2020-2021 Schedule Thread

[sleeperpick]

I get that, but the longer you wait, the more chaos ensues.

The longer you wait the safer a decision you make. Any decision they make today about basketball will more than likely infinitely change before any college basketball tip off this year. See it out and make a better decision when we can.

 

[ephoops]

I still say that the A-10 should have come out with a 26-game, conference-only schedule with each team playing home and home against all teams in the league.

A missed opportunity...

Some further thoughts on a 26-game, home-and-away, A-10 only conference season:

• Start the conference season on Saturday Jan 2nd and end it on Sunday March 7th.
• Games are played on Sat/Sun, Tuesday and Thursday.
• During this nine-week period, there are 28 "dates" to play 26 games.
• Teams play three games in seven of the weeks and two games in the other two weeks of the season.
• I believe you can structure a schedule where each team plays one home game and one road game on Tuesday and Thursday of any week, thus limiting missed classes.
• Teams fly out in the morning and return home that evening after their game, thus limiting hotel stays.

 

[Pablo]

https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/20...21-college-basketball-schedule-with-a-bubble/:

"If the NBA successfully pulls off the completion of its season — safely, without incident — in the Orlando bubble, college basketball will face the need to create some kind of bubble if it wants to have a season.

Let’s face it: Having teams travel from one city to another in November, December, January, February, and March seems like a terrible idea at this point.

There is lots of chatter behind the scenes that nonconference college basketball games — normally played in November and December — will be wiped away this season, with games being restricted to conference-only competition starting in January. That makes sense to a degree. The big thing is that pushing the season back a few months gives college basketball more time to set up its season and have the right plan.

The key: Have a good plan. In some form or fashion, a bubble-oriented plan needs to be part of the solution."

"Let’s lay out the timetable:

December 12, 2020: Players arrive at their regional bubble for three weeks of practice and quarantining.

January 2, 2021: The six weeks of conference games — conference tournament included — begin in the regional bubble location. The conference tournament championship game would, under this schedule, occur no later than February 13.

The players take five weeks off before the 2021 NCAA Tournament. They would take two weeks to isolate at home and take care of their academics. Then they would travel to one of four bubble locations, where they would isolate for three weeks while preparing for tournament games beginning Tuesday, March 23, 2021, which would be only one week later than the normal start of the NCAA Tournament (March 16).

At the four bubble locations, 16 teams play the full regionals in one week, with games played every other day. The First Four games would be on Tuesday, March 23, and Wednesday, March 24. The first round would proceed as normal on Thursday, March 25, and Friday, March 26. The second round would be on the 27th and 28th. Then comes the plot twist: The Sweet 16 would be immediately thereafter on the 29th and 30th. The Elite Eight would be on March 31 and April 1. The Final Four would be created in a relatively similar time frame compared to a normal schedule.

The one break with a normal time frame would be the Final Four. Players would once again need to take five weeks to isolate at home and then prepare for the Final Four at the bubble location (provided that a vaccine isn’t yet ready).

The 2021 Final Four could be held on Saturday, May 1 (national semifinals) and Monday, May 3 (title game) at one bubble location.

It’s not a perfect plan, but college basketball could do a lot worse."

 

[tblack33]

https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/20...21-college-basketball-schedule-with-a-bubble/:

"If the NBA successfully pulls off the completion of its season — safely, without incident — in the Orlando bubble, college basketball will face the need to create some kind of bubble if it wants to have a season.

Let’s face it: Having teams travel from one city to another in November, December, January, February, and March seems like a terrible idea at this point.

There is lots of chatter behind the scenes that nonconference college basketball games — normally played in November and December — will be wiped away this season, with games being restricted to conference-only competition starting in January. That makes sense to a degree. The big thing is that pushing the season back a few months gives college basketball more time to set up its season and have the right plan.

The key: Have a good plan. In some form or fashion, a bubble-oriented plan needs to be part of the solution."

"Let’s lay out the timetable:

December 12, 2020: Players arrive at their regional bubble for three weeks of practice and quarantining.

January 2, 2021: The six weeks of conference games — conference tournament included — begin in the regional bubble location. The conference tournament championship game would, under this schedule, occur no later than February 13.

The players take five weeks off before the 2021 NCAA Tournament. They would take two weeks to isolate at home and take care of their academics. Then they would travel to one of four bubble locations, where they would isolate for three weeks while preparing for tournament games beginning Tuesday, March 23, 2021, which would be only one week later than the normal start of the NCAA Tournament (March 16).

