Only at-larges are either vcu if they don't win the conference tourney *or* if Mason or Dayton run the table and come up just short against vcu in the A-10 title game.
2024-2025 Schedule Thread
- Thread starter mkaufman1
- Start date
Tourney is in DC this year. No excuse to not make it a home-court advantage.
Tough for Dane Fischer... The new WM Coach is tied for 1st while basically using Dane Fischer's team. 5 of the top 6 scorers this year were on the roster last year while the other is a D2 transfer. Dane went 35-80 his final 4 years. 30-80 if you exclude 5 wins against non-D1 school. His first year where he was named CAA COY, he inherited a decent roster from Tony Shaver that included future NBA player/CAA POY Nathan Knight.
Came across this off of a random google search:
bustingbrackets.com
Cinderella Search Committee: George Mason may recapture March magic with Tony Skinn
19 years ago Jim Larrañaga put a surprisingly large public school in Northern Virginia, named for a little-known founding father, on the college basketball map.
bustingbrackets.com
Pretty well sums us up. Not including the Jekyll and Hyde FT shooting.Came across this off of a random google search:
Cinderella Search Committee: George Mason may recapture March magic with Tony Skinn
19 years ago Jim Larrañaga put a surprisingly large public school in Northern Virginia, named for a little-known founding father, on the college basketball map.
Eh idk. Dayton has the ability to go on a tear. St Joes hasn’t played anyone. They’re not finishing top four regardless.
Bonnies blew a 10 point lead. vcu went on a 12-0 run.... they are up 4 now with 11 mins to go. Sold out crowd
Figures.
It sucks to say but it’s probably best if vcu beats everyone except us at this point. I’d love to win the regular season but getting top four has to be priority. We’ve seen talented Mason squads flame out of the A10 tourney because they got like the five seed and had to play the extra game.
Beating them on their home court is going to be tricky.
Actually finished 67-61. Castro fouled with 3.2 left and made both.
GunstonsGhost
Sixth Man
SLU was essentially crippled when Swope wasn't in the game due to foul trouble. I think we got a much better shot at beating them than what SLU showed today.
The most recent reason for this was a mysterious debilitating ankle injury. I don’t expect another one of those this year.
ESPN piece on "Low Mid-Majors" bubble teams:
Who might buck that trend? vcu has the best tourney odds overall, with 14% of that 52% mark coming from its chance at an at-large bid. But MVC leaders Drake (39th) and Bradley (56th) actually rank higher in SOR than the Rams (60th) do. None have played any top-50 games by BPI, but that trio is a combined 6-5 against top-100 opponents. And then, Liberty has by far the strongest tourney odds of any Conference USA team -- though practically all of that is wrapped up in its probability of winning the conference tournament.
Bubble Watch spotlight: vcu. Coach Ryan Odom and the Rams rank 49th in BPI, which normally would be good enough to at least make a run at an at-large tourney bid, but vcu has also lost some close games it shouldn't have (most notably against Seton Hall in late November and St. Bonaventure on New Year's Eve). That leaves its résumé stats in a precarious place without many more chances to boost them -- vcu's best remaining game probably comes at Dayton on Feb. 7. This puts pressure on the Rams to win the A-10 title and not have to hope they're in a multibid league.
The Enigma: Drake. As mentioned above, the Bulldogs rank 39th in SOR -- ahead of literally dozens of power-conference programs -- and they have a 3-0 record against BPI top-100 opponents. (They beat Vanderbilt, for instance, which just knocked off Tennessee.) While Drake won't have too many more chances to boost its résumé, it could force the committee to give it a look if it just keeps winning. The question is, can it? In contrast with that gaudy SOR ranking, the Bulldogs are 85th in BPI and have a 2% chance of winning out over the rest of their schedule, despite that slate ranking only 142nd toughest in the nation. That's why Drake is a great example of a team that would potentially make the tourney if the season ended today but faces an uphill climb to make it in reality.
Locks: None
Should Be In: None
Work to Do: vcu (52%), Bradley (44%), Liberty (42%), Drake (29%), Dayton (24%)
Outside Looking In (capped at five teams): George Mason (23%), MTSU (15%), Louisiana Tech (13%), Murray St (13%), Saint Joseph's (11%)
Low Mid-Majors (Atlantic 10, C-USA, Missouri Valley)
This last group of conferences is traditionally right on the border of who gets an at-large bid. (A season ago, only one of them -- the A-10 -- got more than its conference champ into the tournament field.) This season, the BPI forecast is calling for 3.3 tourney entries from this group, meaning there's little daylight for an at-large case to be made out of this group of squads.Who might buck that trend? vcu has the best tourney odds overall, with 14% of that 52% mark coming from its chance at an at-large bid. But MVC leaders Drake (39th) and Bradley (56th) actually rank higher in SOR than the Rams (60th) do. None have played any top-50 games by BPI, but that trio is a combined 6-5 against top-100 opponents. And then, Liberty has by far the strongest tourney odds of any Conference USA team -- though practically all of that is wrapped up in its probability of winning the conference tournament.
