Breaking down George Mason's 2012-2013 schedule

George Mason's full schedule has finally been released. A few weeks ago the non-conference opponents were confirmed and we analyzed them a bit further. Now we have all the conference games which now features two games against Drexel and Delaware with VCU's departure. What sticks out the most from a quick look is that this year there is no Saturday home games against ODU or JMU, usually the Patriot Center's biggest draw for attendance. Perhaps the CAA didn't want to do lame duck member ODU any favors but I don't understand why there isn't at least a Saturday afternoon game versus JMU in Fairfax. Attendance dropped last year and it doesn't like it's going to get any better this season. 

The Patriots' Saturday home conference games are as follows: Hofstra, Delaware, Georgia State and William & Mary. For pure attendance reasons these match-ups won't help move the needle much for average DC area fan who attends games. I know some of you reading this probably don't care about attendance figures but I just thought it was worth pointing out. 

Another sign the the CAA is greatly changing is Mason's last regular season game at Delaware on Saturday March 2nd. When did Mason ever play Delaware on a Saturday? I went back as far as 2001 without seeing it. The sad thing is Delaware might be atop the conference standings and the game could have implications for the seven eligible teams in the CAA tournament. Do you miss VCU yet?

Something I don't like about the schedule is that the Patriots only have four home games before conference play starts. I'm not sure how this will effect the team, if at all, but usually programs want more home games under their belt before running the conference gauntlet. They will be battle tested at that point from a solid non-conference slate, but a young team with a changing personality on offense could suffer a bit from the early number of road/neutral games. 

In terms of the actual conference schedule I think Mason got a pretty favorable draw. The stretch of  Northeastern (away), Drexel (home), JMU (away), and ODU (away) starting January 26 will be the toughest run. It's a tough year to predict CAA standings beyond the top 2 but I think that part of the schedule could determine where Mason gets seeded in the conference tournament.

More discussion on George Mason's 2012-2013 schedule here


[Image via GoMason.com]