Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › Scheduling: 2013-14
This topic contains 69 replies, has 11 voices, and was last updated by lehigh90 10 years, 6 months ago.
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September 20, 2013 at 3:22 pm #11355
I agree with 65 – I don’t feel as bad about our schedule, seeing the rest of that list. The one I’m jealous of, of course, is Loyola getting St. Joe’s – but as I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve got a “thing” for Philly & A10 schools. Just seems so logical to me.
I do see a good bit of Ivy League on the other teams’ schedules. Generally speaking, do you think they would be good for us? Build some rivalry, maybe?September 20, 2013 at 3:45 pm #11356I do not see the ivy league as a good fit. I see the Ivy as on the down swing and the PL on the up swing. The A-10 and newly formed league with old big east schools is the route I would be trying to go. Also, trying to start in state rivalries would be a bonus i.e. St.Joes, LaSalle, Drexel, Duq. or Robert Morris.
September 20, 2013 at 3:54 pm #11357Quote: Also, I believe that this year was due to be the Penn St @ Bucknell game as part of that series but Penn St requested that their game in Lewisburg be pushed until next season. That obviously drastically alters Bucknell’s home slate. I’m sure Bison137 can confirm
Yes, the PSU game at Sojka was supposed to be this year but was pushed back. Rumors are that the change was part of an extension of the contract but nothing has been confirmed.
September 20, 2013 at 4:21 pm #11358I do not see the ivy league as a good fit. I see the Ivy as on the down swing and the PL on the up swing. The A-10 and newly formed league with old big east schools is the route I would be trying to go. Also, trying to start in state rivalries would be a bonus i.e. St.Joes, LaSalle, Drexel, Duq. or Robert Morris.
I agree with these. I also think the CAA should be a prime candidate for OOC games along with the A-10 and Big 5 schools. I think a couple of Ivy’s are fine and I have no problem with 1 or 2 NEC games. In addtion to PAFan’s suggestion teams like Delaware, Fairfield, Hofstra, George Mason, Stony Brook, and Towson would all be small but significant improvements. Get two of those teams a year and get rid of two NEC teams and you have a great mid major schedule.
September 20, 2013 at 4:57 pm #11359Totally agree with your additions, too, Bum. Funny to look at the list, and how many were one-time ECC rivals back in the day: LaSalle, Drexel, Towson, Delware, Hofstra…
September 20, 2013 at 5:00 pm #11360It looks like three Ivy’s have been doing a good job of recruiting: Harvard, Princeton, and Penn. I think games with any of them will be challenging over the next few years. Cornell isn’t far behind in terms of their future outlook.
September 20, 2013 at 6:44 pm #11361Here’s a look at the RPI Math……….
Team / 2013 RPI / D-1 Record / Home-Away / Date
Minnesota / 34 / 20-12 / Away / Nov. 8th
Rider / 146 / 18-14 / Home / Nov. 12th
Fordham / 229 / 7-24 / Away / Nov.15th
Houston / 197 / 18-12 / Away / Nov. 17th
Pittsburgh / 43 / 24-8 / Away / Nov. 20th
Texas So. / 183 / 17-14 / Neutral Site / Nov. 25th
S. Dakota St. / 62 / 22-9 / Away / Nov. 26th
or
Howard / 334 / 6-23 / Neutral Site / Nov. 26th
Sacred Heart / 253 / 9-20 / Home / Dec. 1st
St. Francis (PA) / 322 / 5-24 / Away / Dec. 4th
UMBC / 298 / 8-23 / Home / Dec. 7th
LIU / 184 / 20-14 / Home / Dec. 9th
Quinnipiac / 193 / 15-16 / Home / Dec. 21st
Bryant / 159 / 19-11 / Away / Dec. 30thOur OOC RPI: 177 with S. Dakota State or 188 with Howard: 198
You must say we’re moving in the right direction when you look back at our prior 3 season of OOC play:
2012-13: 180
2011-12: 224
2010-11: 274Here’s a look at how others in the PL did this year in lining up their OOC opponents in terms of Strength of Schedule.
Holy Cross 146
Boston U 156
Bucknell 173
Lafayette 180
Colgate 191
Army 192
American 209
Navy 256Scheduling top flight talent in the preseason is a problem for everyone. For example, I give you the OOC PRI rankings of some of the bigger names in college basketball:
Ohio St. 145
Minnesota 171
Syracuse 178
St. John’s 181
Marquette 188
Purdue 189Let’s look at some of the conferences being thrown around as present and perhaps future targets of play. Here are their 2013 RPI rankings (note: 33 conference / 347 teams including “Independents”).
