Looking Ahead to 2020-2021 season

[Wags]

What is true for Hofstra and I'm assuming for the whole CAA is that for each travel partners you host one and go to one. Here are the travel partners other than us and Northeastern with the team we host listed first:

W&M and Elon
Drexel and Delaware
Towson and JMU
Charleston and UNCW

Our schedule is:
Saturday and Sunday January 2 and 3: Host W&M
Thursday January 7: Host Northeastern, no other CAA games
Saturday January 9: At Northeastern
Sunday January 10: CAA teams other than us and Northeastern play
Saturday and Sunday January 16 and 17: At Delaware
Saturday and Sunday January 23 and 24: Host Towson
Saturday and Sunday January 30 and 31: At UNCW
Saturday and Sunday February 6 and 7: Host Drexel
Saturday and Sunday February 13 and 14: At JMU
Saturday and Sunday February 20 and 21: Host Charleston
Saturday and Sunday February 27 and 28: At Elon

First and foremost, I hope all players and coaches can stay safe and Covid free, though there are bound to be some positive cases, as we've seen in other sports. Just hope if that happens, it's not serious for anyone involved.

It's going to be very interesting to see how these two-game, back-to-backs play out. I don't think it'll be as big of a deal as most would think from a conditioning stanpoint because of the six days of rest between each of those scenarios (for the most part). The conditioning might come more into play from not playing any or very few OOC games before getting into the CAA slate in January. From that perspective, only two CAA teams -- Charleston and Northeastern -- may have a leg up on the rest of the league, as those are the only two CAA teams with OOC games (three each) currently scheduled (though I would guess other CAA teams would be looking to add some OOC games before January, if they can):

11/25: Charleston at North Carolina
12/2: Northeastern at Maine
12/11: South Carolina State at Charleston
12/12: UMass at Northeastern
12/21: Charleston at Georgia State
12/22: Northeastern at Georgia

[triplec2195]

From talking to Mike Neely I’m assuming we’re playing OOC games hopefully at least three or more.


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[HofstraMathew]

The other thing to remember is as of now the acting head coach is Farrelly. Will he manage the bench different than Mihalich had? Also remember he is supposedly the coach that led to our better defensive performance last year. Will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

[triplec2195]

You have to figure the bench getting plenty of minutes to fill in for Desure and Eli. A lot of new players and plenty of questions to be answered.

[Polito]

Not concerned about the back to back games for the conf slate... it's def going to be an impact, just not worried about it as it will impact everyone, not just HU - and this just forces them to have more effective conditioning for the CAAT.

I actually don't expect to see a lot of the bench per say just because guys are being replaced... I think due to the nature of COVID impact there may be the usual sifting through rotations to settle, esp for the new / returning from injury/redshirt guys, but I fully expect HU to approach as they always have under this staff, with a set starting core, and ride it through with some assistance from 1-2 key guys off the bench.

Glad to hear the thought on having OOC games, even just a few I think is a good thing.

[stuball888]

You might see the bench being used OOC to see what these players have Once the conference begins the rotation will tighten Even more so during the CAA tourney

[HofstraPride1]

https://www.si.com/college/maryland/bas ... th-2020-21

Looks like we may be playing Maryland in OOC based on this above post.

[Cards]

https://www.si.com/college/maryland/bas ... th-2020-21

Looks like we may be playing Maryland in OOC based on this above post.

Good find HofstraPride1. Terps would be a great OOC opponent and likely the highlight of the OOC schedule. NICE!

[HU87]

Interesting-- I read that as that we'll be playing Monmouth in OOC, not necessarily UMD. It looks like it's quoting King Rice, MU's head basketball coach.

[Cards]

Interesting-- I read that as that we'll be playing Monmouth in OOC, not necessarily UMD. It looks like it's quoting King Rice, MU's head basketball coach.

Yes, HU87 - as you pointed out, Rice is the MU coach, and reading it from that perspective, its more like a MU - HU matchup is in the works. The article is poorly written - If the reader is not aware that Rice is the MU coach, you assume that that Rice is affiliated with the Terps and hence would read the statement to infer a Terp- HU matchup.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[Polito]

Really excited to see Cowart Cramer and Green (presuming all play enough to assess), those two are exciting adds to this program. Bethea an unknown but built like a truck, intrigued by him for sure as well.

I see Kante as the best big in the conf this season, expecting a big-time all-conf year from him. Ray has similar all-conf ability, depends on how much game control he takes. Needs to be the guy that takes over games and puts the team on his back when needed. Want to see Coburn take it up a notch as well and play aggressively consistently.

If Cowart can step right in and run the show and feed this group like the seasoned leader he's been brought in to be, it's going to be a fun year.

