Barry Sokol on Sports

The Dayton Flyers and Wright State Raiders men’s basketball teams both released their upcoming schedule last month for the 2009-2010 season.  This is the link to the Dayton Flyers schedule and the Wright State Raiders basketball schedule.  Both of their schedules are pretty mediocre. 

I don’t understand why the two Dayton area teams don’t schedule to play each other annually.  The Dayton Flyers and Wright State Raiders women’s basketball teams have scheduled each other this season.  In the last few seasons, they both have scheduled the Miami Redhawks, another local area team.  In the city of Cincinnati, Xavier and UC always have a fierce rivalry every season in the annual Crosstown Shootout.  Wright State and Dayton should bring back the Gem City Jam.  The last time the Gem City Jam was played was back in the late 90’s. 

Brian Trent does an excellent job articulating why they won’t bring back the matchup in Letter to the Editor, Bring Back the Gem City Jam as well as the benefits of having the two schools play each other. 

Here is a breakdown of the RPI of Wright State and Dayton over the last decade:

Year        Dayton   Wright State
2000         43           224
2001          72           122
2002          63          128
2003         13           237
2004         40          163
2005         125         174
2006         183        179
2007           72          75
2008          33          86
2009          27          93

Average RPI of Current Head Coches

UD Coach Brian Gregory(6 seasons 04-09): RPI 80 vs WSU Coach Brad Brownell (3 seasons 07-09): RPI 84.66

Average RPI in last 3 years(2007-2009): UD: 44  WSU: 84.66

Average RPI in last 5 years (2005-2009): UD: 108  WSU: 121.4

Average RPI in last 10 years (2000-2009): UD: 67.1  WSU: 148.1

As one can see, Wright State’s average RPI has increased over the decade and WSU had a similar average RPI as Dayton did in the last 5 seasons.  

In my opinion, I personally believe that the Dayton Flyer athletic director and some (not all) Dayton Flyer fans have an anxiety that there is too much on the line - their popularity and superiority over the Wright State Raiders - if they play each season in the Gem City Jam.  They also feel they have nothing to gain and more to lose by playing the Raiders. 

The only way I see Dayton scheduling Wright State is when the Raiders start making it to the NCAA tournament.  Wright State has the potential to do that with Head Coach Brad Brownell who has coached the Raiders to three 20 win seasons - their 2007 season being an NCAA tournament season.

The Wright State Raiders released their conference schedule at the end of June for the 2008-2009 season.  In February, the Raiders will get to play every Saturday at home, including the Bracket Buster Tournament and Butler on February 7th - who they have upset the last 3 meetings at home. 

Hopefully Wright State can get a bigger turnout of fans this year. It will help with attendance by having more of their conference home games on Saturday this season. With 20 win seasons the last two years, the Raiders have demonstrated that they are a decent quality team. The highlights of the Raiders’ 06-07 season were the Horizon League Regular Season Championship, Horizon League Tournament Champions, and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The non-conference portion of the schedule will be released later this summer. To help their strength of schedule and RPI, hopefully Wright State can get a few powerhouse basketball teams on their non-conference schedule.

 2008-09 Wright State Men’s Basketball Nonleague Schedule

Thu., Dec. 4 @ Green Bay

Sat., Dec. 6 @ Milwaukee

Tue., Dec. 30 Cleveland State

Sat., Jan. 3 Youngstown State

Thu., Jan. 8 @ Butler

Sat., Jan. 10 @ Valparaiso

Sat., Jan. 17 @ Detroit

Thu., Jan. 22 Loyola

Sat., Jan. 24 UIC

Thu., Jan. 29 @ Youngstown State

Sat., Jan. 31 @ Cleveland State

Thu., Feb. 5 Valparaiso

Sat., Feb. 7 Butler

Tue., Feb. 10 @ Loyola

Sat., Feb. 14 Detroit

Wed., Feb. 18 @ UIC

Sat., Feb. 21 Bracket Buster

Thu., Feb. 26 Milwaukee

Sat., Feb. 28 Green Bay

Mar. 2, 6-7, 9 Horizon League Championship @ TBA

The Wright State Raiders lost to Valporaiso 72-67 in a close game in the Horizon League Quarterfinals on Friday night.

