Well folks, it's awfully hard to turn the page. Last season was without question one of the best in the history of the program. Not only did we rack up the W's, but we did so with a selfless and beautiful brand of team basketball. This upcoming season, one thing is for sure. We are now the hunted. We will get the best out of our opponents night in and night out, and we are expected to be a force in conference as well as a contender on the national scene. How good can we be? Really damn good. But this is a different team and it remains to be seen how it will come together. Gone are two guys that literally built the program and played a ton of minutes. The offense will have to learn to operate in tighter space and the defense will have to gel without one of the better team defensive players in school history. Who knows what will happen? For shits and giggles.. let's take a look game by game. Tweet me your thoughts! @WahooBasketball
11/14 (A) - James Madison – WIN – 65 - 57 Do what? The ACC regular season and tournament champions open the season on the road in-state? Just bizarre. JMU was not good a season ago, 6-10 in the CAA, but they will be amped to get a shot at the Hoos at home. JMU will be missing Andre Nation and Tom Vadonovich - Hoos will be missing London Perrantes and Evan Nolte. Our remaining players are better than their remaining players. They will keep it closer than we want though. (1-0)
11/16 (H) - Norfolk State - WIN – 77-43 We only beat Norfolk State by 10 last season.. the game before Tennessee simultaneously embarrassed us and saved our season. NSU is always sneaky tough because they are sneaky athletic. But it's our home opener folks, we have sold nearly 10,000 season tickets, and fans will want a glimpse of those banners. Should be a fun one. See you there. (2-0)
11/18 (H) - South Carolina St. - WIN – 71-41 The Bulldogs went 5-11 in the MEAC last season and actually lose a lot from that team. (3-0)
11/21 (H) - George Washington – WIN – 61 - 57 Dangerous team, size inside with Kevin Larsen and dynamic scorer in Kethan Savage. Picked to be runner up in A10. Will be a true early test. (4-0)
11/25 (H) - Tennessee State – WIN – 71-39 Probably the only real RPI plummeting schedule fail. 5-25 last season out of the OVC. (5-0)
11/28 (N) – LaSalle - WIN – 69 – 49 LaSalle loses 3 key seniors from last years pesky team. A ton of UVa alum will make it over to Brooklyn. Hoos win big. (6-0)
11/29 (N) – Rutgers/Vanderbilt - WIN – 71 – 58 Both teams are rebuilding and picked near the bottom of their respective conferences. I think we likely play Vandy, and I just think we match up well with everyone in this event. Hoos win two straight preseason tournaments. (7-0)
12/03 (A) - Maryland – LOSS – 65 - 64 Pains me to type this. So much. There are few things in life I detest more than Maryland. But we won't be perfect in the non-conference, and despite all of the attrition, Maryland will have a competitive team. Dez gets inside late to steal one. (7-1)
12/6 (A) – VCU - WIN – 67 – 59 This game. Oh this game. I want this one bad.. and I really believe Tony and the team does too. Just imagine for one second if we had gotten VCU late in the year at home last season? Or if Tony would have exploited that Mike Tobey mismatch more. I'm not sure it would have been close. That's an insanely tough environment to play in and their fans will be going absolutely apeshit. But we have better players top to bottom and we and are better coached. Sorry Shaka lovers, its a fact. Hoos win. (8-1)
12/18 (H) Cleveland State – WIN – 69 – 64 Cleveland State is always one of those teams that makes you play harder than you wanted to. Classic trap game, after a huge one and before a big one. Too close for comfort. (9-1)
12/21 (H) Harvard – WIN – 71 – 67 This is a well coached NCAA caliber team with experience and talent. Two schools with a lot of pride. Glad they scheduled this one. We are just too tough at home to let it go. (10-1)
12/30 (H) Davidson – WIN – 59 – 52 I think this is a sneaky dangerous game. Speaking of well coached, I have a lot of respect for Bob McKillop. Davidson makes a huge jump to the A10, and get us after a 9 day break. We did enough to win against them last year, but at times they had us out of our game. I think it will be a relatively tight game. (11-1)
1/3 (A) Miami – LOSS – 75 – 74 Uh-oh. Message boards melt down. Panic ensues. I like this Miami team to be sneaky good. Transfer PG Angel Rodriguez from Kansas St. was awfully good in the Big 12. Remember the name Deandre Burnett, a redshirt freshman who scored an absolute TON in high school. Maybe not the front court depth they've had, but well coached and talented. They make a dagger late and steal one. Folks, these things happen. (11-2) (0-1)
