1.

W-L (vs. D1): 6-1
NET: 144
RPI: 2
KenPom: 120
Sagarin: 83
Key Wins: vs. Davidson (5-1); vs. Colorado St. (5-2); vs. Virginia Tech (6-1); vs. Kent State (4-2)
Bad Losses: NONE

The current # 1 was a tough choice. But Charleston's many quality wins, including winning the Charleston Classic November 18-20, and a current 5-game winning streak put them in the # 1 spot for me. Charleston is battle-tested, having faced the # 4 toughest non-conference SOS in the nation to date.

The Cougars are balanced on offense, with 4 players averaging double-figures. As a result, despite their tough schedule to date, Charleston is currently # 42 in the nation in scoring (82.4 ppg). A big key to that balance have been 2 grad transfer guards: Ryan Larson (Wofford), and Jaylon Scott (Bethel College). Larson and Scott have both been scoring (11.1 ppg; 6.4 ppg) and distributing (3.4 apg; 3.1 apg) effectively. The 6-5 Scott is also the team's best shot-blocker (1.0 bpg) and is 2nd on the team in rebounding (4.7 rpg). The 6-1 Larson, meanwhile, is the team's top perimeter threat (.448 3-Pt %).


2.

W-L (vs. D1): 7-1
NET: 71
RPI: 68
KenPom: 91
Sagarin: 99
Key Win: @UMASS (4-1)
Bad Loss: vs. Fairfield (2-5)

Towson's loss against Fairfield at the Hostilo Hoops Community Classic (Savannah, GA) has been their lone blemish and the only reason the Tigers, otherwise off to a great start, are not # 1.

As usual, Pat Skerry's Towson squad is big, physical, and likes to bully their opponents. They have a +6.6 rebounding margin per game and also average 4.1 blocked shots per contest. Grad student guard Nicolas Timberlake (15.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.3 spg), redshirt senior PG Cam Holden (15.0 ppg, 4.6 apg, 7.0 rpg) and senior forward Charles Thompson (12.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg) form a formidable "big 3".



3.

W-L (vs. D1): 6-2
NET: 112
RPI: 9
KenPom: 125
Sagarin: 124
Key Wins: vs. Iona (2-2); @ Princeton (4-2)
Bad Losses: NONE

Hofstra rounds out the "top tier" of the league so far, as there's little to separate Charleston, Towson and the Pride. Both of their losses were against quality opponents (Saint Mary's; Middle Tennessee), and the only thing dropping them below the top 2 teams is a narrow scoring margin (+0.13 ppg).

The best thing the Pride seem to do is get to the line, where they are averaging 15.0 attempts per game, and knock them down when they get there (.775). The Pride are tied for 26th in the nation in free throw % currently. Driving those numbers is redshirt senior guard Aaron Estrada (20.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.3 apg, .405 3-pt %), who has knocked down 25 of 32 free throws to date (.781). A big addition, both literally and figuratively, is 6-8 grad transfer Nelson Boachie-Yiadom, who arrived to Hampstead from Davidson. Boachie-Yiadom is the team's leading rebounder (6.0 rpg) and may well end up the CAA's best shot-blocker (1.9 bpg) this season.



4.

W-L (vs. D1): 3-3
NET: 146
RPI: 45
KenPom: 173
Sagarin: 153
Key Wins: vs. North Texas (3-2); vs. Missouri State (2-3)
Bad Losses: NONE

The Seahawks land in the top 4 on the back of the Baha Mar championship, and may well be alone on "tier 2" of the CAA for the moment. The Seahawks are # 4 in the nation in the category of fewest turnovers per game (8.9) and # 19 in the nation in Turnover Margin (+5.8 per game).



5.

W-L (vs. D1): 2-3
NET: 134
RPI: 222
KenPom: 183
Sagarin: 186
Key Win: vs. Colgate (4-4)
Bad Loss: vs. Penn (5-4)

Failing to take down Penn in the championship game of the Cathedral Classic in Philadelphia this past Sunday helps keep Delaware below UNCW for the 4-spot for the moment. Not to mention a road loss against Air Force, who, though 4-3, has not played a challenging schedule and was picked to finish last in the Mountain West this year in the MWC Media Poll.

