Game 19: GMU (17-1 / 5-0) vs GW (12-6 / 3-2) on Monday, January 19, at 5:00 PM.

Verdad

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And when we beat them, as a Quad 2 team, it is going to drop them to Quad 3. That was a bad loss for them and us.

There are a lot of teams right on the bubble of the quad categories:
We want GW to stay top 75 = Q1 and 2
Dayton to get top 75 = Q2
URI (142)/SBU(140)/Richmond(115) to all be top 135 = Q2 road games
SLU (22) to stay top 30 = Quad 1 home finale!

Absent a complete meltdown, it will be really hard for vcu (54) to drop below 75, so they can be used as the sacrificial lamb (pun intended) to bump others Net rankings up, while remaining a Q2 win and Q1 road game for us.

Imagine if we roll into 3/7 vs. SLU with no bad/more than 3 or so losses and they win out till then. We may both be ranked and it would be possibly the biggest regular season game in school history.

Stinks that it may conflict with the women if they are playing in the A10 semi-finals that day. Semi's are at 11am and 1:30pm, if they are the 1/4/5 seed the bracket would put them in the 11am game.
 

MasonFanatic

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Stinks that it may conflict with the women if they are playing in the A10 semi-finals that day. Semi's are at 11am and 1:30pm, if they are the 1/4/5 seed the bracket would put them in the 11am game.
Seems like a big miss by the A10 to cannibalize attendance between the women's tournament and the men's regular season game of the year by not scheduling that game for 7pm
 

Jack Strop

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For those of us who don't really know how the "Quadrants" are defined (myself included 'til now)—

How Quadrants Work
(Based on NET Rankings)

  • Quadrant 1: Home (1-30), Neutral (1-50), Away (1-75).
  • Quadrant 2: Home (31-75), Neutral (51-100), Away (76-135).
  • Quadrant 3: Home (76-160), Neutral (101-200), Away (136-240).
  • Quadrant 4: Home (161-353), Neutral (201-353), Away (241-353).

Hence, beating vcu at 54NET at EBA is not a Q1 win. Beating vcu at Siegel Center at their current NET would be a Q1 win.
 
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GMU79

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GIVING DAY 2023
And when we beat them, as a Quad 2 team, it is going to drop them to Quad 3. That was a bad loss for them and us.

There are a lot of teams right on the bubble of the quad categories:
We want GW to stay top 75 = Q1 and 2
Dayton to get top 75 = Q2
URI (142)/SBU(140)/Richmond(115) to all be top 135 = Q2 road games
SLU (22) to stay top 30 = Quad 1 home finale!

Absent a complete meltdown, it will be really hard for vcu (54) to drop below 75, so they can be used as the sacrificial lamb (pun intended) to bump others Net rankings up, while remaining a Q2 win and Q1 road game for us.

Imagine if we roll into 3/7 vs. SLU with no bad/more than 3 or so losses and they win out till then. We may both be ranked and it would be possibly the biggest regular season game in school history.

Stinks that it may conflict with the women if they are playing in the A10 semi-finals that day. Semi's are at 11am and 1:30pm, if they are the 1/4/5 seed the bracket would put them in the 11am game.
I don't know, Wichita State in '06 was pretty big.
 

jruby

Starter
I don't know, Wichita State in '06 was pretty big.
It certainly was. The debate is was it going in? Or did it become bigger after the fact due to what it Ied to? Either way it's debatable but if Mason were to beat SLU at home and win regular season A10 outright it may end up being bigger and lose and it may just feel like another game... TBD....
 

GMUgemini

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It certainly was. The debate is was it going in? Or did it become bigger after the fact due to what it Ied to? Either way it's debatable but if Mason were to beat SLU at home and win regular season A10 outright it may end up being bigger and lose and it may just feel like another game... TBD....

I would say if both teams are ranked with the championship on the line, it’s the biggest home game ever at EBA.

