We played this same game last year, might have even been on New Year's Eve day.  Last year, we went to Richmond firmly believing we had the better team (Richmond had a terrible OOC season unlike this year) and lost after blowing a 13 point lead.  Delonnie Hunt and Neskevic combined for 36 points and both are gone.  This year, however, the Spiders have 11 guys averaging double figures in minutes.  Nobody scores as few as 12 points per game.  They are 10-2 with the two losses by a combined 4 points (though to Furman and Elon)  They have yet to play a power conference school (in fact, they won't until March at the earliest, if at all).  Our common opponents saw the Spiders defeat William & Mary by 4 at home, and Old Dominion by 9 at home.  Their Q1 win is over Belmont who sits at #50 and should become a Q2 win by next week.  Their Q2 win over William & Mary may easily be a Q3 win by the end of the season.

Unlike last year, I think GW enters the game with a ton of respect for the what will likely be the 11-2 Spiders despite their soft schedule.  This hopefully translates to a game where they can play loose, as opposed to last year where they appeared to be playing not to lose.  That game reminded me of last year's AU game.  Better we approach this as a game we can win rather than one we should win.

This is going to be a lot bigger test than many are probably anticipating due to a number of factors which all scream "Don't Sleep on Richmond."

Factors:

1. We traditionally struggle at Richmond
2. We are coming off a game against a bad D3 opponent so a huge difference in opposition.
3. Richmond's style of play (Princeton and Princeton derivatives) often gives us fits defensively.
4. We have 9 days off between games.
5. It is New Year's Eve which often has its focus drawbacks as guys may be thinking about plans later and thinking about when they will get back to DC (I hope not).

Therefore, this game may tell us a lot about this team. If they handle business, we may be a more mature basketball team than a year ago. If not, I would expect a conference season somewhat like last year. You don't want to put all the eggs in one basket but these are the types of games you need to win if you want to get into the upper echelon of the A-10..