Delaware is similar to UNCW in that they are guard-heavy, don't turn the ball over often (12.1 topg) but also have, at least to date, struggled to get assists (11.2 apg). Poor perimeter shooting (.314 3-pt %) is likely to blame (sound familiar?), but another factor is having a scoring-first PG in redshirt junior Jameer Nelson Jr.. Nelson leads the team in scoring (19.0 ppg) while totaling 18 assists (3.0 apg). The lions's share of those assists have not been directed to shooters but rather redshirt sophomore forward Jyare Davis (16.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg).



6.

W-L (vs. D1): 2-4
NET: 154
RPI: 238
KenPom: 189
Sagarin: 182
Key Win: vs. ODU (3-3)
Bad Loss: vs. Penn (5-4)

Drexel started their season off strong, with a home opener victory over Old Dominion, but have struggled ever since, with 4 D1 losses in their last 5 outings. Still, they've shown enough to suggest they should be a top 6 or 7 team this year.

Drexel is even better at avoiding turnovers than Delaware, averaging just 10.7 per game, good for 32nd in the nation. A sure-handed frontcourt in particular has been responsible for this, as 6-10 junior Amari Williams (16.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.7 bpg), 6-6 senior Mate Okros (4.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.9 apg) and 6-6 Lamar Oden (9.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg) have combined for just 30 turnovers despite gaudy minutes and usage.


7.

W-L (vs. D1): 2-4
NET: 339
RPI: 226
KenPom: 311
Sagarin: 252
Key Wins: NONE
Bad Loss: @ American (4-2)

The Tribe took home a pair of victories last week in the William & Mary Tournament (clever name!) over Army and Radford prior to their most recent game, a loss @ Pitt. Though neither team they beat are any good, the wins vault W&M into the 7-spot for the moment. Though signs suggest they will eventually drop from here rather than ascend; this is a decent team but lacks the upside to contend with the higher tiers.

Against a somewhat challenging non-conference slate overall, it's impressive to note that the Tribe are averaging 21.6 free throw attempts per game, good for # 53 in the country currently. Improve a bit on their .689 shooting mark and the Tribe could easily convert competitive games (like their 7-point loss @ American) into victories. Junior forward Ben Wight (12.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg) has shot 20-30 from the stripe, while 6-3 grad student Chris Mullins (6.3 ppg, 1.9 apg) has converted 30 of 38.



8.

W-L (vs. D1): 1-5
NET: 251
RPI: 304
KenPom: 262
Sagarin: 244
Key Wins: NONE
Bad Loss: @ Boston U. (3-3)

What has happened to Northeastern basketball? Has the game passed Bill Coen by? Whatever the reason, NU hasn't been relevant for some time, and that doesn't seem to be turning around this season. NU's only win to date this season has been against a bad Manhattan team in overtime, and they missed opportunities against inner-city rivals Boston U. and Harvard, with the Crimson visiting Matthews Arena.

Turnovers have been a big part of the struggle so far, as the Huskies are committing 15.5 per game. They've also been putrid in all phases of shooting: .386 from the field, .296 from three and .581 from the line as a team. The lone bright spot has been junior guard Jahmyl Telfort (15.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.5 spg). Otherwise its been a bit of a mess, and the only reason Northeastern is even this high is because the rest of the league's performance has been even uglier.


9.

W-L (vs. D1): 0-4
NET: 286
RPI: 336
KenPom: 291
Sagarin: 312
Key Wins: NONE
Bad Loss: vs. Gardner-Webb (1-5)

A&T took a trip to Iowa for their first two D1 games of the season. The results were not pretty, as they fell 112-71 to Iowa, and 80-43 against a ranked Iowa State squad. Not much was to be learned from these games, but since then, though the team is still winless vs. D1 teams, the results have been a bit more promising: A 2-point loss to Gardner-Webb and a somewhat competitive 14-point loss to Wofford, who was hosting the Terrier Classic for both games. A&T then grabbed a pair of wins against non-D1 foes. We'll learn a lot more about the Aggies when they face UNCG on Wednesday.

6-2 sophomore guard Kam Woods (16.0 ppg) has stood out, especially after scoring 35 combined points on the Iowa trip. In the frontcourt, 6-6 Marcus Watson (14.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and 6-9 Austin Johnson (7.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.4 bpg) are the players to watch.



10.

W-L (vs. D1): 0-7
NET: 140
RPI: 298
KenPom: 309
Sagarin: 320
Key Wins: NONE
Bad Loss: @ Lehigh (3-2)

A challenging non-conference slate (# 109 SOS), including a pair of games against ranked opponents, is the only thing keeping Monmouth from dropping into the league's bottom-3 at this time. Still, they really should have gotten a victory by now, especially against the likes of Lehigh or Norfolk State. And they certainly had no business losing by 19 to Colgate.

