Good find! Not entirely surprised we made the top 100 list (based on the history of the AP poll, we actually rank #88 in the nation), but I think it does show that the general public views a team based on "what have you done for me lately?" Most people view GW overall as more of a team from the past couple years than what it has been in the past. Hopefully JC can get us relevant again. Obviously this coming year the expectations aren't too high, but I have read posts online that mention GW as the team to kick out of the A10 if they go with fewer teams in the future which I think is ridiculous. We were just in the top 25 four seasons ago! It is also understandable why we currently sit the way we do. Can you imagine how we would have ranked on the KenPom list if you take out just last year? We were 7th in the current A10 on the list above (which shows it's an above average job in the league) and taking last year out we might be as high as 5th.

Although GW was rated the 9th best job by coaches in the conference in an article released by Goodman last year, I think the ceiling could be higher if we can find a way to pump more money into the program (financials seemed to be the biggest complaint). I do see the administration appearing to commit a bit more to basketball, and the daily twitter videos from gw_mbb definitely do increase the excitement. 

Interesting that we sit above teams like Richmond (although they have been mediocre, I feel we haven't been able to beat them consistently for a while now), and St. Bonaventure (Schmidt has really turned the perception of that program around). Also UMass seems a bit high, and riding off Calipari's success.

Not too surprised by Utah State, they have been historically a pretty strong program (between 1997-2011, they made the NCAA tournament 9 times). They didn't really stand out while Duryea was head coach for a few years, but Craig Smith was an outstanding hire from South Dakota, lead them back to the tournament in his first year (maybe JC can do it for us - wishful thinking I know!), and I would be stunned if they didn't win the Mountain West again this year with Musselman gone from Nevada and Fresno State losing some key guys. 

Last edited by dmvpiranha (8/10/2019 8:24 am)

Enjoy that data and agree that if you could go back even a couple more years, it would be very good for us. 

But what’s also impressive is that we are 97 with both the Mojo debacle and the Hobbs implosion factored in.  Imagine where we would have been without those two drastic declines, or at least if the school had reacted more quickly once it was clear where we were headed.

Btw, on Bona, they had the welding scandal that dropped them down for years.  URI also has the Harrick implosion where they became a 300ish team for a few years.  But that was one implosion, while we had two (or one and a half, because the bad Hobbs years were more like 175 or so than the near-300 of Mojo and those other programs).

Make that 8 A-10 teams in top 100

I disagree Dude bc after the interim year GW could have acknowledged his lack of experience and moved. Put another way saying Mojo was adequate is to imagine that no other coach with his general resume characteristics could have done better. he was put in tough spot I agree to say no one could reasonably expected better I disagree. He was given a big chance in ugly circumstances and he didn’t do it

Last edited by FredD (8/11/2019 1:30 pm)

Dude...sum up for us the on the  court positives under Mojo because I really can’t think of any.   Last years team was the worst we fielded since 1988-1989.

Thanks for that link BM, I had to paste the entire chart here because of how detailed it is. So according to this data, GW's best team since 1997 was the 2004-2005 team, not the 2005-2006 team that only lost  2 or 3 games?? I'm assuming the OOC wins that the 04-05 team had over Maryland and Michigan State played a role in why this is? It's interesting that GW, UMass and St.Joe's had their worst years this past season. 

You guys need to check out the comments/replies to the Dayton fan who posted this on twitter. Some Dayton fans debating whether they should move to the Big East, some people taking shots at George Mason for not being able to capitalize(in terms of wins, I believe enrollment and campus facilities received a huge boost) on the 2006 Final 4 run, UMass fans asking why this went back to 1997 which is a year after the most successful/Calipari run in program history and of course...Why Is Fordham So Bad!!!
 

Mojo had an opportunity that most would die for. He didn't step up and take advantage of the situation. GW shouldn't be hiring coaches and paying them for being nice, but rather to win. 
Everyone knows why he won the 1st year at the helm. He was fired because the team continued to drop.
Let the new era begin. 
Nice to have a message board again without all the crap from before.

Also, wow, look at St. Joe's in 2004.   WOW.
A mere 15 years later, another Jameer Nelson returns to the A10.