Random notes on a basketball season
By Chris Granozio
With December games underway, I was curious to know if the schools that opted to play a partial season last winter reaped any statistical benefit from that experience and, as a result, gained an advantage through the first month of the 2021-22 campaign.
Frankly, I was surprised by the results.
First, a little background. Only 15 of the region’s 36 schools participated in games during the Covid-ravaged 2020-21 campaign, with the NE10 electing to cancel conference play altogether. Both the CACC and ECC partook in a limited league slate, pockmarked by cancelations and only one postseason tournament, that in the East Coast Conference.
Surveilling the depressing, nearly-barren landscape with so many elite programs sitting on the proverbial sidelines, three of the 15 teams that did suit up were outliers – one in each conference:
Concordia, which began the campaign with a young roster and unbridled optimism, instead was relegated to walking-dead status after it was announced the school would be absorbed by Iona College and the Clippers’ athletics programs terminated (the coaching staff literally shopped its players to opposing coaches during pregame warmups).
Franklin Pierce, which cobbled together a schedule that consisted solely of a home-and-home with league rival American International.
And D’Youville, which was a provisional D2 institution but allowed to play an ECC schedule just to assure more conference action.
So leaving that trio out of the picture, there were a grand total of 13 teams that wound up NCAA eligible, with almost half of them (six) comprising a sad and perfunctory East Regional (once again, I don't judge any team for its decision to play or stay away). At this early point in the new season, only four of those 13 boast a better winning percentage than last year:
Dominican (7-0 in 2021, 4-4 in 2020), Saint Rose (4-2, 4-3), American International (3-3, 2-7) and Felician, albeit by mere percentage points (3-2, 5-4).
Some teams have shown modest dips, such as Caldwell (3-3, 6-5), Nyack (2-4, 4-5), Georgian Court (1-5, 2-5), Roberts Wesleyan (2-2, 8-7), Molloy (1-6, 3-8) and Mercy (0-6, 2-5).
The most noticeable retrograde records come from: Bloomfield (1-4, 7-4), Daemen (3-4, 10-6) and St. Thomas Aquinas (5-3, 14-2).
I know this is a small sample size, and there are extenuating circumstances, such as Daemen’s brutal schedule (six of its seven opponents this season were either nationally ranked or receiving votes, including two that were at the Elite-8 with the Wildcats last March). And there's much more crossover play and better competition altogether.
So what to make of all this? Players may have gained valuable court experience last winter, but other than in a few cases, it hasn’t been reflected in their teams’ win-loss records through the season’s initial three-plus weeks.
THE LIST
While I don’t like to lump last year’s results into the overall historical numbers, I thought it was time to take a closer look at the region’s active streaks of winning seasons, both overall and within conference play. Interestingly, I don’t think the anomaly of the asterisk season affects these rankings in any significant way. Here’s what my research has uncovered:
Most consecutive winning records within conference play:
- Jefferson 23
- Bridgeport 18
- Bloomfield 13
- Southern Connecticut 9
- St. Anselm 8
- Daemen 8*
- St. Thomas Aquinas 7
- Dominican 5
- Le Moyne 4
- Goldey-Beacom 4
- New Haven 3
- Felician 3
- Adelphi 2
- Franklin Pierce 2
Pace, Stonehill, Roberts Wesleyan, Caldwell and Post have one apiece.
Most consecutive winning records overall:
- Jefferson 23
- Bridgeport 12
- Southern Connecticut 9
- Franklin Pierce 9
- St. Anselm 8
- St. Thomas Aquinas 8
- Daemen 8*
- Bentley 7
- Bloomfield 6
- Le Moyne 4
- Adelphi 2
- Pace 2
Stonehill, Southern New Hampshire, Assumption, Saint Rose, Roberts Wesleyan, Felician, Caldwell, Post, Goldey-Beacom have one apiece.
*Daemen’s streak dates back further, when it was classified as an NAIA program, but its numbers include two NCAA provisional seasons, when the Wildcats played a full ECC schedule.
What these lists show me is that it's much harder to maintain annual success in the rugged Northeast-10, where every game is a war, than it is in the other two conferences, which, through no fault of their own, include members that are not even close to fully funded. It also shows that Herb Magee and onetime Rams assistant Mike Ruane are wizards at their craft, cultivating winning traditions while challenging their charges with strong non-league schedules
One extra bit of amazing trivia: Throughout the region’s history, Jefferson (then known as Philadelphia Textile) owns the record for consecutive league wins, racking up 57 between 1992-95. The next closest such streak belongs to Bentley, which reeled off 46 in a row between 2006-08 while also advancing to consecutive Elite 8s with perfect overall records during the span. Even more fascinating is that Jefferson also established the CACC gold standard with 24 straight conference wins between 2007-09.
RANK AND FILE
Last week’s lone regional representative in the NABC Top 25 Coaches’ Poll was replaced by another one at the same spot. Southern New Hampshire dropped from #24 after a pair of setbacks last week, only to be replaced by Dominican, which, along with fellow Hudson Valley program Pace on the other side of the river, are the East’s lone undefeated teams at 7-0 heading into the weekend. The Setters are receiving votes, along with Stonehill – which lost a 53-49 rockfight with St, Thomas Aquinas. Lubbock Christian (TX) remains the #1 team in the land. Until next Tuesday, Happy hooping to all!