Men's Basketball Non Conference Opponents
How so? You've got games against probably 5 NCAA tourney teams on there - 2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis, then Xavier, NC State, and SMU. Lots of opportunities for quality wins.
Guess I was looking more at the home portion which is just Xavier.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:44 AM ^
While there are some games against possible NCAA tourney teams, there's also a number of games against really bad teams. Below is the RPI from last year for some of these teams:
Youngstown St - 296
Houston Baptist - 290
Elon - 264
Northern Kentucky - 263
Delaware St - 213
Bryant - 189
While Delaware St and Bryant aren't that bad, the first four listed are awful. You'd prefer the 'cupcakes' on your schedule to be more in the Bryant/Delaware St range. Now granted, maybe some of those teams are better this year and their RPI will improve, but based upon last year there are some teams that are going to drag UM's RPI down.
I don't disagree. However, every major conference team is tasked with the same dilemma: Schedule as many games as you can against:
- Teams you know you can beat
- But aren't bad enough to hurt your RPI
- Are willing to travel to your place
There just aren't enough of those games to go around, so you have to schedule against some bad teams that will take the paycheck to come play you and you hope that they exceed expectations so that they don't hurt the RPI.
schedule. They have two dates with teams of note, NC State and SMU, both on the road. No way to sugarcoat this. They are playing nobody.
Battle 4 Atlantis has some good teams. Joining us are Syracuse, UConn, Texas, Gonzaga, Washington, Texas A&M, and Charlotte. I think we play against three of them.
I thought you were talking about formatting, or lack thereof.
That N.C. State game is going to be tougher than advertised. Mark Gottfried's been doing some good recruiting lately.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^
Looking at that schedule, there's a decent chance Michigan could be undefeated headed into conference season.
Lol no chance. We're likely going to play six tournament teams, with only one of those games coming at home.
No chance, really? I think there's definitely a chance... we're playing a few tournament teams but there's nothing elite on the schedule.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
Sure, there is an unlikely chance that we can, but going undefeated in non-conference is a tough task. VERY few teams do it every year and they tend to be either super elite teams or have easy schedules. Michigan is in neither of those circumstances. The fact is that going 6/6 against teams that we are about equal with is pretty unlikely.
August 3rd, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
There's also going to be a LOT of roster tinkering in the early part of this year. A lot of guys deserve a shot in the rotation and it will take time to determine where everyone best fits.
What is the point of having such high expectations of something you have no control over the outcome of?
Will you be upset if we dont make it to conference play undefeated?
This team didnt make the tourney last season. A lot of people are talking about how good this team can be, but why dont we just watch them play and just be happy when they win?
way to many cupcakes...NC State is decent but no real big names..Atlantis has possibilities but overall at first glance I was dissapointed
perspective as weak as I have seen. Yes the away/neutral games make the schedule for the team challenging. What I was disappointed about is the Xavier game is on Friday of an away football game weekend (all other B1G/Big East games are Tue-Thur). Those fans that travel to watch football will miss the only game I really cared about before B1G.
SMU will be a tough game in that little arena. It will be loud! I wish they would move the game to the American Airlines Center so we could get tickets, but I understand why they would prefer to have the home court advantage. Larry Brown will have them ready, just like last year.
No Arizona type team on the schedule, but you can't schedule them every year. We will get plenty of tough competition for out of conference strength of schedule in the Atlantis tournament.
you can schedule a Arizona type team every year there are plenty to choose from and I cant believe Michigan couldnt schedule a couple of those every year...KY, Ind, L:ouisville , UCLA etc do it all the time...I come from the school of though of you have to beat the best to be the best..Id rather be 8-6 playing all tought opponents and then be prepared for the BIG reg season than 12-2 against a majority of cupcakes then wither agaisnt BIG competiton...
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
We have a chance to play those types of teams in the Atlantis tournament. Texas, UConn, A&M (will be very tough, and tougher later in the year when their freshman get experience), etc. I don't think you have to go schedule another blue chip school when you have that tough of a tournament, NC State, SMU, & Xavier on your schedule. It also appears JB doesn't think so either.
In fact, we could play more tough programs this year than last with Duke & Zona on the schedule.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
I would agree with you but I have no problem with this schedule for this team this year. This team is going to be really difficult to beat in February but I could see things being a little rag-tag for a while in the early going. I think there is approximately 2 losses on that schedule before Big Ten play. Anything more than that gets kind of uncomfortable.
(EDIT - also, BigHouseBoyz, we did not play Duke last year, that was the year before. That would have been a really ugly game last year so it was certainly for the best).
