Manhattan added to 2013-2014 non-conference schedule

Looks as though a game at Manhattan will be on George Mason's non-conference schedule next season:

Steve Masiello again loading up Manhattan's non-conf schedule for 13-14. Home: GW, George Mason, Fordham. Away: La Salle, South Carolina.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 13, 2013

Also there is news that Davidson is close to joining the A-10. An excellent replacement if Dayton and St. Louis due in fact leave after next season.

George Mason will play in the 2013 BB&T Classic

The Washington Post is reporting that George Mason will participate again in the BB&T Classic next season. Earlier this year the Patriots played Maryland at the Verizon Center for this year's classic and will face a 'to-be-determined' opponent next year:

George Mason, which has played in five BB&T Classics since 2004, will face a to-be-determined opponent in the early game before the Terps and Colonials square off. Feinstein said the Patriots are searching for a “national opponent.”

I'm curious to see what "national opponent" they come up with...

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George Mason and VCU close to a 4-year deal to resume series

Looks like the rumored George Mason-VCU series that we talked about earlier this month will be a four year series and begin next season in Richmond. Here is the tweet from the Post's Steven Goff:

Patriots nearing 4-year deal to resume series with #VCU, starting next season in Richmond. Exploring #ODU games too, but schedule issues
— Steven Goff (@GMUWashPost) January 16, 2013

VCU is becoming one of the better teams in the country this season and Mason fans have enjoyed the sense of a rivalry that has brewed with them.

VCU could be on next year's schedule

The Richmond Times Dispatch is reporting that VCU and George Mason could be playing each other again as early as next season.

"Smart said the Rams are close to adding George Mason to next year’s schedule."

Would like to see this become a regular fixture on the schedule and I hope it's a home and home series.  It's about as close of a rivalry as it gets for the younger Mason fans and I think that's important for the program. VCU would destroy this year's Mason squad but hey at least they won't have Troy Daniels next year.

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George Mason to play in the 2013 Diamond Head Classic

George Mason was rumored to be in the 2013 Diamond Head Classic field about a month ago and now it is official. The field also will include Hawai'i, Iowa State, Saint Mary's, Oregon State, and South Carolina. Two other schools will be added to the field at a later date I'm assuming, to bring it to eight. The event will be going on around this time next year in Honolulu, Hawai'i. 

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George Mason likely to be in Diamond Head Classic tournament next season

Just before tip-off on Saturday, Washington Post writer Steven Goff informed us that George Mason is trying to get into the Diamond Head Classic field for next season:

Back from Virgin Islands, Patriots now talking about likely X-mas trip next season to Hawaiian Islands (Diamond Head Classic) #masonmbb
— Steven Goff (@GMUWashPost) November 24, 2012

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UVA will be shorthanded in George Mason's season opener

Can you believe it's only 9 days until Midnight Madness? The season is approaching fast and today we get some injury news regarding the Patriots' season and home opener opponent, Virginia. The Cavaliers' starting point guard, senior Jontel Evans, had surgery yesterday for a stress fracture on his foot and will be sidelined about six weeks. The release also says that sixth man, Malcolm Brogdon, who plays both guard positions could also be unavailable for the November 9th game at the Patriot Center. 

This is certainly an advantage for Mason as they return almost their entire backcourt minus Andre Cornelius, who appeared in 23 games last season. Interesting to think that the Patriots will have the edge at point guard against an ACC team in the beginning of the season.

Forum discussion on the topic

[via virginiasports.com]

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]

South Florida added to the non-conference schedule

CBSSports.com's Eye on College Basketball blog had a post about the CAA offseason today. Among the notes for each conference team they added important non-conference opponents. On George Mason's list is a game scheduled for December 29 at South Florida of the Big East. This is great news for the program as they already have an impressive non-conference schedule. Checking South Florida's athletic site we can confirm the game and the date.

So right now the month of December could be a big one for George Mason's 2012-2013 resume. They start off with Maryland in the BB&T Classic on December 2nd, then play at Richmond in the Governor's Holiday Classic on December 22nd, and finally end the calendar year at South Florida. Notice that none of these games will not be at the Patriots Center and two are on neutral courts (not really for Richmond though). None of these teams are a lock to make the NCAA tournament but I doubt Mason fans will be saying the team wasn't tested in their non-conference slate.

Full 2012 Paradise Jam tournament bracket revealed

Last week we posted that George Mason would be slated against Mercer in the opening round of the Paradise Jam tournament, taking place this November in the Virgin Islands. Yesterday GoMason.com posted the full bracket for the tournament which includes the game times. George Mason will play Mercer on November 16 at 3:30 pm EST. Keep in mind the game times are in Atlantic Standard time (add one hour for Eastern Standard time).