At the four bubble locations, 16 teams play the full regionals in one week, with games played every other day. The First Four games would be on Tuesday, March 23, and Wednesday, March 24. The first round would proceed as normal on Thursday, March 25, and Friday, March 26. The second round would be on the 27th and 28th. Then comes the plot twist: The Sweet 16 would be immediately thereafter on the 29th and 30th. The Elite Eight would be on March 31 and April 1. The Final Four would be created in a relatively similar time frame compared to a normal schedule.

The one break with a normal time frame would be the Final Four. Players would once again need to take five weeks to isolate at home and then prepare for the Final Four at the bubble location (provided that a vaccine isn’t yet ready).

The 2021 Final Four could be held on Saturday, May 1 (national semifinals) and Monday, May 3 (title game) at one bubble location.

It’s not a perfect plan, but college basketball could do a lot worse."

If college basketball happens, the only way it will work is if they have some modified version of the bubble. I think that conferences forming regional pools that play eachother 3x each then limited travel to other pools like someone else posted about too is also a feasible solution.

March Madness will have to take place in a bubble, it's a shame that ESPN/ABC don't have the rights to broadcast because replicating what they are doing in Disney for the NCAA would be the best possible solution for a March Madness style tournament.

 

[tblack33]

Pretty favorable schedule. Of the Top 6 teams from last season, Richmond is the only team we have to play twice.

Taking a second look at this (just for the sake of discussion / my own boredom while I'm taking local leave), we did draw a pretty brutal road schedule. Dayton, URI, U of R, SLU, and Bona will all be tough Ws. Home draws are a bit more favorable. I'm still on the not sold on UMASS hype train, we'll see what McCall is able to do with the talent he's brought in. They'll either be top 4 or bottom 4. Tough to predict against Duq- aren't they still like 4 scholarships over the limit? Who knows what their roster will look like come the season.

Home:
Davidson: Win (I think teams like Davidson who rely heavy on good coaching and a great system are going to struggle in the short off season / limited practice time)
UMASS: Win
Duq: Win, but this could easily be an L depending on what their final roster looks like.
U of R: Loss
Fordam: Win, if we lose this I will give Brions a record profit night with my alcohol consumption.
SJU: Win, see above
LaSalle: Win
vcu: Win
GW: Loss. We aren't going to beat them twice even though we should, and it would be the most Mason thing ever to lose to them at home (probably at a key point in the season)

Away:
Dayton: Loss. They are still going to be a good team, and even in an empty stadium I think that it will be a tough spot to steal a win away
UMASS: Win. Like us, they are used to playing in an empty stadium so fanless games may play into their favor, who knows.
URI: Loss. Another tough place to go try and steal a win.
U of R: Loss
Bona: Loss. Contrary to science and reliable news, I think Corona virus actually came from a Bona fan licking a floor in a local bar towards the beginning of conference play.
SJU: Win.
SLU: Loss
vcu: Win. When was the last time we swept them?
GW: Win, we'll end up splitting the series with them.

I think with this schedule we end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 11-7, could realistically go 12-6 or 10-8. Either way I don't see that putting us top 4 in the conference, and we'll need to win the conference tournament if we want to play meaningful ball in March.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Taking a second look at this (just for the sake of discussion / my own boredom while I'm taking local leave), we did draw a pretty brutal road schedule. Dayton, URI, U of R, SLU, and Bona will all be tough Ws. Home draws are a bit more favorable. I'm still on the not sold on UMASS hype train, we'll see what McCall is able to do with the talent he's brought in. They'll either be top 4 or bottom 4. Tough to predict against Duq- aren't they still like 4 scholarships over the limit? Who knows what their roster will look like come the season.

Home:
Davidson: Win (I think teams like Davidson who rely heavy on good coaching and a great system are going to struggle in the short off season / limited practice time)
UMASS: Win
Duq: Win, but this could easily be an L depending on what their final roster looks like.
U of R: Loss
Fordam: Win, if we lose this I will give Brions a record profit night with my alcohol consumption.
SJU: Win, see above
LaSalle: Win
vcu: Win
GW: Loss. We aren't going to beat them twice even though we should, and it would be the most Mason thing ever to lose to them at home (probably at a key point in the season)

Away:
Dayton: Loss. They are still going to be a good team, and even in an empty stadium I think that it will be a tough spot to steal a win away
UMASS: Win. Like us, they are used to playing in an empty stadium so fanless games may play into their favor, who knows.
URI: Loss. Another tough place to go try and steal a win.
U of R: Loss
Bona: Loss. Contrary to science and reliable news, I think Corona virus actually came from a Bona fan licking a floor in a local bar towards the beginning of conference play.
SJU: Win.
SLU: Loss
vcu: Win. When was the last time we swept them?
GW: Win, we'll end up splitting the series with them.

