Spin anyway you want. DU non conference schedule rating was 287.
If they play guys whose career is finished in the College Basketball Irrelevant tournament what a waist of time, effort and money that would be.

 Dukes 5 point favorite
under over is 160
A neutral court
A winneable game
if they win probably play southern utah
This tournament could be interesting

scduke wrote:

DennisC91 wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

DennisC91, the Mountain West conference had 5 teams in the top 54 net and their worst team had a net ranking of 172 (A10 had VCU at #53 and 7 teams worse than #199).  Easy to see why the bids fell where they did.

Sure. So what lessons can be learned from the Mountain West's success this year compared to the A10? Because I'm not blown away by their non-conference work. San Diego State, regular season and conference tourney champs, played a challenging non-conference schedule, but lost to all the good teams they played (Arizona, Arkansas and St. Mary's). They did beat Power 5 also-rans like Stanford and Ohio State. Utah State lost at home to Weber State and neutral-site to SMU but did score a neutral site win against another Power-5 also-ran, Washington State, while going 4-0 against West Coast Conference teams. Boise State beat a couple more Power-5 also-rans in Washington State and Colorado and also knocked off Texas A&M in a tournament. They went 2-0 against the A10 as well, beating Loyola-Chicago and St. Louis. But they lost at home to South Dakota State and suffered double-digit losses to Charlotte and Santa Clara. Nevada lost its only two Power-5 games, to Kansas State and Oregon and also lost badly to Loyola Marymount. Their best non-conference win was against who, Tulane? Fordham and George Mason both beat Tulane as well. 

Obviously they did something right to get the Net ratings they got. I guess my point is, it really shouldn't be THAT hard for the A10 to get back to this level. These teams had gaudy records and NET ratings, but none really look like world-beaters to me. 
 

Now I thought the A-10 was scrutinizing OOC schedules as a strategy to get more NCAA bids. This was something that was started by the Missouri Valley Conference and they were having some success with it. Does anyone know if they are still doing this, if they have any authority to make a school improve their OOC schedule, etc.? Of course, a strong OOC does no good unless a team wins.

I've read everybody's opinions about why NOT to play in the CBI but, come on - zoom out!  I think some of us are being too discerning in our scrutiny.  These are kids and young men, they are basketball players, we are fans.  There is a tournament to be played.  Let's play it and win it!  Maybe it will build some confidence.  Maybe it will bring the team closer together. But let's just enjoy a little more basketball.  see some teams we don't normally see.  I think our guys play best when there isn't much on the line.  This is a great opportunity then!  And finally, if the CBI is not for the Duquesnes of the basketball world - who is it for?

Bilgy wrote:

What is Duquesne's all time record vs. Rice?

2-0. Won at Rice in 2007, won at Palumbo in 2008

DennisC91 wrote:

DuqBlue wrote:

Bilgy wrote:

What is Duquesne's all time record vs. Rice?

2-0. Won at Rice in 2007, won at Palumbo in 2008

Would be 3-1 then as we played them twice in the John Carroll Era: a 70-68 home win in 1989-90 and a 95-83 road loss the following season. 

https://goduquesne.com/sports/mens-basketball/opponent-history/rice-university/214

I got 2-0 from the Duquesne website.   Not that the website is ever incorrect.

Last edited by DuqBlue (3/14/2023 1:24 pm)

Bilgy wrote:

What is Duquesne's all time record vs. Rice?

Dukes are 5-2 all time vs Rice; first game was played in 1936.

levon1975 wrote:

In trashing the failures of the A-10 please remember that the NET rankings were created specifically to smash the hopes of leagues and teams like those of the A-10, while rewarding P-5 leagues and teams that are in general mediocre at best.  The whole point was to create a ranking system that by its nature penalized the higher “mid-major” schools by minimizing their opportunities for the all-important Quad-1 wins.  Any P-5 team will have at least a dozen opportunities for obtaining Quad-1 wins at home and on the road!  A typical A-10 team will likely have less than 5 chances for a quad 1win and the games will universally be on the road, or if very lucky on a neutral court!  So the results are exactly what the NCAA wanted, getting more and more “football” schools into the bball tournament while relegating basketball  league like A-10 to a single bid.  It was the grand design of the P-5 and it will get worse before it gets better for the A-10.

Amen levon, amen! I love to compare how net numbers compare to the old rpi numbers. It is no secret who is drawing the short straws. Probably the same reason they put VCU up against St. Mary’s.

Win or lose 27,500.00 entry fee cheap & stupid. Can’t disagree for the Dukes signing up for peanuts. WARNING do not sign up for FLO App. 1 month turns into year subscription. Hopefully Dambrot gets the Dukes to ESPN. II semis & finals. Another stupid move by the President, AD & Dambrot. NOT. 🤣😂😅Go Duquesne 👍

Last edited by Ironduke81 (3/14/2023 5:22 pm)

In trashing the failures of the A-10 please remember that the NET rankings were created specifically to smash the hopes of leagues and teams like those of the A-10, while rewarding P-5 leagues and teams that are in general mediocre at best.  The whole point was to create a ranking system that by its nature penalized the higher “mid-major” schools by minimizing their opportunities for the all-important Quad-1 wins.  Any P-5 team will have at least a dozen opportunities for obtaining Quad-1 wins at home and on the road!  A typical A-10 team will likely have less than 5 chances for a quad 1win and the games will universally be on the road, or if very lucky on a neutral court!  So the results are exactly what the NCAA wanted, getting more and more “football” schools into the bball tournament while relegating basketball  league like A-10 to a single bid.  It was the grand design of the P-5 and it will get worse before it gets better for the A-10.