Bad scheduling move

[tornado]

Drake has yet to release their upcomiong schedule for 2006-2007,
but I have found something interesting that suggests that Drake has
scheduled a regular season game, well into November against an absolute cupcake,
NAIA Waldorf College in Forest City, IA.

What are they thinking?
This would be like Bradley scheduling a regular season game against Eureka College! ----BAD MOVE for the league as most other teams are trying like heck to upgrade scheduling.

Here is the schedule for Waldorf showing they have an 11/25/06 game against Drake, and it will be Waldorf's 8th game of the season.

http://www.waldorf.edu/athletics/mbasketball/schedule.htm

(by the way, Waldorf has a 7-1 sophomore who was a teammate of Ray Brown's at Richfield.)

http://www.waldorf.edu/athletics/mbasketball/roster/index.htm

[MacabreMob]

Is it possible it is an exhibition for DU? I know Nov 25th is kinda late to get the season going since seasons can begin earlier this year than in the past. But I do recall some teams (not many) not starting their season until the month of December.

Just a suggestion.

[tornado]

I agree, what are they thinking?? But then Drake has a habit of scheduling really ridiculous cupcakes that late.

Last year on that date they played and almost beat Boston College! BUT-- they did play and whup Shawnee State the game before on 11/22 in a regular season game they won 85-36

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1634&highlight=shawnee

They also scheduled and beat Cornell (of Iowa) on 11/30/05 last season!!

Nov. 25 is the Saturday during Thanksgiving weekend, the college basketball season is in full swing, and people will have options for really great games like the ACC/Big Ten matchups, and other tourneys.
If they are planning to host Waldorf on that night, they'll draw an empty house....even less than the 2103 they drew for Shawnee or the 2052 they drew for Cornell College last year.

Bradley's exhibitions are Oct. 27 and Nov.1, and then BU begins regular season games on Nov. 11.
By Nov. 25 Bradley might have played 4 or 5 games, so I suspect Drake should NOT be scheduling an exhibition that late into the season. But then, who am I to say....

[DU1995]

I hate these games.
Must be some local politics at play because there can be no justification for scheduling so low and drawing under 2000.
The 2000 figure in those games was probably inflated by sold season tickets but empty seats.

[Bravesguy]

When BU played Lubbock Christian a couple years ago wasn't there
some talk of a League-wide standard that should prevent scheduling
more than one non-D-I opponent?

[tornado]

I suspect the league can put some pressure on schools in regards to scheduling, but not sure if they can fully control who you choose as your nonconference opponents.
Does anyone know?

[collegehoopjunkie]

In the little discussion there is about this game on the Drake board
at least some of the fans find optimism in that no matter what happens
in this game it won't affect Drake's RPI.
Somebody needs to tell them that the only thing the RPI wopuld ever be used for is if they might qualify for
an at large bid, in which case games like Cornell, Waldorf, etc. are still factors that would adversely sway the selection committee.

[tornado]

Among the MVC schools, six chose to play non-D-I opponents.
Two of the games were a tourney games and not scheduled (Alaska-Anchorage, Hawaii Pacific), and one resulted in a loss
(SIU to Alaska Anchorage).
In virtually every case the opinion as expressed on the message boards has been resoundingly negative in regards to these games, so I have to ask the obvious question....
Why do the MVC teams continue to schedule no-D-I when there doesn't appear to bee a need to?

WSU-Panhandle State
SIU-Alaska-Anchorage
UNI-Upper Iowa, Hawaii Pacific
Drake-Shawnee State, Cornell
Indiana St.-Central State (OH)
Illinois State-Indianapolis

[it's boogie time]

They don't cost nearly as much as a D1 buy game and they don't hurt your rpi. It doesn't seem like a big deal.

The Valley put a stop to these games for a while in the early 2000s. BU had an expection about 5 years ago when they played Alaska-Fairbanks the year before they were to play in the Top of the World classic.

