Fordham is a team that obviously wasn’t expected to do much heading into the 2017-18 season. An opening loss to Miami (OH) proved that to be true. Though the Rams would struggle early in non-conference play, they’d grab a couple wins later on and would even put up valiant fights against some Kenpom top 100 teams. Heading into conference play, it’s possible that Fordham is not the worst team in the Atlantic 10.
Good Wins
The Rams’ best win was at home against a Manhattan team that now ranks 200 in Kenpom. Fordham won 70-57 behind 19 points from Will Tavares. The Jaspers boast wins over Hofstra and Harvard this season.
That was Fordham’s best win, but that doesn’t really mean it was a “good” win. It was good for Fordham, sure, but in relation to the rest of the league, it means close to nothing. Other than this win, the Rams have 3 wins over opponents ranked 300 or worse in Kenpom. The other win is over LIU Brooklyn (#290).
Bad Losses
Again, we have to put “bad losses” in context to Fordham. A loss at home to Miami (OH) at the beginning of the season was certainly a bad one, especially because the Rams blew a late lead to a bad team. Honestly though, the rest of Fordham’s losses were more than expected, and you can’t fault this team for its effort in games where it was clearly outmatched.
A 12 point loss on the road to Rutgers was actually pretty impressive, and Fordham was in that game for a majority of the first half. A 5 point home loss to East Tennessee St., a team that ranks in the top 100, is a good battle for Fordham. Finally, the Rams put up a fight in Morgantown against West Virginia, a game it was certainly supposed to lose. All in all though, Fordham was 2-5-1 ATS in non-conference play according to VegasInsider.com, so Fordham still preformed below average compared to pregame expectations.
Non Conference Grade: C-
A 5-7 record against mostly weak opponents is never something to boast about. Still, Fordham did average to below average given expectations heading into the season. Fordham had one horrible home loss and no good wins, so that’s my justification for the C- grade. It probably would have been lower if Fordham wasn’t hanging with West Virginia and Rutgers in the first half. I guess the Rams sneak away with the C- and not a D because of the eye test; I think this team did make strides and actually got better as non-conference play progressed.
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