23-24 Opponent Tracking Thread

Am I the only one that wasn’t that impressed with him last year and feels he’ll struggle at the P5 level?
No, I wasn't impressed at all. I'm surprised an agent was willing to devote their time on him.
 
Correct. In short, VCU is in an unfortunate situation. We're all dying to move up a notch. We have programs (not just basketball) that are good enough to compete at the next level, but other than ONE P6 conference, there isn't a logical place for us to go since we don't have football. Unless that one P6 conference, the Big East, decides they want us, we're kind of stuck with the A10.
Our lack of a football program is our biggest wart and I don’t see that changing, ever. I know to never speak in absolutes but, it would take a near act of divine intervention for us to field a team. So until the world tilts differently on its axis we’re gonna continue playing in one league wishing beyond hope we were playing in another.
 
Our lack of a football program is our biggest wart and I don’t see that changing, ever. I know to never speak in absolutes but, it would take a near act of divine intervention for us to field a team. So until the world tilts differently on its axis we’re gonna continue playing in one league wishing beyond hope we were playing in another.
Football wouldn’t help at this point. P5 football is pretty much full. All it would do is drain the AD.
 
Correct. In short, VCU is in an unfortunate situation. We're all dying to move up a notch. We have programs (not just basketball) that are good enough to compete at the next level, but other than ONE P6 conference, there isn't a logical place for us to go since we don't have football. Unless that one P6 conference, the Big East, decides they want us, we're kind of stuck with the A10.

Yeah well what's gonna make the Big East want us... unless somehow we turn into some private or catholic or w/e the he11 the majority of the schools in that conference are.... the only thing we can do is win.... and not just win games.... as someone posted we have the what, 13th? best record in D1 since 2003? That's not bad.... but the problem is our record vs P5-6 teams, our record in early season tournaments, our overall record in the NCAA Tournament.... and lack of tournament success.

Why you think we invited Loyola-Chicago into the A10? Prob due to 3 NCAA Tourneys in the last 5 NCAA Tourneys (Prior to 2023 their first season in A10)... 2 of the 3 tourney appearances they made at least the Sweet 16, and one of them they made the Final 4.

You think we get to the A10 without the Final 4 run & a close loss to Indiana the following year?

What have we done since joining the A10?..... 2 Conference tournament titles out of what 7 appearances in the championship game? And as far as the NCAA goes.... 2 NCAA wins in 7 tries (didn't include 2021 cause we didn't get to play due to covid).... and 0 trips to the Sweet 16.

Our lack of a football program is our biggest wart and I don’t see that changing, ever. I know to never speak in absolutes but, it would take a near act of divine intervention for us to field a team. So until the world tilts differently on its axis we’re gonna continue playing in one league wishing beyond hope we were playing in another.
Yes & No.

Sure having football could be another source of income.... but whose to say Football wouldn't be in a similar situation as Basketball? One could easily assume that we would be god awful the first several years..... so unless we got lucky & had a great season..... how we gonna attract season ticket holders & donors for that without affecting our MBB Program..... You want us to end up like Ole Dirty who had a halfway decent MBB & threw it all away to go from I-AA to FCS? And where has that gotten them on Football or MBB? They've gone from CAA to C-USA to Sun Belt.

They've played in 2 bowl games since joining FCS, and their MBB team has been to 1 NCAA tourney since 2011 (2019).... you want our bball program to end up like that & be worse than what we have been the last 10 years?

And since we all know Football is no where close to becoming a thing at VCU.... only thing we can do is start winning, start truly dominating our conference..... winning more regular season & conference tourney championships & advancing past the first weekend of the tournament.

I'd be willing to bet if we start truly dominating our conference, start winning more than just 1 conference championship every 5-10 years & start advancing to the 2nd weekend of the tournament...... than problems on A LOT of fronts.... will solve themselves.
 
I'd be willing to bet if we start truly dominating our conference, start winning more than just 1 conference championship every 5-10 years & start advancing to the 2nd weekend of the tournament...... than problems on A LOT of fronts.... will solve themselves.
Being in a league is not like having a job.... you don't get "promoted" just for doing well. It helps, but this whole idea of us going to the BE is a pipe dream.
 
Regarding league affiliation, is there any lateral move that could be even the slightest bit interesting to consider? Consider perhaps a marginally less attractive basketball league for better in other sports and less travel costs.

I doubt there’s anything. I agree that the weighted revenue sharing for NCAA advancement is a big plus for the A10.
 
Am I the only one that wasn’t that impressed with him last year and feels he’ll struggle at the P5 level?
He had a comparable year to Ace in fewer minutes comparing Freshman years and he’s 6’8”. He’s definitely worth a ”flyer” for a solid P6.

Agree he wasn’t that impressive against us—though I believe he started well against us in the first game. The second game he had foul issues and he was hurt for the A10 final—not a great sample, but he had some decent A10 games. That height at the PG spot is hard to overlook if he figures it out.
 
He had a comparable year to Ace in fewer minutes comparing Freshman years and he’s 6’8”. He’s definitely worth a ”flyer” for a solid P6.

Agree he wasn’t that impressive against us—though I believe he started well against us in the first game. The second game he had foul issues and he was hurt for the A10 final—not a great sample, but he had some decent A10 games. That height at the PG spot is hard to overlook if he figures it out.
Like a lot of players, he looked better when he wasn't playing against us.
 
He had a comparable year to Ace in fewer minutes comparing Freshman years and he’s 6’8”. He’s definitely worth a ”flyer” for a solid P6.

Agree he wasn’t that impressive against us—though I believe he started well against us in the first game. The second game he had foul issues and he was hurt for the A10 final—not a great sample, but he had some decent A10 games. That height at the PG spot is hard to overlook if he figures it out.
How did he have a comparable freshman year to Ace? Ace's advanced stats as a freshman were significantly better (order of magnitude of 50%).
 
Being in a league is not like having a job.... you don't get "promoted" just for doing well. It helps, but this whole idea of us going to the BE is a pipe dream.
I know its not that easy.... but it's hard to not look at that when deciding who gets added to a conference & who doesn't.

Lets take Loyola-CHI for example... last 4 seasons there's been an NCAA Tourney (prior to 2023, their first year in the A10) they made it 3 times. 2 of those 3 they made at least the Sweet 16, 1 of those was a trip to the Final 4.

Our final 4 run.... which we followed up with another CAA Champ. & made the NCAA Tourney & came very close to making the Sweet 16 for the 2nd year in a row..... not to mention the extreme increase in donations & season ticket requests.... made us look extremely attractive to the A10.... I can all but guarantee that played a HUGE factor in us getting here.

I'd be willing to bet Loyola-Chicago's recent success from 2018-22 gave them increases in ticket sales, donations etc.... and I'm sure their recent history of success played a vital part in the A10 looking to add them. As well as having another major city like Chicago as part of the A10.
 
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