In the Fall of 2004, William and Mary football took their leap into the ranks of the Division 1-AA elite. A run to the national semifinals put the team on the map in the 1-AA (now FCS) circles. After a couple years of up and down results, the Tribe returned to excellence this year, narrowly losing to eventual champions Villanova 14-13 in the national semifinals.
We've seen it time and time again - all it takes is one season. One year of awesome results does wonders for a program in the years to come. Even when seniors graduate, and results don't always repeat themselves right away, things have a tendency of coming back around.
From early appearances, this could be a breakout year for William and Mary BASKETBALL. The Tribe have never been a basketball powerhouse. In reality, the were cellar dwellers in the CAA. Regular season victims for teams like George Mason and VCU who would go on to pull NCAA tournament upsets. But things have changed, and this years team has potential to do some serious damage.
The Tribe were picked to finish 11th in the CAA in the preseason. That's 11th out of 12 teams. Things looked promising though, fighting to a 9-point loss against Connecticut (now 10th in the nation). A heartbreaking triple overtime loss at Harvard was rough. But since then the Tribe have won ten in a row, and are on the verge of making the Top-25.
Notable victims have included Wake Forest, Maryland, Richmond, VCU, and Radford. Most recently, a 48-47 win at Hofstra was crucial. The Tribe shoot a lot of three pointers. Going 3-18 from behind the arc against Hofstra did not help their cause, but finding a way to win despite the poor shooting shows promise for the rest of the season.
Also helping the Tribe's cause is that the teams we play keep on winning. Connecticut is 10th in the country. Harvard game them a tough game, then beat Boston College. Richmond has wins over Mizzouri and Mississippi State. Wake is 10-2, with a win at Gonzaga and their only other loss coming to #4 Purdue. VCU beat Oklahoma and Nevada. This strength of schedule has the Tribe 6th in the RPI, a computer poll ranking all the teams in the country.
The Tribe are finally getting some well deserved media attention. A mention in a article or a tweet by an ESPN expert has been more and more frequent. After the MD win, Andy Katz, an ESPN writer, did a whole article on the Tribe.
An amusing moment came recently when I was watching the WM - Maryland game. For those who don't know the full name is the College of William and Mary. Comcast Sports Net covered the game. At the very beginning of the game, the bottom score box listed the teams as "MD" and "WSSU." A technical error, no doubt. It was quickly corrected however to "WMU" as in William and Mary University? At the start of the second half they had changed it. I bet some angry Tribe fans got on the phone and called them.
The Tribe are primed for a great season, and here's hoping their awesome play and winning continue. For more on the Tribe, see this article.
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