Mar 3 / Rob

JMUSB CAA Tournament Power Rankings

March Madness officially begins for CAA hoops fans this weekend. Four games are on the docket for tomorrow, starting with a 12:00 noon match-up between UNC Wilminton and Georgia State. This has been a particularly strong season for the CAA and barring something extraordinary happening, it appears as if ODU and GMU already have their tickets punched for the big dance. The Dukes and every other team in the league are hoping to win it all and do their part to make the CAA a 3 bid league. Before the games start, we thought we’d give you our little breakdown of how we think each team in the league stacks up. Without further ado, here are the Official JMUSB CAA Hoops Power Rankings. Team are listed in order of how likely we think they are to win the tourney from least likely to most likely.

12. Towson (4-25, 0-18) – Some things in life just defy explanation. Like how every single 30-something white guy in America knows all the words to the Beastie Boy’s “Paul Revere”. Nobody knows why, we just do. And we’ve known them for as long as we can remember and probably always will. Well, that’s kind of like Towson basketball. They’ve always sucked and they probably always will. They just do. They aint winning this tournament. Nothing more to say about that.

11. Northeastern (11-19, 6-12) – OK, confession time. I forgot these guys were still in the league. Because of that, I had to do a little bit of research so that I could have something to write about here. Well, I had to wade through many, many links about their big performance in the Beanpot before I could find anything about their hoops team. And they didn’t even win the Beanpot. Nobody has these guys winning it all this weekend either. Chaisson Allen is a real player though and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put on a show in his final CAA tournament. 

10. Georgia State (11-18, 6-12) – The Panthers will be playing under an interim coach, after firing head coach Rod Barnes last week. The timing was odd, considering it came just a day after his team gave Mason a pretty good game before falling by 7 points. Barnes just couldn’t get the program to compete with the top teams in the CAA though. The Panthers’ main problem is that they can’t score the basketball. They rank 306th in the country in scoring. I used to live in Atlanta and I can tell you that the Panthers’ other big problem is that nobody in Atlanta cares about them. They averaged a league worst 915 fans per home game this year. General William Tecumsah Sherman has more fans than that in Atlanta.

9. William & Mary (9-21, 4-14) – Yeah, I know they finished second to last in the CAA, but I think they’ve actually been playing some good ball. As we found out when they upset the Dukes last month, the Tribe can shoot. Junior Quinn McDowell is everything you’d expect a W&M ball player to be. And by that I mean he’s a white dude who knocks down open jumpers and is as good as you’ll find from the line. Freshman Julian Boatner looks like he’s following in McDowell’s footsteps. He can be deadly from long range and recently nailed 6 treys against ODU. They’re going to be a tough out.

8. Delaware (13-16, 8-10) – The Blue Hens really struggle shooting the basketball. Jawan Carter leads the team in scoring and averages 15 points a game, but shoots only 37% from the field. As a team, Delaware shoots a league worst 41%. I think they’ll get by Northeastern, but don’t see them beating ODU in round 2. They could be a team to watch in the next few season though. Freshman Devon Saddler was one the best young players I saw in the CAA and Josh Brinkley not only can bang down low, but he was coached in high school by JMUSB commenter Tedward. And yes, that’s the best we could do making any connection between this blog and a CAA player. We’re big time.

7. UNC Wilmington (13-17, 7-11) – I easily could have flip-flopped the Seahawks with Delaware. However, of all the players on both rosters, I think Chad Tomko is the one most likely to put a team on his back and take them on a run. He’s no Brett Blizzard from the UNCW glory days, but he produced all season on a roster with its share of holes. 

6. Drexel (20-9, 11-7) – The Dragons finished in the top half of the CAA largely due to a tremendous home court advantage. Well, a home court advantage and a brand of basketball that is friggin ugly as hell. I’m sure their rough play pleased their Philly faithful, but I think it’s awful. Regardless, they were 7-2 in conference at home, but 4-5 on the road. It’s worth pointing out that the Dukes handed them one of those 2 home losses. They’ll beat Towson tomorrow, but then will face VCU on the Ram’s home court on Saturday. That could spell disaster for the Dragons. 

5. VCU (21-10, 12-6) – This Rams team is a tough one to figure out. When they’re good, like they were in their wins over ODU, UCLA, Wichita State, or during their 9 game winning streak, they can be really good. When they’re bad, like when they got blown out in the rematch against ODU before stumbling to the finish line, they can be really bad. They’ve lost 4 of their last 5 and I just don’t see them turning it around fast enough to win 3 straight.

4. Hofstra (20-10, 14-4) – I’ve never been to Hofstra, but I always pictured it as a campus crawling with people who consider Long Island the 51st state. You know, like these fine folks. If you’re one of those people who believe basketball tournaments are won by the team with the single best player, then you might want to bump Hofstra up in your own rankings. Charles Jenkins is awesome and has the potential to just dominate. I don’t think his supporting cast is good enough though.

