Quinnipiac at Vermont 12/15/13

Quinnipiac 80 Vermont 67

A long layoff, a lot of practice, and the same result. Vermont once again came out flat and dug themselves a hole in the first half. There was no magic comeback or major momentum shift this time. The Cats just were outplayed by a very good Quinnipiac squad. It is kind of refreshing to see a program who has a system, recruits for their system, and is then able to execute their system. Quinnipiac flat out rebounds the ball with the best in the country and has for nearly two seasons. The chances of winning go up greatly when a team can night in and night out beat their opponent on the boards.  Vermont was the 41st consecutive opponent that Quinnipiac has out rebounded so this was no fluke. I wish them the best of luck in their first season in the MAAC. Now back to Vermont. There is seemingly no explanation for the inconsistency that the Cats show in their effort. Vermont will not be a championship team if that does not change. There is still time to improve but it is at the point in the season now where it needs to happen fast. I don't have much more of a reaction to the game except for the fact that O'Day did look good in his return, which will certainly give that Cats a boost. I am going to reserve judgement on  Ryan Pierson and Dre Wills respective returns as they both looked rusty in limited minutes. On the individual side Brian Voelkel did take sole possession of third in both the all time UVM rebounding and assists categories. I know at times his lack of offense if frustrating, but his passing and rebounding is just a thing of beauty. He has certainly cemented himself in the conversation of all time great UVM players. Now it is time for the Cats to make a statement by dominating UMass Lowell on Wednesday to assert themselves as the team to beat in the America East despite their non conference struggles.

Check out the rankings page at www.14thstateofmind.com every Sunday for an updated Results Oriented Rankings Index (RORI). It is a cool and different take on ranking college teams created by my friend and colleague Devin Bachelder.