Official IonaGuyF 2024-25 game-by-game predictions!
Oct 2, 2024 9:04:42 GMT -5
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Post by GuyF on Oct 2, 2024 9:04:42 GMT -5
I still think Iona70 is stupid for making me do this as the individual games don't matter all that much, but he's the boss. It's time for another installment of the game-by-game picks, or "how wrong can I be this year" to be more accurate.
I think we've all bantered enough about the MAAC and OOC to get a feel for what we're all generally thinking, give or take a couple games. I saw Coach Al throw up a 25 spot, which raised my eyebrows for sure. All of that said, in thinking more and more about it, I opted to go a tick more conservative this year with my picks, with the grand hope that I am, once again, wrong.
So, without further ado, let's get into it.
Nov 4 (Mon) at Princeton. Tough spot against one of the toughest teams on our schedule. L, 0-1
Nov 8 (Fri) at Hofstra. Get that Spiderman-point-at-each-other meme out there for this one, way too many former Gaels on the Pride. L, 0-2
Nov 12 (Tue) vs Delaware. Odd to say it, but with those first 2 and with what's following, this becomes a must-win. W, 1-2
Nov 15 (Fri) vs Vermont. This is one of those swing games for how our OOC will go, but like I said, I'm being conservative. L, 1-3
Nov 20 (Wed) at West Virginia. High major on the road. Let's give em hell as we grab that check. L, 1-4
Nov 25 (Mon) vs Cornell. Consider this must-win #2 in the early season. W, 2-4
Nov 29 (Fri) Tarleton State in Bahamas. Too much tryptophan? L, 2-5
Nov 30 (Sat) Indiana St in Bahamas. This ain't last year's Sycamores. W, 3-5
Dec 1 (Sun) Rice in Bahamas. Settled in now. W, 4-5
Dec 6 (Fri) at Sacred Heart. Welcome to the MAAC! W, 5-5, 1-0
Dec 8 (Sun) vs St Peter’s. You think CMilly's gonna let us lose this one? W, 6-5, 2-0
Dec 22 (Sun) at Colgate. Post-finals hangover, plus revenge from last year. L, 6-6, 2-0
Dec 29 (Sun) vs Harvard. Ending OOC on a high note. W, 7-6, 2-0
Jan 3 (Fri) vs Marist. Foxes should be one of the better teams, but we'll be ready. W, 8-6, 3-0
Jan 5 (Sun) at Siena. Used to be Tim's House, now it needs to be Tobin's. W, 9-6, 4-0
Jan 10 (Fri) at Fairfield. You didn't think we'd go 20-0, did you? L, 9-7, 4-1
Jan 12 (Sun) vs Quinnipiac. Bobcats are MAAC favs for a reason. L, 9-8, 4-2
Jan 16 (Thu) vs Canisius. Back on track. W, 10-8, 5-2
Jan 23 (Thu) at Rider. Back off track. L, 10-9, 5-3
Jan 25 (Sat) vs Siena. Get out the brooms for the hayseeds. W, 11-9, 6-3
Jan 31 (Fri) at Manhattan. Jaspers rebuild making progress. L, 11-10, 6-4
Feb 2 (Sun) vs Fairfield. No sweep for Stags. W, 12-10, 7-4
Feb 6 (Thu) at Mount St Mary’s. Gaels finally string a couple Ws together. W, 13-10, 8-4
Feb 8 (Sat) at Marist. Pough-town is no joke. L, 13-11, 8-5
Feb 14 (Fri) vs Rider. Down with the Donks! W, 14-11, 9-5
Feb 16 (Sun) at Quinnipiac. Only team that'll sweep us. L, 14-12, 9-6
Feb 21 (Fri) vs Manhattan. Time to start rolling for March. W, 15-12, 10-6
Feb 23 (Sun) vs Merrimack. Welcome to the MAAC part 2! W, 16-12, 11-6
Feb 28 (Fri) at Niagara. Only meeting with the pesky Purps. L, 16-13, 11-7
Mar 2 (Sun) at Canisius. Not leaving Buffalo 0-fer. W, 17-13, 12-7
Mar 8 (Sat) vs Sacred Heart. Celebrating Senior Day in style! W, 18-13, 13-7
I know many are thinking 20, but I couldn't get myself there. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong.
With the 13-7 mark I'm predicting, that should be enough for 3rd. Here are my MAAC final regular season predictions:
1. Quinny
2. Merrimack
3. Iona
4. Marist
5. St Peters
6. Fairfield
7. Niagara
8. Manhattan
9. Rider
10. Siena
11. Sacred Heart
12. Mount
13. Canisius
I can almost feel I59 (and others) disagreeing with a few of these, but that's the beauty of opinions. The other thing to remember, we all assumed Rider was the team to beat at this time last year because they returned the most and recruited well, and instead they were 5th and were out in the semis. Quinny is the safest pick without a doubt, but really, would ANYONE be shocked if they don't finish 1st? We've also seen someone not expected to be too good to surprise and finish top 5 while someone expected to be good instead goes PIGging (um, Iona last year, people). I know a few folks will have Manhattan higher than me, and I agree they are a candidate to exceed my expectations.
The MAAC Tourney will be a different monster altogether now--even harder. The bottom 3 teams don't even get in now, which means the top 6 are non-PIG. Further, remember that the 10th place team is going to have a better league mark than the 10th place team in past years, with the bottom 3 lopped off. Suddenly, that 7-10 game isn't so much an "upset" now.
All of that noted, Iona's going to be equipped to do good things in AC. The Gaels will have experience and what I expect to be a rugged defense, as well as solid depth. We've all seen that one of the key elements to tourney success is dudes making plays late, and I think we have 3 guys who can do that for sure in Dejour, Biggie and Rupert. All in all, the program will take a nice step forward from season 1, with a legit shot to cut down the nets in AC.