3. JMU (21-10, 10-8) – In this up and down season, I’m confident that when the Dukes played their best, they were definitely better than any of teams we ranked 4-12. The collapse against Hofstra was bad, but in a weird way it was almost flukey. I’ve seen flashes that made me think they were better than ODU and Mason, but have yet to see them play a full 40 minutes that left me convinced they could definitely beat them. I think they’ve got it in them, especially if Devon Moore continues to play well, but I just haven’t seen it yet.

2. George Mason (25-5, 16-2) – I wrote a post a while back about how I wanted to hate Mason. Well, after the JMU vs GMU game I attended at the Patriot Center, I definitely hate them. It’s far easier than I thought it would be. The reason is that damn pep band. I know they’ve gotten tons of internet love for their nifty little Rage Against the Machine covers. They did it at the game I was at and it was awful. I’m telling you, everyone there that wasn’t a Mason student was mortified by the trainwreck. The Mason students thought it was like some sort of awakening though. Of course they then all piled into their pimped out Scions and drove around Fairfax looking for a classmate’s house whose parents were out of town so they could drink there after the game.Maybe their idea of a good time is just different than most. In any case, Mason is a very good basketball team. They’re greatest strength is balance, but I still think they slip up this weekend.

1. ODU (24-6, 14-4) – Mason is the darling of mid-major fans everywhere, but ODU is no slouch. I’m no fan of the Monarchs, but I’ve got to give the program its due. They played a tougher out of conference schedule than the Patriots and I think they’re style of play will give them an edge in the post season. They can just flat out rebound the basketball and play defense. They held teams to a league best 58 points a game and outrebounded their opponents by 12 boards a game. I love to watch up and down, high scoring basketball, but I think that rebounding and defense put teams over the top in close games. ODU does both about as well as anyone.

8 Comments

leave a comment
  1. JMU Rugby / Mar 3 2011

    March to the Sea reference. Well done!

  2. Coach Priz / Mar 4 2011

    Just one lonely beastie I be…

    I’m hoping for a good showing against Bill & Mary but they scare me. If they start hitting their shots they could make a run through the tournament.

  3. Todd / Mar 4 2011

    Nervous as hell about tonight. I’m usually the kool-aid drinking, sunshine and flowers one of the two of us, but the little bitch session from Landeta combined with my emotional and typically disproportionate response yesterday combined with the fact the Dukes haven’t played a 40-minute defensive game all year (specifically that they’re the laziest group ever defending the three which is a nightmare against Waste Management) has me really shaky today. Of course, guess it’s better to be nervous than not. In the last ten years, I’ve never been nervous because I knew today was the last game of the season.

    Also, huge few days for the Dukes postseason options. Assuming there is some moron with a Matthew Lesko grant out there still putting on charades like the CBI tournament, I’m guessing this isn’t the absolute last game regardless, but two wins would mean beating Hofstra and might at least make the NIT folks think. Realistically, I think Charles Jenkins with Hofstra, a more well-known VCU team, and a Philly-market, Bruiser-Flint-led, Drexel team are all probably more appealing right now though.

    Best thing that could happen for this conference, with acknowledgments to GheorgetheBlog and Defiantly Dutch, is for anyone other than ODU and GMU to win this tourney. Probably gets the CAA an unprecedented THREE bids to the Big Dance, and might get three more into the NIT (likely including the Dukes – IF they can at least win tonight!).

  4. Dukie95 / Mar 4 2011

    If we can get though tonight, I feel good about making it to ODU in the semis.

    W&M can win this game simply by hitting their shots from outside. If they have an off-night shooting we lose, if they don’t, we win.

    Here’s to hoping the Pugs are bothered by the sight lines or mold on the walls at the coliseum.

  5. Brandon / Mar 4 2011

    Jealously is an ugly emotion. The Green Machine is one of the best bands in the country. Give credit where credit is due. As far as the Dukes go, they have the talent but I believe the coaching is not there to keep the team consistent.

  6. Rob / Mar 4 2011

    I’m not jealous of the green machine. It was just a joke about a post I wrote a few weeks ago talking about how there aren’t enough things for fans to hate in the JMU-GMU rivalry. Anyway, I actually think Brady is a hell of a coach and the program is on the rise.
    Thanks for checking out the blog and good luck to your Patriots in the big dance.

  7. Todd / Mar 4 2011

    Agree Dukie, but we should remember that while the 17 point lead should never have been blown it was built on a first half shooting performance we really haven’t seen again. The Dukes definitely have the talent to make it to Sunday and Monday (which would also mean I could attend – come on Dukes!) but just need to focus.

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. DMV: O.J. Atogwe Is an Offseason Champ | Mr. Irrelevant, a D.C. Sports Blog by the Brothers Mottram
Leave a Comment

%d bloggers like this: