I’ll Be Quirky: Molloy

Once again proving @VCULitos wrong for declaring I made up the ECC.

Any encouragement derived from the Charleston Classic evaporated last Saturday, when the Flying Dutchmen never led in an 85-76 loss to previously winless Siena. The Dutchmen will attempt to stop a three-game losing streak and avoid falling under .500 tonight, when they host Division II Molloy at the Arena. Talk about a no-win game. Anyway, here’s a look back at the Siena game and a look ahead to Molloy.

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Rokas Gustys (18 points, 15 rebounds) collected another double-double and reached 1,000 career rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Dutchmen trailed wire-to-wire in a loss to Siena. The dominant victory provided some redemption for Siena, which trailed for the final 36:25 of the Dutchmen’s 84-64 win at Hofstra last season. Justin Wright-Foreman led all scorers with 25 points while Eli Pemberton added 11 points and a team-high five assists. The Dutchmen allowed Siena to shoot a scorching 58.8 percent both overall and from 3-point land. Five Siena players reached double figures and a sixth finished with nine points.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Siena 11/25)

3: Rokas Gustys

2: Justin Wright-Foreman

1: Eli Pemberton

SEASON STANDINGS

Justin Wright-Foreman 14

Rokas Gustys 9

Eli Pemberton 9

Desure Buie 2

Joel Angus 1

COACHSPEAK: “Got to give credit to Siena. They came to play more than we did. I don’t know why. When I figure that out, I’m going to bottle it and sell it. Probably make a lot of money.”

ROK 1K

Senior center Rokas Gustys became just the second active Division I player, third Hofstra player ever and the ninth player in CAA history to reach 1,000 career rebounds by pulling down a board with 13:01 left in the second half. The only active Division I player with more rebounds than Gustys is Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado (1,109). He is now 185 rebounds away from surpassing John Irving, Hofstra’s leading rebounder in the Division I era, for second place on the program’s all-time list. In addition, Gustys moved past George Mason’s Will Thomas (aww, too bad) on the CAA all-time list last Saturday is 11 rebounds shy of moving past UNCW’s Brian Rowsom (1984-87) for eighth place in league history.

DOUBLE DOUBLE THE FUN

Rokas Gustys recorded his 37th career double-double Saturday, the third-most among active Division I players. Only Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado (54) and Eastern Michigan’s James Thompson IV (45) have more. In addition, Gustys’ 37 double-doubles since the start of the 2014-15 season tie him for 10th most in that span with, no kidding, one of the He Who Shall Not Be Named (he will not be named, but he’s the only one who did anything at Division I after getting the boot from Hofstra).

THE DEFENSE RESTS

The Dutchmen allowed an opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the field for the second straight game. In the Joe Mihalich era, the Dutchmen are 6-29 when allowing opponents to shoot more than 50 percent.

MOLLOY COLLEGE AND HOFSTRA VS. NON-DIVISION I FOES

Molloy College is a Division II school located in Rockville Centre. The Lions play in the East Coast Conference (*satisfied smirk and nod towards Litos*) and are 1-5 this season with a win over Caldwell University. Hofstra is the second Division I opponent for Molloy, which fell to St. John’s, 71-43, on Nov. 20. Molloy was picked to finish sixth in the ECC.

There is no line on this game, because even degenerate gamblers do not bet on Division I vs. non-Division I games. Hofstra is 1-3 against the spread this season.

Hofstra won the lone previous meeting between the two schools on Nov. 16, 2015, when the Dutchmen earned a 96-64 victory.

The Flying Dutchmen have won their last 17 games against non-Division I foes dating back to a 70-54 loss to Florida Southern during the 1988-89 seasons. The Dutchmen last faced a non-Division I foe last season, when they beat Division III Medaille, 89-56, on Nov. 25.

OVER THE AIR

Hofstra will carry live audio and video and offer live stats here.

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

ECC bias! (Duh)

Get your own mascot bias! (We too have lions)

Dan Savarino bias! (The Hofstra alum broadcasts Molloy games)

This shouldn’t be this difficult bias! (Duh)

I’ll Be Quirky: Siena

This is just sad. Not as sad as going 0-3 in the CBI, of course.

The Flying Dutchmen return from the Thanksgiving break this afternoon, when they’ll take a two-game losing streak upstate for a game with regular non-conference rival Siena. Here’s a look back at Sunday’s loss to Auburn and a look ahead to the court-storming Saints.

