Schedule updates

The Colonials are slowly finalizing their non conference schedule, and it figures to include a bunch of miles on the bus and plane.

Per Jon Rothstein, Cincinnati will host Robert Morris on Sunday 11/15/15.

Cincinnati will host Robert Morris on Sunday 11/15/15 as part of its non-conference schedule, source told @CBSSports.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 18, 2015

The Colonials were also listed on the Youngstown State Penguins schedule. The game will take place at YSU on Wednesday December 2nd. http://www.ysusports.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/schedule

As of now, here is a look at the Colonials opponents.

11/15 at Cincinnati
12/2 at Youngstown State
12/29 at Georgia
TBD Oakland
TBD Bucknell
TBD at Duquesne
TBD at Columbia
TBD at Air Force (tournament)
TBD at New Mexico State (tournament)
TBD at Tennessee Tech (tournament)
TBD vs Mississippi Valley State (tournament at Tennessee Tech)


A lot of road and neutral court games. I would guess Andy Toole and the Colonials will try to get another home game or two, but as Andy has shown in the past, he's not afraid of challenging his group with tough road games, and plenty of them

Around the NEC

As the offseason moves along, a few news items have dropped the past few weeks that have some type of effect of the Colonials and/or the NEC. Some news and notes...

The Colonials schedule is starting to come together. The first "buy" game was announced last week, per Jon Rothstein the Colonials will travel to Athens GA to take on the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC. Other games appear to be as followed.

Georgia will host Robert Morris on Tuesday 12/29/15 in Athens as part of its non-conference schedule, source told @CBSSports.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 10, 2015

12/29 at Georgia
TBD Oakland
TBD Bucknell
TBD at Duquesne
TBD at Columbia
TBD at Air Force (tournament)
TBD at New Mexico State (tournament)
TBD at Tennessee Tech (tournament)
TBD vs Mississippi Valley State (tournament at Tennessee Tech)
(per Colonials Corner message board)

Right now there are only two home games on the schedule (Oakland, Bucknell) and a lot of travel involved. Expect a few more home games to be added as well as a buy game or two. I would expect about four more total games added.

Pryor and the Colonials will once again
play a very tough non-conference schedule. (pc: PSR)

Some thoughts on the schedule so far: Really like the mix and balance. Bucknell and New Mexico State are two really good mid-majors who have had comparable success to the Colonials the past few years. Air Force and Duquesne present winnable games against teams in conference's that are the next level up from the NEC. Georgia is a very solid team from the SEC, but one RMU should have a fighting chance to defeat, much like Clemson, Alabama, and Arkansas the past few years.

NJIT and the NEC rumors will be no more. The Highlanders, an independent school in New Jersey that had a great year last season, defeating Michigan on the way, found a home in the Atlantic Sun (replacing Northern Kentucky who moved on to the Horizon). I will admit I'm a little surprised the NEC didn't look to take a hot up-and-coming school with only 10 teams in the league after losing two a few years ago, but not overly surprised. 10 is a good number and if you add NJIT, you need to find a 12th school with limited options out there.

We will have more on NEC transfers soon, but man was the league crushed by departures once again. At RMU, Marcquise Reed left for Clemson, MSM lost two players that were expected to play good minutes this year (Chris Martin, Andrew Smeathers), FDU lost one of their best players in Matt McDonald to Penn, and CCSU lost maybe the best point guard in the league when Matt Mobley left for St. Bonaventure. Ouch.

One other big change...new rules! The NCAA voted to move the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30. More possessions, more points. The restricted-area arc moving from three feet to four feet away from the basket, as the NCAA looks to cut down on contact at the basketball and reduce the block/charge rule. Coaches will now only have four timeouts instead of five (great change). There are already four media timeouts built into a half. Coaches do not need five TO's. Great change. Flagrant fouls for those who flop (Awesome!). This is reviewable. They have also eliminated the five second closely guarded rule.

Here is a complete list of rule changes: NCAA rule changes

One last note..

3 NCAA Tourney appearances since 2009. 2 wins over # 1 seeds in the NIT Tourney. Never satisfied. #RMCMB #MOmentum pic.twitter.com/LfDwoEtJXO

— RMU Men's Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) May 15, 2015

Welcome to your worst nightmare

Guess who’s back.

Back again.

CTC’s back.

Tell a friend.

Guess who’s back, guess who’s back, guess who’s back, guess who’s back…

That’s right! We’re excited to return to where it all began at Chronicling the Colonials. I know I speak for Lee when I say we’re incredibly excited to return to the fun, goofy, sometimes-serious world of Robert Morris blogging.

To those who followed us to Colonials Corner, a sincere thank you. That was a gig I never wanted to give up, but I was provided an opportunity to make a living writing for the Evening Sun in Hanover, PA and couldn’t pass it down. The Evening Sun is a great organization with great editors who provide excellent content on a daily basis. I love it.

But I don’t think anything will match the pure love I had for Colonials Corner, which is why I need to get a few things off my chest. First, a big thanks to Andrew Chiappazzi who pitched me hard to his bosses at Rivals to take over when he moved on. I was a kid with a lot to prove and wanted that chance to take things to a new level desperately. Andrew believed in me to take over his project, and I hope I didn’t disappoint.

There were a lot of things I would have done different. A lot. And I understand if there are people who weren’t always pleased with the coverage or types of content. Every day was a learning process for me, so thank you for your patience.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a sports writer. At Colonials Corner, I was, and it was everything I wanted and then some. It was long nights of banter and thoughts and frustration and I wouldn’t trade it for a thing. Colonials Corner prepared me for the real world more than anything else could have.

My good friend Jason Frank will be taking over Colonials Corner now that I’m gone and he’s going to do a great job. Follow him on twitter @Jay_Frank17!

As for us, we’re back and ready to go. Neither of us live in the Pittsburgh area anymore, so coverage is naturally going to be a challenge sometimes. We’ll work through it, because our passion for the Bobby Mo red and blue never wavers. Round one of Chronicling the Colonials was the most ridiculously fun time I’ve ever had writing. The passion for Bobby Mo hoops will always there. We’re excited to getting back to being like the drunk 20-somethings we are.

So yup, we're back baby! And this time with more gifs! As always, our info goes better with tequila.

--Chris Cappella

--@C_Cappella