The Unofficial Furman Football Page

As you know we are currently tied with Toledo for the 10th longest time between NCAA tourney appearances . Toledo is in the MAC championship on Saturday so we could be alone in the 10th place by Saturday night.

apaladin wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 10, 2018 2:28 am

As you know we are currently tied with Toledo for the 10th longest time between NCAA tourney appearances . Toledo is in the MAC championship on Saturday so we could be alone in the 10th place by Saturday night.

I'm sure, deep down, this makes you happy.

Davidson - In
Charleston - In
Marshall - In

I miss playing against those teams in the SoCon.

fufanatic wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:10 pm

Davidson - In
Charleston - In
Marshall - In

Georgia Southern only lost to Georgia State by 6 yesterday in the Sun Belt semifinals. Georgia State won the SB tournament today by 13 over UT-Arlington.

UNCG, ETSU, and Furman all have higher Pomeroy ratings than Charleston, Marshall, or Georgia Southern. Georgia State too for that matter.

Looks like our ex-SoCon buddies were successful in their search for weaker conferences they could win.

I am not aware that Davidson is in a weaker conference.

affirm wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:57 pm

I am not aware that Davidson is in a weaker conference.

I'm assuming Tya was a bit tongue in cheek with talking about the A-10, which is a vastly superior conference than the SoCon. Two at-large bids speaks volumes. I think we can all agree though that the CAA, Sun Belt and SoCon are all in the same neighborhood with I think the Sun Belt being the worst of the three. The fact their conference champion had well over 20 wins and is a 15 seed is probably pretty disheartening to the league as a whole.

I think I saw that the SoCon was 9-1 against the CAA? Is that true? Anyone surprised that UNCG got a 13 seed. >II was thinking 14th.

Wofford will take part in the CIT as one of the top four overall seeds...Mercer will be taking part in the CBI, traveling to face Dan Majerle's Grand Canyon club.

What I would love to know is if ETSU and Furman were even mentioned in the NIT bracket selection room. I know the SoCon missed its chance at an auto bid to the NIT when UNCG won both the regular season and tourney titles, but that would be a big step for the league if our 2nd or 3rd teams could get an at-large bid in the NIT. If Furman beats Tennessee, doesn't lose to The Citadel and loses in the SoCon finals, I wonder if it would have had a shot?

apaladin wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:38 pm

I think I saw that the SoCon was 9-1 against the CAA? Is that true? Anyone surprised that UNCG got a 13 seed. >II was thinking 14th.

Based on last SoCon notes, the league went 8-1 vs. CAA, 3-3 vs. Sun Belt, 1-2 against Conference USA and 1-5 against the Atlantic 10 if we are looking at Davidson's, Georgia Southern's, Charleston's and Marshall's conferences.

fufanatic wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:21 am

What I would love to know is if ETSU and Furman were even mentioned in the NIT bracket selection room. I know the SoCon missed its chance at an auto bid to the NIT when UNCG won both the regular season and tourney titles, but that would be a big step for the league if our 2nd or 3rd teams could get an at-large bid in the NIT. If Furman beats Tennessee, doesn't lose to The Citadel and loses in the SoCon finals, I wonder if it would have had a shot?

That is the scenario that I thought might have gotten us in the NIT. It is obvious the SoCon is not respected as a good basketball conference. Our teams have to get a quality win or two to have a chance as post season play.

fufanatic wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:26 am

apaladin wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 11, 2018 7:38 pm

I think I saw that the SoCon was 9-1 against the CAA? Is that true? Anyone surprised that UNCG got a 13 seed. >II was thinking 14th.

Based on last SoCon notes, the league went 8-1 vs. CAA, 3-3 vs. Sun Belt, 1-2 against Conference USA and 1-5 against the Atlantic 10 if we are looking at Davidson's, Georgia Southern's, Charleston's and Marshall's conferences.

The SoCon was 8-1 versus the CAA this season, but the success can be attributed to an unintentional scheduling quirk. Seven of the 8 wins were against CAA teams that finished 6th through 10th. The best win was Furman's 78-67 win over Northeastern (RPI 55) on 11/25. The lone CAA win was Charleston over WCU on 11/30. Furman and UNCG own 6 of the 8 SoCon wins against the CAA, so it was sort of a top versus bottom schedule. I hope we continue to play teams from the CAA, particularly Charleston, Elon, William & Mary and UNCW. I believe the CAA is an excellent benchmark for the SoCon.

gman wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:32 am

fufanatic wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:21 am

What I would love to know is if ETSU and Furman were even mentioned in the NIT bracket selection room. I know the SoCon missed its chance at an auto bid to the NIT when UNCG won both the regular season and tourney titles, but that would be a big step for the league if our 2nd or 3rd teams could get an at-large bid in the NIT. If Furman beats Tennessee, doesn't lose to The Citadel and loses in the SoCon finals, I wonder if it would have had a shot?

That is the scenario that I thought might have gotten us in the NIT. It is obvious the SoCon is not respected as a good basketball conference. Our teams have to get a quality win or two to have a chance as post season play.

The SoCon is similar to the MAAC at the top of the conference at least - Furman's drubbing by St. Peter's last year notwithstanding. There have been a few years where the leaguge champion did not win the league tournament and therefore did not get the automatic bid and both teams got into the Big Dance , much less the NIT. But the non auto
qualifier needs to have a 25-5 season or thereabouts that includes wins over a few majors. The MAAC teams never play the lollipops that we do for instance. Selection committees look way past wins over Div. 11 and NAIA teams. They may even do more harm than good. Perhaps if we beatTennesses that long ago night, we would be in the NIT this year. I am sure Wofford received some consideration for their win over UNC. Bottom line? Furman is not that far away from one dance at least. Now, two twirls on the dance floor is a whole nuther thang.

tya1 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:44 pm

Georgia Southern only lost to Georgia State by 6 yesterday in the Sun Belt semifinals. Georgia State won the SB tournament today by 13 over UT-Arlington.

UNCG, ETSU, and Furman all have higher Pomeroy ratings than Charleston, Marshall, or Georgia Southern. Georgia State too for that matter.

Looks like our ex-SoCon buddies were successful in their search for weaker conferences they could win.

Nope, I've carefully examined my first post and still don't see where I made a reference to Davidson or the A10. Maybe somebody else has a better microscope. Or perhaps they held a seance.

When we scheduled those games against the CAA teams this year it appeared they would be against the top division. Elon was a pre-season pick for top two or three and UNCW was two time defending champion and had good returnees and a quality recruiting class. When UNCW's coach left for N. C. State they lost their recruiting class and I believe they also had a top player transfer out. Elon was solid early in the season but faded when one of their star veterans was injured.