2018-19 Current Season schedule discussion (top post is current)

[reckless jake]

There were only 3 non P5 at large bids last season if you also exclude the BE.



URI, Nevada, and St. Bonaventure

The days of the A10 getting 5 or even 6 bids are over.

Wichita State and Houston from the AAC

And one more non P-5 team, San Diego State from the Mountain West conference

[RF1]

There were only 3 non P5 at large bids last season if you also exclude the BE.



URI, Nevada, and St. Bonaventure

The days of the A10 getting 5 or even 6 bids are over.

Wichita State and Houston from the AAC

And one more non P-5 team, San Diego State from the Mountain West conference

SDSU won the MWC Tournament for the automatic bid. They were not an at large. The MWC would have sent just one team to the NCAA if Nevada had won the tournament.

[Bigsnoop]

Can't the NCAA be like " uh no, p-5 conferences expanding thier confernece schedules will ruin college basketball"?

Why will it ruin college basketball? If anything, it might possibly help with weeding out P5 bubbles.

It is bad because it will likely decrease the number of signature win opportunities for teams outside the power conferences. The selection committee has recently put more emphasis on who you beat rather than number of wins or losses. Look at St. Mary's this year. Their high number of wins with few losses did not result in an NCAA bid. The flip side was Alabama this year and Vanderbilt last year. Some big wins offset their very high number of losses which ordinarily on their own would keep them out of the tournament. Their significant wins, most of which were in conference, offset their many losses and they got at large bids. Giving power conference teams even more opportunities for signature wins while probably reducing such opportunities for non power conference teams is bad for college basketball. It was already tough enough for non power conference teams to make the tourney given recent selection trends. 20 game league schedules will make it even more difficult.

You can't use St. Mary's as an example. They could have scheduled URI, Nevada, and Grand Canyon University, and instead opted to play San Jose State, Sacramento State, and another 300+ RPI team. Had they played the first the and won two of those three, they would have been a lock.

[RF1]

Why will it ruin college basketball? If anything, it might possibly help with weeding out P5 bubbles.

It is bad because it will likely decrease the number of signature win opportunities for teams outside the power conferences. The selection committee has recently put more emphasis on who you beat rather than number of wins or losses. Look at St. Mary's this year. Their high number of wins with few losses did not result in an NCAA bid. The flip side was Alabama this year and Vanderbilt last year. Some big wins offset their very high number of losses which ordinarily on their own would keep them out of the tournament. Their significant wins, most of which were in conference, offset their many losses and they got at large bids. Giving power conference teams even more opportunities for signature wins while probably reducing such opportunities for non power conference teams is bad for college basketball. It was already tough enough for non power conference teams to make the tourney given recent selection trends. 20 game league schedules will make it even more difficult.

You can't use St. Mary's as an example. They could have scheduled URI, Nevada, and Grand Canyon University, and instead opted to play San Jose State, Sacramento State, and another 300+ RPI team. Had they played the first the and won two of those three, they would have been a lock.

St. Mary's did itself no favors this past season but their schedule of many wins versus low profile teams was an example of what we may see with P-5 teams playing less OOC games. If you don't like the example of the Gaels, look back one year earlier to Illinois State. They did all they could to schedule better teams. Nearly all declined playing them. Their coach then afterward used the NCAA snub to plead via Twitter for good OOC game opponents.

[rjsuperfly66]

Can't the NCAA be like " uh no, p-5 conferences expanding thier confernece schedules will ruin college basketball"?

Why will it ruin college basketball? If anything, it might possibly help with weeding out P5 bubbles.

It is bad because it will likely decrease the number of signature win opportunities for teams outside the power conferences. The selection committee has recently put more emphasis on who you beat rather than number of wins or losses. Look at St. Mary's this year. Their high number of wins with few losses did not result in an NCAA bid. The flip side was Alabama this year and Vanderbilt last year. Some big wins offset their very high number of losses which ordinarily on their own would keep them out of the tournament. Their significant wins, most of which were in conference, offset their many losses and they got at large bids. Giving power conference teams even more opportunities for signature wins while probably reducing such opportunities for non power conference teams is bad for college basketball. It was already tough enough for non power conference teams to make the tourney given recent selection trends. 20 game league schedules will make it even more difficult.

Reality is, if any team wants to play a top-tier P5 team now, it's likely either going to be on a neutral court at a tournament or a road/neutral game at their place. That will still be the case in 2 years. If they really want to play you, they will still probably play you under the new system.

