Next 3

[XU-PA]

At Georgia, then NH at home, then at Miss State.

Our RPI is starting to suffer a bit, no bad losses, but only one top quality win.
These next three will really tell whether the ladies will be able to make a serious run through the A-10 and into the show.

On a related note, watched Charlotte play pretty close to a very good Notre Dame team the other night, maybe the A-10 is more than just a 2 team show this year, could there be 4 maybe 5 quality teams?

Richmond 10-1 35 RPI
XU 9-4 47 RPI
Temple 7-4 52 RPI
GW 7-4 53 RPI
Dayton (ugh) 10-4 68 RPI
Bonnies 8-4 77 RPI

A-10 stands at #7 in Conference RPI, ahead of Mountain West and CUSA, just behind PAC-10 and SEC.
Charlotte 8-4 78 RPI

[cinskyline]

Our RPI is starting to suffer a bit, no bad losses, but only one top quality win.

Unfortunately, this is starting to become a broken record under McGuff. It seems like we're saying this every year.

The league has been much better than expected, so there will be some opportunities for RPI boosts during conference play. Richmond has a great record, but hasn't beaten anyone. GW and Temple look very beatable to me this year. Even without Harris, I think we're the best overall team in the league, but we sure don't play like it sometimes.

[Bigbluebrotha]

Actually, I think the RPI is better than it has been in past seasons at this point.

I think your thoughts on the conference are right on. The Bonnies are probably the most improved are are showing good results. Their win over Mich State is diluted a bit because the Spartans were crushed by Indiana. On the good side, the Indiana win may have more RPI legs than originally thought.

Georgia is a tough test. Their without a superstar player and are getting contributions from eight players. One coming off the bench was a starter last season.

New Hampshire doesn't seem to have much as evidenced by the big loss to Morehead State. By the way, that was former assistants Bradbury and Cole matched up in that one. New Hampshire's RPI is in the 300s so that will bring our ladies RPI down.

Mississippi State was undefeated last I checked and playing pretty well, but the schedule wasn't the best. Still a tough game because I think the trip to Starkville is the SEC equivalent of the A-10 trip to St. Bonaventure. There's no easy way to get there.

Overall, I think the offense has looked tremendously better this season and I somewhat agree that the team doesn't rise to the occaision in the bigger games. Still, for all but Arizona State, they've been competitive. It sounded as if Mike's assessment was they had very little left in the tank. I think they would've beaten UNC on the road if the officiating weren't as one sided.

The Ga game should give us an indication of how much heart the team currently possesses. One would think they would come out firing coming off a nine-day rest and the worst loss of the season.

[X-band '01]

The win over UGA brings Xavier to 3-3 on the road; if they can manage a winning road record OOC that will help the resume as well (versus a 7-1 home record).

And if you're keeping score, Xavier is 3-0 against the SEC (also counting wins against LSU and Kentucky).

[spongebob]

Not sure what the broken record comment is all about, but he's been pretty damn successful and the best XU has ever had. The RPI is now at 33 after handling Georgia on the road. I normally dont pay much attention this early since the numbers tend to fluctuate in big swings until later in the season. 3-0 against the SEC and 2-0 against the Big Ten ain't all bad especially given what everyone forgets, the missing link-Amber Harris-arguably the biggest impact of any injury in D-1. Take away any other teams star, litterally rewriting the record book game by game and there is bound to be more inconsistency than anticipated.

One trend I noticed this season is their tendancy to struggle in the 3rd game(especially on the road) in a week's span(UC, AZST) so hopefully they'll be able to right that ship this weekend.

[xu_fan]

I have to agree spongebob. It would be great to win a couple of those big games but I couldnt be more impressed with the way X has overcome not having Amber Harris. Granted we do have a lot of talent but trust me when I say she was the leading scorer and just her presence alone is so dominant.... Considering we haven't been playing with her I am super happy. I got to drive to UNC and watch X play the Tar Heels like I've mentioned before and X played a heck of a game. They could have won every game this year easily except maybe Arizona St and without Amber that is simply AMAZING! I'm pumped up and I can't wait to see Amber in a uniform again!