It was the 3rd meeting of the season between the 2 teams and Wright State loss all 3 times. Valporaiso played Wright State in the regular season twice. Valporaiso defeated Wright State 71-66 at home back on December 6th and then Wright State played at Valporaiso on March 1st and lost in overtime on a last second shot 75-73.

Wright State’s season may or may not continue depending on if they get invited to the NIT or not. Wright State has a solid criteria by having at least a 20 win season and an overall 21-10 record and a 12-6 second place tie with Cleveland State in the conference. The only thing holding Wright State back from playing in the NIT maybe there RPI. Wright State is 84 in the RPI and they have a SOS record of 148. However, they do have some quality wins over good teams such as Butler, Miami, CSU Fullerton, Belmont, and Cleveland State.

I think the Wright State Raiders are a little underrated and they deserve to play in the NIT.  We shall wait and find out soon.

Well, its that time of year again.  Its March!  That can only mean one thing for college basketball, March Madness!  Here is a breakdown of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Dayton Flyers, and Wright State Raiders basketball teams.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently tied for 5th place with Minnesota in the Big 10 Conference Standings with a 17-12 (8-8) record.  The Buckeyes are currently 55 in the RPI and have two games left against two great basketball teams - 1st place Purdue who is 28th in the RPI and Michigan State who is 14th in the RPI. 

In Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology on ESPN.com, as of February 29th, he has OSU as 1 of the 4 teams that are on the bubble and in the last 4 out category.  Unfortuantely, that isn’t updated and doesn’t include the recent 71-57 loss at Minnesota this past Saturday.   The loss against Minnesota was the Buckeyes fourth straight loss and definitely took them away from making the NCAA tourney.  However, if the Buckeyes can win their two remaining games, that would be huge and defnitiely put them right back on the bubble of making the NCAA tourney.  If the Buckeyes can win against Purdue and Michigan State, and at least get to the Big 10 Semi-finals, then my predicition is they will make the NCAA tourney.

The Dayton Flyers are currently tied for 12th place with Duquesne in the A-10 Conference with a 18-9 (6-8) record.  The Dayton Flyers are currently 35 in the RPI. The Flyers are currently projected to be NIT bound.  The Flyers need to win their two remaining games and win at least 2 games in the A-10 Tournament in New Jersey to have a chance of making the NCAA tourney.  Even though they have done sub-par in the A-10, their 14-1 start and being nationally ranked for 4 weeks in a row and 2 great non-conference wins against Pitt and Louisville makes it possible for the Flyers to make the NCAA, assuming they win at least 4 games in a row.

The Wright State Raiders are currently in second place of the Horizon League with a 20-9 (12-6) conference record.  Wright State is 72 in the RPI and should make the NIT, unless they lose their 1st game in Horizon League tournament and their RPI plummets, then they probably won’t have to much trouble getting into the NIT.  The only way they can make the NCAA tournament is if they win the whole Horizon League Tournament.  There maybe a slim outside chance Wright State could suprise us all and win the Horizon League tourney, while Dayton and OSU are playing in the NIT. 

I think all 3 teams will at least make the NIT.  It will be interesting to see and watch as March Madness starts.

This Saturday the Wright State Raiders, Dayton Flyers, and Ohio State Buckeyes basketball teams all played on the same day, except only 1 of the 3 teams came out victorious.

The Wright State Raiders were the only team to win defeating Wisconsin - Milwaukee at home 53-51 on a Vaughn Duggins last second shot with 0.4 seconds left to give Wright State the win. Wright State is 66 in the RPI and on a 5 game winning streak with a tie for 3rd place in the Horizon League with a 14-6 (7-4) record.

