The William and Mary Tribe have the chance to win their first ever CAA tournament title tonight. However, a big road block for them stands in the way. Old Dominion. Historically, Old Dominion has crushed W&M. ODU leads the all-time series between these two schools by a margin of 62 - 15. That's a pretty heavy advantage when you look at their pasts. The spread for this one is set currently at 9 points. It's easy to see why, as these teams have met twice already this season in CAA action, with ODU taking each game by 3 and 19 points. This is an adverage of 11 points, but you also have to throw in the 2 points for it being on a neutral court. Overall, W&M played ODU tough at home, and was completely out-classed on the road. That would seem to think on a neutral court, it isn't an obvious answer as to how this game will play out. Even if the numbers do crunch up to ODU taking this game on the ML, by how much will they win?
When you examine the records for these teams, it becomes interesting what you see. The home records shake out with William & Mary at 10-3, while ODU checks in at 15-0. Already, we see that ODU is a great home team...but, this game isn't at home. This game is being played on a neutral floor in Richmond. Both of these schools are from VA, so this shouldn't give an edge to either team necessarily. The away records for these teams stand as William & Mary at 10-6, while ODU currently sits at 8-6. Despite the great home record for ODU, they do sturggle a little bit for a good team during road play. W&M has a better road record, so the mentality of not playing in comfortable territory should favor W&M slightly int his match-up. We also have a little bit of neutral record information from these teams, as William & Mary is 2-0, while ODU 2-2 on neutral ground. I don't think that bears too much weight, but it is at least mentionable that W&M does have neutral court experience as well as ODU, so this won't be shocking to either team.
ODU brings a 15-3 record in CAA action to the tournament, but they haven't dominated their way to this championship game. They played a good VCU team already who took them to OT, after the Monarchs trailed by as much as 12 in the second half...this should factor into the game, as both teams are likely to be tired as well. I think ODU has all but locked up a spot in the big dance already, while they won't want to leave things to chance, William and Mary needs a win to realistically make the big dance. They've done a solid job getting to this point of the CAA tournament, but for all intensive purpopes, their life is on the line tonight. They have to come to play, and they should keep this one closer than 9 points. I think a 4-8 point victory is quite likely for ODU. Good luck tonight everyone.
When you examine the records for these teams, it becomes interesting what you see. The home records shake out with William & Mary at 10-3, while ODU checks in at 15-0. Already, we see that ODU is a great home team...but, this game isn't at home. This game is being played on a neutral floor in Richmond. Both of these schools are from VA, so this shouldn't give an edge to either team necessarily. The away records for these teams stand as William & Mary at 10-6, while ODU currently sits at 8-6. Despite the great home record for ODU, they do sturggle a little bit for a good team during road play. W&M has a better road record, so the mentality of not playing in comfortable territory should favor W&M slightly int his match-up. We also have a little bit of neutral record information from these teams, as William & Mary is 2-0, while ODU 2-2 on neutral ground. I don't think that bears too much weight, but it is at least mentionable that W&M does have neutral court experience as well as ODU, so this won't be shocking to either team.
ODU brings a 15-3 record in CAA action to the tournament, but they haven't dominated their way to this championship game. They played a good VCU team already who took them to OT, after the Monarchs trailed by as much as 12 in the second half...this should factor into the game, as both teams are likely to be tired as well. I think ODU has all but locked up a spot in the big dance already, while they won't want to leave things to chance, William and Mary needs a win to realistically make the big dance. They've done a solid job getting to this point of the CAA tournament, but for all intensive purpopes, their life is on the line tonight. They have to come to play, and they should keep this one closer than 9 points. I think a 4-8 point victory is quite likely for ODU. Good luck tonight everyone.
