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(04-25-2018 02:03 PM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 01:31 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 11:02 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:30 AM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(04-25-2018 10:18 AM)monarx Wrote:  Cincy, Memphis and UConn are strange ones because their basketball programs are so much better than the rest of the AAC. They really don't fit in that conference. If you leave them out, ODU would do well to schedule any of the rest of the AAC because those teams will automatically have a higher RPI than UMES etc simply by playing those top three (and WSU). We should be scheduling as many AAC, A10, MVC teams as possible, with a few OVC, SBC, MEAC, CAA thrown in.

What makes you think they're not? Scheduling isn't like going to the supermarket and picking out what you want; both teams need to be equally interested and they have to agree on the terms of the games. ODU routinely plays multiple A-10 teams every year and will have at least three this coming season (VCU, Richmond, St. Joseph's). Just because every game isn't tailor-made for ESPN doesn't mean they're not trying to construct a good schedule.

And people keep pointing to UMES (or similar opponents) as being beneath ODU and/or a useless game. Well last year UMES played, among others, Maryland, Georgetown, St. Bonaventure, Virginia Tech, Creighton and Iowa State. And yet somehow they manage to overcome the indignity of playing them to still be considered strong basketball programs.

Schools like UMES serve a purpose in the early part of the season for stronger programs. Backups get more run. Coaches experiment with lineups and defenses. Fans get an easy win. Pretty much everybody plays bodybag games. That's the nature of the beast. And yet every time a game that doesn't meet our lofty approval gets scheduled, some people around here throw temper tantrums about how ODU doesn't care about the quality of the program and that it's not showing ambition or that it's living off low-hanging fruit.

The funny thing is that despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth that traditionally accompany the release of the basketball schedule, ODU usually has one of the better OOCs in CUSA OR the mighty and sacrosanct CAA.

The schools you mentioned that also play UMES are able to absorb the rpi hit because they play tough, respected teams in conference. We play too many teams comparable to UMES in conference to have that luxury. Of course, all of this is moot until we can beat MTSU and WKU.

ODU played four games over which people wrung (wranged? wringed?) their hands: Fairfield (late sub for the fallen-through St. Bonaventure deal), Norfolk State (cross-town thing that may or may not be a thing going forward), Bowling Green (which isn't actually a low-major being in the MAC, they just sucked this year) and the mighty marauders of Princess Anne, Maryland. The way people go about you'd think that they played nothing but garbage in the OOC, but my guess is people are really upset that ODU didn't have a sexy game on the schedule (it also didn't help that VCU and Richmond went titties up last season and none of the CAA opponents did squat).

This notion that ODU (or ANYONE) is going to play most if not all of their 13 OOC games against teams with double-digit RPIs is not reasonable. Unless you're Texas Southern and you're willing to crater your home schedule to play-for-pay and see the world.

ODU's Schedule sucked last year, period. (Was Towson or Dayton our best win? I forget.)

Forget having all of our schedule against double-digit RPIs. I don't think we had any. 2 or 3 would be nice.

Granted, we don't always know how particular teams are going to perform year after year, but we pretty much know who is not going to.

Last year's schedule would have been a lot better had a) VCU or Richmond not had such down years, b) the St. Bonaventure game taken place as planned, and/or c) ODU beat Temple in Charleston and got to play at least one and possibly both of Clemson and Auburn.

Most of last year's games were against either regional opponents with some history or programs that (usually) are respectable, with the rest being the aforementioned tomato cans.

This season, with St. Joe's confirmed, at least that's an encouraging start. Though Richmond appears to be turning into a bona fide toilet fire.