RICHMOND
W - NOV. 9 LIBERTY
W- NOV. 13 UNC WILMINGTON
W - NOV. 15 HAMPTON
L - Nov. 18 at Minnesota
W - NOV.20 WOFFORD
L - Nov. 24 at Ohio
W - NOV. 28 WILLIAM & MARY
W - DEC. 1 WAKE FOREST
L - Dec. 4 at Old Dominion
L - Dec. 8 at James Madison
W - DEC. 15 STETSON
L - Dec. 18 at Kansas
W - Dec. 22 vs. George Mason (Richmond Coliseum)
W- Dec. 29 DAVIDSON
W - Jan. 2 AIR FORCE
NONCON FORECAST: 10-5
A-10 FORECAST: 9-7
OVERALL PREDICTION: 19-12
Liberty lost its best player and point guard to graduation and is not a very good defensive team. UNC Wilmington is young and has had a lot of roster turnover. Hampton has 10 new players. I see Richmond sweeping this trio of games at home.
Minnesota is a tough road trip and Tubby Smith has a good, veteran team. Spidies lose that one.
Richmond bounces back with a win at home over Wofford, a decent but young team that is devoid of any juniors or seniors.
Ohio captures the first of two A-1 scalps with a win over the visiting Spiders. Ohio's excellent backcourt neutralizes Richmond's and the Spider bigmen are not enough to carry the game.
Richmond returns home for a pair of wins over a rebuilding Wake Forest and local rival William and Mary. W&M was 6-26 last year and has a lot of work ahead to become as competitive as the school was just a few years ago.
Wake is much further along. Two very good seniors, shooting guard CJ Harris and combo forward, Travis McKie lead a bunch of good young players. Richmond is still the better team, however, and playing at home. More depth, more experience, more guard play.
Richmond goes on the road vs CAA foes ODU and James Madison. If the Spiders want to contend, they have to be good enough to win one of these games. They seldom far well at ODU, so I call it a loss.
JMU is more experienced and plays better D than Richmond, but the Spiders ARE more talented. This is the better bet for a win, but I go conservative and mark a loss.
Richmond beats a mediocre Stetson team (20 losses last year) before going on the road to Kansas.
I don't see Richmond duplicating its upset win at Kansas during the Jerry Wainwright era, but kansas does not have as much star power in the frontcourt or backcourt as it normally does. At least not star power. Spiders might even have a clear backcourt edge and their guards will have to be superb to pull off a signature win.
Richmond finishes off its noncon slate with tough, gritty wins over George Mason and Davidson, both 20-win teams a year ago, and a win over coach Chris Mooney's old haunt.
GMU is not defense-minded enough to beat Richmond and Davidson lacks enough firepower. Airforce, where Mooney got his first Div. 1 coaching gig, has one very good player in Michael Lyons and is an average team at best.
W - NOV. 9 LIBERTY
W- NOV. 13 UNC WILMINGTON
W - NOV. 15 HAMPTON
L - Nov. 18 at Minnesota
W - NOV.20 WOFFORD
L - Nov. 24 at Ohio
W - NOV. 28 WILLIAM & MARY
W - DEC. 1 WAKE FOREST
L - Dec. 4 at Old Dominion
L - Dec. 8 at James Madison
W - DEC. 15 STETSON
L - Dec. 18 at Kansas
W - Dec. 22 vs. George Mason (Richmond Coliseum)
W- Dec. 29 DAVIDSON
W - Jan. 2 AIR FORCE
NONCON FORECAST: 10-5
A-10 FORECAST: 9-7
OVERALL PREDICTION: 19-12
Liberty lost its best player and point guard to graduation and is not a very good defensive team. UNC Wilmington is young and has had a lot of roster turnover. Hampton has 10 new players. I see Richmond sweeping this trio of games at home.
Minnesota is a tough road trip and Tubby Smith has a good, veteran team. Spidies lose that one.
Richmond bounces back with a win at home over Wofford, a decent but young team that is devoid of any juniors or seniors.
Ohio captures the first of two A-1 scalps with a win over the visiting Spiders. Ohio's excellent backcourt neutralizes Richmond's and the Spider bigmen are not enough to carry the game.
Richmond returns home for a pair of wins over a rebuilding Wake Forest and local rival William and Mary. W&M was 6-26 last year and has a lot of work ahead to become as competitive as the school was just a few years ago.
Wake is much further along. Two very good seniors, shooting guard CJ Harris and combo forward, Travis McKie lead a bunch of good young players. Richmond is still the better team, however, and playing at home. More depth, more experience, more guard play.
Richmond goes on the road vs CAA foes ODU and James Madison. If the Spiders want to contend, they have to be good enough to win one of these games. They seldom far well at ODU, so I call it a loss.
JMU is more experienced and plays better D than Richmond, but the Spiders ARE more talented. This is the better bet for a win, but I go conservative and mark a loss.
Richmond beats a mediocre Stetson team (20 losses last year) before going on the road to Kansas.
I don't see Richmond duplicating its upset win at Kansas during the Jerry Wainwright era, but kansas does not have as much star power in the frontcourt or backcourt as it normally does. At least not star power. Spiders might even have a clear backcourt edge and their guards will have to be superb to pull off a signature win.
Richmond finishes off its noncon slate with tough, gritty wins over George Mason and Davidson, both 20-win teams a year ago, and a win over coach Chris Mooney's old haunt.
GMU is not defense-minded enough to beat Richmond and Davidson lacks enough firepower. Airforce, where Mooney got his first Div. 1 coaching gig, has one very good player in Michael Lyons and is an average team at best.