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

The Dutchmen carried a one-point lead into halftime against Auburn but allowed the Tigers to score the first 18 points of the second half and never got closer than seven the rest of the way in an 89-78 loss in the third-place game of the Charleston Classic. Eli Pemberton scored a game-high 23 points but was limited to four points in the second half, when he played through an ankle injury, Justin Wright-Foreman scored 16 points for the Dutchmen, who put five players in double figures for the first time this season. Rokas Gustys (11 points, nine rebounds) flirted with a double-double while Kenny Wormley and Stafford Trueheart each had 10 points apiece in their first double-digit efforts at Hofstra. Desure Buie added six assists. 

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Auburn 11/19)

3: Eli Pemberton

2: Justin Wright-Foreman

1: Rokas Gustys

SEASON STANDINGS

Justin Wright-Foreman 12

Eli Pemberton 8

Rokas Gustys 6

Desure Buie 2

Joel Angus 1

COACHSPEAK: “Like to have those eight minutes back to start the second half. I think that’s obvious. I just told the team the same thing: Take those eight minutes out, I feel like we outplayed them. Played really well for 32 minutes. So I’m going to try to build on that.”

PEMBERTON PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Sophomore guard Eli Pemberton earned CAA player of the week honors last week after averaging 19 points and 3.8 rebounds in four games. It is the first player of the week honor for Pemberton and the first time a Hofstra player has been named CAA player of the week since Justin Wright-Foreman took home the honors for the week ending Feb. 13. Pemberton earned three rookie of the week honors last season. 

PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS

Hofstra fell to 22-24 in preseason tournament play in the CAA era. The Dutchmen participated in the Gulf Coast Showcase last season, when they beat Bradley (92-90) and South Dakota (65-57) while falling to Vermont (87-73) in Florida before beating Division III Medaille 89-56 at Hofstra (don’t ask).

WHOA OH WE WERE HALFWAY THERE…

The Dutchmen led Auburn 51-50 at halftime. It was just the third time in the last 10 seasons the Dutchmen have led a power conference foe at halftime.

11/19/17: Hofstra 51, Auburn 50

11/17/17: Clemson 42-32

12/11/16: Kentucky 48-33

11/22/15: South Carolina 46-39

11/20/15: Hofstra 41, Florida State 35

11/17/14: North Carolina State 45-39

11/12/13: Louisville 46-31

11/11/12: Purdue 42-17

11/16/11: Hofstra 41, Oregon State 39

11/21/10: Nebraska 32-21

11/18/10: North Carolina 58-33

11/17/09: UConn 30-23

11/13/09: Kansas 48-27

11/14/08: Clemson 39-24

ROK 1K

Senior center Rokas Gustys has a chance to reach some rarefied air this afternoon. He enters today’s game with 987 rebounds, the third-highest total in school history and the 10th-highest total in CAA history. He is seven rebounds shy of moving past George Mason’s Will Thomas (aww too bad) for ninth place all-time in the CAA and 13 rebounds away from becoming the ninth player in conference history and only the third player in Hofstra history to reach 1,000 rebounds. In addition, Gustys is exactly 200 rebounds away from surpassing John Irving for second place all-time at Hofstra. Irving’s 1,186 rebounds are the most in Hofstra’s Division I history.

SIENA AND THE MAAC

Siena is 0-4 this season following a 115-92 loss to Bucknell on Monday night. The Saints are one of just 20 winless teams in Division I entering Saturday. Siena was picked sixth in the MAAC’s preseason poll.

At KenPom.com today, Hofstra is ranked 128th while Siena is ranked 278th. Per the wise guys, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 4.5-point favorites. It is the first time this year the Dutchmen have been favored. Hofstra is 1-2 against the spread this season.

Hofstra and Siena have three mutual foes thanks to the Dutchmen’s MAAC-heavy non-conference schedule. In December, the Dutchmen are scheduled to visit Monmouth and Rider before “hosting” Manhattan at Adelphi. Siena faces Monmouth and Manhattan twice apiece and Rider once.

Hofstra has not faced four opponents from one league since the 1993-94 season, when the Dutchmen played four North Atlantic Conference foes in the program’s final pre-NAC season.

