Our OOC schedule is way too weak*

[Oakland]

*

 

[IthacaMatt]

Dude, we lost 4 main guys from last year. This team is doing really well so far, but there was no guarantee that they would be this good this soon. This is a great schedule for this group. A couple fairly tough early teams is enough, and we get to ease into the Big East again with a couple easy ones to start. They need to continue to ramp it up.

 

[themole]

I wondered if the absolute lack of a name-ish non-con opponent (besides Temple I guess) is because next year maybe we'll be starting home and homes with two or three of G'town, Nova, SJU, UConn and they didn't want to start any home and homes this year because next year there wouldn't be room for the return games.

 

[SUMBA]

That only matters if we are going to be a bubble team. I have a feeling that we will be a 1 or 2 seed in March.

 

[Dcuse]

*

Wow, I've never heard that before. It will probably affect our ability to get into the tournament.

 

[SaintTristan]

totally agree. this is the first time i have been really disappointed with the schedule.

 

[orange79]

And yet our SOS is about 60. And that will climb once we get into conference. JB has this RPI thing figured out. Play some small schools that will contend for their conference. Play a couple of big name/highly rated teams at neutral sites (sometimes H-H, but not often). Always guarantees a high SOS when it comes to tournament time. Now, next year, it's a bit different. The ACC conf SOS will hurt SU, so JB may have to schedule a slightly tougher OOC slate.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

No one..and I mean NO ONE schedules better teams with RPI's over 200 than we do. On a good night, Monmouth could beat Sacred Heart.

 

[Orangezoo]

it is and it isn't. i would prefer to see us challenged more since we are so talented but these blowouts have been really inportant for dajuan, trevor and jerami to work out the bugs and get their confidence growing.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

Hows does DC work out bugs against a team that has no one over 6'6"? First real test will be against Cinci on 1-21-13.

 

[rocklloyd]

No one..and I mean NO ONE schedules better teams with RPI's over 200 than we do. On a good night, Monmouth could beat Sacred Heart.

Do you mean the CYO team from the church in Cicero?

 

[Orangezoo]

Hows does DC work out bugs against a team that has no one over 6'6"? First real test will be against Cinci on 1-21-13.

part of its physical and part mental.. its hard to work on things that require repitition against more difficult opponents.. jennings was 6'9 and schooled dc2.. ill trust jb on this one.. if it all ends well it won't matter

 

[Oakland]

That only matters if we are going to be a bubble team. I have a feeling that we will be a 1 or 2 seed in March.

The issue is not the tournament, it's that SU is a top ten program and we are scheduling like we are #59. With the way recruiting is going, I want to see SU play a couple top teams every year. It's like we're driving the Maserati to the gocery store: fun, but not satisfying.

 

[CuseinNYC]

Yeah, agree on this one. This team is playing brilliantly, but it's a little hard to tell how much of that dominance is us and how much is the level of competition. We'll find out when the BE schedule starts, I guess.

One benefit of this weak scheduling is that DJC and others have received much more playing time than they might have. It is possible this could help us in March, and I strongly hope that it does. I think we need DJC to be an offensive threat to make the FF, and he'll only improve by playing. Still though, one or two tougher opponents would only help the cause, I think.

 

[HOFCeluck]

And yet our SOS is about 60. And that will climb once we get into conference. JB has this RPI thing figured out. Play some small schools that will contend for their conference. Play a couple of big name/highly rated teams at neutral sites (sometimes H-H, but not often). Always guarantees a high SOS when it comes to tournament time. Now, next year, it's a bit different. The ACC conf SOS will hurt SU, so JB may have to schedule a slightly tougher OOC slate.

If this was 2007 or 2008 I'd agree...but we're a legit prospect for a top two seed.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

IDK but it seems like we are still in exhibition season. How does this help? Do players feel that they are #4 and feel that as soon as they step on court they've already won? Do they see the games as oppurtunities for a highlight film (dunking and lobbying).?When you score about 60 points to the other team's less than 10 , how do you get the players to realize they have things to work on? Let's see what they can do when down in the second half. Boy hope they don't get a dose of reality when it counts! (NCAA Tournament time)

 

[SWC75]

JB cares about one thing this time of year: preparing the team for the Big East regular season. He feels he can do this in game we are likely to win and doesn't have to play Duke to see his team's weaknesses. You can argue that point but we've won the BE two times and in three years and wound up with a #1 seed in the Big Dance each time.