This might actually be off benefit to non-P5 teams, because I think teams going 9-11 in conference play is harder to make up than 8-10. 8-10 with some decent OOC wins can still get you in. If you go 9-11, you still need to leverage high-level OOC games to make the resume the best way possible. I think people assume that P5 teams removing 2 games instantly means losing mid/high-level games off the schedule, but I would think that means the opposite. That should mean less games against Maine, UNH, etc.

But as to people wanting the NCAA to go legislate against it, why would they? NCAA makes money through ratings. The top teams in the ACC (UNC/Duke/Virginia, etc.) playing more H/A's with each other is better for business, ratings, etc. There isn't much casual interest in the annual Duke parade of the mediocres at Cameron Indoor through November and December.

If teams produce in November and December, this isn't even a conversation. Sure, the road is slanted, A10 teams probably are going to play most of their high-level RPI games on a neutral court, if not on the road. But you know what? You get a shot at Duke, or UNC, or Kansas, go beat them. Don't lose to them (specifically on a neutral court), and then cry about how slanted the playing field is. Last year the A10 was something like 1-9 in Top 50 neutral court games. You beat them, you carry a higher-RPI into your conference, with gives more teams chances at that high-level win versus you. If 3-4 A10 teams come in with Top 20/Top 25 RPI's, that's what gives the conference a chance at 5-6 NCAA births again. It's not impossible.

[reckless jake]

Wichita State and Houston from the AAC

And one more non P-5 team, San Diego State from the Mountain West conference

SDSU won the MWC Tournament for the automatic bid. They were not an at large. The MWC would have sent just one team to the NCAA if Nevada had won the tournament.

You're correct. My bad, i had them backwards. It was the demon rum. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[wpbrown8267]

Exactly another reporter who has no clue !!!!

See you in Kingston Eric Musselman!!!

Sounds like our own lil Kevie haha

[Ramulous]

I'm back on my mantra......NCAA please....30 games.....15 home....15 road....no exceptions....every team....go play people...

[steviep123]

I'm back on my mantra......NCAA please....30 games.....15 home....15 road....no exceptions....every team....go play people...

I like this, but were do tournaments fit in? Exempt? So if you're in a tourney you get 2 to 3 extra games? Or maybe 15 Home, 15 away if no tourney and 14/14 w/ tourney. Or 13 to 15 each with room for neutral sites?

[Ramulous]

Tourneys would be exempt unless your school is hosting the tournament....and you get up to 3 extra games for a total of 33...

[rjsuperfly66]

I'm back on my mantra......NCAA please....30 games.....15 home....15 road....no exceptions....every team....go play people...

Teams do play people. You just don't like that they won't play you (or where they will play you). Non P5 teams want to punish P5 teams for playing in challenging conferences, like it's the ACC's fault that they have 4 Top 25 RPI teams and 11 Top 70 teams. Is it the ACC's fault that the A10 only had 2 Top 25 RPI teams and 3 Top 70 RPI teams? Is it the ACC's fault that the A10 had 11 teams with an RPI of 135 or worse? Top ACC teams (or similar conferences) have no need or desire to go on the road in OOC except to face elite opponents, because they are going to face plenty of high-leverage games in their conference. You can't blame the schools for being in competitive conferences playing competitive games. You want to, because you don't think it's fair in March. But reality is, you construct your OOC to complement your conference schedule. Teams know what their conference looks like so they schedule a certain way. There is a tournament, maybe a few other challenging games, and then mid-level/low-level fillers. You aren't going to go through a OOC gauntlet into night after night of Top 50 games in conference play. Why should you? So a lower conference team can pound pony after pony after pony and shove their total number of wins in your face? Non P5 teams are going to have to find other ways to compete, and they exist, and that doesn't necessarily mean winning every game on the schedule. URI wasn't exactly flawless last year, but was still comfortably in the tournament. I think the committee now more than ever is emphasizing complete body of work versus the what have you done for me in the last few weeks nature that used to exist.

[Ramulous]

So you defend big football schools only playing mid-majors on their own court as fair?

And you don't think the NCAA can level the field for ALL their teams?

I agree with you RJ on many things.....but on this we vehemently disagree.....and it is because my school is a mid-major that football schools didn't want to play for the last few years....

The NCAA can do this fix......they are afraid to do it....

[rjsuperfly66]

So you defend big football schools only playing mid-majors on their own court as fair?

And you don't think the NCAA can level the field for ALL their teams?

I agree with you RJ on many things.....but on this we vehemently disagree.....and it is because my school is a mid-major that football schools didn't want to play for the last few years....

The NCAA can do this fix......they are afraid to do it....

