny. Win a couple there and 26 wins gets us in no matter what. We'll know in one month who some of these wins were against and can start talking seeding then.