[via GoMason.com]

George Mason will open against Mercer in 2012 Paradise Jam

ESPN's Andy Katz provided a look at the bracket for the 2012 Paradise Jam tournament that George Mason will be playing in this November:

New Mexico favorite 2012 Paradise Jam (Nov. 16-19): Top Bracket: Mercer vs. Mason; UIC vs. UNM; Bottom bracket: UConn-Wake; Iona-Quinnipiac
— Andy Katz (@ESPNAndyKatz) May 26, 2012

If Mason wins against Mercer it appears they will have a chance to play New Mexico, the best projected team in the field. But let's not get ahead of ourselves like last year in the preseason NIT, when most thought it was a lock Mason would get to play Virginia Tech before that FIU game. Mercer is coming off a solid season in which they won the CIT championship, and they return four starters next year.

Much like last season an early loss in this tournament could greatly affect the Patriots' RPI. Certainly I would think they have motivation this year to not miss another golden opportunity again.

Add Maryland to next season's non-conference opponents

George Mason athletic director issued a message to fans and supporters today on the whole conference realignment situation. I posted the full text from the email over on the message boards if you want to read it in its entirety. Towards the end of the message O'Connor mentions the team's upcoming non-conference schedule and says that the Patriots are scheduled to play Maryland. Rumors of them playing the Terrapins in the BB&T classic have been floating around for awhile now and this confirms the game will be happening at the Verizon Center this year. With Virginia, Richmond, Bucknell, Northern Iowa, and the Paradise Jam tournament already on the schedule, this is one of the better non-conference slates we've seen Mason have in a long time. 

George Mason last played Maryland during the 2004-2005 season, where they lost 78-54 in that BB&T Classic match-up.

VCU will leave CAA for the A10 on July 1st

Well it turns out VCU is leaving the CAA immediately and will join the Atlantic 10 in all sports on July 1st. So there's two more games George Mason will have to fill on their schedule for this upcoming season. VCU's president stated that they wanted to leave immediately and did not want to be a "lame duck" member of the CAA this season. If they announced a move for a later date, they would not be eligible for the CAA championship this season.

In the press conference today VCU officials stated that they estimated travel expenses increasing by only about $150K a year with the move and that there was a $700K entry fee to join the Atlantic 10. Add to that the $250K exit they must pay the CAA and the roughly $5 million they are forfeiting from the their 2011 Final Four run. Keep in mind that George Mason plays more sports than VCU and the travel expenses would have been more for them.

Fact remains that VCU feels the possible gain from this move greatly outweigh the losses. It's difficult to project what the A10 will look like in 2-3 years, especially with the Big East possibly losing members. It will certainly be weird having a CAA tournament in the Richmond without the Rams though.

Wednesday Links

Yesterday's news about ODU bolting to Conference USA gave new life to the GMU/VCU to A10 rumors. Speculating is everywhere now about what will happen to the CAA and to Atlantic 10. Did ODU make this move as a preempted strike to save themselves after the CAA potentially collapses? Hopefully all this will be cleared up in a few weeks and this won't drag on into the summer.

-ESPN's Andy Katz said last night that Butler to the A10 is official, and seems to suggest that GMU/VCU following the Bulldogs is far some certain. There is still a lot of uncertainly in the A10 as Charlotte could be departing for Conference USA, would the conference only try to grab either GMU or VCU and not both?

-ODU's senior associate athletic director Debbie White isn't exactly denying yesterday's news about a move Conference USA

-VCU still sifting through pros and cons of move to A10. Is Mason doing the same?

-In other news not related to conference realignment, Penn State is trying to schedule a possible series with George Mason (via BlackShoeDiaries.com)

-Former George Mason assistant James Johnson, who worked under Jim Larranaga for two years in 2005-06, named new head coach at Virginia Tech.

ESPN drops CAA from Bracketbusters

An interesting story broke yesterday involving sports TV giant ESPN and CAA basketball. ESPN is dropping CAA from their annual Bracketbusters event that takes place one weekend every February. The CAA did not receive an invite for the 2012-2013 series due in part to their new TV deal that involves leaving ESPN and going all in with NBC sports for coverage of games instead. The move makes sense for the CAA though because after this new TV deal why give a competing network prime coverage of key games in February. 

The whole Bracketbuster event was originally designed to give mid-majors another non-conference game that could help their resumes' before Selection Sunday. However the event has morphed into a different animal recently and last season over 100 teams were in the event. For all by a handful of teams it doesn't do much good besides providing unnecessary, costly games for smaller programs. The interruption of conference games during an important part of the season is something I don't think most CAA fans or coaches for that matter, will miss. 