Hofstra is 5-2 all-time against Siena. Six of those meetings have taken place since the 2005-06 season. This is the third game of a four-year series. The Dutchmen won the most recent game between the teams last season by earning an 84-64 victory in Hempstead.

Siena is the most frequent opponent for Joe Mihalich, who is 19-19 against the Saints dating back to his days as Niagara’s head coach. The Dutchmen are 2-1 against Siena under Mihalich. The four games against Siena will be the most Hofstra has played against a non-conference foe under Mihalich until the Dutchmen trek out east to play SUNY-Stony Brook Dec. 12.

Hofstra is 93-116 all-time against current MAAC schools. This marks the 11th time in the last 12 seasons the Dutchmen have played at least two MAAC schools (the 2014-15 schedule had no MAAC teams).

OVER THE AIR

Hofstra will carry live audio and video and offer live stats here.

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

You storm the court for winning the CBI bias! (That really happened in 2014, see above)

At least you win in the CBI bias! (Duh)

Matt Brady bias! (The former James Madison head coach played for Siena under Mike Deane)

@gheorghetheblog bias! (Our good Twitter friend and William & Mary frenemy grew up in the Loudonville area)

I’ll Be Quirky: Auburn

So that's where Lonely Tailgater gets it from.

The dream of an unbeaten season perished Friday night, when Clemson began running away from the Flying Dutchmen late in the first half of a 78-59 win in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic. The Dutchmen will look to head home on a winning note tonight when they take on new bitter all-sports rival Auburn in the third-place game at 7 PM. Here’s a look back at the loss to the Tigers and a look ahead to the, umm, Tigers.

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Justin Wright-Foreman scored a team-high 20 points for the Dutchmen, who led briefly in the first half and trailed by only two points with three minutes to go before Clemson entered the locker room on a 12-4 run to take a 42-32 lead. The Dutchmen pulled within six a little more than five minutes into the second half, but Clemson scored the next nine points and led by double digits the rest of the way. Eli Pemberton scored 14 points and Rokas Gustys (10 points, 10 rebounds) collected another double-double while tying for the team lead with three assists. Joel Angus added eight points and six rebounds.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Clemson 11/17)

3: Justin Wright-Foreman

2: Rokas Gustys

1: Eli Pemberton

SEASON STANDINGS

Justin Wright-Foreman 10

Rokas Gustys 5

Eli Pemberton 5

Desure Buie 2

Joel Angus 1

THREE WAS THE MAGIC NUMBER

The Dutchmen opened 3-0 for the second time in the last three seasons and the 18th time in program history. They have not begun a season with at least four straight wins since the 2004-05 team started out 9-0.

In addition, the Dutchmen were one of 17 previously unbeaten teams to lose Friday. But they remained unbeaten longer than all but one of those teams — a group that included CAA rival Northeastern and former CAA foe VCU — thanks to the 9:30 tipoff. Viva la third shift!

ROK 1K

Senior center Rokas Gustys enters tonight’s game with 978 rebounds, the third-highest total in school history and the 10th-highest total in CAA history. He is 16 rebounds shy of moving past George Mason’s Will Thomas (aww too bad) for ninth place all-time in the CAA and 209 rebounds away from surpassing John Irving for second place all-time at Hofstra. Irving’s 1,186 rebounds are the most in Hofstra’s Division I history.

AUBURN AND THE SEC

Auburn is 2-1 this season after falling to Temple, 88-74, in Friday’s semifinal game. The Tigers routed Norfolk State, 102-74, in the season opener Nov, 10 before opening Charleston Classic play with an 83-64 win over Indiana State on Thursday. Auburn was ninth in the SEC preseason poll.

Like many other schools (such as Miami, so sad), Auburn is involved in the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball. Former assistant coach Chuck Person, who played at Auburn in the ‘80s, was indicted Nov. 7 on six charges. Person allegedly accepted $91,500 in bribes while directing two unnamed players to a financial advisor who was cooperating with the FBI. Scandal-happy head coach Bruce Pearl has not been implicated but has yet to cooperate with school officials conducting an internal investigation. So long story short, maybe if Hofstra loses the win will be vacated!

At KenPom.com today, Hofstra is ranked 125th while Auburn is ranked 53rd. Per the wise guys, for entertainment purposes only, Auburn is a 10.5-point favorite. Hofstra is 1-1 against the spread this season.

