24-25 Hoya Schedule

[hoyasaxa2003]

Sept 9, 2024 11:12:52 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

Sept 8, 2024 19:57:14 GMT -5 blueandgray said:

It's important to understand that much of the schedule was put to bed before our team came together. I believe Coach had many opportunities to orchestrate a much more compelling schedule....but given the state of the team, its youth and the fact that we won so few conference games in the 4 years....he thought it was important for the team to have some confidence and momentum going into conference play.

Makes perfect sense to me. We are so young. We need some cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence.

It makes sense in some ways...but we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence in 2021-2022, and we only went 6-5 in the OOC and went 0-19 in the Big East. While Dartmouth turned out to be a bit better than expected, losing that first game essentially killed all hope.

In 2022-2023, we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence and went 5-6 in the OOC (losing to American--at the time our worst loss ever), and went 2-18 in the Big East. Losing to American really destroyed any possibility of a good season early on.

In 2023-2024, we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence and went 7-4 in the OOC and 2-18 in the Big East, and yet we lost to Holy Cross in our second game--the worst Georgetown loss ever. (Holy Cross finished 349th on KenPom.) And then we went 2-18 in the Big East. The Holy Cross loss destroyed a significant percentage of the positive feelings and momentum Ed Cooley had built since getting hired. I would argue that had we lost instead to a 150-225-ish type of opponent, it would have been much better for everyone involved.

The problem with these schedules, in part, is that IF you lose one of these cupcakes, it essentially destroys the season out of the gate. Given that that's happened three consecutive years, I question the merits of that scheduling strategy.

(For the record, I get scheduling a super-easy game to start the season, or around finals for example. But beyond that, I think those games are pointless. And not scheduling better teams prevents the team from getting an unexpected win, like we almost had against TCU last year if not for horrible officiating.)

[hoyarooter]

Sept 9, 2024 15:12:29 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

Sept 9, 2024 11:12:52 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

Makes perfect sense to me. We are so young. We need some cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence.

It makes sense in some ways...but we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence in 2021-2022, and we only went 6-5 in the OOC and went 0-19 in the Big East. While Dartmouth turned out to be a bit better than expected, losing that first game essentially killed all hope.

In 2022-2023, we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence and went 5-6 in the OOC (losing to American--at the time our worst loss ever), and went 2-18 in the Big East. Losing to American really destroyed any possibility of a good season early on.

In 2023-2024, we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence and went 7-4 in the OOC and 2-18 in the Big East, and yet we lost to Holy Cross in our second game--the worst Georgetown loss ever. (Holy Cross finished 349th on KenPom.) And then we went 2-18 in the Big East. The Holy Cross loss destroyed a significant percentage of the positive feelings and momentum Ed Cooley had built since getting hired. I would argue that had we lost instead to a 150-225-ish type of opponent, it would have been much better for everyone involved.

The problem with these schedules, in part, is that IF you lose one of these cupcakes, it essentially destroys the season out of the gate. Given that that's happened three consecutive years, I question the merits of that scheduling strategy.

(For the record, I get scheduling a super-easy game to start the season, or around finals for example. But beyond that, I think those games are pointless. And not scheduling better teams prevents the team from getting an unexpected win, like we almost had against TCU last year if not for horrible officiating.)

We beat TCU last year, so our OOC record was actually 8-3.

I will never get off that horse.

[blueandgray]

Neither will I….that was horrible!!

[jwp91]

Sept 9, 2024 15:12:29 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

Sept 9, 2024 11:12:52 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

Makes perfect sense to me. We are so young. We need some cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence.

It makes sense in some ways...but we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence in 2021-2022, and we only went 6-5 in the OOC and went 0-19 in the Big East. While Dartmouth turned out to be a bit better than expected, losing that first game essentially killed all hope.

In 2022-2023, we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence and went 5-6 in the OOC (losing to American--at the time our worst loss ever), and went 2-18 in the Big East. Losing to American really destroyed any possibility of a good season early on.

In 2023-2024, we had cupcakes to build some cohesion and confidence and went 7-4 in the OOC and 2-18 in the Big East, and yet we lost to Holy Cross in our second game--the worst Georgetown loss ever. (Holy Cross finished 349th on KenPom.) And then we went 2-18 in the Big East. The Holy Cross loss destroyed a significant percentage of the positive feelings and momentum Ed Cooley had built since getting hired. I would argue that had we lost instead to a 150-225-ish type of opponent, it would have been much better for everyone involved.

The problem with these schedules, in part, is that IF you lose one of these cupcakes, it essentially destroys the season out of the gate. Given that that's happened three consecutive years, I question the merits of that scheduling strategy.

(For the record, I get scheduling a super-easy game to start the season, or around finals for example. But beyond that, I think those games are pointless. And not scheduling better teams prevents the team from getting an unexpected win, like we almost had against TCU last year if not for horrible officiating.)

Look….if you suck, no amount of cupcakes will help.

If you are young, cupcakes can be part of a development agenda.

[astrohoya]

I don’t like playing sub-300 teams for the reasons mentioned above by several. My real issue with this schedule is that there is zero chance to get a real good win. He could have at least scheduled one stretch game. As it is, there is No chance to get any buzz or an actual confidence booster. Nothing to balance out the sort of awful loss we are statistically likely to take. This is a zero upside OOC. But there is a lot of downside if we suck andtake more awful losses but also a lot of downside if we are good and if everything comes together and we flirt with .500 in the Big East. In either a good or bad scenario this schedule sinks us, so I do not get the point.