Let's hear yours!
I think we've all bantered enough about the MAAC and OOC to get a feel for what we're all generally thinking, give or take a couple games. I saw Coach Al throw up a 25 spot, which raised my eyebrows for sure. All of that said, in thinking more and more about it, I opted to go a tick more conservative this year with my picks, with the grand hope that I am, once again, wrong.
So, without further ado, let's get into it.
Nov 4 (Mon) at Princeton. Tough spot against one of the toughest teams on our schedule. L, 0-1
Nov 8 (Fri) at Hofstra. Get that Spiderman-point-at-each-other meme out there for this one, way too many former Gaels on the Pride. L, 0-2
Nov 12 (Tue) vs Delaware. Odd to say it, but with those first 2 and with what's following, this becomes a must-win. W, 1-2
Nov 15 (Fri) vs Vermont. This is one of those swing games for how our OOC will go, but like I said, I'm being conservative. L, 1-3
Nov 20 (Wed) at West Virginia. High major on the road. Let's give em hell as we grab that check. L, 1-4
Nov 25 (Mon) vs Cornell. Consider this must-win #2 in the early season. W, 2-4
Nov 29 (Fri) Tarleton State in Bahamas. Too much tryptophan? L, 2-5
Nov 30 (Sat) Indiana St in Bahamas. This ain't last year's Sycamores. W, 3-5
Dec 1 (Sun) Rice in Bahamas. Settled in now. W, 4-5
Dec 6 (Fri) at Sacred Heart. Welcome to the MAAC! W, 5-5, 1-0
Dec 8 (Sun) vs St Peter’s. You think CMilly's gonna let us lose this one? W, 6-5, 2-0
Dec 22 (Sun) at Colgate. Post-finals hangover, plus revenge from last year. L, 6-6, 2-0
Dec 29 (Sun) vs Harvard. Ending OOC on a high note. W, 7-6, 2-0
Jan 3 (Fri) vs Marist. Foxes should be one of the better teams, but we'll be ready. W, 8-6, 3-0
Jan 5 (Sun) at Siena. Used to be Tim's House, now it needs to be Tobin's. W, 9-6, 4-0
Jan 10 (Fri) at Fairfield. You didn't think we'd go 20-0, did you? L, 9-7, 4-1
Jan 12 (Sun) vs Quinnipiac. Bobcats are MAAC favs for a reason. L, 9-8, 4-2
Jan 16 (Thu) vs Canisius. Back on track. W, 10-8, 5-2
Jan 23 (Thu) at Rider. Back off track. L, 10-9, 5-3
Jan 25 (Sat) vs Siena. Get out the brooms for the hayseeds. W, 11-9, 6-3
Jan 31 (Fri) at Manhattan. Jaspers rebuild making progress. L, 11-10, 6-4
Feb 2 (Sun) vs Fairfield. No sweep for Stags. W, 12-10, 7-4
Feb 6 (Thu) at Mount St Mary’s. Gaels finally string a couple Ws together. W, 13-10, 8-4
Feb 8 (Sat) at Marist. Pough-town is no joke. L, 13-11, 8-5
Feb 14 (Fri) vs Rider. Down with the Donks! W, 14-11, 9-5
Feb 16 (Sun) at Quinnipiac. Only team that'll sweep us. L, 14-12, 9-6
Feb 21 (Fri) vs Manhattan. Time to start rolling for March. W, 15-12, 10-6
Feb 23 (Sun) vs Merrimack. Welcome to the MAAC part 2! W, 16-12, 11-6
Feb 28 (Fri) at Niagara. Only meeting with the pesky Purps. L, 16-13, 11-7
Mar 2 (Sun) at Canisius. Not leaving Buffalo 0-fer. W, 17-13, 12-7
Mar 8 (Sat) vs Sacred Heart. Celebrating Senior Day in style! W, 18-13, 13-7
I know many are thinking 20, but I couldn't get myself there. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong.
With the 13-7 mark I'm predicting, that should be enough for 3rd. Here are my MAAC final regular season predictions:
1. Quinny
2. Merrimack
3. Iona
4. Marist
5. St Peters
6. Fairfield
7. Niagara
8. Manhattan
9. Rider
10. Siena
11. Sacred Heart
12. Mount
13. Canisius
I can almost feel I59 (and others) disagreeing with a few of these, but that's the beauty of opinions. The other thing to remember, we all assumed Rider was the team to beat at this time last year because they returned the most and recruited well, and instead they were 5th and were out in the semis. Quinny is the safest pick without a doubt, but really, would ANYONE be shocked if they don't finish 1st? We've also seen someone not expected to be too good to surprise and finish top 5 while someone expected to be good instead goes PIGging (um, Iona last year, people). I know a few folks will have Manhattan higher than me, and I agree they are a candidate to exceed my expectations.
The MAAC Tourney will be a different monster altogether now--even harder. The bottom 3 teams don't even get in now, which means the top 6 are non-PIG. Further, remember that the 10th place team is going to have a better league mark than the 10th place team in past years, with the bottom 3 lopped off. Suddenly, that 7-10 game isn't so much an "upset" now.
All of that noted, Iona's going to be equipped to do good things in AC. The Gaels will have experience and what I expect to be a rugged defense, as well as solid depth. We've all seen that one of the key elements to tourney success is dudes making plays late, and I think we have 3 guys who can do that for sure in Dejour, Biggie and Rupert. All in all, the program will take a nice step forward from season 1, with a legit shot to cut down the nets in AC.
Let's hear yours!