A10 – 7th
Metro Atlantic – 14th
Patriot League – 18th
Northeast – 20th
American East – 22nd
Colonial – 23rd
Ivy – 24thIt is what it is. The PL is the 18th ranked unit in the country. Seventeen conferences are stronger and 15 are weaker.
It would be nice to “cherry-pick” teams from each of the better leagues and walk away with a stellar OOC schedule each year. But that’s not always possible due to long standing contractual commitments, the needs of our counterparties, and budgetary constraints. As for the NEC, some are down on the conference…… I’m not. Seven of their 10 members are ranked at 200 or better. This year we pick up three in that category, namely: Bryant (159), LIU (184), and Quinnipiac (193). Not bad…..not great. And, not a whole lot different than dates with #145 Delaware, #153 Towson and #179 Fairfield, but certainly better than – as may have been suggested – #207 Drexel and #325 Hofstra. Putting numbers aside for the moment, I’m all in favor of developing some in-state rivalries and not opposed to an Ivy or two each year. Let’s not loose sight of the academic side of the equation and the good that can come from our association on and off the field with members of the Ivy League. Hey, one man’s opinion.
All this to say, scheduling is a crap shoot every year. All in all, I think we did alright in 2013-14. You’ve got two Top 50 teams (Minn and Pitt), entry into the Legends Classic and 5 home games to attend all before the start of league play. Others around the league might wish that had is so good.
September 20, 2013 at 7:50 pm #11362Thanks LU65. No one is suggesting that this is easy and that we will all love the schedule every year. All I’m asking is to have a competitive OOC schedule along the lines of a typical Bucknell schedule or a Holy Cross schedule from the late Willard years. And while you cited examples of weak MM schedules, I can pull good ones as well.
Northeastern is playing: BU, @Stony Brook, CCSU, @VCU, Harvard, UAB, @Fairfield, UW Milwaukee (nuetral), @Tulane, Richmond, @Vandy, and the Puerto Rico Tip Off
Princeton: Florida A&M, @ Butler, Lafayette, @ Rice, George Mason, @ Bucknell, Farleigh Dickinson, @Rutgers, @Penn St, Pacific (nuet), Portland (nuet), Kent State, @ Liberty
Iona: @ Cleveland St, Wofford, @ Kansas, George Mason, @ FGCU, Marist, @ Fairfield, St. Bona, @ Dayton, @ Nevada, @ Northern Iowa
That was with 10 minutes of looking for good mid major schedules in our region. I certainly am not asking to play more BCS teams on the road. 3 of those games a year is a given and plenty for my liking. I’m talking about scheduling teams that have some history, some consistent success, and maybe even some fans that travel.
As you said, RPI #’s are far from the be all end all. You are a football guy right ’65? How about Hofstra or Udel? We KNOW Udel was looking for games as recently as this summer. A game like Fordham, even when they are horrible I will never call it a bad game. They are in a good conference, have some tradition, and are an opponent with some history.
I also understand that we sign long term contracts with some of these teams, but I don’t understand that as an excuse. When we signed on to play St. Francis (Pa) 4 years ago (or six? who knows), did we ever think that would be an attractive game? Has St. Francis (Pa) ever been a good team or an attractive game? On the other side, I really like the Quinnipiac series. They have good facilities, are an up and coming program, and have yet to be really bad since we started playing them. I would put Rider in that category as well.
As you said, we are headed in the right direction. With the success Lehigh has had in the past 5 years or so, our schedule should be sub 200 RPI every year. Going down to the 130-150 range when a good team is expected. This seems like the Bucknell model to me.
September 20, 2013 at 9:18 pm #11363Excellent points, SB. Love the early season input and chatter.
Like you, I haven’t a clue about the Red Storm marriage. They’ve been with us since the ’07-’08 season. Isn’t seven in a row enough!? Who knows when it will end or why it began? And, no I doubt we ever thought they would be good when signing the first and subsequent contracts. Then again, we weren’t particularly good in -06-07 (12-13 record) either.
Further agree with you about the target schedule range. When expecting a good team (130-150), otherwise 150-200.
Right to bring up both Iona and Northeastern as both good examples of solid scheduling (NE 129, Iona 135) and solid programs. However, this year’s Princeton weighs in at 184. Maybe they’re not expecting much. If teams used the 130-150 theory, maybe Yale @ 147 is expecting good things this year. Who knows? What a chess match schedulers around the country must play! Months ago you began to see tenders go out on BasketballTravelers.com looking for games (home ‘n home, guarantees offered, tournaments, etc.) in the 2014-15 season. While we might think it fun and exciting to schedule, I’m sure it’s not a walk in the park for whomever is assigned the duty at each school. With Ott gone, I wonder who is on the hot seat this year?
September 23, 2013 at 7:48 pm #11397No Arcadia or Muhlenburg, that is a positive.
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