Several months ago, before the first tip-off of the season at the Reilly Center, Ian, Vinny and I took a crack at predicting how the Bonnies would fare during the 2014-2015 campaign. We also brought in A-10 analyst Chris DiSano to make things as unbiased as possible in hopes to provide an outsiders opinion of the Brown and White. As you might suspect, much like the majority of the media, Chris pegged the Bonnies for a losing season at 14-15. Vinny was the most bullish of the bunch, predicting Schmidt and company to win 18 games. Ian, always conservative, thought our guys would finish 16-13. Apparently I had the Bonnies figured out, predicting the year spot on at 17-12.
But predicting a cumulative record isn’t all that impressive. You may be asking yourself, how close were we on a game-by-game basis? Let’s take a look.
| Ian | Vinny | Shane | Chris | |
| Non Conference | 8-3 | 7-4 | 8-3 | 8-3 |
| Conference | 10-8 | 11-7 | 15-3 | 9-9 |
| Overall | 18-11 | 18-11 | 23-6 | 17-12 |
| Prediction Rate | 62% | 62% | 79% | 59% |
| Non-Conf. Games | Ian | Vinny | Shane | Chris |
| 11.15 Dartmouth | W | W | W | W |
| 11.19 Siena | L | W | W | L |
| 11.21 Canisius | W | W | W | W |
| 11.25 Jackson St. | W | W | W | W |
| 11.29 Niagara (Buf) | W | W | W | W |
| 12.3 Buffalo | W | W | W | L |
| 12.6 @ Ohio | L | L | L | L |
| 12.13 @Pittsburgh | L | L | L | L |
| 12.20 @Binghamton | W | W | W | W |
| 12.22 MD-Eastern Shore | W | W | W | W |
| 12.30 @ Delaware | W | W | L | L |
| Total Non-Conference Record Predicted | 8-3 | 9-2 | 8-3 | 6-5 |
| A10 Games | Ian | Vinny | Shane | Chris |
| 1.3 @ UMass | L | L | W | L |
| 1.8 Dayton | W | L | L | L |
| 1.11 @ Richmond | L | L | L | L |
| 1.14 George Mason | W | W | W | W |
| 1.18 Saint Josephs | W | W | W | W |
| 1.22 @ Duquesne | L | L | W | L |
| 1.25 @ Rhode Island | L | L | L | L |
| 1.31 La Salle | L | W | L | W |
| 2.4 @ Davidson | W | W | W | L |
| 2.7 VCU | L | W | L | L |
| 2.11 UMass | W | W | L | W |
| 2.14 @ Dayton | L | L | L | L |
| 2.18 Richmond | W | W | W | W |
| 2.21 @ Saint Joseph’s | L | L | W | L |
| 2.25 @ George Washington | L | L | L | L |
| 2.28 Duquesne | W | W | W | W |
| 3.4 @ Saint Louis | L | L | L | W |
| 3.7 Fordham | W | W | W | W |
| Total Conference Record Predicted | 8-10 | 9-9 | 9-9 | 8-10 |
| Overall Predicted Record Predicted | 16-13 | 18-11 | 17-12 | 14-15 |
Shane ‘Nostradamus’ Nolan… Okay, that might be exaggerating a bit. But, picking 23 of 29 seems like a pretty solid percentage. It’s too bad I wasn’t that good vs the spread.
In the end it’s all just fun and games but it’s nice to see that once again our Bonnies finished higher than any (non-bonaventure fan) would have thought. Schmidt’s teams have been a model of consistency for the past few years. Perhaps not on a game to game basis but rather as a final body of work. As we all know this year was a real roller-coaster of emotions littered with some incredible ups and downs. Losing back to back games vs UMES and Delaware only to bounce back and beat UMASS on the road. Or the back to back thrilling buzzer beater wins vs Davidson and VCU. But when you look at the seasons as a whole, Schmidt puts a team on the court that competes night in and night out. The Bonnies are a team that loses games they shouldn’t one night, but then beat a quality club the next. There are not many (if any) games where you say to yourself, there is NO chance we win this one. And for that, I am thankful. The Bonnies always give you a chance and that’s all you can ask for.
Now, let’s go win a few games in Brooklyn.
Go Bonnies.
-Shane
