The Season

[80sRamBaseballRugby]

Looks like the signature win we needed was actually back in Nov vs St Peters. Of course they remind me of our 2011 squad.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

I was not prepared to go to a game without a mask mandate. But Ed should not blame the reduced season ticket sales solely on the mask mandate unless he has the stats to back it up. The panemic as a whole has set nearly every group activity back. Movie theaters, live theatre, concerts. Plus, VCU has not been in the final four in 11 years. We have not "played" in the tournament for the past two years. The sizzle on that steak has fizzled. But winning solves everything. I'm looking forward to next season.

You can’t really chalk that up to “people stopped coming because the Final Four run was 11 years ago”. The sellout streak only ended because of a global pandemic, 9 years later, while the in-game experience remained mostly intact (but admittedly in decline) until at least the LSU game 8 years later.

It’s more of a product of the pandemic combined with the decline of the in-game experience, with a dash of politics (some conservative donors did in fact stop donating over the BLM/monument photo, but not enough to make a difference). I went to games in 2020 (only about a week and a half before the pandemic) and 2022 and the game in 2022 (against Richmond) did not really feel like a VCU game with all the promotions.

 

[HBK]

Looks like the signature win we needed was actually back in Nov vs St Peters. Of course they remind me of our 2011 squad.

This is a lesson to all who see a name on our schedule like Saint Peter’s or Chattanooga and think they are cupcakes and we should roll over them. Just because a team doesn’t play in a Power 5 or in a top 10 conference doesn’t mean they aren’t a good team with good players. The only true “cupcake” we played in the non-conference this season was, unfortunately, ODU.

 

[Ramdog]

This is a lesson to all who see a name on our schedule like Saint Peter’s or Chattanooga and think they are cupcakes and we should roll over them. Just because a team doesn’t play in a Power 5 or in a top 10 conference doesn’t mean they aren’t a good team with good players. The only true “cupcake” we played in the non-conference this season was, unfortunately, ODU.

Wagner was more of a cream puff than a cupcake

 

[Mistachill]

This is a lesson to all who see a name on our schedule like Saint Peter’s or Chattanooga and think they are cupcakes and we should roll over them. Just because a team doesn’t play in a Power 5 or in a top 10 conference doesn’t mean they aren’t a good team with good players. The only true “cupcake” we played in the non-conference this season was, unfortunately, ODU.

You can probably throw Campbell in there too.

 

[Ramlove81]

You can probably throw Campbell in there too.

Campbell was better than you might think. They lost one game all season by 10+ points and that was 11, they lost several by 3 or less. They played Duke tough, they played us tough, they won several games by 10+. A basket or two here or there and they would have been in the thick of their conference race.

 

[Mistachill]

Campbell was better than you might think. They lost one game all season by 10+ points and that was 11, they lost several by 3 or less. They played Duke tough, they played us tough, they won several games by 10+. A basket or two here or there and they would have been in the thick of their conference race.

I don't know. I have a hard time viewing a team as being better than I might think with six quad 4 losses that include teams with NETs of 322, 291, 271, 247 regardless of the losing margin.

 

[HBK]

You can probably throw Campbell in there too.

Yep, you're right. I forgot about Campbell. How could anyone ever forget the Fighting Camels?

 

[theyaintwantit]

Really?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1507492707207462912

To back @WillWeaverRVA here, yes the headline is very misleading. I believe I saw the initial article on Wednesday on Twitter and I interpreted it as Ed simply saying “masks” in general had an effect on season ticket renewals. From there it can go in different directions.

 

[bighornn]

This is a lesson to all who see a name on our schedule like Saint Peter’s or Chattanooga and think they are cupcakes and we should roll over them. Just because a team doesn’t play in a Power 5 or in a top 10 conference doesn’t mean they aren’t a good team with good players. The only true “cupcake” we played in the non-conference this season was, unfortunately, ODU.

I consider any opponent a "cupcake" if VCU is not returning a game to the rival campus. Some "cupcakes" are sweeter than others, but they all fall under the same column (Yummy Desserts) if they're being paid - bought - to come and most likely lose. Even if St. Peter's wins the national title, the Peacocks were scheduled as a tasty treat.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

I consider any opponent a "cupcake" if VCU is not returning a game to the rival campus. Some "cupcakes" are sweeter than others, but they all fall under the same column (Yummy Desserts) if they're being paid - bought - to come and most likely lose. Even if St. Peter's wins the national title, the Peacocks were scheduled as a tasty treat.

Cupcakes are specifically buy game opponents from low-major conferences with low RPI or NET that are scheduled only to pad a team’s win column and not for any other reason, usually in December. They’re almost always Q4 home games. ODU is by definition not a cupcake as they’re not a buy game (but they are ODU so perhaps they qualify as some other kind of pastry).

Campbell, Jacksonville State, FAU, and the canceled New Hampshire games were cupcake games (though Jacksonville State did well in the ASUN and can no longer be considered a cupcake). Saint Peter’s, Wagner, and Chattanooga were also buy games but they were specifically picked because they were expected to be competitive in their conferences.

 

[bighornn]

Here's how VCU, at least in recent years, has differed from many others. The Rams could schedule a 350 NET school for a 2 a.m. tipoff, with a foot of snow on the ground. and still draw 7,500 fans and sell lots of popcorn. So the "buy" pays off with a victory and revenue from a full house. If UR/ODU/JMU/GMU, etc., schedule the same game (even a 7 p.m.), they'd draw 2,100 and lose money on the deal. So VCU was/is still much more inclined to add "buy games" to the slate, willing to take a hit in the NET to pad the win total and coffers. I'd like to see stats on how many "buy games" other schools schedule. With VCU it's about seven.

 

[Ramlove81]

I don't know. I have a hard time viewing a team as being better than I might think with six quad 4 losses that include teams with NETs of 322, 291, 271, 247 regardless of the losing margin.

You mean like Dayton? Seriously, no matter what level team they played, including Duke and us, they played tough and were in the games. I'm not saying they were great, but they also weren't awful.