I think with this schedule we end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 11-7, could realistically go 12-6 or 10-8. Either way I don't see that putting us top 4 in the conference, and we'll need to win the conference tournament if we want to play meaningful ball in March.

Wow. 7 - 2 at home. I wish I shared your optimism. We have averaged 7 home losses per year under DP. We were 5 - 13 last year so a jump to 10 - 12 wins would be huge. I think we'll be more in the 6 - 7 range. If we get to 12 - 6 in league play I'll buy you and the crew another fine shot!

 

[tblack33]

Wow. 7 - 2 at home. I wish I shared your optimism. We have averaged 7 home losses per year under DP. We were 5 - 13 last year so a jump to 10 - 12 wins would be huge. I think we'll be more in the 6 - 7 range. If we get to 12 - 6 in league play I'll buy you and the crew another fine shot!

Agreed, I just think we really got an easy home draw with teams that on paper we should match up well against. That Davidson game could easily turn into an L, as could both UMASS games. Who knows what vcu is going to do this year, I don’t see them outside the bottom 4 but they could prove me wrong.

 

[mkaufman1]

Agreed, I just think we really got an easy home draw with teams that on paper we should match up well against. That Davidson game could easily turn into an L, as could both UMASS games. Who knows what vcu is going to do this year, I don’t see them outside the bottom 4 but they could prove me wrong.

Always project vcu to be 15th out of a 14 team league. Haha.

I don't know what to expect out of them either. They have recruited well but they are all frosh and sophomores for the most part so its easy to project them towards the bottom. I also don't think anyone is sold on Rhoades coaching especially after having a senior laden squad and underachieving in conference (and of course shitting the bed after playing Mason for the most part).

I agree with the Umass hype train. I think Umass/Mason will probably be neck and neck at that 5th-7th slot. Maybe its my optimism but I can see both squads being around there.

Tough road draw, but remember Paulsen has won at some of these places already, including Dayton, URI, UR, vcu, GW. As much as those are tough games, they should be able to win something out of the group. Bonaventure Dayton and vcu will probably be the toughest, as usual. Richmond is also projected to be really good, but we'll see if Mooney lives up to the expectations.

 

[GMUYoda]

Not like we were going to beat Dayton this year anyway... even though we were really close to last season... but Crutcher is returning for senior year
and has withdrawn from the NBA draft

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/08/draft-notes-garza-mike-thompson-ross-crutcher.html

Dayton guard Jalen Crutcher will return for his senior season and withdraw from the draft, as relayed by David Jablonski of the Dayton Daily News (Twitter link). Crutcher averaged a career-high 15.1 points this past season, raising his shooting percentage to 47%.

 

[Pablo]

https://collegehoopstoday.com/index.php/rothstein-files/atlantic-10-preseason-preview/:

Atlantic 10 Preseason Preview
August 8, 2020 by Jon Rothstein

"1. How critical are non-conference games for the Atlantic 10?

Beyond critical. Prior to the cancellation of the Atlantic 10 Tournament last March, the conference only had one team — Dayton — as a lock for the field of 68 despite the fact that four other teams in the league — Richmond, Saint Louis, Rhode Island, and Duquesne — had won 21 or more games prior to the postseason. With industry speculation rampant that the 20-21 season could potentially begin in January and only feature games between league opponents, the Atlantic 10’s hope for quality representation in the 2021 NCAA Tournament ultimately hinges on if key non-conference games are played in November and December. This conference needs significant non-conference opportunities as much as any league in America, as evidenced by its struggles to keep a plethora of teams in the NCAA Tournament picture over the past few years since several power conferences started shifting to 20 league games. The Atlantic 10 has not put more than three teams in the field of 68 since it went from 16 to 18 conference games prior to the start of the 2014-15 season. Prior to that, five Atlantic 10 teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2013 while six teams from the conference reached the field in 2014."

