A Sea Of Red

Thought I'd start a new thread since we know when & where we will be playing.

Manson has speculated they might pair us with W&M. That would be a tough draw. 19-12 overall and 11-7 in the Colonial. RPI is 95. We thought we were good at FTs (5th nationally at 79.2%)? They are FIRST at 81%. Oh yeah, they are also first in 3 point % at 43.4. Needless to say they can shoot.

Why didn't they win more games? On paper it looks like this may be a game where we actually have an edge in athleticism. Better defense and rebounding, and I doubt they have a good matchup for Scottie. Makes sense geographically, but I wonder if they wouldn't want W&M to host a first round game. It would be a great game, and pretty special for a certain FR swing player on the Flames. We would need to build on the improved 3 point defense we showed in our last few games.

William & Mary hasn't publicly accepted a bid yet, so they might not even be in the tourney. If they are, it would make sense to pair the two of us since its a short bus trip. Remember, they did the same with Norfolk State coming to Lynchburg last year. My biggest reservation on that would be that the Tribe and the Flames would be 2 of the top rated teams in the tourney and they might not want us paired so early.

Of those who have accepted bids so far, the one I would NOT want to face is Niagara. Probably won't because of distance, but they come from the same conference (MAAC) as last years winner St. Peters, with the same overall W-L record. The Quinnipiac team we beat in the Paradise Jam went 7-11 in that conference. Niagara was 12-6.

William & Mary has never played in either the CIT or CBI. Not sure they'd be interested, TBH. They were 20-11 two years ago and 17-14 last year and didn't play.

Chris Lang wrote:William & Mary has never played in either the CIT or CBI. Not sure they'd be interested, TBH. They were 20-11 two years ago and 17-14 last year and didn't play.

Could be, and based on the CIT's track record (proudly proclaiming they have never had a bid declined) they won't be offered unless there are assurances they will accept. I have heard Winthrop is also not interested although their resume this year would be borderline anyway, with 2 REALLY BAD losses to some tiny religious school.

Chris Lang wrote:William & Mary has never played in either the CIT or CBI. Not sure they'd be interested, TBH. They were 20-11 two years ago and 17-14 last year and didn't play.

Agreed

Other possibilities:
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Towson
Furman
Mercer
Wofford
Tennessee Tech
UMBC
St Francis PA
Mount St Marys
Navy
Lehigh
NC A&T
NCCU

Fairfield

By the way, Fairfield is 3-10 on the road this year. I do like our chances ! Especially with how our defense plays.

A Sea of Red wrote:Fairfield

This isn't official, sorry for any confusion.

A Sea of Red wrote:

A Sea of Red wrote:Fairfield

This isn't official, sorry for any confusion.

Sure it isn't;)

I would hate to be the TV announcer during this game - (Good Luck) -

OLIVIER CADIEUX
JEROME SEGURA
TAJ BENNING
AIDAS KAVALIAUSKAS
ALONDE LEGRAND
KEVIN SENGHORE-PETERSON
JONATHAN KASIBABU
MATIJA MILIN
WASSEF METHNANI
FERRON FLAVORS JR.
JESUS CRUZ
OMAR EL-SHEIKH
AZIZ SULTAN ESSA

jcmanson wrote:. My biggest reservation on that would be that the Tribe

I see what you did there.

So, I take it that the CIT is waiting for more results from conference tourneys today to sort out who else they can invite before announcing matchups. Not too bad for us this year, since we have known we are hosting and the day for almost a week. Just a matter of the opponent and the time.

Sounds like it's going to be in the evening and likely a MEAC school.

A Sea of Red wrote:Sounds like it's going to be in the evening and likely a MEAC school.

So that would be the "John McClendon Classic" same as last year. Most likely teams would be NC A&T or NC Central. I believe Hampton has the NIT autobid if they don't win the tourney. Bethune-Cookman and Savannah State tied with them for first at 12-4, but Savannah State has a losing record overall and B-C is a long way from Lynchburg.

Looks like NC Central is playing Hampton in the tourney final. I would think they will be our opponent if Hampton wins it and if NC Central wins it will likely be A&T.

Flames to host North Carolina A&T in the first round of the CIT on Monday at 6pm

http://www.aseaofred.com/flames-to-host ... nd-of-cit/

Want to believe we can win by 10-15 but heart and reality this season says we win by 3-4. This team is fully capable of losing this one too.

A Sea of Red wrote:Flames to host North Carolina A&T in the first round of the CIT on Monday at 6pm

http://www.aseaofred.com/flames-to-host ... nd-of-cit/

Looking at common opponents, they lost by 6 at Radford and 3 at Presby while beating Howard at home by 14 and losing by 2 on the road. We beat Howard by 20 at home and Presby by 12 and 15, while of course losing all 3 to Radford. It was early season, but that close result at Dedmond tells me they cannot be taken lightly.

Oops.

Our only previous game against the Aggies was the heartbreaking 73-72 loss in the first round of the 2013 NCAA tournament.

olldflame wrote:Our only previous game against the Aggies was the heartbreaking 73-72 loss in the first round of the 2013 NCAA tournament.

If anybody wants a trip down memory lane with Coach Layer and his 2013 team...

http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm ... 2&TeamID=6

Liberty's schedule page now lists the game for telecast on CBS Sports Network. Marshall had originally been penciled in to host the 6 pm CBSSN game but obviously made the NCAA tournament instead.

Apparently, the game will be broadcast on CBSSN.

And students/faculty still get in with a 2 dollar ticket.