The basketball schedules were released today. The big news (BIG!) is that the South Carolina women will be playing at the Stroh, an incredible get for the program and the university. House will be packed.
The men's schedule has no such headline. There are still 2 games to be determined...one as part of the Sun Belt Challenge and one...not. Given that about half of the D1 teams have their schedules out, my guess is that the extra game will be non-D1. But who knows.
Speaking of which...last year's Southern Utah team played 4 non D1 games, so even if BG ends up with 2, that's (to me) an acceptable number. (UT plays none). The failure of EMU and CMU with their NAIA-laden schedules shows you cannot succeed playing that way.
Having said that, BG certainly has to have among the softer schedules in the conference, based on where teams were last year. (Not every team has released their non-conference schedule). Note we have only 2 true road games out of conference.
In the world of the portal, it is harder to predict from one year to the next. But, here is the BG schedule. For reference, BG finished last year with a 286 kenpom.
Nov 6 Chicago State
293 last year. Usually, the worst team in D1, and that's the best in 9 years
Nov 11 Arkansas State
This is the Sun Belt Challenge. They finished 287 last year, have a new coach, Bryan Hodgson the former UB and Alabama assistant. A lot of portal action, including LaQuill Hardnett, formerly of Buffalo.
Nov 14 @Oakland
Finished #272. Worst D1 season for Kampe. BG won last year.
Nov 17 Bellarmine
Finished #262, 3rd D1 season
Montreal
Nov 24 UNC Asheville
#148, in Dance, new coach
Nov 25 UMass Lowell
Good team. #134 last year. 26-8. Lost to Vermont in AEC final.
Nov 26 Dartmouth
#260. One of the teams with longer NCAA drought than BG
Dec 2 @Southern Indiana
#285. First D1 season. Won at Stroh.
Dec 16 Kansas City
#314. Has a nice habit of ruining UT's season.
Dec 19 Hampton
#351. BG beat them in Virginia
Dec 22 Siena Heights
NAIA. 8-20 last year.
Kent played Baldwin Wallace and Concord last year, plus Chicago State, Arkansas Pine Bluff and others with a similar profile. People who want to put this team through a meat grinder, rack up losses and ruin their confidence are misguided
ReplyDeleteThey also played Houston and Gonzaga. Mostly, I was just making an observation. Another observation would be that a schedule like this was considered unconscionable win piling last year.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day we would go on the road and pick up a W or learn something about grit for conference play by playing the big boys. Today’s generation wants easy wins to build confidence and get participation trophies. 3 cheers for the women’s program and their willingness to play a balanced out of conference schedule!
ReplyDeleteZuluWarrior