Hofstra and Auburn have one mutual foe. The Tigers will host Dayton, whom the Dutchmen beat 72-69 on Friday, in a non-bracketed Charleston Classic game (don’t ask) on Nov. 29.

This is the first time Hofstra and Auburn have faced each other in men’s basketball and only the second time the schools have opposed each other in any sport. But it’s also the second clash in seven days. The NCAA screwed Hofstra again by sending the Flying Dutchwomen soccer team to Auburn last Friday, where the Tigers earned a 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Dutchmen are 2-11 all-time against current Southeastern Conference schools. Hofstra edged Florida 68-67 during the 1977-78 season and beat Mississippi 78-73 during the 1990-91 season. This is the third straight season in which Hofstra has faced an SEC foe. The Dutchmen lost to Kentucky 96-73 at Not Nassau Coliseum last Dec. 11 and fell to South Carolina, 94-84, in the second round of the Paradise Jam on Nov. 22, 2015.

OVER THE AIR

Tonight’s game will air live on ESPNU. Hofstra will carry live audio and offer live stats here.

PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS

Hofstra is 22-23 in preseason tournament play in the CAA era. The Dutchmen participated in the Gulf Coast Showcase last season, when they beat Bradley (92-90) and South Dakota (65-57) while falling to Vermont (87-73) in Florida before beating Division III Medaille 89-56 at Hofstra (don’t ask).

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

Lonely Tailgater is a bad online influencer bias! (Twitter’s MVP inexplicably follows me)

Charles Barkley isn’t paid to be a role model bias! (Long before he was chucking people through bar windows, Barkley played three seasons at Auburn)

Pat Dye went for the tie in the 1988 Sugar Bowl bias! (It’s true, you could look it up)

We got screwed at Auburn last week bias! (Duh) 

I'll Be Quirky: Clemson

The Shot!

The pursuit of a perfect season remained intact Thursday night, when the Flying Dutchmen led nearly wire-to-wire before mounting a late comeback to edge Dayton, 72-69, in the opening round of the Charleston Classic. The Dutchmen face Clemson in the semifinals tonight, Here’s a look back at the win over the Flyers and a look ahead to the Tigers.

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Eli Pemberton scored a game- and career-high 27 points for the Dutchmen, who squandered a 15-point first half lead but took the lead for good with 1:40 remaining on a pair of free throws by Rokas Gustys (THIS REALLY HAPPENED) before surviving three 3-point attempts by Dayton in the final 73 seconds. Justin Wright-Foreman added 19 points while Gustys has five points and 10 rebounds. Joel Angus once again flirted with a double-double (seven points, six rebounds).

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Dayton 11/16)

3: Eli Pemberton

2: Justin Wright-Foreman

1: Rokas Gustys

SEASON STANDINGS

Justin Wright-Foreman 7

Eli Pemberton 4

Rokas Gustys 3

Desure Buie 2

Joel Angus 1

COACHSPEAK: “Had that tournament feeling to it—even an NCAA Tournament feeling to it. Great experience for our guys and that’s why you do this. That’s why we get in a tournament like this, to play great teams, see how well we can play. We feel pretty good about ourselves here. We’re going to enjoy the heck out of this tonight and then it’s off to see if we can do something with Clemson.”

THRICE AS NICE

The Dutchmen improved to 3-0 for the second time in the last three seasons and the 18th time in program history. This is the fourth time a Joe Mihalich-coached team has opened 3-0 (1999-2000, 2003-04, 2015-16).

THE STREAK IS OVER

Justin Wright-Foreman finished second on the Dutchmen with 19 points, ending a streak of 14 straight games in which held at least a share of the team high. It was the longest streak in Hofstra’s Division I era.

GO FOURTH, YOUNG MEN?

The Dutchmen are looking to open 4-0 for the 12th time in program history and the first time since the 2004-05 season, when the Dutchmen won their first nine games. A Joe Mihalich-coached team has opened 4-0 just once (2003-04). 

CLEMSON AND THE ACC

Clemson is 3-0 this season with wins over Western Carolina (85-57) last Friday and North Carolina A&T (87-63) on Sunday prior to Thursday’s 81-76 victory over Ohio in the Charleston Classic. The Tigers were picked 13th in the ACC preseason poll 

At KenPom.com today, Hofstra is ranked 114th while Clemson is ranked 48th. Per the wise guys, for entertainment purposes only, Clemson is an 8-point favorite. Hofstra is 1-0 against the spread this season. 