1/7 (H) NC State – WIN – 70 – 54 No reason why I have this such a blowout. Don't like their slime ball coach? Feeling a Cavalanche? Who knows. I do like transfer Trevor Lacy from Alabama, he can fill it up.. is Cat Barber ready to take a major step forward? (12-2) (1-1)
1/10 (A) – Notre Dame - LOSS – 64 – 59 Look, we are much more talented than this team top to bottom, but I just really think Notre Dame is much better than they were last year. Jerian Grant, who no one is talking about, might be an ACC POY contender. Connaughton and Vasturia can shoot the ball. Auguste's development inside will probably be the biggest key to how good they can be, and I'm not sure about depth. But they will be better, and at home they could steal one. (12-3) (1-2)
1/13 (H) - Clemson - WIN – 69 – 52 KJ McDaniels leaving early really hurt the momentum Brad Brownell was building. I keep waiting to see a recruit or two that tells me he's on the verge of something. And then it doesn't happen. (13-3) (2-2)
1/17 (A) - Boston College – WIN – 72– 59 New era in Chestnut Hill. Jim Christian will have his notepad out trying to figure out how Tony Bennett turned a struggling ACC program into a contender. (14-3) (3-2)
1/22 (H) - Georgia Tech – WIN – 70 – 50 Just really lacking punch and star power. Robert Carter dipped out on them. What's to like? (15-3) (4-2)
1/25 (A) - VPI – WIN – 73 - 68 I used to like Buzz. Then he came to Blacksburg. Then he stole Seth Allen at the last minute. I really, really don't like Buzz anymore. He will have this program back on the map, and the cupboard isn't bare. But it's too early to beat the machine that is UVa basketball. (16-3) (5-2)
1/31 (H) – Duke - WIN - 71-69 - Guys, I had typed a loss in here. This Duke team has scary athleticism and enough talent to really be special. Jones and Okafor will star immediately.. but you know what? This is the first top 10 type game to be at JPJ all season. On a Saturday. Atmosphere will be off the charts and I'm going to give the edge to you the fans. We are good enough to win this game. (17-3) (6-2)
2/2 (A) - North Carolina – LOSS – 77 – 72 At UNC 2 days after hosting Duke. Nice. I am a firm believer that our system is an absolute nightmare for Roy. Like custom designed to beat the type of players he recruits and the style he employs. But sometimes talent is talent, we will be a little wore down, and I think Marcus Paige is the POY in the league. (17-4) (6-3)
2/7 (H) - Louisville - WIN – 77 – 66 I think Louisville has as dangerous a starting 5 as anyone in the league, and Harrell is a monster. I just don't know about their depth. And I don't care how legendary their coach is, your first experience against our system, in our building where we play it at another level.. I am confident picking a W here. (18-4) (7-3)
2/11 (A) - NC State– LOSS – 70 – 59 I don't think this is a particularly good NC State team. I don't think they are particularly bad. We just came off a physically and emotionally draining run against elite teams in college basketball.. and its a road game in the ACC. We are humans after all. (18-5) (7-4)
2/14 (H) - Wake Forest – WIN – 64 – 44 Danny Manning has a chance to turn that thing around. He can recruit. Not happening yet though. (19-5) (8-4)
2/16 (H) - Pittsburgh – WIN – 55 – 49 Some think this Pitt team will be better than expected. Meh. I just don't see much that stands out. (20-5) (9-4)
2/22 (H) – Florida State - WIN – 67 – 62 Aaron Thomas is legit and again the Noles will have size, athleticism, and some young talent. They are a couple years away from being back in ACC contention. I think they would be tough in Tallahassee..we will take care of business at home. (21-5) (10-4)
2/25 (A) – Wake Forest - WIN – 71 – 53 We usually really struggle in Winston-Salem. Better not be the case this year. (22-5) (11-4)
2/28 (H) Virginia Tech– WIN – 70 - 54 Get used to losing in this building Buzz. (23-5) (12-4)
3/2 (A) – Syracuse - WIN – 65 - 62 I also initially put this one down as a loss, but I just think we are a much better team and frankly we match up very well against them. Yes. it's our first trip to a very difficult place to play - but I just don't see how on earth this team is nationally ranked in the preseason. They lost clearly their 3 best overall players in Grant, Fair, and Ennis. They bring in two real talents in top 25 type guys Kaleb Joseph and Chris McCullough, but is that enough as freshman? I don't know. I am just not on the Cuse wagon. I think we win. (24-5) (13-4)
3/7 (A) – Louisville – LOSS - 68 – 63 Very tough way to end the regular season, but hell, we just won 6 in a row in the league. (24-6) (13-5)
POSTSEASON:
First round bye in ACC Tournament. 1 win, lose in semifinals (25-7)
3 wins in NCAA Tournament - Elite 8 - (28-8)
FINAL RECORD: (28-8)
And you know what's crazy friends? We lose one senior.
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