Non-Con schedule "officially" posted

[Beninator]

Last year's schedule was very good...no question. We took a step backwards with this year's...it happens.

We'll see how it all plays out. Hopefully the Valley is stronger this year and that will be where the rest of our quality opponents will come from...

ER3 we are on the same page as far as future scheduling goes. What scares me about this years schedule is that (assuming we have a decent overall record) our season or tourney hopes could rely on who and how we play in the Bracketbuster on Feb 21.

[Da Coach]

Putting teams like Tulsa, Xavier, Charlotte, St. Joseph's, Temple, UMass, Dayton, UAB, Western Kentucky, Kent St., Ohio, etc. on our home schedule would make a huge difference

It would be nice if scheduling teams like these was as easy as you apparently think it is. I can assure you that the people at Bradley who do the scheduling have tried every one of these schools, and they are not interested in playing Bradley in Peoria.

If it was easy as you think, then why aren't any of these schools playing at SIU, ISU, MSU, or any other MVC home court (except when forced to by the Bracket-Buster deal)?

[BU_EMT128]

It would be nice if scheduling teams like these was as easy as you apparently think it is. I can assure you that the people at Bradley who do the scheduling have tried every one of these schools, and they are not interested in playing Bradley in Peoria.

If it was easy as you think, then why aren't any of these schools playing at SIU, ISU, MSU, or any other MVC home court (except when forced to by the Bracket-Buster deal)?

I don't understand why schools such as that are not interested in playing us. It seems like a quality game for both teams and would be a good win for either side.

[Beninator]

It would be nice if scheduling teams like these was as easy as you apparently think it is. I can assure you that the people at Bradley who do the scheduling have tried every one of these schools, and they are not interested in playing Bradley in Peoria.

If it was easy as you think, then why aren't any of these schools playing at SIU, ISU, MSU, or any other MVC home court (except when forced to by the Bracket-Buster deal)?

I dont think that anyone is thinking that scheduling is easy. That being said, some of the upper Mid-major schools have to realize that one way to beef up their NCAA resume is to schedule each other to compliment scheduling larger schools in a 2 for 1 series.

One other aspect concerning this schedule is that I think that our schedule is about right for a team going into the season with some questions at key positions. I expect next years schedule to be tougher.

[squirrel]

Really? BU has played both UAB and WKU at home in the last 10 years. Creighton has played multi-year series with Xavier and St. Joe's recently.

Obviously I know scheduling is not the easiest thing to do, and I am thrilled with the CBE Classic considering it looked like those might be lost games.

But I think the current regime has overemphasized local/regional games to an extent. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But when it becomes the primary M.O. you hold the program back, in terms of RPI connectors, visibility, and potential for TV games, IMO.

Also, I don't complain about the DI newbie/provisional member games as the NCAA offers incentives for schools playing them to help their scheduling, as they have to play x (or a % of) number of DI opponents in a progressive fashion.

But I do have to agree that the schedule is disappointing. I understand all the reasons for it, but I won't use that as an excuse.

It's the direct result of too many multi-year deals (no excuse when you can get home buy games), too many multi-year deals against teams from the same regional league (again irresponsible schedule development), and the tourney falling through.

Only one of those is not the coach's fault.

But I am optimistic that the lessons have been learned and there will be changes for future scheduling.

[ER3]

It would be nice if scheduling teams like these was as easy as you apparently think it is. I can assure you that the people at Bradley who do the scheduling have tried every one of these schools, and they are not interested in playing Bradley in Peoria.

If it was easy as you think, then why aren't any of these schools playing at SIU, ISU, MSU, or any other MVC home court (except when forced to by the Bracket-Buster deal)?

I never said it was easy to get quality mid-major teams to come here...and I never said that BU isn't trying to get these teams on the schedule...I'm sure they are...I was merely questioning why these good mid-majors don't schedule each other on a more consistent basis...seems like a win-win to me.

I guess I was just trying to point out the hypocrisy that seems to exist in the ranks of some of the better mid-major programs...Out of one side of their mouths they complain about how the BCS teams won't play them...how difficult it is to get BCS teams to do home-and-home deals with them...how it is nearly impossible to put together a good non-conference schedule when BCS teams refuse to schedule with them.
Then, BU fills out their non-con schedule with SEMO, SIU-E, ETSU, UIC, etc...and Dayton, Kent St., Charlotte, Tulsa, VCU, etc. fill out their non-con schedule with Longwood, Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas State, North Florida, Central Arkansas, and a bunch of other teams that do nothing but kill your SOS...
I'm not saying it's a BU problem...I just don't understand why these good mid-major programs talk about how it is so unfair that BCS teams duck them when it comes times to make schedules, but at the same time these same good mid-major programs seem to be ducking each other in the same scheduling game...
Just seems a bit hypocritical to me.

[ER3]

UMKC and FGCU are on our schedule through no fault of our own, and anyone up on events should know that.
Had we not gotten those games, we'd maybe at best just have a Lewis College or a Missouri-St. Louis like a couple of the other Valley teams did to fill their final game.