[triplec2195]

Interesting-- I read that as that we'll be playing Monmouth in OOC, not necessarily UMD. It looks like it's quoting King Rice, MU's head basketball coach.

Yes, HU87 - as you pointed out, Rice is the MU coach, and reading it from that perspective, its more like a MU - HU matchup is in the works. The article is poorly written - If the reader is not aware that Rice is the MU coach, you assume that that Rice is affiliated with the Terps and hence would read the statement to infer a Terp- HU matchup.

Thanks for pointing that out.

Yes good point and also making the HU vs Maryland game a moot issue is that we can't travel to Maryland it's a restricted state and we would have to quarantine so unless that game was being played in a neutral site in an unrestricted state this is not happening.

[EvanJ]

Yes good point and also making the HU vs Maryland game a moot issue is that we can't travel to Maryland it's a restricted state and we would have to quarantine so unless that game was being played in a neutral site in an unrestricted state this is not happening.

New York adds and removes states from requirements to quarantining when coming to New York, and other states can change their rules also. Games could be postponed or canceled not just because of positive tests, but because of states increasing quarantine requirements. New York made an exception for MLB players, but Canada did not. Nationwide (or worldwide chains) can exist with restrictions varying by area such as restaurants in states allowing indoor dining at varying percent capacities and possibly in states not allowing indoor dining. Sports teams, whether they are pro or college, need each other. Towson is in the same state as University of Maryland, so Maryland's requirements affect the whole CAA. Other than their travel partner, teams host four opponents in Men's Basketball and the other four in Women's Basketball, so a state's restrictions will affect CAA schools in for at least one gender, not to mention other sports.

[triplec2195]

Yes good point and also making the HU vs Maryland game a moot issue is that we can't travel to Maryland it's a restricted state and we would have to quarantine so unless that game was being played in a neutral site in an unrestricted state this is not happening.

New York adds and removes states from requirements to quarantining when coming to New York, and other states can change their rules also. Games could be postponed or canceled not just because of positive tests, but because of states increasing quarantine requirements. New York made an exception for MLB players, but Canada did not. Nationwide (or worldwide chains) can exist with restrictions varying by area such as restaurants in states allowing indoor dining at varying percent capacities and possibly in states not allowing indoor dining. Sports teams, whether they are pro or college, need each other. Towson is in the same state as University of Maryland, so Maryland's requirements affect the whole CAA. Other than their travel partner, teams host four opponents in Men's Basketball and the other four in Women's Basketball, so a state's restrictions will affect CAA schools in for at least one gender, not to mention other sports.

Good points Evan but how will this play out will their be special dispensations allowing these games to be played if need be??

[HofstraHockey]

Just like with MLB players flying in and out, I'm sure that if the schools commits to frequent testing of its athletes, it could be allowed to bypass the rules. As it is, the "enforcement" of it only comes from people that are flying in.

[Mikey77]

Any news or updates on Joe M? It's been crickets.

[Cards]

Any news or insight regarding OOC schedule? Monmouth? Others??

I see Northeastern has announced games against UMass, Georgia, and Maine. CoC is playing UNC Tar heels and Georgia State.

[Cards]

Fan attendance - of course it will be handled on a school by school or state by state basis, but i see some schools are planning on starting the season with 15% arena capacity comprised of students, school staff, and players families only. General public no allowed. At least this will give the home team some semblance of home court advantage.

[Polito]

I like the idea of light capacity for those groups to start - and see how it goes.

Would very much like to see some OOC news as well - I hope HU isn't going to play only very local teams, some regional matchups seem reasonable to me and would obviously lead to more quality opponent options.

Ditto on JM, hope his recovery is in full swing!

[EvanJ]

Just like with MLB players flying in and out, I'm sure that if the schools commits to frequent testing of its athletes, it could be allowed to bypass the rules. As it is, the "enforcement" of it only comes from people that are flying in.

If teams bus in and out of states and violate quarantine rules that don't make exceptions for athletes, I think state governments would find out at some point. Imagine if coaches violate quarantine rules and get fined by states that their teams travel to. Governor Cuomo and other governors will make exceptions for pro teams with many fans, but maybe not for college teams. Furthermore, if one athlete from another state spread coronavirus to New Yorkers (including Hofstra staff and players as New Yorkers even if their home isn't in New York), Cuomo could consider a big restriction like stopping all college sports teams from other states from playing in New York. We have to think about the possibility that one person's bad decision at any point in the season could shut a team down for the rest of the season.

Newsday had the Big East's preseason poll. I'm disappointed that the CAA doesn't have anything about a virtual Media Day, preseason poll, or anything else. It's under a month away from when the NCAA lets teams start playing.