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
I pulled up the wrong schedule. I didn't think we played them, and your correct it would have been ugly! We played Cuse in the Challenge.
Also, I think people feel like KU, UK, UCLA etc are beating down our door to play them and we say no. You can't schedule top teams every year for various reasons, even if both teams want to play each other.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
with this team especially, I don't mind the idea of coasting into things a little bit. I genuinely think this could be a Final Four team by the end of the year but I also think it is going to take a while to get situated. I don't think there is any need for the Arizona-type brutality that took place last year with this team, they will be good when the time is right, I just don't think that will happen in November.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^
I am very excited to see this team come together this year. I think they can be a final four team, but they could fall very short too. So many options, but will take some time to get rotation, experience, D continuity, etc pulled together. I am really interested to see how JB manages all these guys minutes.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
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For those who can't stand the formatting above.
LINK (UMHOOPS)
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
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August 3rd, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
But ideally a couple of those would be vs. local MAC teams or Detroit. Who knows, maybe U-M offers and they refuse.
But among NKU, Elon, Youngstown, Del State, Houston Baptist and Bryant, nobody is really a regional draw and nobody finished better than 1 game over .500 in 2014-15.
What is actual butts-in-seat attendance going to be 2 days before Christmas vs. Bryant --- 2500 at best?
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^
Is there a recruiting or another advantage to casting a wider net?
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
Byrant.
And we do schedule local cupcakes, they just beat us by ten at home so we decided not to schedule them anymore...
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^
Sometimes it is for recruiting exposure. Even thought the game is at Michigan it raises the awareness locally.
Sometimes it is to prepare for a certian style. For exmaple Eastern Michigan last year. Their coach is a Boeheim protege so they got a chance to go against a strong match up zone team.
Sometimes it is helping a friend/coach out. Giving the lower tier team the payday and exposure of playing a big time opponent for a former assistant coach or former player turned coach.
I'm sure there are other reasons.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^
last year we used the Syracuse match-up zone to prepare for Eastern but there is just nothing that can prepare you for the Eagle's match-up.
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August 3rd, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
After last year, this team needs early wins and a good record going into conference play. I would be happy to see a 10-3 record and it could be even better. There will be plenty of great conference games.
While the committee says they take schedule into consideration, they take wins into consideration more. This schedule has a good combination of "auto-wins," games against teams that "look good on paper" and a few games that should be competitive.
I like this schedule. Nothing puts pressure on the committee for a high seeding like a lot of wins.
August 3rd, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
After NJIT and Eastern last year, I'm not considering any of these games "auto wins"
But NJIT & EMU were 166 and 144 in the final KenPom rankings. They weren't good, but they weren't terrible teams.
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:45 AM ^
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^
Holy shitty formatting, Batman.
August 3rd, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
August 3rd, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^
Punctuate.
August 3rd, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
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11/6 vs LeMoyne (ex)
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11/13 vs Northern Michigan
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11/16 vs Elon (Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland Game)
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11/20 vs Xavier (Gavitt Tipoff Games)
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11/25 Battle 4 Atlantis Opponent TBA
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11/26 Battle 4 Atlantis Opponent TBD
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11/27 Battle 4 Atlantis Opponent TBD
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12/1 at NC State (ACC/B1G Challenge)
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12/5 vs Houston Baptist
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12/8 at SMU
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12/12 vs Delaware State
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12/15 vs Northern Kentucky
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12/19 vs Youngstown State
- 12/23 vs Bryant
Battle 4 Atlantis field: Connecticut, Gonzaga, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, UNC-Charlotte, Washington
B1G opponents will be-
- Home game vs PSU and 1/30 at Madison Square Garden
- Road game at Illinois
- Home game vs Indiana
- Series with Iowa
- Home game vs MSU
- Series with Maryland
- Series with Minnesota
- Road game at Nebraska
- Home game vs Northwestern
- Road game at OSU
- Series with Purdue
- Home game with Rutgers
- Road game at Wisconsin
B1G Tournament in Indianapolis from 3/10-3-14.
Postseason TBD.
August 3rd, 2015 at 11:37 AM ^
August 3rd, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^
Ahhh, english motherfucker, I do speak it.
Thanks WD.
August 3rd, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
August 3rd, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
August 3rd, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
My assumption is that the quality of the OOC will go up a bit without Brandon in charge, but does anyone know if they plan on scheduling so many sub-150 teams in the future?
Holy shit! I live in NC and I live near Raleigh. I didn't realize that game was here, definitely have to go to that.