I would actually argue our game against vcu in Richmond in 2011 was a bigger game (at the time) than the one at Wichita State, especially since it is a rivalry game and not an OOC one.
 

GMU79

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I would say if both teams are ranked with the championship on the line, it’s the biggest home game ever at EBA.

I would actually argue our game against vcu in Richmond in 2011 was a bigger game (at the time) than the one at Wichita State, especially since it is a rivalry game and not an OOC one.
Yes, there are a handful that definitely rise to the top.
 

MasonSAE4

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I would say if both teams are ranked with the championship on the line, it’s the biggest home game ever at EBA.

I would actually argue our game against vcu in Richmond in 2011 was a bigger game (at the time) than the one at Wichita State, especially since it is a rivalry game and not an OOC one.
That semi-final really is where the split in fortunes occurred. Imagine what would’ve been if we hadn’t lost
 

DRK331

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Screenshot 2026-01-15 174234.png


Link: https://t.co/9CZu7VMW82
 

MasonSAE4

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With TOC in charge and Coach L leaving, most likely exactly where we have been for the last 15 years.
Maybe but I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion.

vcu doesn’t make the tournament. They may eventually grow into what they are today, but it takes them much longer. Mason ends up a higher seed, potentially quite a bit if we also won the CAA final. We probably end up as a Sweet 16 team that year. At that point I think there’s a lot more pressure to retain Coach L. Maybe we still don’t, but we can probably also expand our coaching search and recruiting.
 

GMU79

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Maybe but I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion.

vcu doesn’t make the tournament. They may eventually grow into what they are today, but it takes them much longer. Mason ends up a higher seed, potentially quite a bit if we also won the CAA final. We probably end up as a Sweet 16 team that year. At that point I think there’s a lot more pressure to retain Coach L. Maybe we still don’t, but we can probably also expand our coaching search and recruiting.
Possibly, but TOC was still TOC, and Miami was still home and in the ACC. Anyway, it's all conjecture. On both sides.
 

psyclone

Hall of Famer
Maybe but I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion.

vcu doesn’t make the tournament. They may eventually grow into what they are today, but it takes them much longer. Mason ends up a higher seed, potentially quite a bit if we also won the CAA final. We probably end up as a Sweet 16 team that year. At that point I think there’s a lot more pressure to retain Coach L. Maybe we still don’t, but we can probably also expand our coaching search and recruiting.
Here's my scenario:
-vcu doesn't go to the NCAAs that year if they lose to us in the CAA semis. (They were a 94 Kenpom when they played us in the semis; Mason was 24).
-Consequently, vcu doesn't make the final 4.
-Shaka doesn't get the huge vcu raise (ram fans were mumbling about him not being all that good a coach before the NCAAs).
-Larranaga doesn't get jealous about the injustice of a young coach in the same conference being more rewarded for a final 4 run than he was when he did the same thing 5 yrs previously.
-Larranaga doesn't put himself on the market.
-Miami replaces Frank Heath with someone else.
-Coach L stays at Mason until NIL drives him into retirement.
-Mason avoids the Hewitt, Paulsen, English years.
-Caputo inherits the Head Coaching job.
 

FlPatriot

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Here's my scenario:
-vcu doesn't go to the NCAAs that year if they lose to us in the CAA semis. (They were a 94 Kenpom when they played us in the semis; Mason was 24).
-Consequently, vcu doesn't make the final 4.
-Shaka doesn't get the huge vcu raise (ram fans were mumbling about him not being all that good a coach before the NCAAs).
-Larranaga doesn't get jealous about the injustice of a young coach in the same conference being more rewarded for a final 4 run than he was when he did the same thing 5 yrs previously.
-Larranaga doesn't put himself on the market.
-Miami replaces Frank Heath with someone else.
-Coach L stays at Mason until NIL drives him into retirement.
-Mason avoids the Hewitt, Paulsen, English years.
-Caputo inherits the Head Coaching job.
You forgot to include the two additional final four banners hanging in EBA…
 
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