The PWR#21 Long Island University (LIU) home series in early January will be PWR#33 Colgate's last non-conference games of the regular season.
After reading Shabby's post and Magoo's reply, I decided to do some research this morning.
What is our record against non-conference opponents in the regular season in the Class of 1965 Arena era (2016-2025)?
Taking a deeper dive into it, what are our records home and away... and against better and worse opponents (based on PWR)?
Here is what I found...
Colgate vs. Non-Conference Opponents in the Class of 1965 Arena Era (2016-2025)
-Regular Season based on season-ending PairWise Ranking (PWR)-
26-55-15
Overall: 11-20-11 Home, 14-31-4 Away, 1-4-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 5-13-5 Home, 6-19-3 Away, 0-4-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 6-7-6 Home, 8-12-1 Away, 1-0-0 Neutral
Bottom line? We really suck in non-conference play. We have 26 wins, 55 losses and 15 ties since 2016-17.
Don Vaughan’s teams went 20-42-12.
Mike Harder’s teams are 6-13-3.
We are 11-36-8 against teams that were better than us, including 6-23-3 away from our Arena. Generally, you aren't going to do great against better teams in their home arenas.
But what is really tragic is that we are only 15-19-7 against teams that are worse than us, including a losing record of 6-7-6 at our home Arena.
We have never had a winning non-conference record for a season in the Class of '65 Arena era and we won't this season, even if we sweep higher-PairWiseRanked LIU at home!
The seasonal summaries:
2016-17 (50th/60), 2-7-3
Overall: 1-1-3 Home, 1-4-0 Away, 0-2-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 1-1-3 Home, 1-4-0 Away, 0-2-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
2017-18 (33rd/60), 4-5-3
Overall: 3-0-2 Home, 1-5-1 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 0-0-0 Home, 1-1-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 3-0-2 Home, 0-4-1 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
2018-19 (50th/60), 3-9-0
Overall: 2-4-0 Home, 1-4-0 Away, 0-1-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 2-4-0 Home, 1-4-0 Away, 0-1-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
2019-20 (42nd/60), 2-6-2
Overall: 0-3-1 Home, 1-2-2 Away, 1-1-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 0-2-0 Home, 1-1-2 Away, 0-1-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 0-1-1 Home, 0-1-0 Away, 1-0-0 Neutral
2020-21 (37th/51), 1-1-1
Overall: 0-1-1 Home, 1-0-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 0-1-1 Home, 1-0-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
2021-22 (31st/59), 5-7-0
Overall: 2-4-0 Home, 3-3-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 2-4-0 Home, 0-3-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 0-0-0 Home, 3-0-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
2022-23 (25th/61), 3-7-2
Overall: 1-3-2 Home, 2-4-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 0-0-0 Home, 1-1-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 1-3-2 Home, 1-3-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
2023-24 (36th/64), 3-7-2
Overall: 1-4-1 Home, 2-3-1 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 0-1-1 Home, 0-1-1 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 1-3-0 Home, 2-2-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
2024-25 (33rd/64), 3-6-1
Overall: 1-0-1 Home, 2-6-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Better: 0-0-0 Home, 0-4-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral
vs. Worse: 1-0-1 Home, 2-2-0 Away, 0-0-0 Neutral