The Dayton Flyers lost at Rhode Island 82-70.  Even with Charles Little making his first return from an injury only scoring 5 points and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes of play before fouling out, other players stepped up and were leaders for the Flyers with 5 players scoring in double figures including London Warren who had a double-double with career highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds.   However, the difference in the game was the Flyers poor 3 point shooting (2-of-15) compared to Rhode Island’s (11-of-26) shooting.  London started again and has seen more playing time and has really stepped up and been a leader.  Dayton is 13 in the RPI while struggling lately losing 4 of its last 5 games with a 15-5 (3-4) record.

The Buckeyes suprised me by losing at Iowa 53-48. The first time the Buckeyes played Iowa at home they blew them out by 31 points 79-48. This is a bad loss for the Buckeyes and it is the first bad loss of the season. Ohio State is 25 in the RPI and currently 5th in the Big 10 with a 15-7 (6-3) record.

Fairborn, Ohio - The Wright State Raiders defeated St Bonaventure 54-45 Tuesday Night at the Nutter Center in front of 2,759 fans. Here is an anaylsis of some of the Wright State players and how they played last night.

Scottie Wilson - Had a pretty decent game with 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting and grabbed 6 rebounds. Last game, when Wright State played Miami, Scottie Wilson didn’t play and that was a key loss in the game, even though Wright State came back and beat Miami 63-62.

Jordan Pleiman - Scored 8 points and 5 rebounds in 18 minutes. Sometimes he looked out of position when trying to get a rebound and got into foul trouble picking up 4 and Brownell had to put in Ronnie Thomas who came into play his first game of the season - not since the 05-06 season had Thomas played. Pleiman had a few good post moves, but once Pleiman came out, and Thomas came in, the point production and rebounding suffered a little bit.

Todd Brown - He had a slightly below average game with 8 points on 3-10 shooting, but did have 4 assists and 4 rebounds.

Will Graham - Poor shooting, shooting 1-of-5 from the field, for 4 points. Graham could have shot better and played a little better.

Vaughn Duggins - The leading scorer on the team lead Wright State with 16 points in 36 minutes last night doing his role by showing up and being a leader for Wright State.

John David Gardner - Only played 12 minutes and had 0 points. It looked like he was having a little trouble with the trap St Bonaventure was using. I don’t even think he played in the second half and was sitting on the bench because of his performance.

The Raiders improved to 5-3 and next game is at Cal State Fullerton December 22nd.

Todd Brown’s game winning 3 point shot as the buzzer sounded helped Wright State rally and edge Miami 58-57 Saturday night at the Nutter Center in front of 3,813 fans.

Wright State was led in scoring by Troy Tabler coming off the bench with 14 points. Jordan Pleiman scored 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, and Todd Brown recorded 8 points.

Tim Pollitz had 15 points, Michael Bramos and Aaron Moorsman contributed 9 points for the Miami Redhawks.

Miami had its biggest lead by 16 points at halftime with the score of 44-28 before Wright State would comeback and rally in the second half.

Wright State’s defense and Miami’s poor second half shooting only allowed the Redhawks to score 13 second half points. Wright State took advantage of it and tied the game at 55 at 1:47 after Vaughn Duggins made 2 free throws.

The teams would exchange possessions on missed baskets to take the lead. Miami would take a full timeout with 25 seconds left in the game after Wright State missed on its possession to take the lead. Kenny Hayes scored the go-ahead shot with 5 seconds remaining in the game.

After Kenny Hayes made it, Wright State took a 20 second timeout to set up a play for a last second shot. Vaughn Duggins passed it to Todd Brown and Todd Brown shot the trey at the buzzer as Wright State would comeback and rally to edge Miami.

Once Kenny Hayes made the go-ahead basket, I thought the game was over for Wright State and Miami had won the game and there was a very slim chance for the Raiders to win the game. I thought it was payback from last year when DaShaun Wood made the game winning basket for Wright State to win the game.

