Scheduling is not all that important until the quality of play improves. Right now, the MAC just isn’t very good compared to the better mid-major teams. If you don’t beat at least a couple of the top 50 teams on your non-conference schedule, you’ve gained very little except “experience,” whatever that’s worth.

In any year, you want to schedule the best teams you have a decent chance of beating. Then you have to beat them. If you don’t do both, it’s kind of irrelevant how you scheduled.