"The Bucking Bronco"
The Broncos are 4 games into the season with a record of 2-2, a good win against local rival San Jose State and a tough, but valuable road loss to Notre Dame in South Bend.
There are many ways to "rank" teams. I used the RPI indexes from the NCAA and an aggregate from the TeamRankings Group and ESPN. Why does RPI matter? Like it or not, RPI is a key stat ranking of a team's performance and strength of schedule used by the NCAA & NIT selection committees. RPI is intended to rank teams relative to how a team is playing (wins) and who they are playing against.
Here's two examples of how quickly RPI rankings change:
As a result of the Broncos winning the CBI tournament at season's end 2012-13, they started this year with a preseason RPI ranking of 68. Impressive. After a 2-2 start, with one of the wins against a non-division 1 opponent, their overall RPI ranking is now 284.St. Mary's RPI (9) is higher than both BYU (27) and Gonzaga (30) even though Gonzaga is nationally ranked. St. Mary's hot 5-0 start were all home games' which pumps up their RPI.
Ranking are only indicators - wins, and wins against quality teams matter most.
SCU 2013-2014 Season Schedule and RPI Ranking Breakdown: As of 11/26
The Broncos enter the season after graduating 4 productive and talented seniors. 2012-2013 without a doubt was Kerry's best overall team, his own recruited seniors leading the way to a CBI Championship.
The 2013-14 squad has 3 seniors, 6 juniors, and 5 freshman - and will usually start 2 seniors, 2 juniors, and 1 freshman. Although you will hear the term "Diaper Dandies" to describe the team (a PR ploy), the Broncos are not a young team with 75% of the final 12 man roster upper classmen. Expect 2 redshirts - Pugh, Ndumanya. The team has some depth, and some speed.
Early areas of strength: Brandon Clark, Jared Brownridge, Julian Clarke, and Jalen Richard are finding their stroke. Yannick Atanga and newcomer senior transfer, Jerry Brown have been active on the offensive boards and Robert Garrett has shown bursts of scoring and has 4 blocks in limited minutes.
Areas to work on: Defensive consistency: our opponents are out shooting and out rebounding us. Offensive playmaking and penetration - our offensive sequences seem out of sync and we settle for 3-point shots late in the clock and have been challenged getting the ball inside to establish some scoring presence in the paint.
Evan Roquemore's return to the lineup should help.
Projected Season Record: Win 15, Lose 16 Average Opponent RPI = 164
WCC Conference
The conference once again is top heavy with Gonzaga, St. Mary's and BYU expected to challenge for the title. Upset pick: BYU - big, deep, talented. The middle of the conference is up for grabs with Pacific and San Diego early faves for 4th. I think that both Portland and the Broncos can "surprise" the middle position
.
To "surprise" the Broncos must shoot it great and find a way to defend the paint. Atanga is a superb athlete and Garrett has some size. McArthur is a bigger body, but plays a "small" 6'9". The "bigs" in the WCC are a combo of "bangers" and have solid post moves. If opponents attack us in the paint - this leaves the kickout to an open three - potential double trouble.
** Late breaking news: Cody Doolin leaves USF. Re-ranking will occur after week one in WCC.
WCC 2014 Conference Finish Predictions: Source: TeamRankings 11/26
- Gonzaga
- St. Mary's
- BYU
- San Francisco
- Pacific
- San Diego
- Portland
- Santa Clara
- Loyola
- Pepperdine
Projected Conference Record: Win 7, Lose 11 Average Conference Opponent RPI = 136
Summary
The 2013-2014 Bronco's will need everything from their upper classmen as well as some "step up" from the freshmen. Jared Brownridge is going to attract attention leaving Roquemore, J. Clarke, B. Clark, and Denzel Johnson with "looks" if we can make our passing work earlier in the clock. Jerry Brown could be a nice "impact" player - with the speed and muscle to help in the middle and in the running game.
The Season ticket holders are looking for positive "momentum". Will this be the year?
Summary
The 2013-2014 Bronco's will need everything from their upper classmen as well as some "step up" from the freshmen. Jared Brownridge is going to attract attention leaving Roquemore, J. Clarke, B. Clark, and Denzel Johnson with "looks" if we can make our passing work earlier in the clock. Jerry Brown could be a nice "impact" player - with the speed and muscle to help in the middle and in the running game.
The Season ticket holders are looking for positive "momentum". Will this be the year?
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