MVC schools' schedule news

[Da Coach]

Northwestern releases their non-conference schedule, and they are hosting UIC- https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1821206823036440790

UIC lost 4 of their top 5 scorers, and return only 2 of their players from last season, Filip Skobalj (8.2 ppg) and Ethan Pickett (6.0 ppg). In addition, they have a new coach, and will likely be picked near the bottom of the MVC in preseason polls.
It always seems to be easier to get Power 5 teams to play you when you are rebuilding or expected to be bad.

[64NIT]

Illinois State will host St. Louis on December 15: https://x.com/SaintLouisMBB/status/1821275440167981461

SIU is not on SLU's schedule as they've been almost every year since about 1990. I think there's one more game at SLU in the current contract. Either I'm mistaken, one of the teams bought out the other to cancel the game, or the game has been postponed to a following season.

On a side note, it's my intention to travel to Sioux Falls, SD, in early November. There's a tripleheader scheduled for November 4. SIU will be facing the College of Charleston in the first game. This will be Scott Nagy's first game as SIU's head coach and I am a SIU alum. There's a fair amount of positive anticipation on the SIU board regarding him and the roster he's assembled. In the second game, SLU will face Santa Clara, who BU will be facing in Henderson, NV, and I'll get to see Josh Schertz and Robbie Avila. The third game has South Dakota State facing McNeese. I was only interested in the first two games, but the ticket covers all three.

I had plans to travel to SD at another time, but when I heard that SIU was participating in this tripleheader, I rearranged my schedule. I have yet to make any reservations, and have not purchased the ticket to the games, so nothing is written in stone, yet.

[Da Coach]

Illinois State will host St. Louis on December 15: https://x.com/SaintLouisMBB/status/1821275440167981461

SIU is not on SLU's schedule as they've been almost every year since about 1990. I think there's one more game at SLU in the current contract. Either I'm mistaken, one of the teams bought out the other to cancel the game, or the game has been postponed to a following season.

On a side note, it's my intention to travel to Sioux Falls, SD, in early November. There's a tripleheader scheduled for November 4. SIU will be facing the College of Charleston in the first game. This will be Scott Nagy's first game as SIU's head coach and I am a SIU alum. There's a fair amount of positive anticipation on the SIU board regarding him and the roster he's assembled. In the second game, SLU will face Santa Clara, who BU will be facing in Henderson, NV, and I'll get to see Josh Schertz and Robbie Avila. The third game has South Dakota State facing McNeese. I was only interested in the first two games, but the ticket covers all three....

McNeese State might be the best team among those participating. They are coming off a 30-4 season in their first season under Will Wade. They were 17-1 and dominated the Southland Conference and made the NCAA Tournament. College of Charleston should also be a good team. They have made NCAA Tournament appearances the last 2 years and were 27-8 last year. South Dakota State also made the tournament last year as the Summit League Champion, with a 22-13, 12-4 final record.
Saint Louis is the only one of those 6 schools that had a losing record last season (13-20), and like SIU they have a ton of transfers and new players

[Da Coach]

Illinois State will host St. Louis on December 15: https://x.com/SaintLouisMBB/status/1821275440167981461

As noted a couple posts above, St. Louis U. released their non-conference schedule yesterday - https://x.com/SaintLouisMBB/status/1821275440167981461

One of their non-conference opponents is Avila University. It is a small (about 1,500 students) private Catholic university in Kansas City, Missouri. But the interesting part is that apparently it was Avila University that reached out to St. Louis University to ask about playing when they heard that Robbie Avila was transferring there.
Here is a post on X.com by their beat writer - https://x.com/studurando/status/1821298112620527797

Avila is an NAIA school, and they are not very good. They were 4-20 last season with many of their losses being big blowouts.
But they do appear to have a sense of humor.
Avila University Men's Basketball tweeted this today - https://x.com/avilamensBB/status/1821648967194579188
Family Reunion!
See you soon Robbie “Avila”…

And they attached this short video -

[Da Coach]

Belmont will participate in the 2024 Cancun Challenge - https://x.com/RoccoMiller8/status/1821588503102406755

Bradley was the 2018 Cancun Challenge Champion (Riviera Division).

