2020-2021 Non-Conference Schedule

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I don't hate Furman as much as I did Colgate. Furman has been solid for several years now, and the SoCon is a pretty good league. I think there's a better chance of Furman being top 75 than Colgate was after one good season in a bad league. Even so, I'd like to see us play those type of teams away from home some. Maybe a 2 for 1 situation. I think it would also be good for college basketball in general if some of the better mid-major teams could play home games against bigger schools.

I agree I would look for more of those 2 for 1 deals against mid majors etc. If we can't get those we need to do more of what Ohio State did to us and what Louisville is doing now. Schedule the away game in a year when there is significant loss to the roster or coaching change etc. Then play the home game in the year when the other team would supposedly be better.

OSU scheduled us away the year after we lost Clark, Washington and Evans. They had a reasonable chance to think they would win that away game. UL is scheduling the away game after the loss of Cumberland and Scott (among others). Both away years are/were going to be more of a rebuilding type season as opposed to a stacked roster year with returning studs. In the come back game we would be a bit stronger but playing away from home.

Look for mid majors who are going through a coaching change or significant high end roster loss. Schedule the away game first if it's just a home and away but shoot for the 2 for 1 always.

There is no way OSU or UL schedule us at our house in a year we are expected to be very good.
 
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That's an interesting concept.

I'd think the idea would be to go up against strong teams to prove how good you are.

Yah that sounds nice but there is a reason OSU avoided us for so long and it had nothing to do with proving how good they were. There is also a reason Cronin didn't schedule strong in the OOC...
 
Its not just about getting in, its about getting in and getting a solid seed to give yourself a better shot at a favorable draw.

Teams figured out how to best schedule when RPI was king, they knew which games would be the most valuable. This can be done with the current format as well, but its going to require some changes.


The best way to load up your schedule currently is as many tier 1 and 2 games as possible. That means playing away from home a decent amount. Challenge yourself away from home, its a great way to build your team up and give yourself a chance for quality wins. also losses don't hurt you in those games.


at this time last year i had the same view as you about these games. as the season played out and we got towards the end, it made it pretty clear these games are all risk and no value. sedziobs pointed it out at the time and the way it played out really showed the risk.


you can still load up the OOC portion, just make sure its tier 1 and 2. 3 is the danger zone.

I like the idea of playing anyone, anytime. If you’re team is good, it doesn’t matter if it’s a tier 2 or 3 game. If we are good enough to get a high seed, we will get a high seed. We got a 2 seed because we were good. Houston got a 3 seed because they were good. Not because we worked the system. If we aren’t that good, like last year, it might come in to play. But like I said early, we win 95 out of 100 of these games and it’s not a big risk. It also gets fans more excited and interested, which is also part of building a great program. I remember cronin playing 8 garbage teams a year and being mad that no one showed up. Playing the garbage teams hurts a lot more than it helps in my opinion.
 
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