ODU DEFEATS W&M IN A BLOWOUT!

February 26th - This was senior night for the Monarchs who are graduating four seniors this year.  The seniors went out in style as they each were named the players of the game.  Though a conference match up, it wasn't a difficult one as ODU defeated the Tribe of William and Mary by a score of 77-58.  The Monarchs out rebounded the Tribe 47-15.  Frank Hassell led all scorers with 18 points and 12 points and Kenyon Carter had 16 points.  This was the final regular season game of the year. The Monarchs finish the regular season 24-6 and 14-4 in conference play.  Next comes the CAA tourney which will begin for the Monarchs on March 5th, since they have a first round bye.

Frank Hassell shooting over the Tribe on Saturday afternoon..VICTORY

According to the Virginia Pilot, the Monarchs will either play #10 seed Northeastern or #7 seed Delaware Saturday at 6pm in Richmond, VA.

ODU TOPS JMU IN CAA CLASH!

Thursday, February 24 - The Monarchs of ODU defeated the Dukes of JMU in a CAA match up by a score of 75-59.  This was a special night for the Dukes, as they were celebrating senior night in their home arena.  That occasion however did not faze the Monarchs, who manhandled the Dukes.  Frank Hassell led all scorers with 21 points, and Kent Bazemore added 19 points.  Judging by the stats the Monarchs simply outplayed the Dukes in all aspects of the game.  This was not a truly impressive victory for the Monarchs but it was a decent one.  The Monarchs final game will be Saturday the 26th against William and Mary.  That game just like the JMU match should be an easy victory to prepare the Monarchs for the CAA tournament that begins next week.  The Monarchs record currently stands at 23-6 overall and 13-4 in the CAA.

CAA TOURNAMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

The tournament will be begin on March 4th and conclude on March 7th with the championship game. Here is the seed match ups, which will be further determined when the regular season concludes.

2011 CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, MARCH 4
FIRST ROUND GAMES

Gm. 1	#8 seed vs. #9 seed	Noon
Gm. 2	#5 seed vs. #12 seed	2:30 p.m.
Gm. 3	#7 seed vs. #10 seed	6:00 p.m.
Gm. 4	#6 seed vs. #11 seed	8:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5
QUARTERFINAL GAMES

Gm. 5	#1 seed vs. #8/#9 winner	Noon
Gm. 6	#4 seed vs. #5/12 winner	2:30 p.m.
Gm. 7	#2 seed vs. #7/10 winner	6:00 p.m.
Gm. 8	#3 seed vs. #6/#11 winner	8:30 p.m

SUNDAY, MARCH 6
SEMIFINAL GAMES

Gm. 9	Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6	Noon
Gm. 10	Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8	2:30 p.m

MONDAY, MARCH 7Men’s Championship Game    7:00 p.m.

(Courtesy of caasports.com)

The tournament will be held at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA.

GO MONARCHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE

After a weekend with an impressive win over Cleveland State of the Horizon league, the Monarchs of ODU all but secured their spot in the NCAA tourney for an at large bid.  According to collegerpi.com, the Monarchs are ranked 28th nationally, while the CAA conference leader George Mason is ranked 20th.  For those who don't know the RPI is the ratings percentage index. This is somewhat like a strength of schedule, and this ranking is very important during this time of year.  Out of 345 schools the Monarchs are ranked 28th in the nation in terms of RPI, which helps them out a lot when the time comes for the NCAA selection process.  Head coach Blaine Taylor offered some opinion on this time of year, when he was interviewed by David Teel of the Daily Press. He said its "almost impossible" to get an at large birth, but also that he was "not worried about it".  Lastly he stated that he was proud of the fact that they played a tough schedule and that they were successful in that.

 With only two games left before the CAA tourney, the Monarchs are looking good!.  They definitely need to finish the season strong, however the real match ups will come during the CAA tourney which will decide what happens next.  Espn's Joe Lunardi currently has ODU in the WEST (ANAHEIM) division, that is if the season were to end today.  This will change after the final two games and after the tournament concludes.  The hard contests of the regular season are over, we'll just have to wait and see what happens in the tournament.


David Teel opinion of ODU Ncaa tourney chances. (Information used from this article written by David Teel)

MONARCHS WINS BRACKETBUSTER MATCHUP OVER CLEVELAND STATE

Sunday - In a nationally televised match up against Cleveland State, the Monarchs of ODU were able to slow the one man show of Cleveland State and end the game with a VICTORY by a score of 74-63.  If you were there, you know about the one man show of Cleveland State. He is number 30 and his name is Norris Cole. He scored 35 points. Enough with that.  The MONARCHS out rebounded the Vikings and dominated them in the paint.  Frank Hassell and Ben Finney combined for 28 rebounds, while Kent Bazemore led all scorers on the Monarchs with 18 points.

Court a few minutes before tip off

This victory improves the Monarchs record to 22-6.  This game, which was on ESPN, gave ODU a chance to show how talented the team is, and they were able to do just that. In recent years the Monarchs have been successful in these contests, as their bracket buster record improves to 5-1.  The Monarchs have only two games left before the CAA tourney. They will play James Madison and William and Mary in the final two match ups. These should be easy victories to give the Monarchs momentum as they begin the tournament, especially since they have already beaten both teams this season. Stay tuned for a bracketology update as well as a CAA tourney announcement.
All stat information courtesy of:
www.dailypress.com

BRACKET BUSTER!!!!!! SUNDAY!!!!

                                                                                  VS.









This Sunday FEBRUARY 20TH at 1PM the Monarchs of ODU will take on the Vikings of Cleveland State in a BRACKETBUSTER matchup. This game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN 2.  For those who don't know, BRACKETBUSTER stands for a team MID MAJOR team in college basketball that can potentially upset a highly ranked Divison 1 basketball team.  The BRACKETBUSTER weekend was set up to give lower ranked schools more exposure to in the national spotlight as MARCH MADNESS approaches.  Cleveland State hails from the Horizon League and their record stands at 23-5.  

This matchup gives OLD DOMINION another chance to better their resume for the NCAA tourney selection committee.  This is a must win for the Monarchs and they will need this victory especially if they fail to win the CAA tourney.

MONARCHS OUTPLAY GEORGIA STATE FOR WIN

Tuesday Night - In a game that started slow, the Monarchs were able to outplay Georgia State and win by a score of 60-43.  The Monarchs were led by Frank Hassell who had 17 points and 10 boards. Also  Ben Finney had 11 points and 10 boards.  This win improves the Monarchs record to 21-6 and 12-4 in the CAA.

Frank Hassell

ODU tops Georgia State : wavy.com

 Highlights from tonight's action courtesy of WAVY.COM

Another conference victory for ODU. This win in my opinion was overshadowed by VCU's loss to the Patriots of George Mason tonight, which is major for ODU.  Now the Monarchs are tied for third with VCU and Hofstra.  This weekend ODU will play the bracketbuster match up against Cleveland State. That game will be televised on ESPN. Should be an awesome game for the fans. Later this week I am going to post a bracketology update and give my opinion on where the Monarchs stand according to predictions.  I will also post some photos taken by me of the courts before game time as well as some of the players.