Gotta give Hopkins credit for playing a real challenging schedule

[Alsacs]

This is not a shot at all at our schedule.
We play in the harder conference, play the Big Ten game, a holiday tournament, and typically one more P5/BE team.

That is enough IMO maybe a MSG game annually for alums would be the most I would add.
With that said Washington and Mike Hopkins are really challenging themselves in the nonconference.

They played at Auburn, at Gonzaga.
They played 2 more P5 teams Minnesota/Texas A&M in their holiday tournament.
They are playing Virginia Tech in Atlantic City tonight.
Plus good western midmajors.
Hopkins playing 3 top 25 teams away games in one year in the nonconference is truly impressive.
5 of 13 games against elite competition in nonconference is a great schedule.

Now I get the Pac-12 isn’t as good as the ACC but Oregon/Arizona/UCLA/Utah are solid teams so the league isn’t complete garbage.

Washington can’t make the money Syracuse can with home games but Hop playing interesting games is good for their fans to see where they are.

 

[Cuseball]

This is not a shot at all at our schedule.
We play in the harder conference, play the Big Ten game, a holiday tournament, and typically one more P5/BE team.

That is enough IMO maybe a MSG game annually for alums would be the most I would add.
With that said Washington and Mike Hopkins are really challenging themselves in the nonconference.

They played at Auburn, at Gonzaga.
They played 2 more P5 teams Minnesota/Texas A&M in their holiday tournament.
They are playing Virginia Tech in Atlantic City tonight.
Plus good western midmajors.
Hopkins playing 3 top 25 teams away games in one year in the nonconference is truly impressive.
5 of 13 games against elite competition in nonconference is a great schedule.

Now I get the Pac-12 isn’t as good as the ACC but Oregon/Arizona/UCLA/Utah are solid teams so the league isn’t complete garbage.

Washington can’t make the money Syracuse can with home games but Hop playing interesting games is good for their fans to see where they are.

Agreed. Love the approach by Hop. Downside for this year is they have lost all those games. If they lose to Va Tech they really limit their chances of the tournament unless they win 12 or 13 games in the PAC 10. Again, love the scheduling approach but it might bite them in a year they brought everyone back and were pre season top 25.

Cuse!

 

[Cheriehoop]

I bet the reason is as much for recruiting as experience. Hop's contacts while at SU were east of the Mississippi. He smartly is trying to establish Washington as having a wide recruiting base. It makes me wonder how strong his staff's effectiveness is on the west coast to contend with the Pac 12's big names. Remember he offered and lost out on having Hart, Bland, O'Toole etc on his staff who all had strong west coast recruiting experience. Hop's smartly trying to expand Washington's brand beyond the West coast while giving and showing his east of the Mississippi recruits and their families that he will work to give them opportunities to still see them against good competition.

 

[OrangeDW]

Kinda conflicted, but I kinda hope he “doesn’t” establish them as some kind of national program that reels in top players from everywhere. I want him to have a major reason to leave Washington for Syracuse in 4 years or so.

I’d love it if he consistently overachieved there with OK talent and establishes himself as a big time coach...

and then comes back to Cuse and reels in top talent from all over the country.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I don't want him fishing in our pool.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Kinda conflicted, but I kinda hope he “doesn’t” establish them as some kind of national program that reels in top players from everywhere. I want him to have a major reason to leave Washington for Syracuse in 4 years or so.

I’d love it if he consistently overachieved there with OK talent and establishes himself as a big time coach...

and then comes back to Cuse and reels in top talent from all over the country.

Basically he needs to do well enough that he’s perceived as an up and coming head coach but not so well that he has no reason to leave. Kinda threading the needle.

 

[Cusefan0307]

He’s not coming back. The fans on this board helped ruin that. Same fans who prefer him over Boeheim now.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Yeah, I don't care about Hopkins anymore.