There is a preview of the Davidson game elsewhere. Much like the Elon game a week ago, that means that this preview will be a little different.
What does this game really mean to the Mocs? It means everything, and yet nothing.
If the Mocs win, they will have a two game lead in the loss column on Davidson, and possibly the same lead on Western Carolina, or possibly a three game lead in the loss column on Western Carolina, Elon and Wofford. There will no longer be any doubt about where the Mocs stand in the SoCon race- they will be the favorite at that point.
The Mocs will move to having an eleven game winning streak, the second longest in school history, and will be 11-0 with their full lineup available. That could help them with seeding in the NCAA Tournament if they get that far. The team and fans would have total faith in Will Wade.
That being said, the Mocs will still have to come home and beat Furman, who had their game with Samford postponed, so will have had a week off between games. If they beat Davidson but follow it up with a loss to Furman, the SoCon race will be thrown back open to debate, and any good will the Mocs have worked up will have been lost.
If the Mocs lose, they will be tied with Davidson in the loss column, but still ahead by half a game in the standings. Their lead in the bye race will be trimmed and the Mocs will have a little bit of self doubt creep in, possibly. The Mocs will be in a dogfight for the bye and for the conference title.
The Mocs win streak will be over, and they will drop to 10-1 with their full lineup. With a trip to Eastern Kentucky looming next Tuesday, that could easily pick up a second loss.
That being said, the Mocs will still have to come home and beat Furman. A loss to Davidson followed by a loss to Furman starts a real live losing streak, especially with Eastern Kentucky looming. The bye race will be wide open, plenty of self doubt could creep in, the SoCon regular season championship will be in real jeopardy and the good faith the Mocs had worked up with the fans could start to fade.
In other words, the game against Furman is the biggest game of this week. The Mocs absolutely have to beat Furman on Saturday night, regardless of the outcome against Davidson on Thursday night. That is the critical game at this junction. A loss to Davidson can be recovered from, assuming the Mocs can beat Furman. A win at Davidson needs to be backed up by beating Furman. While Davidson is the game everyone is paying attention to, the Fuman game is the one we all need to be fired up about.
I hope the Mocs beat Davidson on Thursday night. They are the clear underdog in the game, but have the ability to come up with the win if they play a really good game. I am really looking forward to the game and expect it to be a pretty interesting one. We'll see what happens. Excitement will probably not describe my feelings Saturday. Nervous is the more likely description.
GO MOCS!
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