By Harry Minium
The headline in Sunday's Bowling Green (Ky.) Daily News said it all after Western Kentucky's stunning 83-76 upset of Big Ten Power Wisconsin late Saturday.
"Hilltoppers Feed off frenzied crowd, beat No. 15 Wisconsin."
ODU basketball coach Jeff Jones hopes to see some similar headlines in this week's Virginian-Pilot.
The Monarchs have already left fans with some memorable victories. There was a 62-52 triumph over archrival VCU at the Ted, and then came a 68-62 upset of No. 25 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
ODU has swept all in-state foes on its schedule, downing Richmond, James Madison and William and Mary, in addition to VCU.
Thus, the Monarchs did what they had to do in non-conference games to become an attractive candidate either for the NCAA tournament or NIT, winning 10 of their first 13 games and eight in a row.
But ODU's biggest tests of the regular-season come this week when it opens its Conference USA season by hosting Marshall on Thursday and Western Kentucky on Saturday.
B.J. Stith said fan support played a big role in ODU's come from behind victory over VCU.
Although both Marshall and WKU have been a little slow out of the gates, both were picked ahead of ODU in the preseason Conference USA rankings. And the games don’t come at the best time for filling up the Ted with fans.
Students won’t be back on campus for either game, and people will be going back to work the day before the Marshall game, meaning the Monarchs might not have quite the same home court advantage they’ve been accustomed to.
Jones reached out to ODU athletic director Wood Selig and asked the school to promote the games. Jones has done a recording that will be received by thousands of ODU fans over the phone, urging them to come out.
"We need our fans this week in a big way," Jones said.
Jones said he’s been encouraged by his young team’s start. “I would like to have won all 13, but if you’d told me at one point that we’d win 10, I would have said that’s pretty good,” he said.
“This group of guys is working hard and doing good things. If the fans come out and get into it for these games, they can really help this basketball team do special things.”
ODU students get into games free, and Jones is hoping they'll turn out in spite of school being closed. And they can bring a ton of friends with them a nominal cost -- students can purchase as many guest tickets as they want for $5 apiece.
ODU’s home fans played an important role in the victory over VCU, when the Monarchs rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit, said B.J. Stith, the team's leading scorer.
“A lot of people are under impression that the crowd only affects a team when the there’s a lot of action or the game is exciting,” Stith said.
“But when we were down a lot to VCU, we heard our fans. We didn’t feel like we could let the fans down."
As the Monarchs started to rally, Stith said “I couldn’t hear myself think it was so loud in here. It’s so exciting playing the Ted when it’s electric like that.”
Coach Jeff Jones has urged fans to turn out in big numbers for home games against Marshall and Western Kentucky.
How important are these games?
* If ODU wins both, expect the Monarchs to break into the Top 25, or at least get close. More importantly, victories in both games would make ODU the Conference USA favorite.
* WKU has the most talent in C-USA, and has beaten Arkansas and West Virginia, in addition to Wisconsin. WKU was 3-0 against ODU last season.
* Marshall brings the C-USA preseason player of the year, Jon Elmore, and WKU has the preseason “newcomer” of the year, Charles Bassey, a 5-star McDonald’s All-American.
* Marshall won the C-USA Tournament last season and won its first-round NCAA matchup against No. 4 seed Wichita State.
* WKU was the only other C-USA team to go to the NCAA or NIT, and got to the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden.
Jones said the home crowd is vital for his team to win both games.
“It’s no secret that when you’ve got a packed house, a live energetic enthusiastic crowd, that makes a big difference,” he said.
“Our fans have a reputation of being very supportive. You throw in the fact that these are our first conference games and they were picked ahead of us, we really need our fans to come out in full force to support this team.”
Jones hasn’t traditionally been a passionate public promoter of his program, but that has gradually changed in the last few years. He spoke emotionally to 200 or so ODU fans at a preseason dinner about the need for fan support.
“It’s a big deal in any year, but I think it’s really a big deal this year because of our schedule,” he said of ODU’s home-court advantage. “With this young team, and the schedule we’re facing, we need you big time.
“I’m asking you to talk to your friends and invite them to come to our games. We have the best home-court advantage in Conference USA.
“Let’s make it the best environment in Conference USA by a mile. Let’s help these young guys so that while they’re playing this really difficult schedule, we can get every possible win towards fighting to be in the NCAA tournament.”
The NCAA tournament is the ultimate goal, but in the recent past that has required winning the C-USA tournament.
That means, in a nutshell, winning three or four games in a row in Frisco, Texas on a sterile neutral court with few fans. The exception could be if ODU plays North Texas, which has gotten off to one of its best starts ever and will have significant fan support in Frisco.
That's why winning the regular-season title is so important. No, you don't take home any trophies, but you're guaranteed, regardless of what you do in the C-USA tournament, a bid to the NIT.
And NIT bids are difficult to come by, given that every lower league in college basketball is guaranteed as least one bid. ODU was clearly one of the top 10 teams left out of the NCAA tournament last season, perhaps the top 5, but didn't get into the NIT because of all of those guaranteed bids.
That's one reason why having such a strong home-court advantage this week is important to Jones. This team has shown that it's worthy of postseason play. And the only way to absolutely guarantee you're going dancing is to win the regular-season title.
That task begins Thursday, when Marshall brings its fast-break team to The Ted, and continues Saturday, when a bigger, more muscular and far more talented WKU team comes to ODU.
"They're big games," Stith said. "And I know our fans will be there to support us."
Contact Miniuim: hminium@odu.edu