For the second straight game, the Dutchmen will face a coach who began his career in the CAA. Clemson head coach Brad Brownell coached UNC Wilmington from 2002 through 2006, during which he steered the Seahawks to two CAA titles and went 8-2 against the Dutchmen. His final win at UNCW was a 78-67 victory over the Dutchmen in the 2006 CAA title game, when Loren Stokes played with one grotesquely swollen nut because Tony Skinn and Jim Larranaga are very awful people. 

Hofstra and Clemson have no mutual foes. The winner of tonight’s game advances to face Temple in the Charleston Classic championship Sunday night at 9:30 PM while the loser battles Auburn in the third-place game at 7 PM.

This will be the fourth all-time meeting between Hofstra and Clemson and the second straight time the teams oppose each other in the Charleston Classic. Clemson cruised to a 98-69 win on Nov. 14, 2008. The Tigers also beat the Flying Dutchmen (back when they really were the Flying Dutchmen) at the PFC (!!!) during the 1988-89 season and at Clemson during the 1989-90 season, when the Tigers’ season ended in the clip embedded above. It all ties together!

Hofstra is 5-27 all-time against current ACC foes. The Dutchmen last beat an ACC opponent on Nov 20, 2015, when they edged Florida State 82-77 in the opener of the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.

OVER THE AIR

Tonight’s game will air live on ESPNU. Hofstra will carry live audio and offer live stats here.

PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS

Hofstra is 22-22 in preseason tournament play in the CAA era. The Dutchmen participated in the Gulf Coast Showcase last season, when they beat Bradley (92-90) and South Dakota (65-57) while falling to Vermont (87-73) in Florida before beating Division III Medaille 89-56 at Hofstra (don’t ask).

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

Elden Campbell bias! (Poor Elden’s stunned reaction to The Shot was captured for eternity by the CBS cameras)

Deshaun Watson bias! (The Houston Texans rookie phenom quarterbacked Clemson to the 2016 national title)

William The Refrigerator Perry bias! (The guy who scored a touchdown instead of Walter Payton in the Bears’ only Super Bowl win played for Clemson)

Kris Benson bias! (Anna’s ex-husband played at Clemson)

I’ll Be Quirky: Dayton

If you are old, like me, you remember reading Erma Bombeck several times a week.

The Flying Dutchmen will look to remain one of the 136 unbeaten teams in the country tonight, when they begin play in the Charleston Classic by facing Dayton. Here’s a look back at Monday’s win over Kennesaw State and a look ahead to the Flyers and the rest of the potential field in the Charleston Classic.

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Rokas Gustys (14 points, 13 rebounds) produced a double-double in just 24 minutes as the Dutchmen never trailed in beating Kennesaw State by the palindromic score of 75-57. Justin Wright-Foreman (16 points) led the Dutchmen in scoring for the program-record 14th straight game while Eli Pemberton (12 points) reached double digits in his season debut. Joel Angus (nine points, seven rebounds) and Matija Radovic (eight points, seven rebounds) each flirted with double-doubles.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Kennesaw State 11/13)

3: Rokas Gustys

2: Justin Wright-Foreman

1: Eli Pemberton

SEASON STANDINGS

Justin Wright-Foreman 5

Rokas Gustys 2

Desure Buie 2

Eli Pemberton 1

Joel Angus 1

COACHSPEAK

"The goal going into Charleston was to be 2-0 and we are. So we feel real good about that."--Joe Mihalich

TWICE AS NICE

The Dutchmen improved to 2-0 for the 27th time in program history. This is the seventh time a Joe Mihalich-coached team has opened 2-0 (1999-2000, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2015-16).

WIRE-TO-WIRE

The Dutchmen won a game in which they didn’t trail for the first time since last Dec. 13, when they routed SUNY-Stony Brook 96-58 at the Arena.

THRICE AS NICE?

The Dutchmen are looking to improve to 3-0 for the second time in the last three seasons and the 18th time in program history. Joe Mihalich-coached teams have opened 3-0 three times (1999-2000, 2003-04, 2015-16).

