22-23 Opponent Tracking Thread

[HBK]

Ditto Morgan State, Kennesaw State and ASU. We’ve been playing short handed and meshing many new players. While we shouldn’t drink kool-aide we also shouldn’t be so impatient. Go Rams!

Agreed. I’m not impatient, but it’s easy to be as a fan. The older I get, the more patient I am. The reality is that none of us (certInly me) and many of the “experts“ on TV, radio and online can’t be absolutely certain of who is good and who isn’t before the season starts. Sure, we can guess right on some teams, but who had Villanova being where they are this stage, or UNC with as many losses as they have so far? Who had UVA unbeaten and ranked #3? Not me on all of those. In this age of the transfer portal, it is so hard to know with any real certainty whose going to be good. Toss in the injuries teams suffer, and it is anyone’s guess.

We should all probably take your advice to be patient. Peace.

 

[enonram]

Not impressed at all. Fernandes is all they got.

 

[HBK]

Yes and ASU loss wasn't as bad as thought. Our season is beginning to take shape and I don't think we're in nearly as much trouble as we believed a week ago.

The ASU loss is only bad from the perspective that we had that game in our hands, unlike Memphis when we were never really in it during the second half. Otherwise, it certainly doesn’t appear to be a “bad loss” in any way, though every loss sucks in my mind.

A win tomorrow at Temple would be solid for us and our resume. Will be a tough game.

 

[Ramdog]

That is a nice win. Pitt may be better than what they were predicted to be.

Goddamitt….I read on here that Pitt was one of the worst teams in the country

you guys need to make up your mind

 

[RamJamFan]

Agreed. I’m not impatient, but it’s easy to be as a fan. The older I get, the more patient I am. The reality is that none of us (certInly me) and many of the “experts“ on TV, radio and online can’t be absolutely certain of who is good and who isn’t before the season starts. Sure, we can guess right on some teams, but who had Villanova being where they are this stage, or UNC with as many losses as they have so far? Who had UVA unbeaten and ranked #3? Not me on all of those. In this age of the transfer portal, it is so hard to know with any real certainty whose going to be good. Toss in the injuries teams suffer, and it is anyone’s guess.

We should all probably take your advice to be patient. Peace.

Well said. Our Freshmen are just getting their sea legs and some posters are already throwing the captain overboard. I hope fans will wait to judge staff AFTER the season rather than its first 7-8 games. I realized some of my frustration with coaches and players is actually a result of my frustration with our OOC schedule. Barclays and Memphis games were our opportunity to shine. Team meshing and player injuries (Ace/Jamir) simply not goo timing during our make-or-break OOC schedule. We simply must find ways to schedule more impressive OOC games. Our charter flights can take our team anyplace/anytime. I’m over excuses nobody wants to play us. Schedule up. Coaches own OOC.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

That is a nice win. Pitt may be better than what they were predicted to be.

Moved them up from 148 to 115 on Torvik.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

Moved them up from 148 to 115 on Torvik.

And Pitt’s up to 100. It’ll be interesting to see where they land once all of tonight’s games are done.

They’ve also moved up to 80 on KP.

 

[Mistachill]

Pitt upsets NC state on the road 68-60!!

Folks, this pitt team is good!! Their defense is excellent! Much different team that got touted by Michigan 2 weeks ago.

5-0 since losing to VCU

DL, slow down. Three of those wins were against 300+ NET teams and NC State was projected 10th in the preseason ACC poll.

Still a good win for Pitt and hopefully they'll surprise some people this season. It would help us and definitely rooting for Capel to save his job. But I don't know about proclaiming Pitt to now be a good team. I hope you're right though.

 

[duncanlamb]

DL, slow down. Three of those wins were against 300+ NET teams and NC State was projected 10th in the preseason ACC poll.

Still a good win for Pitt and hopefully they'll surprise some people this season. It would help us and definitely rooting for Capel to save his job. But I don't know about proclaiming Pitt to now be a good team. I hope you're right though.

Coming into this game NC State was 7-1. Their only loss to Kansas in Atlantis by 6 pts. The wins also include Butler and Dayton at Atlantis.

As for Pitt, they just thrashed Northwestern by 19. They look really good. The transfer pieces are just starting to jell.

