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Here and There in Friartown

DunnBentilLomomba

News, notes, and opinions while wondering why we have to play a 9:00 pm game so early in the season. 

  • Over the weekend Harvard lost to Holy Cross, Missouri lost to UMKC, and Kentucky was behind the University of Buffalo at halftime. No one (including Friar fans) should worry about a subpar performance this early in the season.
  • Speaking of Missouri, the Tigers were one of four SEC schools to lose over the weekend. If four Big East teams had lost over the weekend rest assured that ESPN and other national outlets would have been putting out articles about how the Big East is dead. As it stands, the Big East and the Big 12 are the only two conferences in the country that are still undefeated.
  • I watched Binghamton play Notre Dame over the weekend and let’s just say that they will not provide the same level of competition as Albany, even though both teams are in the same conference. Notre Dame, on the other hand, is going to be a handful. Former Friar recruit Zach Auguste is averaging 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for the Fighting Irish.
  • As first reported by Kevin McNamara, the NCAA basketball tournament will be returning to Providence in 2016 for first and second round games. Providence is the perfect type of city for this type of event as it has so much to offer out of town visitors yet it is small enough that the tournament is a huge deal in the city and does not get lost in the shuffle. The city really comes alive when the NCAA tournament is in town and I am really looking forward to it.
  • The Mountain West Conference is up to its old tricks again. Due to a flaw in the RPI system if a teams plays games against a Division II school the game is basically ignored when determining the strength of schedule part of the RPI. It is much more beneficial to play a game against a Division II school than a poorly ranked Division I school. The Mountain West used this loophole to get several teams into the NCAA tournament a couple of years ago. This year Mountain West Conference schools play numerous Division II schools including Adams State (2 teams), NW Nazarene, Wayland Baptist, Western State (2 teams), Regis University, Colorado Christian, Bristol University, St. Catherine’s (3 teams), Northwest Christian, San Diego Christian,  and Bethesda University. This loophole needs to be closed.
  • I am anxious to see how PC’s freshmen play tonight. They really did not get enough run during the Albany game (Jalen Lindsey took only two shots and Paschal Chukwu played only four minutes). Hopefully everyone will be able to get plenty of playing opportunities against Binghamton.
  • It was announced today during the 2014 NCAA Men’s Soccer Selection Show that the Providence College men’s soccer team will host the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the No. 11 seed at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23 at the Ray Treacy Track and Field Complex.
  • This weekend’s games at the Mohegan Sun against Notre Dame and Florida State are the first opportunities this season to show how well Friar Nation travels. PC is in a unique opportunity to have “home crowds” at four different games away from the Dunkin Donuts Center. The Friars record against FSU, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Miami may very well determine if the Friars go back to the NCAA tournament this year. Friar fans should be out in full force for all of these games.

email Craig at Craig.Leighton@friarbasketball.com

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2 Comments

  1. Thomas Walters Jr

    November 18, 2014 at 11:40 am

    Players that can come in and play right NOW!

  2. Debra Simone

    November 18, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    I’ll be there cheering them on!

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