I’ve always known I have the mind of a sports information director. They are my friends around the league and we have the best conversations. This is likely because we are wired to appreciate the numbers and have an analysis framework to the way we approach college basketball. Digging up the nuggets and thinking about numbers is exciting stuff.
(You worry about Your Team’s attendance, and I’ll find that JMUs Ben Louis fouled out of nine games and committed 101 fouls last year–interesting because Louis is a 6-3 reserve guard. That’s hackalicious. Stuff like that inspires Drexel’s rollouts.)
We readily admit our geekiness around here, and our fondness for guys like Ken Pomeroy, John Gasaway, and Jerry Palm. They are “our kinda guys.”
So it was while I was uncovering nuggets for Blue Ribbon that this post took shape. I noticed that in seven of Drexel’s nine CAA seasons, they’ve won between 10-13 conference games. That’s darn good, and it got me to thinking about everybody’s CAA performance in the “CAA Expansion Era.”
For the newbies, the CAA added four America East teams for the 2001-02 season—Hofstra, Towson, Drexel, and Delaware. In 2005-06, Northeastern and Georgia State joined up, bringing our total to its present 12 teams.
Now, I have no idea if the following data provides any insight, but it is at its core interesting to read and compare. I’ve parsed everybody’s CAA records at nine years and five years—the two expansion seasons.
Interestingly (or perhaps not), we have an MLB 162-game slate. Teams are ranked based on their nine-year winning percentages. Northeastern and Georgia State, for obvious reasons, are slotted using their five-year winning percentage. For fun, I’ve also included each school’s most impactful player in the expansion era.
VCU (Eric Maynor)
Nine Year Record: 117-45, .722
Five Year Record: 67-23, .744
Best Finish: First (03-04, 06-07, 07-08, 08-09)
Worst Finish: Sixth (05-06)
Old Dominion (Alex Loughton)
Nine Year Record: 108-54, .667
Five Year Record: 66-24, .733
Best Finish: First (04-05, 09-10)
Worst Finish: Sixth (01-02, 02-03)
Mason (Will Thomas)
Nine Year Record: 107-55, .660
Five Year Record: 61-29, .678
Best Finish: Second (01-02, 05-06, 07-08, 08-09)
Worst Finish: Sixth (04-05)
Northeastern (Matt Janning, JJ Barea–one year honor)
Nine Year Record: N/A
Five Year Record: 56-34, .622
Best Finish: Second (09-10)
Worst Finish: Seventh (07-08)
Drexel (Robert Battle)
Nine Year Record: 95-67, .586
Five Year Record: 47-43, .522
Best Finish: second (02-03)
Worst Finish: 11th (07-08)
Hofstra (Loren Stokes)
Nine Year Record: 90-72, .556
Five Year Record: 57-33, .633
Best Finish: Third (05-06, 06-07)
Worst Finish: 12th (01-02)
UNCW (Brett Blizzard)
Nine Year Record: 90-72, .556
Five Year Record: 39-51, .433
Best Finish: First (01-02, 02-03, 05-06)
Worst Finish: 12th (08-09)
Delaware (Harding Nana)
Nine Year Record: 60-102, .370
Five Year Record: 25-65, .278
Best Finish: Fifth (01-02, 02-03, 03-04)
Worst Finish: 12th (06-07, 09-10)
William & Mary (Adam Hess)
Nine Year Record: 59-103, .364
Five Year Record: 38-52, .422
Best Finish: Third (09-10)
Worst Finish: 11th (03-04, 08-09)
Towson (Jon Pease Gary Neal)
Nine Year Record: 48-114, .296
Five Year Record: 34-56, .378
Best Finish: Seventh (01-02)
Worst Finish: 10th (02-03, 04-05, 08-09)
Georgia State (Lennie Mendez)
Nine Year Record: N/A
Five Year Record: 26-64, .289
Best Finish: Eighth (08-09)
Worst Finish: 12th (07-08)
James Madison (The JYD, David Fanning)
Nine Year Record: 44-118, .272
Five Year Record: 24-66, .267
Best Finish: Seventh (02-03, 08-09)
Worst Finish: 12th (03-04, 05-06)
***
Let’s do it baseball standings style:
| Team | W-L | Pct. | GB |
| VCU | 117-45 | 0.722 | 0 |
| ODU | 108-54 | 0.667 | 9 |
| Mason | 107-55 | 0.660 | 10 |
| Nor’easter | 56-34 | 0.622 | 19.5 |
| Drexel | 95-67 | 0.586 | 22 |
| Hofstra | 90-72 | 0.556 | 27 |
| UNCW | 90-72 | 0.556 | 27 |
| Delaware | 60-102 | 0.370 | 57 |
| W&M | 59-103 | 0.364 | 58 |
| Towson | 48-114 | 0.296 | 69 |
| Ga State | 26-64 | 0.289 | 71.5 |
| JMU | 44-118 | 0.272 | 73 |
July 21st, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Two thoughts:
1. It would be interesting to see how these standings compare to the basketball budgets of the schools. I remember one of your posts earlier this summer displayed that information and I think the top three are the same on both lists. Lesson – spend the money.
2. As a non-UNCW fan, it’s sad to see how far the program fell considering its success in the first half of the time period in question. To win those CAA championships but end up tied for six out of twelve teams is quite a fall. Hopefully Buzz sticks around long enough to turn things around for them.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Talk about sad: I knew JMU had fallen on tough times since Lefty departed, but 12th out of 12 teams????
That’s unbelievable for me, considering JMU was the CAA’s power program while I was an undergrad. Even though he was a terrible postseason coach, Lefty sure brought some incredible talent to Harrisonburg in the late 80s and early 90s.
JMU’s lack of success also pretty much seals the fate of Dillard and Keener as the worst basketball coaches of all-time. While Harrisonburg will never be confused with Chicago or NYC, if you can’t convince a bunch of hot-shot teenage basketball players to sign at a school that is absolutely loaded with smoking females who love to party, in my book you are full of fail.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:00 pm
Litos, how did you get so good at this? All I do is follow CAA basketball, yet you make me feel like I’ve never been to a single game.
July 26th, 2010 at 7:16 am
Nice to see NU would still get a bye based on those standings!