Good afternoon. With the exception of perhaps some video highlights, this is my final blog posting of the day since it is a holiday, and most importantly, I have other things I need to do on the web site. Speaking of those other things, have you seen the latest non-conference data? Well, the Greater Middlesex Conference is not off to a good start this season versus teams from outside the GMC. As of the end of play on Tuesday night, GMC teams are a combined 4-8 overall including 0-2 versus both the Shore Conference, and the Patriot Conference (thanks to Timothy Christian!).
Breaking that down by division, the Red is a combined 1-2, the White is 2-2, the Blue is 0-1, and the Gold is 1-3. Looking at it conference by conference, the GMC only has unblemished records against Independent or Freelance schools, and surprisingly, the Watchung Conference. Otherwise, the conference is 1-1 against the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) and Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association, 0-1 versus the Northern Hills Conference and the Mountain Valley Conference, and 0-2 against the aforementioned Shore and Patriot.
Over the years that GMC Hoops has been covering this conference, it has had its share of struggles against non-conference foes. Last season though, the conference went a combined 97-77 against non-conference teams. It also performed well against many of those same teams at the 2008 TBSA Fall League going 22-7 in 29 games through the first three weeks of the league. Over the holidays, there will be a number of teams in the GMC taking on squads not in the conference. A measure of a conference’s strength is how well it does outside the conference. While the GMC has great competition within, and is making strides each year in the area of non-conference play, this year’s start is still an indication the league has a way to go towards bridging the gap.