Scheduling

Buford_Julep · December 22, 2006

As a fan I, of course I want to see NT play good teams. A coach has different concerns. He is interested in getting the team ready for conference play. Below is part of a story from the Bowling Green Daily News:

Daily News (Bowling Green, KY)

Horn takes blame for loss

ROB HERBST, The Daily News, rherbst@bgdailynews.com/783-3238

Published: December 20, 2006

Western Kentucky officially hit a losing streak on Tuesday with its 86-85 loss to North Texas. But when WKU coach Darrin Horn looks at the Hilltoppers’ third consecutive loss, he blames himself.

Horn said the Hilltoppers’ recent schedule was too rigorous for Western to handle. Before the loss to North Texas, WKU had fallen to Southern Illinois on Dec. 9 and at Tennessee on Saturday – both NCAA Tournament teams from last year.

“Really you can put this loss on me for the schedule I put together,” Horn said. “We had two games we knew were going to be tough. Then we have only two days to prepare for a team that I think is probably one of the top two teams in our league.

“Our guys aren’t playing with a ton of confidence and swagger right now. It’s been a brutal 10 days and we’re not ready for the response to that.”

MeanGreenBuzz · December 22, 2006

Same reason UNCC gave for losing to us...

Buford_Julep · December 22, 2006

Why not play a low-major instead of an NAIA or Div II?

1. Money. The American answer to almost everything. It is cheaper to bring in an NAIA or a Div II than a low Div I.

2. Availability. Low Div I teams such as Savannah State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Prairie View A&M are snapped up by The Baylors and Texas A&M's of the Div I world. NT can't compete with the guarantees those teams pay.

Why pay for contract games? Why not play home and away games with local teams like we used to.

MG 61, Scottie on the other board, and one other poster whose name I can't remember all posted excellent articles about scheduling and how difficult it is for mid-majors to schedule in today's enviroment. Most of this post is based on what was in those articles. Former coach Rike said forget about playing Texas Texas, Baylor or SMU. They won't even talk about playing.

It is hard to schedule nearby teams of comparable ability to home and away games because of the fear of losing to a recruiting competitor. My guess is Tulsa, a team that consistently gets players NT wants, will never play us again after losing both ends of a home and away series..

That leaves the possibility of home and away games or pre-conference tournaments with far away teams. In the past NT under coach Jones has played games with strong mid-majors Missouri State (two wins) , NC-Wilmington (1 win one loss), Weber State (win) and Winthrop (win). The dark side is these games incur expensive travel costs. Rather than schedule, and possibly lose to NT, many teams would rather try to schedule a lucrative road game with a major conference team. There is more money in it, and the coach will not be held to the fire for losing such a game to a team his fans have never heard of.

Will playing NAIA and Div II teams hurt our RPI?

In the first place , having a good RPI is not a free pass to the NCAA Tournament. Ask Missouri State.

A game with a D-2 or NAIA game does not count for or against an RPI rating. However, winning against a low rated D-1 opponent like Grambling CAN BRING DOWN your RPI.

Are NAIA teams so bad that playing them does not help a team to help keep it's competitive edge? Why not play a high school team or a YMCA team?

NAIA teams are not much worse than low D-1 teams. LINK There is nothing new about NT playing NAIA or D-2 teams. What is new is now NT is thrashing these teams instead of struggling to beat them. I am sure Jarvis Christian will be a well-conditioned, well-coached team of fine, highly skilled athletes that are just too small or lack the strength or speed to play at the D-1 level.

See you at the game.

Quoner · December 26, 2006

MG 61, Scottie on the other board, and one other poster whose name I can't remember all posted excellent articles about scheduling and how difficult it is for mid-majors to schedule in today's enviroment. Most of this post is based on what was in those articles. Former coach Rike said forget about playing Texas Texas, Baylor or SMU. They won't even talk about playing.
See you at the game.

I'm glad I am almost on your radar (I posted the ESPN article) - thanks for re-explaining some of this stuff because I've had some tired head on the topic and just gave up...