I'm fully aware of how FGCU and UMKC got on our schedule. I'm not here to blame anyone for the schedule...I'm merely voicing my opinion that a non-con schedule with 4 teams that are likely to have RPIs greater than 200, and only having one team that is likely to have an RPI under 40...that makes for an underwhelming non-con schedule, IMO. And one that is a huge step backwards from what we had last year.
Butler being way down this year from where they were last year, the TOTW tourney falling apart late in the game, Iowa State pulling out of their game with us...those are things that are certainly out of our control...but you still have to assess the schedule as it is...regardless of how or why you into that situation...
I'm sure that BU is trying everything they can to schedule as well as they can...and I hope that this time next year we will all be talking about how much the schedule has improved over this year's schedule...but for now, this is the only schedule we have...and to me, it is not a very good one. But on the bright side, there should be no reason that we can't get 8 or 9 wins in these non-con games and put us in a good position heading into the Valley schedule...so let's do that....

[squirrel]

You are right on ER3. . .ANY mis-steps given the weak associations and RPI connectors of our opponents will be magnified in this year's RPI.

Our one saving grace is a bunch of games away from home that we should win.

[brocks]

I'm fully aware of how FGCU and UMKC got on our schedule. I'm not here to blame anyone for the schedule...I'm merely voicing my opinion that a non-con schedule with 4 teams that are likely to have RPIs greater than 200, and only having one team that is likely to have an RPI under 40...that makes for an underwhelming non-con schedule, IMO. And one that is a huge step backwards from what we had last year.
Butler being way down this year from where they were last year, the TOTW tourney falling apart late in the game, Iowa State pulling out of their game with us...those are things that are certainly out of our control...but you still have to assess the schedule as it is...regardless of how or why you into that situation...
I'm sure that BU is trying everything they can to schedule as well as they can...and I hope that this time next year we will all be talking about how much the schedule has improved over this year's schedule...but for now, this is the only schedule we have...and to me, it is not a very good one. But on the bright side, there should be no reason that we can't get 8 or 9 wins in these non-con games and put us in a good position heading into the Valley schedule...so let's do that....

To add to this, this NCAA selection committee (assuming they're an issue this season) will not be "doing nuance" about who is to "blame" for the schedule. They'll just say BU scheduled weak and leave it at that.

This does mean we need to beat Florida/Syracuse or Michigan State to impress. Those are all beatable opponents, btw.

[Bravesfan]

It would be nice if scheduling teams like these was as easy as you apparently think it is. I can assure you that the people at Bradley who do the scheduling have tried every one of these schools, and they are not interested in playing Bradley in Peoria.

If it was easy as you think, then why aren't any of these schools playing at SIU, ISU, MSU, or any other MVC home court (except when forced to by the Bracket-Buster deal)?

I'm just curious as to why you think these mid-majors don't want to play each other, especially after they complain about not getting the BCS teams. Are these teams just looking for wins over quality, and hope that their winning percentage boosts their RPI? As we saw with ISU last year, that strategy backfired on them, so I don't get why the Kent St's and Tulsa's of the world don't want to play us, other than there is only so much room per schedule. I'd be interested in your comments.

[Beninator]

To add to this, this NCAA selection committee (assuming they're an issue this season) will not be "doing nuance" about who is to "blame" for the schedule. They'll just say BU scheduled weak and leave it at that.

This does mean we need to beat Florida/Syracuse or Michigan State to impress. Those are all beatable opponents, btw.

.....and hope that the scheduling gods at ESPN give us a quality opponent
for the bracketbuster. --the real wildcard if we have a good record
going into February.imo

[squirrel]

.....and hope that the scheduling gods at ESPN give us a quality opponent
for the bracketbuster. --the real wildcard if we have a good record
going into February.imo

I am optimistic that we will have a lot of wins already when that happens this year so. . .

[DoubleJayAlum]

If it was easy as you think, then why aren't any of these schools playing at SIU, ISU, MSU, or any other MVC home court (except when forced to by the Bracket-Buster deal)?

At Creighton we've had home and home series with St. Josephs, Xavier, and George Mason and renew a series with Dayton starting this year. We also start a series with New Mexico this year. I'm pretty sure SIU had a series with Charlotte, St. Mary's and WKU. SIU and MSU have long standing series with SLU.

I'm not really sure why you think the other mid-majors aren't interested in home and home series with MVC schools as their scheduling practices seem to indicate otherwise...

[Beninator]

I am optimistic that we will have a lot of wins already when that happens this year so. . .

dont want to jinx my team....thats all.

[Bravesfan]

At Creighton we've had home and home series with St. Josephs, Xavier, and George Mason and renew a series with Dayton starting this year. We also start a series with New Mexico this year. I'm pretty sure SIU had a series with Charlotte, St. Mary's and WKU. SIU and MSU have long standing series with SLU.

I'm not really sure why you think the other mid-majors aren't interested in home and home series with MVC schools as their scheduling practices seem to indicate otherwise...

I'm not seeing other schools doing what Creighton does. Altman had decided long ago that he was not going to get the BCS teams on his schedule, outside of Nebraska. So while he does have some very winnable games every year, he seems to go after like minded mid-majors more aggressively than I have seen other Valley teams do. I don't know if this is due to many not wanting to play Valley teams, or if teams aren't trying hard enough to attract them onto their schedule. But I would like to see the Valley as a whole try to go after these teams more aggressively in the future.