The Drexel Dragons began the 2005-2006 season with a bizarre three consecutive straight up wins with one cover followed by two consecutive pushes against the college basketball pointspreads. Like most mid-major teams, the Dragons loaded up early on cream puffs before heading into a more difficult phase of the non-conference schedule in which they would serves the cream puffs, in a role reversal for the traditional power teams of the bigger and more famous conferences.
Bargain Values
It doesn’t get any tougher than back to back games against Duke and UCLA but that was the assignment that awaited the Dragons in neutral court action. First, against Duke as whopping 21-point dogs, the Dragons covered in a 68-78 loss, which was a great lesson in how such matchups can become overlays for the better known team. In the following games against UCLA, the Dragons were given much more respect by the gambling public and oddsmakers as they were just 6-point dogs in a 56-57 loss to the Bruins, an eventual final four team.
Drexel Dragons Letdown
After those games against two of the most glamorous names in college basketball, Drexel was to suffer a bit of a letdown against the “lesser” foes that followed.
First was a 60-68 loss at Pennsylvania as 4.5-point dogs followed by a 59-69 loss to St Joseph’s as 2.5-point dogs. The Dragons problems continued with a 50-62 loss to LaSalle on a neutral court as 3-point chalks followed by a 68-57 win over James Madison that they failed to cover as 13-point overlays for their fourth consecutive failure against the board.
Drexel finally got into the black with a 61-42 win over Old Dominion as a 3-point dog but, after an unlined win over Farleigh Dickinson, lost again against the spread with a 56-51 win over Ball State as 8.5 point chalks.
Drexel next got another unlined win over Monmouth-NJ before entering Colonial Athletic Association conference play in earnest with a 57-46 win and cover at William & Mary as 3.5-point chalks followed by a 60-62 loss/cover at Virginia Commonwealth as 4-point dogs.
Run of red ink Drexel Dragons
Drexel next entered a period of play in which they would only cover one of their next five games against the pointspread, yet they won three of those games straight up, which was an obvious indicator that they were overlays in most of their games.
In back-to-back home games during that stretch, for example, they beat Delaware 55-44 as 12.5-point chalks followed by a 69-61 win over Towson as 14-point overlays.
The underdogs continued to bite in Drexel games as the Dragons next covered a 67-74 loss at Old Dominion as 8-point dogs. That was followed by more of a red ink run starting with a 75-76 overtime home loss to Hofstra as the Dragons were 4-point chalks.
The dog bit again in Drexel’s next two games, which was a 58-65 loss at NC Wilmington as 7.5-point dogs followed by an 80-84 loss at Towson as 5.5-point chalks.
The chalk finally paid off in the Dragons next game which was an 83-47 blowout win over Northeastern as 3.5-point home favorites. The puppy bit back, however, in the following game as Drexel lost at Delaware 68-75 as 5-point chalks.
Drexel dropped their next game at George Mason 48-67 as 10.5-point dogs but rebounded with a 56-42 home win over Vermont as 10.5-point chalks. That was followed by a 61-56 win over William & Mary as 12-point home overlays and the dog kept form in the regular season finale, a 68-70 loss at Hofstra as 7-point dogs. In Drexel’s only CAA tournament game, they were bounced 49-52 as 8-point chalks as the dog bit one last time.