James Madison Dukes

The James Madison Dukes, like many teams in the Colonial Athletic Association, would try and stack their record up in the early portion of the non-conference schedule with games against beatable teams that would hopefully also serve to give them confidence as they headed into the CAA portion of the schedule.

Deceptive start

James Madison began the season with a 66-73 home loss to Georgetown, i one of their tougher non conference matchups as a large 13.5-point home dog for an easy cover.

After an unlined home win over VMI, the Dukes went on to cover their next three games starting with an 81-79 win over Appalachian State as 1.5-point home dogs. That was followed by a pair of loss/covers, starting with an 83-86 home loss to Northeastern as 5.5-point dogs and then a 57-68 loss at Drexel as 13-point road dogs. The Dukes were 4-0 against the spread for a deceptive start.

Reality began to set in

James Madison next lost at home to LaSalle 58-70 as 3.5-point dogs and then lost at Youngstown State 65-72 as 3-point road dogs as reality began to set in.

After a 79-69 win over Yale as 3-point neutral court dogs, the Dukes suffer a shocking 52-93 unlined loss at Texas A&M CC for the ultimate reality check.

Gushing red ink

James Madison was next clobbered at home by Virginia Tech 58-77 as 9.5-point dogs and then lost at Hofstra 66-87 as 15.5-point dogs as they began gushing red ink.

An 84-99 loss to Towson as 4-point home chalks was another indicator that the Dukes were a drain on gambler’s wallets. Problems continued with a pathetic 48-76 loss to Virginia Commonwealth as 10.5-point dogs. Next was a 43-65 loss at home to George Mason as 16-point dogs followed by a 68-95 loss at Delaware as 9-point dogs for a sixth consecutive loss against the spread and eight in nine games.

More of the same

James Madison finally stopped the bleeding of the red ink with a 55-71 loss at Virginia Commonwealth as 21.5-point dogs but it was more of the same after that starting with a 46-83 loss to NC Wilmington as 13.5-point dogs. Next was a 68-86 loss at William & Mary as 12-point dogs followed by a 53-77 loss to Georgia State as 2.5-point dogs.

Brief bargains

James Madison at this stage of the season had dropped eleven of their last thirteen games against the spread and was one of the most unappealing teams on the board in all of college basketball. Yet as bad as they were and as horribly as they were playing this would transform the Dukes into brief bargains as their appeal was so bad on the boards that it actually served to enhance their overall value. In addition to that, the Dukes hardly caught the full attention and respect of their on court opponents.

The Dukes began a streak of four consecutive payoffs with a 69-87 loss at Old Dominion as 24-point dogs. That was followed by a 74-64 loss to Delaware as 5.5-point dogs. Next was a 76-68 loss at Towson as 10-point dogs followed by a 70-72 loss to William and Mary as 2.5-point dogs.

Back in the tank

The payoffs and profits wouldn’t last, however, as James Madison went right back in the tank starting with a 55-77 loss at Northeastern as 17-point dogs. Next was another demoralizing unlined loss at Longwood followed by a 58-75 loss to Old Dominion as 14.5-point home dogs. The regular season mercifully ended with a 68-95 loss at George Mason as 25-point dogs. In the CAA tourney, the Dukes made a quick exit with a 56-74 loss to Northeastern as 15-point dogs.