DAYTON AND THE ATLANTIC 10

This is the second game of the season for Dayton, which earned a 78-77 win over Ball State on Friday night. At KenPom.com today, Hofstra is ranked 121st while Dayton is ranked 106th. Per the wise guys, for entertainment purposes only, Dayton is a 2 1/2-point favorite. This is the first game this season in which Hofstra has been on the boards for casual and degenerate gamblers alike.

NYBuckets.com's Vinny Simone and I put aside our vast differences and did our best to educate Dayton fans about Hofstra hoops, past and present, in this Q&A with the Dayton blog Blackburn Review.

Per Dayton beat writer David Jablonski, the Flyers return the fourth-fewest minutes of any Division I team.

Dayton’s head coach is ex-VCU head coach Anthony Grant, who went 4-1 against the Dutchmen while helming the Rams from 2006 through 2009.

Hofstra and Dayton have no mutual foes, though Dayton is scheduled to play fellow Charleston Classic participant Auburn on Nov. 29. The winner of tonight’s game is scheduled to face Clemson or Ohio tomorrow at 7 PM, with the loser facing the loser of Clemson-Ohio at 9:30 PM.

This will be the second all-time meeting between Hofstra and Dayton. The Flyers beat the Dutchmen, 77-54, in the Dayton Invitational on Dec. 29, 1981. Remarkably, I was not in attendance.

Hofstra is 35-103 all-time against current Atlantic 10 schools. The Dutchmen last beat an A-10 foe on Nov. 28, 2015, when they knocked off host St. Bonaventure 89-83. The A-10 includes former Hofstra conference foes George Mason (CAA), LaSalle (ECC) and VCU (CAA).

OVER THE AIR

Tonight’s game will air live on ESPNU. Hofstra will carry live audio and offer live stats here.

PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS

Hofstra is 21-22 in preseason tournament play in the CAA era. The Dutchmen participated in the Gulf Coast Showcase last season, when they beat Bradley (92-90) and South Dakota (65-57) while falling to Vermont (87-73) in Florida before beating Division III Medaille 89-56 at Hofstra (don’t ask).

ABOUT THE CHARLESTON CLASSIC

The Dutchmen are playing in the Charleston Classic — which is hosted by CAA rival College of Charleston — for the second time. Hofstra opened the 2008-09 season by falling to Clemson 98-69 before beating Western Michigan 71-68 in overtime and edging East Tennessee State 76-75. This year, the Dutchmen will play on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

CHARLESTON CLASSIC CONNECTIONS

There are tangible connections between Hofstra and all seven of its possible Charleston Classic opponents.

DAYTON: The Dutchmen are 0-1 all-time Dayton, which is coached by former VCU head coach Anthony Grant. Also, I am Twitter friends with Dayton grad @juliaflyer.

CLEMSON: The Dutchmen are 0-3 all-time against Clemson, whom they faced in the Charleston Classic in 2008.

OHIO: The Dutchmen are 0-2 all-time against Ohio, whom they last opposed during the 1986-87 season.

AUBURN: The Dutchmen have never faced Auburn, but Auburn grad @LonelyTailgater is an awesome Twitter follow even though he is a bad influence on me there.

INDIANA STATE: The Dutchmen faced Indiana State in the Paradise Jam in the 2015-16 season, when they provided a sign of things to come by blowing a seven-point lead in the final 1:50 of a 67-66 loss. Also I am Twitter friends with Indiana State beat writer and fellow ‘80s junkie @TribStarTodd.

OLD DOMINION: The Dutchmen are 9-15 all-time against Old Dominion, whom they used to play in the CAA before the Monarchs exited for Conference USA and the allure of Division I-A football following the 2012-13 season. Also, I am Twitter friends with ODU grads @VABeachRep, @devyanks90 as well as ODU professor @white__knuckles.

TEMPLE: The Dutchmen are 6-11 all-time against Temple, which was a member of the East Coast Conference until it left for the A-10 following the 1981-82 season.

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY

You still have I-AA football bias! (Dayton plays in the non-scholarship Pioneer League, did you know you could do that, I had no idea)

Jerry Blevins bias! (The Mets left-hander and the most accomplished J.B. to attend games at Citi Field this year pitched for Dayton for two seasons)

Birthplace of aviation bias! (The Wright brothers are from Dayton, which is also the home of Wright State, which has also played Hofstra before)

Erma Bombeck bias! (The late great funny newspaper columnist is a Dayton grad)