I hear you about the OOC thing, because PC has had one super meaningful P5 OOC home game in the last 13 years, and that team ended up sucking by the end of the season.
But if conferences were balanced, then I would agree with the argument .... But they aren't.
People like you want a team like Duke to go play here, there, and everywhere OOC, and then return to conference play and play teams like UNC, NC St, Louisville, Virginia, V-Tech, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Florida St., Miami, etc. during conference, some of those teams twice.
Meanwhile, you want URI to get more advantageous OOC games, but face minimal challengers during conference play.
Ultimately, the ACC is always going to have a super strong SOS. Those teams need to schedule some balance in there.
And it totally gives the little guys less opportunities, but they still get opportunities.
If you get one of these teams on a neutral court, maybe it's not ideal but you still have the chance to seize the opportunity.
You cant go 1-9 in games against top schools on neutral courts, and then complain that your conferences doesn't get cracks.
Maybe you don't get the plethora of high-level games at home, but they still exist. Take advantage of it.
That's what made the A10 good ~ 2012/2013. Teams went out and actually beat teams OOC.
In 2013, VCU went to UVA and won. GW beat Doug McDermott and Creighton on a neutral court. They beat Maryland on a neutral court. Dayton beat Gonzaga on a neutral court. UMASS beat Nebraska, New Mexico, and Clemson in a tournament (all borderline Top 50 teams), they beat BYU on a neutral court, PC at home, etc.
They built up strong resumes that carried them through conference play... Those teams didn't lose most of those games and then cry about lack of opportunity.

[Ramulous]

The A10 last year was mediocre at best....to only use that season as your barometer is unfair....P5 teams can find plenty of competition on the road in a lot of mid-major conferences....much harder to beat a good team on a neutral floor than on your home floor.....you are rewarding the big teams for their cowardice in not playing true road games....

[rjsuperfly66]

The A10 last year was mediocre at best....to only use that season as your barometer is unfair....P5 teams can find plenty of competition on the road in a lot of mid-major conferences....much harder to beat a good team on a neutral floor than on your home floor.....you are rewarding the big teams for their cowardice in not playing true road games....

The A10 has been shaky since the 13-14 season. I’m sure if I pulled up the stats they would support that. It’s been 3 bids a year after putting up 11 from 12-14.

Sure, P5 teams would find great competition on the road against mid-major teams.

Duke still played KenPom road games against teams with KenPoms of 8-14-33-37-46-71-77-89.

URI played a competitive road OOC and for the season had top road games against 25-43-57-68-144-148-156-172.

[RF1]

It is ridiculous to think less OOC games for P-5 teams is good for the great majority of teams outside those conferences. This is just another move to strengthen the position of the elites.

[theblueram]

The A10 last year was mediocre at best....to only use that season as your barometer is unfair....P5 teams can find plenty of competition on the road in a lot of mid-major conferences....much harder to beat a good team on a neutral floor than on your home floor.....you are rewarding the big teams for their cowardice in not playing true road games....

The A10 has been shaky since the 13-14 season. I’m sure if I pulled up the stats they would support that. It’s been 3 bids a year after putting up 11 from 12-14.

Sure, P5 teams would find great competition on the road against mid-major teams.

Duke still played KenPom road games against teams with KenPoms of 8-14-33-37-46-71-77-89.

URI played a competitive road OOC and for the season had top road games against 25-43-57-68-144-148-156-172.

Lotta coaches getting poached from the A10. If a school doesn't have a buyout clause they should based on history. All A10 teams should have a big buyout for coaches since when they win,football schools take them.

[rjsuperfly66]

Lotta coaches getting poached from the A10. If a school doesn't have a buyout clause they should based on history. All A10 teams should have a big buyout for coaches since when they win,football schools take them.

The conference needs to do whatever it needs to do to maximize the next media rights deal. If the Big East is $4 million, the A10 needs to fall somewhere between $4 million and the $400K I believe they get now. Is $1.2 million possible? $1.5 million? If you think about it that way, that's an additional $800K-$1.2 million in reinvestable revenue. There are plenty of football schools paying coaches ~ $2 million. URI was reported to be headed to that $2 million threshold. Imagine the offer with stronger TV revenue?

That said, I think it gets back to the old argument -- Is there too much deadweight in the A10 holding it back from not only getting consistently into that upper-tier of conference, but from also getting a major TV deal? I believe the way you do that is by going to a non-ESPN network, saying these are the teams we have, we can give you quality program 4-5 nights a week, multiple games per day, etc. ESPN low-balls the shit out of conferences, because they know the allure of the 4-letter network. I don't believe a conference should leave ESPN for TV unless they get a substantially better offer. How can the A10 present it next time to maximize that number with CBS, NBC, or Fox?

