The Road to Asheville (1-18-20)

Week eleven action continues ON Friday, with an early weekend game as the Paladins visit the Terriers Friday night. In Saturday's normal action, the remaining eight teams square off, starting at 1:00 pm.


Furman at Wofford  (Friday)
The Paladins (5-1), currently tied for #1 in the SoCon travels down I-85 for the short trip to Spartanburg to face the currently tied for #5 position in conference rankings, Wofford Terriers (3-2). The Paladins are ranked this week at #7 in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll, while Wofford lands in the "others receiving votes".  The Paladins are #3 in this week's power poll rankings, with Wofford coming in at #5.  In scoring offense, the Paladins are in 3d place with a 78.1 average, while giving up 66.1 ppg. The Terriers are in 7th place in scoring at 73.1 ppg and giving up 68.8 ppg. Wofford is 7-1 at home this season, but Massey does not project the home-court advantage for a win over the Paladins, Massey projects a narrow 73-71 win for the Paladins.


ETSU at Western Carolina  (SoCon Game of the Week)  
The first place ETSU Bucs (5-1) makes the short trip over the mountains to visit Cullwhee and face the #3 Catamounts (4-1) in the Ramsey Center. In this week's mid-major top 25 poll, the Bucs are the SoCon top-ranked team, coming in at #6, while the Cats are in the "others receiving votes" (#30). The Bucs top this week's SoCon power ranking, while the Cats come in at #4.  Western leads the league in scoring offense at 82.2 ppg, while the Bucs come in at #4 scoring an average of 76.7 ppg. The big factor in this game will be defense, the Bucs specialty.  ETSU is holding teams to an average of 61.6 ppg, while the Cats are giving up 73.6 ppg. Western's 7 game home win streak is on the line, but Massey project the home-court advantage will not be enough to overcome the Bucs defensive efforts and projects a 76-72 road win for ETSU.     


The Citadel at VMI
In this military school clash, the ninth-placed The Citadel (0-5) travels to Lexington to face their biggest rival, tenth place, VMI (0-6). The Bulldogs are ranked 8th in this week's power rankings and the Keydets come in at #10.  Not only is this a sometimes bitter rivalry, but Saturday's battle will also provide one of the two schools their first conference victory of the season. The Citadel is currently second in offensive scoring at 81.9 ppg, while VMI is eighth at 72.7 ppg. Generally, you can throw out the record book when these two teams play each other, but Massey projects the home court advantage come into play for the Keydets, as VMI pulls off a narrow 82-80 victory over the Bulldogs.


Mercer at Samford 
The 8th place Mercer Bears (1-4) travels to Birmingham to face the 7th place Samford Bulldogs (2-3) in the Hanna Center. In this week's power rankings, Samford is ranked #7 while the Bears come in at #9.  Samford is 6-2 this season at home, but is 2-11 against the Bears overall, and are 1-6 in games against Mercer played in the Hanna Center, but the Bulldogs have won the last two games between these two teams.  Again, Massey projects a home-court advantage, this time projecting a 4 point win for Samford over the Bears, 77-73 final score.


Chattanooga at UNCG
The 5th place team in the SoCon, the Chattanooga Mocs (3-2) travels to Greensboro to face the current 4th place team, the UNCG Spartans (4-2). The Spartans are ranked #9 in the current Mid-Major Top 25 poll, while the Mocs are unranked. This week's power poll ranks UNCG at #2 in the conference, and the Mocs at #6 in the ranking. The home-standing Spartans are 9-3 this season in games played in Greensboro, and rank #6 in scoring offense at 73.7 ppg, while the Mocs are in ninth position, scoring 72.1 ppg.  Massey give the Spartans a big home-court advantage, projecting a 10 point win for the Spartans, 70-60.


The rankings - (1-17-20)

1. 5-1 ETSU (tie)
1. 5-1 Furman (tie)
3. 4-1 Western

4. 4-2 UNCG

5. 3-2 Wofford(tie)

5. 3-2 Chattanooga (tie)

7. 2-3 Samford (tie)

8. 1-4 Mercer

9. 0-5 Citadel (tie)

10. 0-6 VMI

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