As a fan, it sucks. I can remember being less than thrilled to go to a BU/Arkansas-Monticello game. I didn't stay to see BU hit triple digits.

[chitownBUB]

I checked the schedules of all the teams in the conferences rated higher than the MVC.
Only one or two teams among all those (ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big X11, Big East) schedule non-D-I's.
But most of the conferences below the MVC do schedule a few.
The MWC as a conference has 10 of them and all the Horizon teams have one.

But even with the ones I found, virtually nobody at the D-I level schedules NAIA schools.
That's another big notch below D-II, so I also don't see what Drake is doing, especially with the attendance they draw.

[Bravesguy]

I suspect there are personal or political things that contribute to scheduling these games.
But it sure doesn't prepare a D-I team for the conference season.

[Fastbreak]

When does ISU release its schedule for 06-07?

[Da Coach]

When does ISU release its schedule for 06-07?

ISU hasn't completed their non-conference schedule yet. In fact, here is a site where coaches advertise to buy guarantee home games from weak opponents looking to play a road game, absorb a loss, and take home $50,000+ for their athletic department. Drake, SIU, and Missouri State are also advertising to buy games. But ISU appears to be the only team needing to buy 2 games.

http://basketballtravelers.com/board...&Submit=Submit (scroll down about 1/2 way to find ISU)

There are a lot of big name schools advertising to buy games. This trend is changing. A few years ago there were many teams willing to play these road games for guarantees of $20,000 or so, but now even with guarantees of $50-60,000 or more, big schools are having a great deal of difficulty buying games. If I was a Chicago State, I'd rather play at Kentucky or Kansas that ISU or Drake.

[Da Coach]

Another interesting article about scheduling--

http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060620/SPORTS07/60620016

A quote I find funny--
"It sure had an effect on how we approached our schedule,'' Virginia Tech Coach Seth Greenberg said. "You can't be ignorant to change. You watched the Missouri Valley and the success they had in creating RPIs; obviously, they figured it out."
"We were behind the curve, and certain conferences were ahead of the curve.''

The MVC "created" their high RPI's last year! Seth Greenberg is a real tool!
Here is what MVC Comissioner Doug Elgin said when he heard this bull-

MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin laughs at that suggestion.
"We've broken the code!'' he said. "We have! There's a secret formula!''
"There are no secrets in college basketball,'' Elgin said. "When you look at the committee's evaluation, there are no secrets and there is no place to hide once your resume is complete. They know who you played, where you played and the result of your games.''


Here is another gem from these geniuses--
ACC coaches suggested as much this spring when they lamented that the MVC was given three NCAA at-large bids ???‚¬??? the same number as the ACC ???‚¬??? not because three teams deserved to go, but because the conference successfully played the RPI.

Here is a news flash boys--
The MVC had high RPI's because they played good teams, they played them on the road, and they beat some of them. Not anything so difficult to grasp. Maybe the ACC boys should stop scheduling so many pansies at home, and go play a few good teams on the road.

[Aargh]

WSU seems to have a D-2 game every year. Turg has been asked why and he had a valid point, whixh is valid for any Valley team.

If the only game you can schedule is with an RPI-250+ team, RPI takes a hit, SoS takes a hit. That affects not only the team scheduling the cupcake D-1 team, but indirectly the entire Valley.

Schedule a non-D1 team and the win is ignored. There is no effect on RPI. Nothing good can happen from playing a D1 cupcake and bad things happen even if you win. Schedule a non-D1 team and "nothing" happens.


BTW, DU got stuck with some really bad teams last year because of a tournament. I believe DU played 2 non-D1 teams at home when the tourney couldn't fill the lower end of the bracket. That was DU's price to pay for getting a shot at BC.

WSU played 2 absolute RPI killers (Texas San Antonio and Texas Pan Am - both RPI 300+) for the opportunity to play Illinois.

But still, scheduling an NAIA team? Putting them on the schedule in July?