With the easiest schedule in the nation (!!!!) according to Kenpom, there was a chance Fordham snagged 10 or 11 wins before league play began, tricking the casual fan into thinking they’re OK this year. That wasn’t the case. Fordham started 3-0 but lost 4 straight home games in December against teams the Rams were expected to beat (if Fordham is expected to win, they are not good teams). It’s already been a struggle, but Fordham has choppier waters ahead with the start of league play.
Good Wins
This category is empty. The best win for Fordham was over Grand Canyon on a neutral court, a team that currently ranks 220th in Kenpom. In fact, of the 6 wins Fordham has, the win over Grand Canyon is the only one that’s not against a sub 300 Kenpom team. So Fordham has beaten up on the worst of the worst cupcakes and lost home games to slightly better cupcakes? Yikes…
Bad Losses
There are a handful. Manhattan, Bryant, Tennessee St., and James Madison at home are all terrible losses. The only silver lining is they didn’t get killed in any of these matchups, but that’s not much of a silver lining given the quality of competition. The only promising loss was by only 5 points against a pretty solid Western Kentucky team. Like always, Fordham will be fighting to stay out of the league’s basement, duking it out with George Washington and Saint Joseph’s to stay out of 14th.
Looking Ahead to Conference Play
It’s not going to be fun… Fordham takes on VCU tonight and opens up as a near 20 point underdog, and I think that might be conservative. Any win for Fordham that’s not over George Washington or Saint Joseph’s is going to be detrimental for the conference, and for the sake of this league getting multiple bids, we can only hope the league takes care of business against the Rams and doesn’t have a poor shooting night when its top teams visit Rose Hill Gym.
Non-Conference Grade: D-
They went 6-6, so I won’t give the Rams an F, but against a schedule like that, 6-6 is really damn bad, even for Fordham’s standards.