On the positive side, Monmouth has been able to rebound fairly well (-3.9 rebounding margin) and force turnovers (15.9 per game). On the negative side, they can't score. Simple as that. The Hawks are shooting just .397 from the field, .270 from 3, and .595 from the line en route to just 60.4 points per contest. Only 2 players are average more than 8 points per game, junior forward Myles Foster (12.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.6 apg) and freshman guard Jack Collins (10.4 ppg, 2.1 spg). Not good.



11.

W-L (vs. D1): 0-5
NET: 322
RPI: 322
KenPom: 337
Sagarin: 336
Key Wins: NONE
Bad Loss: vs. North Alabama (2-3)

We've reached the bottom tier. Yes, as bad as Monmouth has been, the next 3 schools have been even worse, and there isn't really anything separating them from each other. A near victory against North Alabama (75-74) in Santa Barbara, while certainly a poor opponent and a bad loss, at least gives Hampton a little bit of momentum prior to playing some winnable games in December. But a completely non-competitive blowout loss against JMU (106-58) to begin the season has set the tone for the frustrating start to the season for the Pirates.

Hampton has been outscored by double-digits against a middling non-conference slate (# 169 SOS), and are getting crushed on the glass (-6.0 rpg). They're also allowing opponents to shoot a blistering .467 from the field. On the plus side, the Pirates are a decent perimeter team (.362 3-Pt %). 6-5 senior SG Marquis Goodwin (12.3 ppg) has been the top performer in that category, knocking down 17 of 40 (.425) from deep. Another 6-5 senior guard, Russell Dean (14.2 ppg), has led the team in scoring mostly by getting to the line, where he's made 30 of 41 from the charity stripe.


12.

W-L (vs. D1): 0-6
NET: 253
RPI: 352
KenPom: 344
Sagarin: 342
Key Wins: NONE
Bad Losses: vs. North Dakota (4-3); vs. Radford (2-3)

Currently on a 6-game losing streak, the best thing you can say about the Phoenix's performances thus far is they played a competitive game @ NC State, where they lost by 9. Otherwise, it's been one disaster after another against the # 292-ranked non-conference schedule. And in their best opportunity to get a D1 win, they lost to a North Dakota team that was traveling multiple time zones to play at the Schar Center.

Against weak competition, Elon has been outrebounded (-4.7 rpg), are losing the turnover battle (-4.7 topg), and are being outscored by over 8 points per contest. Known for shooting a lot of 3's, the Phoenix are also terrible in that category (.289). And they're doing this with two grad students and a senior in their starting lineup. The lone bright spot of the trio has been 6-0 PG Sean Halloran, who leads the team in both scoring (12.4 ppg) and assists (4.1 apg) as well as steals (2.3 spg) while averaging a gaudy 34 minutes per contest.


13.

W-L (vs. D1): 0-5
NET: 232
RPI: 363
KenPom: 343
Sagarin: 333
Key Wins: NONE
Bad Losses: @ Brown (2-4); @ FIU (3-2); vs. Eastern Washington (2-5)

A disastrous trip to Miami for the FIU Invitational last week took what looked like a relatively promising start for Stony Brook into the gutter very quickly, and gives the Seawolves the bottom spot. SBU was blown out by a combined 62 points in 2 contests against subpar competition in host FIU as well as Eastern Washington.

SBU is committing 15.3 turnovers per game and averaging just 58.3 points per contest despite facing the # 353 schedule strength in the country thus far. They're shooting just .396 from the field and .276 from beyond the 3. The Seawolves have almost no depth beyond their top 3, and are starting a freshman point guard who averages 3.5 turnovers per contest. Senior guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore (12.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.0 spg) has been far more sure-handed but is an off-ball shooter. 7-0 grad transfer from Stanford Keenan Fitzmorris (10.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg) is a good scorer and leads the team in free throw attempts (22), but doesn't seem to offer enough on the defensive end to move the needle much.

Good writeup but I don't consider UNCW to be "tier 2" in the CAA. CofC looks to be alone at the top, but i'd call UNCW a push against Hofstra and Towson. Our defense is flat out nasty and we're going to play with everyone at the top including CofC.

(11-28-2022 06:01 PM)82hawk Wrote:  Good writeup but I don't consider UNCW to be "tier 2" in the CAA. CofC looks to be alone at the top, but i'd call UNCW a push against Hofstra and Towson. Our defense is flat out nasty and we're going to play with everyone at the top including CofC.

