Ratings and predictions

[tya1]

Pomeroy ratings show three SoCon teams in the nation's top 100. UNCG is #87, Furman #93, ETSU #96. Mercer is #136 and Wofford is #173.
Sagarin has Furman #103, UNCG #105, ETSU #108.
Massey has UNCG #80, Furman 96, and ETSU #99.

Massey has a composite ranking that combines 60 different rankings. UNCG is #85, Furman #90, and ETSU #94.

Col. of Charleston and Elon left the SoCon for the Colonial because they wanted to be in a better league. CofC finished in a first place tie with Northeastern this year. (Furman beat Northeastern by double digits earlier.) Elon was a pre-season favorite but faded badly at the end of the year and finished in a four way tie for last place. CofC's ratings would have put them in 4th place in the SoCon. I guess they made a good move. Maybe not for the reason they claimed. The SoCon went 8-1 head-to-head against the CAA this season.

Pomeroy gives UNCG a 31.7% chance at winning the tournament. Furman has a 27.8% chance and ETSU a 25.3% chance. Mercer is 4th choice with a 10.1% chance and Wofford has a 4.6% chance. LINK
The Teamrankings.com site has Furman as the slight favorite at 31.9%, UNCG is 26.9%, ETSU is 25.1%. Mercer is 10.6%, Wofford is 4.9% LINK

[MNORM]

I'd argue that Mercer has as good a chance to win this thing as anyone else. They're healthy and playing very good ball.

[Monday]

Furman and Mercer on Monday night! ETSU will be our toughest challenge, hopefully they are taking a 2017 UTC type of downward spiral.

[FUBeAR]

I'd argue that Mercer has as good a chance to win this thing as anyone else. They're healthy and playing very good ball.

Not sure that Mercer can really be called "healthy" - physically, at least.

3 of their Top 8 Returning Players have been out a significant part or all of the season:
* Ria'n Holland has not played since 1/18 (last year he was Mercer's leading overall scorer, leading 3-Pt scorer, leading FT scorer, leader in Steals, and led in total minutes played)
* Ethan Stair, who started Mercer's final 11 games in 2015-16 and sat out last year with an injury has, despite starting 6 games this season, been playing very sparingly due to nagging injuries
* Rashad Lewis, who played in all 32 games last year, finishing 2nd on the Team in Assists & Steals has been out all season - Medical Redshirt maybe

Rumor is that Holland will be back for the Tourney, but he's bound to be fairly rusty and not in 'game-shape' after 1.5 months off and also, if he does play, he may have to adjust his game/contributions to mesh in well with what Mercer has been doing right since 2/3 as they have run off 8 straight wins...after losing 4 in a row immediately following his injury. When he WAS playing, Mercer's longest winning streak was 3 in a row vs. 3 of this year's SoCon's lower echelon Teams.

[The Jackal]

https://twitter.com/Buddie52/status/968845803145039872

[fufanatic]

Prediction: Furman sneaks by a scrappy WCU team that wants revenge after two blowouts and then gets on a roll to advance to its first NCAA Tournament in my lifetime. Championship Monday will be one to remember with a sound thumping of a UNCG squad that has previously given the Paladins trouble all year. Sibley earns tournament MVP honors after finding his 2016-17 form.

[Jasper]

Furman - Mercer Monday night for the championship with FU prevailing in a close one. Mercer matches up much better with UNCG than we do and is playing very well right now.

[Flagman]

Furman - Mercer Monday night for the championship with FU prevailing in a close one. Mercer matches up much better with UNCG than we do and is playing very well right now.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Remember how hard it is to beat a team three times in a season. We have to get past WCU, and then possibly ETSU before Monday.

[gman]

I predict we will beat Woffy in the championship game.

[Jasper]

Furman - Mercer Monday night for the championship with FU prevailing in a close one. Mercer matches up much better with UNCG than we do and is playing very well right now.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Remember how hard it is to beat a team three times in a season. We have to get past WCU, and then possibly ETSU before Monday.

This IS a predictions thread, is it not?

[Fessor]

Let's go Paladins! We've been knocking on the door and need to take that next step. These guys are capable.

[Fessor]

Let's go Paladins! We've been knocking on the door and need to open the door and take that next step. These guys are capable.

[furman88]

Prediction here is Coach Richey will have these guys mentally ready to play and this is a dangerous team when hitting on all cylandiers.
Time to Kick that door in! Go Paladins!

[furman88]

Sorry cant spell in my old age, cylinder

[Affirm]

Prediction here is Coach Richey will have these guys mentally ready to play and this is a dangerous team when hitting on all cylandiers.
Time to Kick that door in! Go Paladins!

Yes. It is time to kick in the door.