 

[Mistachill]

Coming into this game NC State was 7-1. Their only loss to Kansas in Atlantis by 6 pts. The wins also include Butler and Dayton at Atlantis.

As for Pitt, they just thrashed Northwestern by 19. They look really good. The transfer pieces are just starting to jell.

Well, FWIW NC State's non conference strength of schedule is 192 so take that into consideration when looking at 7-1. For comparison VCU's is currently 82. Maybe you watch/follow these teams more closely than I do so I'll semi defer to you on this. On paper I think it's way to early to declare these teams as being good based the results so far in my opinion. None of these teams seem to have beaten anybody terribly impressive so far. Just a bunch of mediocre squads beating up on each other.

 

[HBK]

DL, slow down. Three of those wins were against 300+ NET teams and NC State was projected 10th in the preseason ACC poll.

Still a good win for Pitt and hopefully they'll surprise some people this season. It would help us and definitely rooting for Capel to save his job. But I don't know about proclaiming Pitt to now be a good team. I hope you're right though.

You're absolutely right, but they've won two straight road games against other Power 5 teams. They could still finish dead last in the ACC, but it is clear they are playing better now than they did in Brooklyn, and that is encouraging from a VCU perspective.

 

[HBK]

VCU travels to Temple, with higher level nonconference games getting harder to find

VCU’s victory over SEC member Vanderbilt on Wednesday at the Siegel Center was the return game of a home-and-home series.

richmond.com

Not sure if everyone saw this in the Times-Dispatch yesterday. It echoes the things Jimmy Martelli has told me several times about our scheduling. In a post before the season, probably in another thread, I listed some of the schools he and Mike reached out to about playing in non-conference games.

The article is a good read. It quotes Shaka from several years back, and really illustrates how hard it is for us to get non-conference games against almost any Power 5 school (P6 if you count the Big East).

An interesting part of the story is this near the end: "...Rhoades said the Rams may have to consider some two-for-one gigs, where they would play on the road twice in exchange for one home game."

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

Well, FWIW NC State's non conference strength of schedule is 192 so take that into consideration when looking at 7-1. For comparison VCU's is currently 82. Maybe you watch/follow these teams more closely than I do so I'll semi defer to you on this. On paper I think it's way to early to declare these teams as being good based the results so far in my opinion. None of these teams seem to have beaten anybody terribly impressive so far. Just a bunch of mediocre squads beating up on each other.

NC State will finish in the bottom half of the ACC standings along with Pitt. Bank on it.

 

[HBK]

NC State will finish in the bottom half of the ACC standings along with Pitt. Bank on it.

You may be right, but if Pitt can finish in the top 100, then that would be a nice Quad 2 win on a neutral site. That said, have you seen the ACC this season? While anything can happen, there appear to be some bad teams in that conference this season ('Cuse, FSU, Louisville, Boston College, Ga. Tech, NC State, Wake and maybe even Clemson). Also, Pitt only gets Duke and UVA once; they get UNC twice. There may be just enough bad teams and their schedule may set up well enough that Pitt could sneak into the #7 or #8 hole. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pitt finish 15th or 5th.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

You may be right, but if Pitt can finish in the top 100, then that would be a nice Quad 2 win on a neutral site. That said, have you seen the ACC this season? While anything can happen, there appear to be some bad teams in that conference this season ('Cuse, FSU, Louisville, Boston College, Ga. Tech, NC State, Wake and maybe even Clemson). Also, Pitt only gets Duke and UVA once; they get UNC twice. There may be just enough bad teams and their schedule may set up well enough that Pitt could sneak into the #7 or #8 hole. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pitt finish 15th or 5th.

As of yesterday's games, Sagarin has the ACC as the 6th best conference. That does not bode well for the ACC down the road regarding NET. Pitt plays @Vanderbilt Wednesday. That will be an interesting game to watch, being a VCU fan.

Regarding Pitt's schedule, they also get VA Tech on the road and H/H with Miami. Pitt is currently 2-2 against P5 schools with wins over Northwestern and NC State. Both P5 losses were by 25 points (WVU) and 31 points (Michigan). They really do need a win against Vandy Wednesday night.