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George Mason Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Patriots

By Stu Luddecke

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Head coach Dave Paulsen of the George Mason Patriots looks on against the Saint Joseph's Hawks during the first half in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 9, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Head coach Dave Paulsen of the George Mason Patriots looks on against the Saint Joseph's Hawks during the first half in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 9, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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NASHVILLE, TN – MARCH 18: Trevor Moore #5 of the Cincinnati Bearcats high fives Jarron Cumberland #34 against the Nevada Wolf Pack during the first half in the second round of the 2018 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 18, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN – MARCH 18: Trevor Moore #5 of the Cincinnati Bearcats high fives Jarron Cumberland #34 against the Nevada Wolf Pack during the first half in the second round of the 2018 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 18, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

Non-conference schedule for 2018-2019

Nov. 1 (H) – Johns Hopkins

Nov. 6 (H) – Penn

Nov. 9 (H) – American

Nov. 13 (A) – Georgia Southern

Nov. 17 (H) – Southern

Nov. 20 (H) – North Carolina Central

Nov. 23 (N) – Cincinnati

Nov. 24 (N) – Baylor/Ole Miss

Nov. 28 (H) – Morgan State

Dec. 1 (A) – William & Mary

Dec. 3 (H) – Vermont

Dec. 7 (H) – James Madison

Dec. 21 (H) – Navy

Dec. 29 (A) – Kansas State

The non-conference schedule starts out very favorably for the Patriots. Penn is the only truly competitive team they have to face until heading to Niceville, Florida to take on Cincinnati as part of the Emerald Coast Classic. If things go as they should, they will come into that game with a 6-0 record and an extremely high confidence level – the latter being something they’ll need if they want to keep winning as their opponents get tougher.

Cincinnati won’t be the same team that they were last year, but they should still be competitive in the AAC, a conference of a similar caliber to the A10. Teams like Vermont, William & Mary, and Kansas State will all be fighting for the top spots in their respective conferences as well, so those are games that the Patriots could easily lose if they aren’t on the same page. All of those contests will let us know if this Mason team is for real and ready to contend for the A10 title or not. 

All things considered, even though they have some tough ones, I still expect the Patriots to come out on top in a vast majority of these contests and to enter A10 play hungry. 10-4 seems like a reasonable expectation at this point, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled off an upset or two and came out of this slate with 11 or 12 wins either. They definitely have that type of potential.

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