Sure George Mason and VCU's wins over Wichita State in 2006 and 2011 in the event certainly helped get them in the NCAA tournament during those seasons. But it's not like they couldn't have scheduled a home and home series with any such MVC team or another top mid-major without ESPN's help. Some of ESPN's match-ups in recent years have been head scratching decisions, and the event certainly didn't give Drexel much help this year.

Hopefully the Missouri Valley leaves the event too. Wouldn't a CAA/MVC challenge be a better event anyway? Are you listening NBC?

Paul Hewitt talks about scheduling on ESPN980

Yesterday afternoon George Mason head coach Paul Hewitt was on the ESPN 980's "March Madness Today Hour" show. Along with the NCAA tournament they also talk about a little bit about George Mason and Hewitt's first season here. The most interesting part of Hewitt being on the show is when they discuss scheduling and differences between the ACC and CAA. When the topic of scheduling local schools comes up Hewitt says he wants to play them and they are working with John Feinstein to play in the BB&T Classic again. Perhaps against Maryland? Hewitt ends it with saying it's a "we'll see what happens" type of thing. With Gary Williams no longer there you have to wonder if this might actually happen. Listen to the podcast below:

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Also, some recruiting news that we came across today as it appears Hewitt and his staff have shown interest in a new point guard, per TheRecruitScoop:

George Mason is now expressing interest in Trey Dickerson, a 2012 PG from Price (CA). He decommitted from Seattle yesterday.
— Alex Kline (@TheRecruitScoop) March 20, 2012

This interest shows that like most of us fans, the staff probably isn't completely sold on either Bryon Allen or Corey Edwards running the point next season. Perhaps the staff is just doing their due diligence on a recruit that just hit the market again and nothing more. He says in this interview that he wants to play in an uptempo offense and be on a team that is on TV a lot. Hopefully the staff can sell him on the CAA's new NBC Sports TV deal! Also in that interview he states a lot of big time programs were looking at him and I'd have to figure most don't have a scholarship open for next season like Mason does. The Recruit Scoop also seems very high on him and says he does a good job getting his teammates involved, an area Mason was really lacking in point guard play this season. This could be an interesting development to follow but the bottom line is I don't see them using this last scholarship on a point guard.

UPDATE: I received word that the staff does not plan to offer Dickerson a scholarship.

George Mason doesn't receive bid to NIT

Well we knew the Patriots had a slim chance of making the NIT this year, and all the regular season champions losing in their conference tournaments certainly didn't help. Athletic director Tom O'Connor stated the school wasn't going to participate in either the CBI or CIT tournaments so that season is officially over for Paul Hewitt and George Mason. The Washington Post has some quotes from Hewitt:

The Patriots’ chances were “a flip of the coin, at best,” Coach Paul Hewitt said Sunday night after watching the 32 teams unveiled.

“I started to feel uneasy the last few days with all the regular season champions getting knocked out,” said Hewitt, who had a 24-9 record in his first season at George Mason. “It seemed there were two every day.” 

 I know some fans think it's crazy that a 24-9 team isn't playing in any post season but most high mid-major and BCS schools view the CBI and CIT as a joke. Keep in mind the Patriots barely drew 2,000 fans when they hosted a CIT game in 2009, so O'Connor isn't making things up by saying it's not a financially good option for the program. The Patriots had a weak schedule this season, which wasn't Hewitt's fault considering that last coaching staff built this year's schedule. The CAA as a whole didn't do themselves any favors in the non-conference schedule and sadly it really hurt Drexel and Mason's postseason chances. Still  Mason missed key opportunities, especially in the preseason NIT and on the road against UVA. Also, had they had made the CAA finals, they might have had their named called for the NIT bracket last night.

And for the people that are saying all extra games benefit the young players is not something I necessarily agree with. This is going to be a completely different team next season, so playing another sloppy game this season with Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison hoisting up another 17-20 shots isn't going to help next year's team much. Three starters are gone and the front court will be completely different, plus you have two guys who sat out this season and two freshmen joining the rotation. 

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Join the GMUHoops.com 2012 bracket challenge here. If you played last year you are already enrolled for this year's bracket selection challenge. The password is mason.

Update on George Mason's NIT hopes

From what we have seen this week in college basketball, George Mason's hopes at an NIT bid are still pretty slim. A lot more NIT autobids have been won and a few things need to happen for the Patriots to get in. However, Mike Scullin, who runs NIT-ology has George Mason currently as a 7 seed in the tournament. I used to poke fun at fans that were solely relying on this website to gauge Mason's chances, but turns out the Wall Street Journal did a piece on Scullin and he was 31 for 32 in his NIT picks last season. So as his updates continue keep his site bookmarked down the stretch tomorrow. Right now he currently has some BCS teams like VT and UCLA on the outside looking in, and from what we saw on last year's selection I don't know if as many mid-majors will be in the field as he currently has in. 