[Billyboy78]

[CTRamfan]

Great......Not perfect, but ok.

[ATPTourFan]

Didn't see any new info in that tweet.

[steviep123]

Since this game is part of the Naismith Hall of Fame, does that make it a neutral site game and not a home game?

[josephski]

Since this game is part of the Naismith Hall of Fame, does that make it a neutral site game and not a home game?

Doubt it. I'm guessing West Virginia was only willing to do a "home" and home with us if they gained the RPI benefit with the new quadrant system while not having to play a true road game.

[theblueram]

Since this game is part of the Naismith Hall of Fame, does that make it a neutral site game and not a home game?

Doubt it. I'm guessing West Virginia was only willing to do a "home" and home with us if they gained the RPI benefit with the new quadrant system while not having to play a true road game.

Anybody have connections at Mohegan? Maybe we can have a coaches dress code implemented for the game. NO LEISURE SUITS ALLOWED!!!!

[adam914]

Sounds like a beautiful day to beat some Friars...

[RF1]

Sounds like a beautiful day to beat some Friars...

Follows the norm as the game historically has been the first Saturday in December most seasons in the last four decades. There have only been a few exceptions in that time.

[Rhodysk]

Wonder if it’s a FOX game which would mean afternoon start time or night game which would mean FS1.
I know both schools try to stay away from night games bc more time for “ Fans to pregame “

[reef]

I will guess 4 or 5 pm on FS 1

[PeterRamTime]

Hopefully it won't be on the back burner for a football game again

[steviep123]

It was mentioned on the radio show that Nevada is coming back here.

[Rhody83]

Coach Cox also mentioned they have other OOC games that they are just waiting for the contract back before they can announce them.

[ATPTourFan]

It was mentioned on the radio show that Nevada is coming back here.

But that Nevada reporter says it ain't happening! Who to believe? /sarcasm

[reckless jake]

It was mentioned on the radio show that Nevada is coming back here.

Talking about the schedule Coach Cox mentioned Nevada, PC at the Dunk, the WVU game at Mohegan Sun and the tournament in Hawai'i but he didn't mention the Alabama return game. Neither has anyone else from URI referred to that game, even at the introductory press conference.. Is that game still on the schedule?

[Rhodyram]

Does PC "protect" its tickets to the URI game by only including it in ticket packages/ season ticket holder sales?

[RhowdyRam02]

Yes. Two years ago they protected our game in a mini plan and the game against defending national champion Villanova. But it's not a rivalry...

[ATPTourFan]

Does PC "protect" its tickets to the URI game by only including it in ticket packages/ season ticket holder sales?

Yes for as long as they can, but single game seats always become available.

[Rhody74]

I vowed never to go to another game at the Dump again. It just sucks.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Sounds like a beautiful day to beat some Friars...

Any day is a beautiful day to beat that hideous disgusting institution in a former insane asylum.

[Billyboy78]

[Rhodyram]

So only 1 confirmed OOC game at the Ryan Center as of today

[reckless jake]

I kept wondering why Coach didn't mention this game in his press conference or his radio show.

[steviep123]

That's disappointing.

[reckless jake]

That's disappointing.

Yes it is disappointing. The start of the season may be 6 months away but we've got a lot of work to do on the schedule.

[Rhodymob05]

Why/how would that change? Isn't any of this contractual?

[Rhody15]

I think potentially that’s better for us. We expect to be better in two years than next, giving us another marquee home game in addition to the PC game. Next years schedule is already very tough, so my guess would be that URI admin pushed to move the game back a year.

[steviep123]

Cox again mentioned Nevada coming here next season in the podcast with Rothstein.

[TruePoint]

Excellent news. Not sure if this would have been our call or Alabama’s, but it’s definitely best-case for us.

[reef]

I guess it depends on who the replacement for Bama is ??
If it's a lesser team with a top 150 RPI more chance for a win ??

[rambone 78]

I think it's better for us also. We will be better in 2019-20.

Although it makes it even more of a challenge to get this season's schedule finalized.

Hopefully we'll get the full compliment of 31 games without having to play too many cupcakes.

[TruePoint]

I’m honestly not as worried about the OOC SOS this year. We know we have good enough games already on the schedule that we won’t play “nobody.” But considering that the league looks to be better next year and considering the inexperience that many of the players in our rotation will bring into the season, I wouldn’t be opposed to an OOC schedule that sets up to let us get some wins under our belt while we work our way into the team I hope we will be in February and March.