Not only did the Raiders prove me wrong, but so did the Flyers. When I saw the score on scoreboards, I thought they both were going to lose given the score at the time, but the Dayton Flyers and Wright State Raiders made great comebacks and rallied in the second half to edge Miami by 1 point this season on game winning shots.

Fairborn, Ohio – Andrew Warren led Bradley with 23 points and T. Wilson added 14 points and 9 rebounds as Bradley defeated Wright State 72-65 in overtime at the Ervin J. Nutter Center Tuesday night.

Bradley went into the half leading 29-26. Bradley had out rebounded Wright State 20-10 at half and finished the game with 42 rebounds to only 32 rebounds for Wright State.

Von Duggins scored 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Scottie Wilson added 8 points and 12 rebounds.

Bradley shot 25-of-56 for 44.6% and 10 for 22 from the 3 point line. Wright State shot 24-62 for 38.7% and 7-19 from the 3 point line.

Wright State would battle back in the second half and get in synch as Wright State would lead by 9 points, 51-42 with 6:28 left to go. Bradley would go on a 14-7 run to keep the game close.

Wright State up 58-56, John David Gardener fouled Jeremy Crouch to put him at the line to shoot two free throws with 19 seconds left to go in regulation. Crouch made them both to tie the game at 58.

Wright State still had a chance to win the game with only 19 seconds left to go. Vaughn Duggins missed the game winning jumper with 1 second left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, Bradley ran away with the game outscoring the 2 point underdog Wright State Raiders 14-7.

Wright State drops to 3-3 and takes on the Miami Redhawks at home Saturday night, while Bradley improved to 7-3 and plays at #19 Butler on December 19th.

Fairborn, Ohio – After the other local Dayton area team, the Dayton Flyers upset the Louisville Cardinals 70-65 at Freedom Hall in Louisville earlier in the afternoon, The Wright State Raiders became the other Dayton-area team to make the day perfect for the city of Dayton by upsetting the #13 ranked Butler Bulldogs 43-42 in a low scoring game at the Nutter Center in front of 6,981 fans Saturday night. 

Todd Brown and Scottie Wilson had 10 points each to lead Wright State with the upset over Butler, which lost its first game of the season and dropped to 8-1 (1-1).  Wright State improved to 3-2 (1-1). 

The key for Wright State was shutting down AJ Graves who was averaging 16.6 points a game.  Saturday night, Graves only scored 6 points on 2-11 shooting, including 0-6 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the foul line. 

Julie Bertko lead Butler with 14 points.  Butler shot 16-50 from the field for 32%, while Wright State shot 18-38 for about 47%. 

After John Gardner made a 3 pointer at the buzzer to end the half, Wright State went to into the half up 28-27. 

In the second half, Wright State and Butler would go on a cold spell, with both teams only scoring 15 points each in the second half.  

Butler down 32-30 with 14:28 left in the game, Butler went on a 10-1 run to take a 40-33 lead with 9:23 to go. 

Todd Brown would assist Scottie Wilson both times while he made back to back 3 pointers to cut Butler’s lead to 1. 

The teams exchanged baskets to make it 42-41 Butler with 3:13 to go.  Will Graham made a jumper for Wright State with 2:13 to go to take the lead 43-42. 

Butler had a chance to win the game after Julie Bertko stole the ball with 20 seconds left in the game.  Butler called a full timeout and AJ Graves missed a 3 point shot with 4 seconds left as there was a scrum on the floor for the ball as time expired. 

Wright State students stormed the court, just like the last two times when Wright State beat Butler both times at home in the regular season and the Horizon League Championship game.  

I must be good luck being at the game for the Raiders when they play Butler at home because both times in the regular season they won. 

How often do your 2 local area teams beat ranked teams in the same day?

Wright State takes on Bradley at home Tuesday night and Butler’s next game is against FSU on December 15th.