Falcon Basketball Opponents...checking in....

One of the things that is always tough is that when you face teams early in the season, you don't know how good they really are.  One of the things I like to do is take a minute to look back and see how things have turned out for our early opponents.....

Howard:  After beating BG, Howard lost their next 8 games before finally beating Loyola of MD in their most recent game.   They are 2-8 with an RPI of 227.

Michigan:  After beating BG, UM lost 2 of the next 3 before a 7-game winning streak that is current.  They are 10-2 with an RPI of 59.

Duquesne is 3-4 since they smoked BG @AA.  However, 3 of those losses are @Pitt, @Penn State and WVU (neutral).  They had a decent road win @Green Bay.  They are 5-5 with an RPI of 183.

Niagara is, in retrospect, a very disappointing loss on a neutral floor.  They lost their next 5 games after beating us, one of them an 18 point defeat to Buffalo.  They do have a nice win @St. Bonaventure, but there is not much to show for their year.  3-9, 286 RPI.

Detroit is having a disappointing season.  They are 7-6 and 3-2 in the MAC, with wins against BG, @EMU and @CMU and losses to Akron and @WMU.  Their RPI is 206.

Albany is 7-6 against what is one of the ten easiest schedules in the NCAA to date.  Their own RPI is 255.  They did pick up a really nice win @Siena after beating BG, but their other wins since then are not too remarkable.

Michigan State is 8-4 and a Top 10 team with an RPI of 56.  Since beating BG they have lost @Syracuse and to Texas at home.  They beat a tough Oakland team on a neutral floor after a huge scare.

WKU is 5-7 and 1-3 since beating BG.  However, that includes a win over SIU, and then losses @Murray State and to Louisville.  Their RPI is 124.

FIU is 1-1 since playing BG, losing to Sam Houston State and beating Florida A&M (both at home).  They are 5-6 with an RPI of 279.

Clearly, there are a couple of teams that are good in there, and a bunch of teams that have underachieved pretty badly.  Overall, our schedule is currently ranked #296 in the nation.

I will say this:  I'm glad we played the Detroit tournament, even though we took a sombrero.  I think we needed those extra games.