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Man do I want a shot at ZAGA againBig Ten game towards beginning of season (NOT Rutgers)
St. Peters
Advocare Invitational in Orlando over Thanksgiving (3 games from this pool: Zags, Miami, Florida, Quinnipiac, Indiana State, Iowa State, Stanford)
Kansas in Hawaii 12/7
Rutgers at home mid to late December
Still IMO would be nice to beat them, also I would assume that playing them would be an RPI boost over the likes of Indiana stateWho cares about Gonzaga? They are going to be a completely different team next year. Won't make me feel any better about our loss this year
Big Ten game towards beginning of season (NOT Rutgers)
St. Peters
Advocare Invitational in Orlando over Thanksgiving (3 games from this pool: Zags, Miami, Florida, Quinnipiac, Indiana State, Iowa State, Stanford)
Kansas in Hawaii 12/7
Rutgers at home mid to late December
No reason to play a mid major on the road
Wouldn't it make sense if we play Kansas in Hawaii to play another west coast team before or after that game? I'm not asking to play UCLA or USC but maybe a San Diego State, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, or Hawaii.
There is a method to the madness as it pertains to the schedule. If they had a tougher non conference schedule would the team have come together and go 12-6 in conference and win the BET. The team needed confidence and time to gel. Having a few tough losses to a decent power 5 team or a very good mid major would have been disastrous. Next year you will see a much tougher schedule because this team can handle it now.
No reason to play a mid major on the road
Maybe sign a home and home with a quality west coast team, play the away game this year before or after Hawaii
There's info on the Trove re your question.Wouldn't it make sense if we play Kansas in Hawaii to play another west coast team before or after that game? I'm not asking to play UCLA or USC but maybe a San Diego State, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, or Hawaii.
Why don't you just join the Trove?Dan what's your ideal ooc schedule
The ideal ooc schedule is a difficult question to answer.
What does the committee want to value next year? Two years ago it was road wins, last year it was SOS, and this year it was top 50 wins (not top 50 record or else Michigan and Vandy wouldn't have made it)... I think that's why you see teams playing top 50 teams neutral, which gives you a chance to hit all of the boxes (chance for top win, improve SOS, and prove we can win away from home without the disadvantage of being on the road)
With that being said, I think you have to give yourself at least 4 opportunities to play tournament teams in non-conference. Going even 1-3 gives you a quality non-conference win and the 3 losses are just 3 losses that improved your SOS.
Perfect example: Michigan Non-Conference SOS 203..They played 4 teams in the top 100.
Losses: Xavier, Uconn (neutral), @SMU... Average loss by 18 points.
Win: Texas(neutral)
The head of the committee mentioned that Texas win on Selection Sunday. And they got in the tournament.
What you can't do is schedule like South Carolina...
South Carolina undefeated non-conference best win Hofstra. Non-conference SOS 300....didn't make tournament.
Did you not see what happened to this team in 2014-2015 when they started losing. The wheels came totally off. Not saying that would have happened this season but you had no idea what would happen before the season. So the OOC schedule had some decent games, Georgia, Ole Miss, GWU, and Wich St. Who knows what would have happened early in the season. The easy patch of games allowed this team to find an identity and gel together. So to answer your question A, SHU this past season is a team with a soft OOC schedule that allowed it to gel for conference play. South Caroline being the exact oppositeI don't understand this logic, and I definitely want to see some examples of:
(a) Teams who played weak OOC, gelled, and then went big in conference
(b) Teams that played hard OOC, gelled, and then went big in conference
You make it sound like the magical formula is playing a weak OOC to make your team gel. Only 7 other teams made it into the dance at-large playing an OOC strength of schedule higher than 250. The only team that made any noise in that group is Indiana. It doesn't seem to me that playing weak competition outside of your OOC somehow prepares you for upgraded conference and post-season play. I understand it is subjective analysis, but I find the argument weak in general. There are so many examples of teams that play hard OOCs (especially outside the power 5) and then make noise regularly in March.
Yes, there are reasons. We currently play a garbage schedule. Too many St. Peter's and Troy games. Playing good Mid-majors away (especially against teams that win their conference often) helps your SOS and resume. It's already been noted, but our OOC this year included one team that made the tournament. Play some good mid-majors. Plenty of A-10 opponents close by. Plenty of teams that regularly get into the top 150 RPI on a yearly basis beyond that.
Plus as previously noted on the Trove the possibility of a second game.Some great destinations for warm weather traveling with The Hall playing at Disney in a tournament and obviously the trip to Hawaii against Kansas on Pearl Harbor Day.
Arizona State, there are direct flights all the time from most of the islands to Phoenix. You have the Hurley deal, plus we can beat them.If there's going to be a second game it doesn't necessarily have to be a California team.
How about Oregon, Arizona or Utah?
Especially if Whitehead comes back why not take on the best? I think we'd all love a home-and-home with any of those teams.
As for Cali, I don't think anybody mentioned going farther north to Fresno State.
The ideal ooc schedule is a difficult question to answer.
What does the committee want to value next year? Two years ago it was road wins, last year it was SOS, and this year it was top 50 wins (not top 50 record or else Michigan and Vandy wouldn't have made it)... I think that's why you see teams playing top 50 teams neutral, which gives you a chance to hit all of the boxes (chance for top win, improve SOS, and prove we can win away from home without the disadvantage of being on the road)
With that being said, I think you have to give yourself at least 4 opportunities to play tournament teams in non-conference. Going even 1-3 gives you a quality non-conference win and the 3 losses are just 3 losses that improved your SOS.
Perfect example: Michigan Non-Conference SOS 203..They played 4 teams in the top 100.
Losses: Xavier, Uconn (neutral), @SMU... Average loss by 18 points.
Win: Texas(neutral)
The head of the committee mentioned that Texas win on Selection Sunday. And they got in the tournament.
What you can't do is schedule like South Carolina...
South Carolina undefeated non-conference best win Hofstra. Non-conference SOS 300....didn't make tournament.
If Seton Hall is good as you say, they shouldn't worry about losing to a mid-major.
Big boy teams don't worry about stuff like that. What SHU doesn't have that other big-time teams do is the economic leverage to know that 12,000 fans (minimum) will show up for a November or December game, no matter if it's noon on a Saturday, 1:00 on an NFL Sunday or 8:30 on a Tuesday night to support their team and make it a profitable night even with the guarantee fee to the opposing team.