[64NIT]

Source: McNeese and Santa Clara will start a home-and-home series on December 3rd in Lake Charles. Return game at Santa Clara during the 2025-26 season. A fascinating matchup between what should be two of college basketball's best mid-majors in 2024-25.

https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1822256588109029626

Interesting that two of the teams playing in Sioux Falls on November 4 have decided to start a home-and-home series. I booked my flights just a little while ago and will purchase my ticket on Monday. Looking forward to these games.

[Da Coach]

Indiana State posted their 2024-25 non-conference schedule today - https://gosycamores.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule Interesting... The schedule as of now has only 8 non-conference games, and 2 of them are non-D1 - D3 Eureka College, & University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (NAIA). They will announce a Multiple Team Event at a later date. They only have 4 home non-conference games, and only 2 of them are D1 (SIUE and Chicago State). They have a nearly 4-week gap without a game between Nov. 25 and Dec. 21. They do have one Quadrant 1 game- a road game at Ohio State. Head Coach Matt Graves talking about how hard it is to schedule - https://x.com/MartySports10/status/1825641175883129246

[Da Coach]

The Indiana State fans on their message board are not very happy with the schedule, especially the home slate.
Among the posts-
> image.pngimage.png
> "Very, very weak schedule. I guess it hurts that we didn't have an AD or a coach to start the offseason."
> "Embarrassing schedule"
> "having Eureka and UHSP is troubling"
> "No "decent schedule" for a Valley team in the 21st century should contain a Div III game AND a NAIA game against the likes of UHSP (St Louis?)
> "Chicago State should NOT be on the schedule"
> "this schedule isn't very good"

[Da Coach]

Illinois State posts their 2024-25 non-conference schedule - https://goredbirds.com/news/2024/8/2...-schedule.aspx
Schedule- https://goredbirds.com/sports/mens-b...hedule/2024-25

FWIW, Last season NET of ISU opponents-
UT Martin (home) 204
North Dakota State (road) 255
Ohio U. (home) 139
Trinity Christian College (home- NAIA)
McNeese State (neutral site) 56
One of these two- UAB (neutral site) 104 or Longwood (neutral site) 162
One of these four- Louisiana 150, Liberty 141, George Washington 192 , or Kansas State 70 (neutral Site)
Pacific (home) 359
St. Louis (home) 197
Northern Illinois (home) 298
Cornell (road) 95

[Da Coach]

Belmont to release their 2024-25 non-conference schedule tomorrow - https://x.com/BelmontMBB/status/1828538547470553549

And I am hearing the MVC schedule is close to being finalized and released.

[64NIT]

Belmont schedule: https://belmontbruins.com/news/2024/...-schedule.aspx

[Da Coach]

Belmont schedule: https://belmontbruins.com/news/2024/...-schedule.aspx

Overall, that's a pretty decent non-conference schedule, though not great. Belmont probably has the same problems getting teams to play them that Bradley has. Not sure there are any clear-cut Quadrant 1 opportunities that could be seen as a "signature win", or the tool the NCAA now uses called Wins Above Bubble (WAB) for the purposes of getting an at-large bid. Richmond finished last season with the best NET of any of their opponents (NET 73), so since that is on the road, it could turn out to be a Quad 1 game.
Only non-D1 is their opening game vs. Maryville College. Maryville College is a tiny (1,079 students) private, Presbyterian-related Division III college near Knoxville, Tennessee.

Last season NET of Belmont's 2024-25 non-con opponents
Maryville (D3)
Furman (home) 147
Lipscomb (road) 166
Air Force (road) 269
Oral Roberts (home) 276
Loyola Marymount (neutral site) 199
Tulane (neutral) 138 or Wyoming (neutral) 155
Gardner-Webb (home) 190
Middle Tennessee (home) 288
Richmond (road) 73
UC Irvine (home) 77

[Da Coach]

SIU releases non-conference schedule- https://x.com/SIU_Basketball/status/1828904018099192213

[64NIT]

Valpo schedule: https://x.com/ValpoBasketball/status...81310603194525

[Da Coach]

Valpo schedule: https://x.com/ValpoBasketball/status...81310603194525

For anyone who doesn't know what SMWC, CUAA, or CCSJ are, here is their schedule page - https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/schedule/

SMWC- St. Mary of the Woods College- a small (1,703 students) Catholic college just outside Terre Haute (NAIA)
CUAA- Concordia University of Ann Arbor- a small (1,351 students) Lutheran university in Mequon, Wisconsin (NAIA)
CCSJ- Calumet College of St. Joseph- a small (658 students) Catholic college in Hammond, Indiana.(NAIA)