For everyone hoping for a Miami-George Mason NIT showdown, looks like it still is somewhat possible. Would have fun writing that game preview. I believe the NIT selections are announced Sunday night after NCAA tournament selection show, buts Mason might leak the news earlier.

George Mason's chances of playing in the NIT are slim

The Patriots are now playing the waiting game and seeing what unfolds this week in college basketball to see if they will have a shot at the NIT or one of the third tier tournaments. Depressing, I know. However, don't think that the NIT is a lock for the team this year. The NIT gives autobids to teams that finished in first place in their conferences but don't make the NCAA tournament. So for instance Drexel would be given an autobid to the NIT if they don't get an at-large on Selection Sunday and Valparaiso lost in their championship last night and will get an autobid to the NIT. Every time this happens throughout the week it reduces George Mason's chance of being selected to the field. 

Currently George Mason's RPI is 79 (SOS 180) and their record is 24-9 (14-4 CAA). This article from a newspaper in Iowa shows the background of the last year's NIT qualifiers.

There were 18 at-large teams that qualified for the NIT. Here were their resumes (overall record, conference record, RPI) entering the 2011 postseason:

Alabama: 21-11, 12-4, 80
New Mexico: 22-13, 8-8, 66
UTEP: 25-9, 11-5, 59
Miami (Fla.): 19-14, 6-10, 73
Colorado: 21-13, 8-8, 65
California: 17-14, 10-8, 76
Ole Miss: 20-13, 7-9, 83
Colorado State: 19-12, 9-7, 50
Boston College: 20-12, 9-7, 58
Northwestern: 18-13, 7-11, 87
Wisconsin-Milwaukee: 19-13, 13-5, 92
Oklahoma State: 19-13, 6-10, 61
Harvard 23-7, 12-2, 35
Washington State: 19-12, 9-9, 82
Virginia Tech: 21-11, 9-7, 62
Wichita State: 24-8, 14-4, 60
Nebraska: 19-12, 7-9, 89
Dayton: 22-13, 7-9, 70

Of the 18 at-large teams, 11 came from the six power conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, ACC, Pac-12). The average RPI was 74. All of the at-large schools (except Harvard) were seeded fifth or higher. Of the 11 power-conference schools, only two (Ole Miss, Nebraska) didn’t host first-round games.

With a lot of mid-majors taking up bids automatically the committee doesn't seem like they are itching to give out more to others. Keep in the mind this tournament wants to make money like any other and BCS teams with less impressive profiles are still going to get in for TV ratings. This is another factor that hurts Mason's chances of being in the field.

As for the CIT and CBI tournaments, it is unclear whether or not the school would agree to pay to play in either once of those. Remember when they paid to host that disaster against Fairfield in 2010 CIT, which was the largest comeback by any team in March in Division I basketball history. Schools have to pay to host these tournament games, and as Ed Miller of the Virginia-Pilot notes the 24-team CIT's fee is $30,000 per game and the 16-team CBI is $35,000 for a first-round game, $50,000 for second, and $75,000 for the semifinals. With Mason's attendance down this season I really wonder if they will even consider paying to host one of these, especially when that CIT game against Fairfield only drew 2,062 fans to the Patriot Center.

UPDATE: AD Tom O'Connor says school won't pursue CIT or CBI tournament:

If Mason isn't chosen for NIT, they won't pursue CBI or CIT tournaments, AD O'Connor says. "Financially not in our best interests" #masonmbb

— Steven Goff (@GMUWashPost) March 7, 2012

George Mason home opener for 2012-2013 will be UVA on November 9

Emails were sent to season ticket holders today, letting them know if they renew for two years now they will be able to "purchase additional tickets for opening night versus UVA", which is set for Friday, November 9, 2012. This is the best home opener George Mason has had since Wichita State came to Fairfax in 2006. UVA's current RPI is 42, and they have a lot of talented freshmen coming in next season. They won't have Mike Scott or Sammy Zeglinski (who killed us this year) but they will still be a strong team on the Patriots non-conference schedule. You can bet they won't be wearing the black alternate unis for this one.

Keep in mind they will play four games in the Paradise Jam tournament November 16-19, with a field that includes UConn, New Mexico, and Iona.

Also, here is the CAA tournament seating chart if you plan on going to Richmond this year.