SoCon

[Paul C]

Pomeroy currently ranks the SoCon #22 vs #14 last year. Frankly, last year was the highest we’ve been rated in a while, and the fall appears to be totally due to Samford and UTC. Here are Ken Pom’s rankings for each of then SoCon teams vs where they ended 2017.

ETSU 67 79 slightly down
UNCG 121 91 decently better
Furman 106 108 same
Chatt 114 298 wow what a fall
Wofford 142 183 not as good as last year despite unc win
Mercer 145 151 same
Samford 166 294 another huge drop off
Citadel 288 309 slightly worse but playing better
WCU 322 282 improved a little
VMI 328 331 same

Last year we had 3 teams in the bottom 20% of D1 and 1 in top 100, and this year we have 5 teams in that bottom fifth despite two teams in top 100.

[apaladin]

I think he is way wrong on Chatty, WCU and Citadel. Not the best but certainly not bottom feeders.

[tya1]

As the saying goes - "you are who your record says you are." Chattanooga began the season with D1's youngest lineup and have had injuries galore and issues between the new coach and some players. If they are healthy and the issues get settled they could be dangerous in the tournament. WCU and the Citadel have played much better lately but were blown out in many games this year. Sagarin has a separate rating from their main "official" rating that is weighted towards recent games more than some earlier performances and those three teams rate 60 to 80 places higher in that number.

[The Jackal]

As the saying goes - "you are who your record says you are." Chattanooga began the season with D1's youngest lineup and have had injuries galore and issues between the new coach and some players. If they are healthy and the issues get settled they could be dangerous in the tournament. WCU and the Citadel have played much better lately but were blown out in many games this year. Sagarin has a separate rating from their main "official" rating that is weighted towards recent games more than some earlier performances and those three teams rate 60 to 80 places higher in that number.

Kind of strange that both UTC's men's basketball and football teams took a nose dive this season.

[PurpleFotoAllTheTime]

I'm just hoping and praying that we get a chance to attend the tourney in Asheville. Work has been a bear recently, and we haven't even gotten (not British English) to a single game yet this season.

[fufanatic]

As the saying goes - "you are who your record says you are." Chattanooga began the season with D1's youngest lineup and have had injuries galore and issues between the new coach and some players. If they are healthy and the issues get settled they could be dangerous in the tournament. WCU and the Citadel have played much better lately but were blown out in many games this year. Sagarin has a separate rating from their main "official" rating that is weighted towards recent games more than some earlier performances and those three teams rate 60 to 80 places higher in that number.

Kind of strange that both UTC's men's basketball and football teams took a nose dive this season.

Didn't they have to replace both head coaches? Or were they different years?

[apaladin]

I'm just hoping and praying that we get a chance to attend the tourney in Asheville. Work has been a bear recently, and we haven't even gotten (not British English) to a single game yet this season.

Hope you can make it!

[raleigh fan]

Well after tonight's games we have clinched the first day off...mathematically now if not reasonably before. Should end up 3rd or 4th means will have to get by first round game then UNCG and ETSU in whatever order.

[tya1]

Some things we know now -

ETSU and UNCG are fighting it out for first and second. Furman and Wofford could theoretically finish first or second but it would require an unlikely collapse by ETSU and UNCG.

Furman and Wofford are locked in for first round byes.

Chattanooga and VMI are locked in for the first day games.

Furman has an edge in the remaining schedule over Wofford. Furman plays one of the current top six teams. Wofford plays three, including both ETSU and UNCG.

Mercer and Western Carolina are likely playing for 5th and 6th. Both are 2 games back of Furman and Wofford and both are 3 games up in the loss column on Samford and the Citadel.

[gman]

http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000//so ... EM_ID=4000

Do we want to finish 3rd or 4th? I think we match up better against ETSU than UNCG.

[The Jackal]

Looks like a pretty good chance that 4 SoCon teams finish with at least 20+ wins.

Just a cursory look suggests the last time that happened was 2009-10 (App/WCU/CofC/Wofford)

[fufanatic]

http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000//so ... EM_ID=4000

Do we want to finish 3rd or 4th? I think we match up better against ETSU than UNCG.

UNCG beat us by 10 or more points twice. Do I think we can beat them? Absolutely. Do I normally buy into the it's hard to beat a good team three times? Yes. Do I want to play them before the finals? No.

[raleigh fan]

Don't we play two of Top 6 at WCu and ETSU?

[raleigh fan]

I think I would rather see WCU than Mercer in first round also..Mercer is veteran enough to get it together.

[DungeonRealm]

Looks like a pretty good chance that 4 SoCon teams finish with at least 20+ wins.

Just a cursory look suggests the last time that happened was 2009-10 (App/WCU/CofC/Wofford)

If you're talking about heading into the socon tourney then ok, but for an entire season last year the SoCon had 4 20+ win teams (ETSU 27, UNCG 25, Furman 23, Samford 20) and UTC won 19 then lost their final 5 games