(01-01-2017 11:15 PM)shizzle787 Wrote: It can be somewhat of a challenge to cobble together an OOC schedule out west so why doesn't the Big West go to 12 schools and a 22-game schedule in basketball?
I would add UC San Diego, CSU Bakersfield, and Chaminade.
Is it really
that bad for Big West teams to put together an OOC schedule?
Pac-12, MWC, WCC, WAC, Big Sky. 5 other conferences out there. Admittedly, they're unlikely to get home games from the Pac-12 schools, but they should be able to get home games from most schools in the other 4.
Various Summit (Denver, Dakota schools), Southland (Texas schools), and C-USA schools (Texas schools) aren't that far away (relatively speaking) either. Although admittedly it's a plane trip vs. a bus ride.
Out of curiosity, I picked 3 Big West schools, looked at their OOC schedules:
UC-Riverside: 1 Non-D1 (home), 2 WCC (both away), 2 Pac-12 (both away), 1 Summit (at Denver), 2 WAC (both home), 2 Big Sky (1 home/1 away), 1 MWC (away).
Cal Poly: 2 Non-D1 (both home), 1 WCC (away), 3 Pac-12 (all away), 3 game tournament at Northern Illinois, 1 C-USA (home), 1 Southland (home), 1 MWC (at Fresno State), 1 WAC (at Grand Canyon), 1 game all the way at Princeton.
CS-Northridge: 2 Non-D1 (both home), 2 Pac-12 (both away), 3 games in the Wooden Legacy, 1 MAC (home), 1 MEAC (home), 1 Big Sky (home), 1 WCC (home), 1 MWC (at Boise State), 1 game all the way at St. John's.
1-2 Non-D1 home games isn't unusual for teams from conference's like the Big West. UC-Riverside never ventured west of the Rockies. Cal Poly ventured twice: once for the NIU tournament and once to play Princeton. Cal St-Northridge probably got paid well for their 1 trip west of the Rockies to NYC.