JMU Will Will Play 8 of 10 Non-CAA Games Away From the Burg

Thanks to the DNR’s Mark Selig, the cat is out of the bag. JMU hoops will have ten non-conference games this upcoming season. Only two of those games will be in the friendly confines of the Convocation Center. That’s right. Ten non-conference games with eight of them on the road or at neutral sites. Due to recent departures, the CAA conference schedule will only consist of sixteen games. With eight of those games at home, the Dukes will play a combined ten home games in 2013-2014. That’s the fewest in JMU history.

There are different ways you can view this news as a fan. If you’re part of the CAA sucks/JMU admin is clueless group, you’re probably foaming at the mouth right about now.  If you’re one of the more optimistic fans, then maybe you think it’s a great way to toughen up the team before conference play. In all likelihood though, most of you are positioned squarely in the third group however. The group that really just wants to fast forward 10 days  until football season.

I’m definitely in the fast forward to football season camp right now. But, I love hoops and I can’t wait to see last year’s freshmen defend their CAA title, so here’s my take. Realistically, the CAA is a one-bid league for the foreseeable future. So there’s a strong argument to be made that only thing that matters is peaking in Baltimore for the conference tourney. If going on the road to develop toughness helps JMU do that, great. And games at Richmond and at UVA, which are both parts of home and home series by the way, are terrific for the program. And while avoiding the travel is probably nice for the players, playing a few more home games while the students are on break isn’t much of an advantage. What really matters this year is packing the Convo, holding serve at home, stealing a few on the road, and then getting hot in Baltimore.