"Atlantic 10 Preseason Power Rankings

1. Saint Louis

2. Richmond

3. Dayton

4. St. Bonaventure

5. Duquesne

6. Rhode Island

7. Davidson

8. UMass

9. George Mason

10. vcu

11. George Washington

12. La Salle

13. Saint Joseph’s

14. Fordham


Atlantic 10 Preseason Player of the Year

Tre Mitchell, UMass


Atlantic 10 Preseason First-Team

Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis

Jacob Gilyard, Richmond

Fatts Russell, Rhode Island

Jalen Crutcher, Dayton

Tre Mitchell, UMass


5 Impact Freshmen

*In no particular order

Samuel Mennenga, Davidson

Djimon Bailey, Richmond

Adrian “Ace” Baldwin, vcu

Jamir Watkins, vcu

Javohn Garcia, UMass


5 Impact Transfers

*In no particular order

*This does include transfers who have filed for waivers with the NCAA

Connor Crabtree, Richmond (Tulane)

Jeremy Sheppard, Rhode Island (JUCO)

Dahmir Bishop, St. Joe’s (Xavier)

Greg Foster Jr., St. Joe’s (Gonzaga)

Clifton Moore, La Salle (Indiana)


5 Breakout Players

*In no particular order

Bones Hyland, vcu

Chase Johnson, Dayton

Antwan Walker, Rhode Island

Yuri Collins, Saint Louis

Hyunjung Lee, Davidson"

 

[mkaufman1]

Based on what everyones' seen, I don't think the Rothstein power rankings preseason are that far off. My .02 without doing any deep research.

-vcu collapsed down the stretch last year, and come in with a super young team. To put them above anyone else at this point would be silly. Very talented but super young.
-The bottom 4 have been the bottom 4 for a while. While GW/St Joes/Lasalle have all been recruiting well, until their coaches show their program has improved with wins on the floor, I can't see why they'd be ranked any higher. I suspect GW will be making a big leap over the next two years considering the transfers and recruiting classes coming in.
-Umass is the trendy improvement pick with Tre Mitchell. That said I'm not sold on McCall. I could see them being neck and neck with a team like Mason.
-Can't count out a Davidson ever. I don't know their roster very well but they are always a good program on the floor.
-URI is a tough one, lots of turnover and new faces. Cox has been recruiting well, but we'll see if it all gets put together. I wouldn't be shocked if they finish towards 8th/9th behind Umass/Mason.
-6th thru 9 are probably pretty interchangeable and will be a dogfight.
- No respect for AJ Wilson being a 5th year senior and potentially POY in the league. I have to think if he performs well and even does better this year he will be in the running. I think 5th year seniors usually get courtesy for awards like that but I could be wrong.
-Preseason favorites definitely make sense. SLU and Richmond will be up there with Dayton and Bonaventure. If Richmond doesn't do well this year, that might be all for Mooney. They have a LOT of hype and expectation.
-Fordham is too high. Lame duck coach playing out his contract.

 

[Mason32]

https://collegehoopstoday.com/index.php/rothstein-files/atlantic-10-preseason-preview/:

Atlantic 10 Preseason Preview
August 8, 2020 by Jon Rothstein

"1. How critical are non-conference games for the Atlantic 10?

Beyond critical. Prior to the cancellation of the Atlantic 10 Tournament last March, the conference only had one team — Dayton — as a lock for the field of 68 despite the fact that four other teams in the league — Richmond, Saint Louis, Rhode Island, and Duquesne — had won 21 or more games prior to the postseason. With industry speculation rampant that the 20-21 season could potentially begin in January and only feature games between league opponents, the Atlantic 10’s hope for quality representation in the 2021 NCAA Tournament ultimately hinges on if key non-conference games are played in November and December. This conference needs significant non-conference opportunities as much as any league in America, as evidenced by its struggles to keep a plethora of teams in the NCAA Tournament picture over the past few years since several power conferences started shifting to 20 league games. The Atlantic 10 has not put more than three teams in the field of 68 since it went from 16 to 18 conference games prior to the start of the 2014-15 season. Prior to that, five Atlantic 10 teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2013 while six teams from the conference reached the field in 2014."

"Atlantic 10 Preseason Power Rankings

1. Saint Louis

2. Richmond

3. Dayton

4. St. Bonaventure

5. Duquesne

6. Rhode Island

7. Davidson

8. UMass

9. George Mason

10. vcu

11. George Washington

12. La Salle

13. Saint Joseph’s

14. Fordham


Atlantic 10 Preseason Player of the Year

Tre Mitchell, UMass


Atlantic 10 Preseason First-Team

Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis

Jacob Gilyard, Richmond

Fatts Russell, Rhode Island

Jalen Crutcher, Dayton

Tre Mitchell, UMass


5 Impact Freshmen

*In no particular order

Samuel Mennenga, Davidson

Djimon Bailey, Richmond

Adrian “Ace” Baldwin, vcu

Jamir Watkins, vcu

Javohn Garcia, UMass


5 Impact Transfers

*In no particular order

*This does include transfers who have filed for waivers with the NCAA

Connor Crabtree, Richmond (Tulane)