Bubble Watch spotlight: vcu. Coach Ryan Odom and the Rams rank 49th in BPI, which normally would be good enough to at least make a run at an at-large tourney bid, but vcu has also lost some close games it shouldn't have (most notably against Seton Hall in late November and St. Bonaventure on New Year's Eve). That leaves its résumé stats in a precarious place without many more chances to boost them -- vcu's best remaining game probably comes at Dayton on Feb. 7. This puts pressure on the Rams to win the A-10 title and not have to hope they're in a multibid league.
The Enigma: Drake. As mentioned above, the Bulldogs rank 39th in SOR -- ahead of literally dozens of power-conference programs -- and they have a 3-0 record against BPI top-100 opponents. (They beat Vanderbilt, for instance, which just knocked off Tennessee.) While Drake won't have too many more chances to boost its résumé, it could force the committee to give it a look if it just keeps winning. The question is, can it? In contrast with that gaudy SOR ranking, the Bulldogs are 85th in BPI and have a 2% chance of winning out over the rest of their schedule, despite that slate ranking only 142nd toughest in the nation. That's why Drake is a great example of a team that would potentially make the tourney if the season ended today but faces an uphill climb to make it in reality.
Locks: None
Should Be In: None
Work to Do: vcu (52%), Bradley (44%), Liberty (42%), Drake (29%), Dayton (24%)
Outside Looking In (capped at five teams): George Mason (23%), MTSU (15%), Louisiana Tech (13%), Murray St (13%), Saint Joseph's (11%)
NewPatriot
Starter
The fact Mason is even mentioned in the conversation this late in the season is encouraging. Mason's future is in their own hands. It's time to win the regular season and the tournament.ESPN piece on "Low Mid-Majors" bubble teams:
Low Mid-Majors (Atlantic 10, C-USA, Missouri Valley)
This last group of conferences is traditionally right on the border of who gets an at-large bid. (A season ago, only one of them -- the A-10 -- got more than its conference champ into the tournament field.) This season, the BPI forecast is calling for 3.3 tourney entries from this group, meaning there's little daylight for an at-large case to be made out of this group of squads.
Who might buck that trend? vcu has the best tourney odds overall, with 14% of that 52% mark coming from its chance at an at-large bid. But MVC leaders Drake (39th) and Bradley (56th) actually rank higher in SOR than the Rams (60th) do. None have played any top-50 games by BPI, but that trio is a combined 6-5 against top-100 opponents. And then, Liberty has by far the strongest tourney odds of any Conference USA team -- though practically all of that is wrapped up in its probability of winning the conference tournament.
Bubble Watch spotlight: vcu. Coach Ryan Odom and the Rams rank 49th in BPI, which normally would be good enough to at least make a run at an at-large tourney bid, but vcu has also lost some close games it shouldn't have (most notably against Seton Hall in late November and St. Bonaventure on New Year's Eve). That leaves its résumé stats in a precarious place without many more chances to boost them -- vcu's best remaining game probably comes at Dayton on Feb. 7. This puts pressure on the Rams to win the A-10 title and not have to hope they're in a multibid league.
The Enigma: Drake. As mentioned above, the Bulldogs rank 39th in SOR -- ahead of literally dozens of power-conference programs -- and they have a 3-0 record against BPI top-100 opponents. (They beat Vanderbilt, for instance, which just knocked off Tennessee.) While Drake won't have too many more chances to boost its résumé, it could force the committee to give it a look if it just keeps winning. The question is, can it? In contrast with that gaudy SOR ranking, the Bulldogs are 85th in BPI and have a 2% chance of winning out over the rest of their schedule, despite that slate ranking only 142nd toughest in the nation. That's why Drake is a great example of a team that would potentially make the tourney if the season ended today but faces an uphill climb to make it in reality.
Locks: None
Should Be In: None
Work to Do: vcu (52%), Bradley (44%), Liberty (42%), Drake (29%), Dayton (24%)
Outside Looking In (capped at five teams): George Mason (23%), MTSU (15%), Louisiana Tech (13%), Murray St (13%), Saint Joseph's (11%)
Top Donors
-
Patriotsince81$250.00 -
GSII$100.00 -
Old Man$100.00 -
hoopsjunkie75$50.00
-
GMU1983$50.00
Forum statistics
#MasonNation Network
Check out these great sites:
GiantKiller.co
ByGeorge
Expat Hoops
Fourth Estate
Doc Nix and the Green Machine
Bill Bride - DMV Sports Shots
Patriot Brew Blog/Newsletter
GiantKiller.co
ByGeorge
Expat Hoops
Fourth Estate
Doc Nix and the Green Machine
Bill Bride - DMV Sports Shots
Patriot Brew Blog/Newsletter