CAA Notebook
By: Michael Litos, Columnist
Photo Credit - Northeastern University Sports
Information
The quickest introduction: the personal information is in the bio. What I want to outline is the approach. My goal for this column is to offer the news, statistics, and analysis about all the goings-on in the CAA. More importantly, I want to bring thoughtful and strategic angles that help you enjoy your college basketball experience better. The hope is that they serve as quality companion pieces to the National Coaches' Diary Series.
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The countdown is on, but so is the countup. In fact, they are
the same measure. 4...Warren Nolan; 3...Crashing the Dance; 2...Joe
Lunardi; 1...Bracketology 101. The count is the most
important number the CAA generates each basketball season.
For the CAA it's about the bids - the at large bids, that is. Every
February the scenarios are calculated and jiggered, the resumes
discussed and debated. Will we be a one bid conference, or more?
Revenue through the NCAA tournament is a vital lifeline to a
conference's member schools, but so is national perception. CAA
commissioner Tom Yeager, in his 25th year as head of the
conference, knows its importance.
"That's what leagues are defined by," Yeager says. "The NCAA
tournament. How many did you get in and how far did you go. In
commissioner's meetings everybody knows what a ‘one and
doner' is."
The CAA has each November and December to make its mark in the
nonconference portion of schedules. This season the conference
posted a 70-62 mark with a number of notable wins. William &
Mary won at Maryland and at Wake Forest, Old Dominion gave
Georgetown its only nonconference loss, and VCU defeated Richmond,
Oklahoma, and Rhode Island. The CAA has five television games in
the ESPNU Bracketbusters event next weekend to further strengthen
those numbers and that national profile.
However it is also essential for a mid major conference like the CAA to see some separation in its standings during the conference season. This has recently been a bugaboo for the CAA. Because conference games are so competitive and the standings so tight, many years the conference ends up eating its own at large hopes.
"Each week has its challenges," says Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor. "It amazes me how nationally relevant William & Mary is and we were able to sweep them. These last five games and Bracketbusters have a lot of intrigue. I don't care who you are in our league its tough on the road."
The needed separation is occurring this year, though. The top six CAA teams are 39-4 against the bottom six teams, and the top teams are all playing very good basketball at the right time of year. Northeastern has captured 14 of its last 15 games, VCU eight of its last 10, Drexel has won five of its last six, Old Dominion has won eight of its last 10 and George Mason has won 10 of its last 13 and carries a 18-game conference home winning streak.
The separation and early season performance has allowed the conference RPI to remain competitive. Four teams are ranked among the top 55 in this week's RPI. Old Dominion leads the list at #38, while William & Mary is #52, VCU #53 and Northeastern #54. Drexel moved up to #95, giving the CAA five teams in the top 100 for the first time this season. As a means of comparison, only five conferences (Big East, Big 12, ACC, A-10, and SEC) have more than four teams in the top 55 of the RPI. The Big Ten and Mountain West also have four.
Will it hold? That's first up to the Bracketologists, and then the selection committee. We're counting down to that Sunday, too.
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The choice for CAA player of the year is usually
straightforward. By mid-February there is a clear favorite and a
short list of three challengers. Sometimes, like last season when
VCU's Eric Maynor was the preseason choice and followed through
with a stellar senior season to repeat as player of the year, the
choice is obvious.
However this season is different. The waters are murky. With five
conference games left, the pack is crowded. Northeastern's Chase
Allen is a solid pick, having elevated his game from mainstay to
shooting star this season. Allen averages almost 15 points per game
and is shooting at a 54% clip from the field and hitting an amazing
53% of his threes.
The list includes VCU's Larry Sanders, whose 6-11 height and 7-7 wingspan have NBA scouts flocking to VCU games. Sanders is averaging 15 points and 9.4 rebounds this season in CAA games and has eight double-doubles to his credit. You can also never count out Hofstra's Charles Jenkins, who is one of only 16 players in Division I to be averaging at least 18 points (18.8 ppg), four rebounds (4.2 rpg) and three assists (3.9 apg) per game. Old Dominion's Gerald Lee, George Mason's Cam Long, and Allen's teammate at Northeastern, Matt Janning, are also in the conversation.
A wild card? Denzel Bowles of James Madison. The Texas A&M transfer did not become eligible until the December semester break, but Bowles has consistently put up crooked numbers for Matt Brady and the Dukes. Bowles goes 20/8, shoots 58% from the field, and has eight double-doubles to his resume as well.
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It didn't go unnoticed in the national media that UNCW reassigned its coach, Benny Moss, to other duties in the athletics office on January 28. The "firing" was the latest in a growing trend of schools changing coaches in midseason.
Moss assistant Brooks Lee was given the interim duties, and the Seahawks have lost all three games since the change.
The job can be an attractive position. UNCW athletics is the biggest game in town, located by the beach, and has shown it will support a winner. Its venerable home, Trask Coliseum, gets loud and provides, when full, a true college atmosphere and home court advantage. Plus, UNCW is not far removed from its glory days: the Seahawks finished first or second in the CAA in five of six seasons from 2000 to 2006, winning four conference tournament championships.
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Michael Litos is the author of the book Cinderella: Inside the Rise of Mid Major Basketball and a contributing editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. He follows the CAA daily at his blog, caahoops.com