Jeremy Sheppard, Rhode Island (JUCO)

Dahmir Bishop, St. Joe’s (Xavier)

Greg Foster Jr., St. Joe’s (Gonzaga)

Clifton Moore, La Salle (Indiana)


5 Breakout Players

*In no particular order

Bones Hyland, vcu

Chase Johnson, Dayton

Antwan Walker, Rhode Island

Yuri Collins, Saint Louis

Hyunjung Lee, Davidson"

Mason seems high

 

[Walter]

Does a ninth place finish warrant flying penis memes? Other than win an A10 championship, what does Woke DP have to do to convince the doubters that he has the program headed in right direction?

 

[tblack33]

Does a ninth place finish warrant flying penis memes? Other than win an A10 championship, what does Woke DP have to do to convince the doubters that he has the program headed in right direction?

If we are finish 9th I’ll make a weekly flying penis meme until Dave gets fired. Only thing that convinces me that he deserves another year is an NCAA tourney birth.

I’ve been giving Dave a lot of credit lately, but I’m still conducting this fire Dave train until we are playing meaningful basketball in March.

 

[sleeperpick]

Does a ninth place finish warrant flying penis memes? Other than win an A10 championship, what does Woke DP have to do to convince the doubters that he has the program headed in right direction?

Dave isn't woke Dave is just a good guy when it comes to his players and society as a whole. As a coach he is absolutely due to be fired unless we finish top 3 in A10 and make a post season tournament... I am firmly aboard fire Paulsen regardless of me agreeing he is a nice guy and a good person. He has a senior laden team which the board homers have been crying for for years now... no excuses unless we don't play a season due to COVID... even then I am firmly on the fire bandwagon because AJ and Javon won't be here next year and can use a refresher

 

[JPgmuswim]

Does a ninth place finish warrant flying penis memes? Other than win an A10 championship, what does Woke DP have to do to convince the doubters that he has the program headed in right direction?

I give him an extra year if he somehow pulls off the impossible recruiting class we all want.
Reynolds
D. Johnson
Castro

If he’s not at the top tier of conference this year he’s gotta at least show me he’s figured out how to recruit which I have always viewed as his biggest weakness.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

I figured coaches would get a free pass this season due to the pandemic weirdness (not a pass from fans, from whomever makes the firing decisions).

 

[mkaufman1]

Does a ninth place finish warrant flying penis memes? Other than win an A10 championship, what does Woke DP have to do to convince the doubters that he has the program headed in right direction?

Since we are talking more hypotheticals..I'll play.

For me to want to extend Dave, a few things have to happen.

1) Top 6 conference finish- and in the conversation for a top 4 spot.
2) Freshman and sophomores have to continue to look promising and improve year over year. I want to see XJ and Polite look to have the potential to be awesome together in the backcourt.
3) 2021 class has to be best yet (Darius, Castro, Folkes, Reynolds, whomever. Show me some real good talent).
4) Good pipeline for 2022. The 2021 pipeline started 2 years ago and we started hearing names over a year and a half ago. Better start hearing some names for 2022 by midyear.
5) Improve at home in conference play, and hold serve on the road.
6) Make Saturday of the A10 tournament.

That being said, I hope they play, and chances are Brad would rather extend than start fresh at this point. If this is a year for Dave to show hes got the program going right, this is it. Senior laded, depth, length, etc.

Keep in mind that not all of these may be hit, and with the current environment even if 3 of them are, chances are Dave gets more time. The only way he doesn't is if Brad leaves and he underperforms, but I don't see that as imminent.

 

[GMUgemini]

I mean, anything depends on if there is a season or if the season starts on time and we have an OOC...I've also said a ninth place finish and Paulsen deserves to be fired, but we also have to consider what the job market will be out there in 2021 and how many people would be willing to leave where they are at this point?

 

[Pablo]

Jon Rothstein
@JonRothstein
·
1h

Source: Saint Louis' road Big Ten opponent will be Minnesota. Another quality non-conference game.
Quote Tweet

Jon Rothstein
@JonRothstein
· 7h
Travis Ford tells me that Saint Louis is finalizing a contract to play on the road at a Big Ten program next season.

Billikens' 20-21 non-conference slate:

San Diego State
Boston College
Siena
At Memphis
At Big Ten Opponent
Orlando Invitational (3)