[kghoya]

I can't imagine many of the folks in favor of the non conference schedule actually go to the home games

[guru]

[DFW HOYA]

[DanMcQ]

[hoyaguy]

Sept 12, 2024 13:26:00 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

That stretch of games of at Creighton, at Uconn, then back home to play MQ within 7 days is rough tbh. But at least it ends with more winnable games in a home match up against nova and then away at Depaul. While I don't like to go in with a negative attitude, the game away at SH on the 22nd of December and home against Xavier on the 3rd of January are very important to help set the tone in the conference season considering they are flanked by some tough ones (Creighton before and at MQ & Uconn after).

[jackofjoy]

Sept 12, 2024 14:12:02 GMT -5 hoyaguy said:

Sept 12, 2024 13:26:00 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

That stretch of games of at Creighton, at Uconn, then back home to play MQ within 7 days is rough tbh. But at least it ends with more winnable games in a home match up against nova and then away at Depaul. While I don't like to go in with a negative attitude, the game away at SH on the 22nd of December and home against Xavier on the 3rd of January are very important to help set the tone in the conference season considering they are flanked by some tough ones (Creighton before and at MQ & Uconn after).

I guess the other way to look at it is there's a 20 game stretch that will be difficult for any team coming off 2-18 ...

[FrazierFanatic]

Thrilling season ender at DePaul! Should be prime time on Fox🤣

[prhoya]

Sept 12, 2024 18:15:40 GMT -5 FrazierFanatic said:

Thrilling season ender at DePaul! Should be prime time on Fox🤣

Relegation battle! Oh, wait, wrong sport!

[jwp91]

Sept 12, 2024 18:15:40 GMT -5 FrazierFanatic said:

Thrilling season ender at DePaul! Should be prime time on Fox🤣

We have to earn our way to a more compelling match-up. It is sad that this is where we are.

One step at a time.

[dariantownesvanzandt]

Sept 13, 2024 9:54:09 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

Sept 12, 2024 18:15:40 GMT -5 FrazierFanatic said:

Thrilling season ender at DePaul! Should be prime time on Fox🤣

We have to earn our way to a more compelling match-up. It is sad that this is where we are.

One step at a time.

I don't think they really consider it. Somebody has to play DePaul last. Three of the last four teams to wrap with them were UConn, MU, and Creighton. Last year was Seton Hall.

[hoyaguy]

Sept 13, 2024 10:02:28 GMT -5 dariantownesvanzandt said:

Sept 13, 2024 9:54:09 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

We have to earn our way to a more compelling match-up. It is sad that this is where we are.

One step at a time.

I don't think they really consider it. Somebody has to play DePaul last. Three of the last four teams to wrap with them were UConn, MU, and Creighton. Last year was Seton Hall.

Yeah there’s so many factors at play when scheduling times and dates beyond “I want this team as my final game and my this one for my first BE game”. When you have 11 teams and some of those teams share professional arenas along with on campus ones having to balance with other sports. Much rather close out on DePaul than MQ

[jwp91]

Sept 13, 2024 10:02:28 GMT -5 dariantownesvanzandt said:

Sept 13, 2024 9:54:09 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

We have to earn our way to a more compelling match-up. It is sad that this is where we are.

One step at a time.

I don't think they really consider it. Somebody has to play DePaul last. Three of the last four teams to wrap with them were UConn, MU, and Creighton. Last year was Seton Hall.

Disagree. When we weren't a doormat, we finished the season with a compelling match-up. IIRC, it was frequently Villanova. Then when we became uncompetitive that changed. At least that is my observation.

[dariantownesvanzandt]

Sept 13, 2024 11:02:30 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

Sept 13, 2024 10:02:28 GMT -5 dariantownesvanzandt said:

I don't think they really consider it. Somebody has to play DePaul last. Three of the last four teams to wrap with them were UConn, MU, and Creighton. Last year was Seton Hall.

Disagree. When we weren't a doormat, we finished the season with a compelling match-up. IIRC, it was frequently Villanova. Then when we became uncompetitive that changed. At least that is my observation.

We're still a draw, but our final opponent seems to have little to do with how good we are. 

In 2023 -- coming off a winless season -- we played Creighton. In 2021, when we were picked 11th by the coaches, we played UConn last.

Sometimes it's just your turn to play DePaul.

[HoyaRejuveNation85]

Sept 13, 2024 11:14:28 GMT -5 dariantownesvanzandt said:

Sept 13, 2024 11:02:30 GMT -5 jwp91 said:

Disagree. When we weren't a doormat, we finished the season with a compelling match-up. IIRC, it was frequently Villanova. Then when we became uncompetitive that changed. At least that is my observation.

We're still a draw, but our final opponent seems to have little to do with how good we are. 

In 2023 -- coming off a winless season -- we played Creighton. In 2021, when we were picked 11th by the coaches, we played UConn last.

Sometimes it's just your turn to play DePaul.

Oh the good old days when we always finished the regular season vs Cuse. Must have gone to nearly 10 games up there.

[DanMcQ]

Meanwhile, the UConn online fan base is whining…