 

[Orangezoo]

i cant say i dont feel somewhat the same , but i wonder partly if we are just that much better than we thought we would be. i mean monmouth lost only by 12 at memphis.. it does feel like an exhibition season but i cant say ive ever remembered an su team that looks so dominant.. against sdst and arkansas we were just dominant regardless of the conditions..

 

[Alsacs]

Our 2009-2010 team was just as dominant against the tomato can portion of our schedule. I wish we had 2oo3 @Michigan State type of game in the middle of the Big East schedule, but I am okay with this schedule. JB knows his personnel really well and if he saw the team play @Arkansas which is a bubble team and we were challenged in that game. The mistake JB made was the lack of a quality holiday tournament this year. Detroit, Canisius, and Alcorn State are horrible opponents for a tournament. Temple was good, but not as the marquee opponent. We could have played Ohio State or Washington in the Hall of Fame tip off at the Mohegan Sun tournament or something like that. The rest of the schedule is okay with me as we banked a top 25 win in our season opener and that was a good thing. San Diego State could be a great win come March.

 

[dlegend44]

I wondered if the absolute lack of a name-ish non-con opponent (besides Temple I guess) is because next year maybe we'll be starting home and homes with two or three of G'town, Nova, SJU, UConn and they didn't want to start any home and homes this year because next year there wouldn't be room for the return games.

I agree, starting next season our OOC games will be much more difficult. We will need to schedule more difficult games because the ACC top to bottom is not as competitive as the old (last season) Big East. Althought, the ACC will be much tougher with Syracuse, Louisville, Pitt and ND coming in. I really hope we have annual home-and-homes against Georgetown, Villanova and Saint John's. UConn can suck it and just fade into obscurity.

 

[anomander]

At the beginning of the season I thought this was a challenging schedule. it not our fault arkansas hasn't performed as many expected. they were a projected borderline ncaa team, and around top 30 team, who was a true road game, no matter what espn says. sdsu is still a legit top 15 team, who we played across country, and temple is a tournament team, and borderline top 25. not to mention lbsu, detroit, princeton were all picked to win their leagues, and almost everyone else besides alcorn st, and colgate were picked in the top half of their conference. i have no problem with the scheduling, the system obviously works. we need this time to develop DC, Grant, Cooney, as well as get virtually everyone else acclimated to their new roles.

 

[SBU72]

lets look at some of the other schools. Yes Duke's OOC is very good with 7 top 100 RPI teams and 2 in the 100-200 range. SU has 3 top 100, 3 100-200, and 2 200-300, Kansas has 3 top 100, 4 100-200, and 1 200+, Louisville has 3 top 100, 4 100-200, 1 200-300 and 1 300+, and UNC has 3 top 100, 2 100-200, 1 200+ and 1 300+. So there are 4 top schools, three of which that pretty much have the same OOC schools. And then there is Kentucky with 4 top 100 (and lost 3), 1 100-200, 2 200-300 and 2 300+. Is playing and losing to those high RPI schools so early really going to help them.

 

[PoppyHart]

lets look at some of the other schools. Yes Duke's OOC is very good with 7 top 100 RPI teams and 2 in the 100-200 range. SU has 3 top 100, 3 100-200, and 2 200-300, Kansas has 3 top 100, 4 100-200, and 1 200+, Louisville has 3 top 100, 4 100-200, 1 200-300 and 1 300+, and UNC has 3 top 100, 2 100-200, 1 200+ and 1 300+. So there are 4 top schools, three of which that pretty much have the same OOC schools. And then there is Kentucky with 4 top 100 (and lost 3), 1 100-200, 2 200-300 and 2 300+. Is playing and losing to those high RPI schools so early really going to help them.

this is extremely misleading.

 

[orange79]

If this was 2007 or 2008 I'd agree...but we're a legit prospect for a top two seed.

When I mentioned 60 SOS, I meant that 60 is pretty good for the 'horrible' schedule some posters were talking about. And it will only climb as we move into conference. I agree something awful would have to happen to drop us below a 1 or 2. Not sure I get what you're saying about '07 or '08, but maybe it's because I wasn't clear enough with what I meant about the 60 SOS.

 

[SBU72]

this is extremely misleading.

Why? Because it disproves what many are saying? Just because SU chooses to play a lot of local teams doesn't mean they are worse than the schools other teams play. And take a look at how many away games these teams play. There is not an away games on the list for Duke. 5 neutral court games but no away games. UNC has 2 with 2 neutral courts. Kentucky 1 with 2 neutral courts. And all these stats can be found on CBS sports.com