Wednesday, November 13, 2019

I'll Be Quirky: Bucknell

A famous Bucknell grad! 

A quick shortened I’ll Be Quirky because I’ve been swamped with a super-secret project I can start touting on Twitter soon, but here’s a, uhh, quick preview of tonight’s game against Bucknell. I’ll have a lengthier I’ll Be Quirky recapping the win over Monmouth (whoohoo, we’re not going 0-32!) and tonight’s game on Saturday.

BUCKNELL AND THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Bucknell, under fifth-year head coach Nathan Davis, is 1-1 following a 66-63 loss to Vermont on Sunday. The Bison were picked to finish second in the Patriot League preseason poll. Sophomore guard Jimmy Sotos led the Patriot League in assists (6.1 per game) last season. Senior Bruce Moore led the Bison with 9.6 points per game last year and was named to the Patriot League’s all-defensive team.

The Dutchmen and Bison have at least one and possibly two common foes this season. Bucknell will face Princeton on Nov. 30 while Hofstra will visit the Tigers on Dec. 19. The Bison will also visit Canisius Saturday. The Dutchmen may face Canisius in the Boca Raton Beach Classic on Dec. 2.

The Dutchmen are 10-19 all-time against Bucknell, which was an East Coast Conference rival long before I made up the league upon arriving at Hofstra. The two teams haven’t faced each other since Dec. 29, 2001, when Bucknell earned a 68-60 win at the South Florida Shootout.

At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 139th while Bucknell is ranked 142nd. They could tie! KenPom.com predicts a 78-75 win for the Bison. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 3-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 1-1 against the spread this season

Hofstra has not faced a Patriot League school since Nov. 10, 2017, when the Dutchmen edged Army, 77-74, in the season opener. The Dutchmen are 90-81 all-time against current Patriot League schools, which include five former conference foes (American, Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh in the East Coast Conference and Boston University in the NAC/America East).

THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Jay Wright bias! (The former Hofstra coach played collegiately at Bucknell. Whatever happened to that guy?)
Your former coach is now at George Mason bias! (Dave Paulsen coached at Bucknell before taking the job at George Mason)
Matt Daley bias! (The guy who relieved Mariano Rivera in Rivera’s last game went to Bucknell)

You still play I-AA football bias! (duh)

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