WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SCHEDULE SO FAR???

[lichoya68]

hey what do you think of the schedule so far .. big east were given but michigan,, vandy.. oreogon duke .. jmu navy.. fairfield whata you think go hoyas

[lichoya68]

oops dont forget odu do they still have the 611 or seven foot center whose pretty good.. go hoyas ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[theEDGEfactor]

not too bad soo far...could be alot worse but i think its okay enuf to get us ready for the BE sched

[Dhall]

Only an average OOC schedule and a horrible home OOC schedule. One game against a top-10 team at home and another home game against anyone from a major conference would solve everything, but I suspect neither will happen. Too bad, since this year could be one of our better teams.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

It looks to me like a much better OOC schedule than anything we've played in the past (with the exception of the last time we played in Maui (98?). The home side leaves something to be desired, but overall it lines up like this

Top 10: @ Duke
Top 25ish: @ Michigan
Top 50ish: Oregon
50-100: @ Vandy, ODU, Baylor
100-200: @ Fairfield
Cupcakes: JMU, Towson, Navy, WSSU

Certainly not top-heavy, but with the exception of WSSU, any of the other cupcakes could make a jump into the 100-200 range, and this schedule features a lot more of the 50-200 range teams (which people on this board always clamor for) than almost any year I can think of. And four road tests that should definitely prepare the team for the Big East season.

Twenty wins against this schedule guarantees at least a 5-seed, probably a four or better.

[GIGAFAN99]

It's kind of a wash with the pros and cons of this schedule.

Functionally, it's good. Nice mix of teams to get the team ready for the conference season.

For season ticket holders at Verizon, it's "wait until January" for a big game so that's bad.

RPI-wise, it's pretty much the same schedule as last year with Michigan replacing Illinois (downgrade) and Baylor replacing Colgate (upgrade). The rest are pretty much one-for-one (ODU for UTEP, Towson for Stetson, WSSU for Savannah State). You're right we could get some RPI luck THB but I'm not convinced 20 wins=4 or 5 seed when this team went 21-9 and 5-7 versus RPI top 50 teams and got a #7 seed. I don't know if I see 12 top 50 teams on this schedule (Pitt twice, Villanova twice, 'Cuse, Louisville, UConn, Marquette, Duke, Michigan, Oregon, and a BET quarterfinal game would probably be the best bet but a lot would have to fall the right way and that's just to get to the same number as last year).

Stupid RPI math aside, the overall schedule is solid for the purpose of getting this team ready for the tournament and the RPI certainly won't keep a very successful team from being a top 3 seed.

That said, I'm a little worried about the two extra games. Ideally at least one is a top 25 game. I don't think anyone would mind a Sun Bowl type tourney. But at the very least I hope we don't get forced to cram two more guarantee-types into Verizon.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

RPI-wise, ODU is an upgrade from UTEP, particularly because the Monarchs are pretty much a guaranteed twenty-win team, but otherwise I agree.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

There's another reason that this schedule is good - cost savings - we don't have to fly anywhere and play anyone to prove ourselves like we did last year - no expensive trips to Oregon or the Rio Grande this year - the fathest we are traveling is Nashville - McDonough needs basketball to turn a profit to cover the costs of all the new coaching contracts we've added in the last year.

[g2]

New coaching contracts When one coach leaves, another comes in. The net should be about the same.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

Not really - you've got to figure for inflation and paying to get quality.

[g2]

stpetersburghoya said:

Not really - you've got to figure for inflation and paying to get quality.

At Georgetown? lol

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

Terrible home schedule. Jack up the donation amounts 250% and deliver OOC games against NO ONE who is worth a damn. Last year Duke & Vandy were good home games. What do we have this year?

[nychoya3]

The home schedule is a real disappointment. I hope it's an aberation. Now that I'm paying more, though young alumni seats are still a great deal, I'm more conscious of having a decent OOC schedule. The aim should always be for at least one marquee home game OOC, in the vein of a Duke or an Illinois. Especially now that we're good. Putting 20,000 people in the arena for a nationally televised game just creates good vibes and new fans. And, basically, it's just a hell of a lot of fun. I know scheduling those games can be easier said than done, but I really have to believe that a home and home with someone like Gonzaga would be EASILY doable.

[FLHoya]

I sympathize with the argument in favor of a marquee OOC home game. I'd love to see (at least) one this year and every year to get more bang for my buck when it comes to Young Alum tickets.

However, seems like people are missing the bigger picture here. Non-conference schedule represents less than half the home schedule for the year in all likelihood.

When you factor in the major improvement in our Big East home schedule from last year to this year:

Keeping Cincinnati, Pitt, and West Virginia...

...and DROPPING Providence, USF, St. John's, Rutgers, and Syracuse while...

...PICKING UP UConn, Marquette, Villanova, Notre Dame, and Depaul...

I think the home schedule as a whole as we know it right now compares very favorably to last year's...I might even say I like it MORE. Maybe I'm just a nut for Big East rivalries, but lemme tell ya straight up I think this is our best home conference slate since I started watching GU hoops in 2000-2001.

[TBird41]

flhoya said:

I sympathize with the argument in favor of a marquee OOC home game. I'd love to see (at least) one this year and every year to get more bang for my buck when it comes to Young Alum tickets.

However, seems like people are missing the bigger picture here. Non-conference schedule represents less than half the home schedule for the year in all likelihood.

When you factor in the major improvement in our Big East home schedule from last year to this year:

Keeping Cincinnati, Pitt, and West Virginia...

...and DROPPING Providence, USF, St. John's, Rutgers, and Syracuse while...

...PICKING UP UConn, Marquette, Villanova, Notre Dame, and Depaul...

I think the home schedule as a whole as we know it right now compares very favorably to last year's...I might even say I like it MORE. Maybe I'm just a nut for Big East rivalries, but lemme tell ya straight up I think this is our best home conference slate since I started watching GU hoops in 2000-2001.

Well, except for the part where we don't get 'Cuse at home. That's really the only thing wrong with our BE home schedule.

[lichoya68]

fl hoya your pointing out the difference in this years big east schedule from lasts is why lic hoya is a little squeamish about the great big east record predictions our big east schedule is much tougher this year .... last year calhoun said to watch out for us because we were better than people thougth AND THAT WE HAD A PRETTY FAVORABLE SCHEDULE so lets be careful go hoyas but one by one please one by one..

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

I don't want to give a lot of credit for the BE schedule because we don't put that together. We are focusing on the teams we can bring in outside of the BE and that is the reason for the focus there rather then on the improved BE schedule.

[lichoya68]

my point re big eeast schedule is on how theydo it best play the best more and last year we wernot considered among th ebest preseason so the schedule was easier and now were rated higher and thus play tougher and less twinkies altho you woulda thougth usf was a twinke but wasnot thats my point and worry about great predictions hope we are great but road will be touger go hoyas whoever we play ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Deleted]

mivcevich said:

I don't want to give a lot of credit for the BE schedule because we don't put that together. We are focusing on the teams we can bring in outside of the BE and that is the reason for the focus there rather then on the improved BE schedule.

Maybe part of the issue is that Coach knew that we would have a tougher BE schedule this year, so he pulled back on the throttle on the OOC. Remember, last year, we mirrored with South Florida, St. John's and West Virginia. This year, it's Villanova, Pitt and Cincy.
I'm guessing Coach looks at the whole thing when he's thinking about OOC opponents...

[CO_Hoya]

Regarding the Alabama game rumor (link to front page), this would represent another upgrade to the overall schedule, and would replace the rumored but lost Okla. St. game with a better opponent. But the newspaper story says it would be another road game this year.