I think we're close but not there yet. I definitely think Charleston and Towson are decidedly tier 1 while Hofstra is teetering a bit. I could see a case where you put Hofstra and UNCW together on tier 2.

A few weeks form now things could look very different when it comes to how our résumé looks. Even though none of our games in December represent opportunities at a "signature win", they're all pretty solid games, and going at least 3-2 on our remaining non-conference would very easily vault us into tier 1 discussion.

We can definitely finish 3rd in this league. Maybe as high as 2nd.

(11-28-2022 06:06 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  

(11-28-2022 06:01 PM)82hawk Wrote:  Good writeup but I don't consider UNCW to be "tier 2" in the CAA. CofC looks to be alone at the top, but i'd call UNCW a push against Hofstra and Towson. Our defense is flat out nasty and we're going to play with everyone at the top including CofC.

I think we're close but not there yet. I definitely think Charleston and Towson are decidedly tier 1 while Hofstra is teetering a bit. I could see a case where you put Hofstra and UNCW together on tier 2.

A few weeks form now things could look very different when it comes to how our résumé looks. Even though none of our games in December represent opportunities at a "signature win", they're all pretty solid games, and going at least 3-2 on our remaining non-conference would very easily vault us into tier 1 discussion.

We can definitely finish 3rd in this league. Maybe as high as 2nd.

I'm not sold on Towson. They're 7-1 with a bad loss to Fairfield but they've also struggled against S. Alabama, Mercer and Penn.

Thanks for doing the legwork on this interesting summary! It's definitely shaping up as a two-tier league this year. I think we belong in the top four for sure. Don't count us out for finishing first either. We seem to improve in every game!

Good writeup!

The top of the CAA is very solid.

Thr bottom is very very rough

(11-28-2022 08:17 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Good writeup!

The top of the CAA is very solid.

Thr bottom is very very rough

Wait, you mean adding crappy teams to the bottom made the league even rougher? Who'd a thunk it

(11-29-2022 08:06 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(11-28-2022 08:17 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Good writeup!

The top of the CAA is very solid.

Thr bottom is very very rough

Wait, you mean adding crappy teams to the bottom made the league even rougher? Who'd a thunk it

Don't forget how awful Towson was when they moved to the CAA. These are long term strategic moves that should pay off in the end. They have been recruiting out of the Big South and America East. Their ability to recruit better players and coaches is going to improve dramatically in the CAA.

(11-29-2022 09:05 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(11-29-2022 08:06 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(11-28-2022 08:17 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Good writeup!

The top of the CAA is very solid.

Thr bottom is very very rough

Wait, you mean adding crappy teams to the bottom made the league even rougher? Who'd a thunk it

Don't forget how awful Towson was when they moved to the CAA. These are long term strategic moves that should pay off in the end. They have been recruiting out of the Big South and America East. Their ability to recruit better players and coaches is going to improve dramatically in the CAA.

Just wait, once UNCG arrives it will all be better

(11-29-2022 10:14 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(11-29-2022 09:05 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(11-29-2022 08:06 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(11-28-2022 08:17 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Good writeup!

The top of the CAA is very solid.

Thr bottom is very very rough

Wait, you mean adding crappy teams to the bottom made the league even rougher? Who'd a thunk it

Don't forget how awful Towson was when they moved to the CAA. These are long term strategic moves that should pay off in the end. They have been recruiting out of the Big South and America East. Their ability to recruit better players and coaches is going to improve dramatically in the CAA.

Just wait, once UNCG arrives it will all be better

Which will happen first, UNCG to the CAA or a UNCW invitation from the A10?

(11-29-2022 10:41 AM)bricksnivy Wrote:  

(11-29-2022 10:14 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(11-29-2022 09:05 AM)82hawk Wrote:  

(11-29-2022 08:06 AM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(11-28-2022 08:17 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Good writeup!

The top of the CAA is very solid.

Thr bottom is very very rough

Wait, you mean adding crappy teams to the bottom made the league even rougher? Who'd a thunk it

Don't forget how awful Towson was when they moved to the CAA. These are long term strategic moves that should pay off in the end. They have been recruiting out of the Big South and America East. Their ability to recruit better players and coaches is going to improve dramatically in the CAA.

Jus2t wait, once UNCG arrives it will all be better

Which will happen first, UNCG to the CAA or a UNCW invitation from the A10?

Exactly