There are currently 11 teams on the schedule vs. top 200 NET. A couple of those teams we play twice. I believe that's the exact same number of top 200 NET teams that we had on the schedule last year (again, a couple of those teams we played twice). It's not the schedule that would hurt us, it's the results. Last year, we lost to Arkansas State, Saint Mary's, Milwaukee, Yale, Princeton, and Ohio. We weren't competitive in any of the games except Arkansas State and Princeton. Akron still ended the season 94th in NET with a 130 SOS (I believe this includes the Arizona game).
Akron this year has played much better in their 2 losses (Purdue and Yale) and still has OOC games vs. Bucknell, Tulane, and Murray State (this is the big one). Demolishing the bad teams and either winning or being very competitive vs. the good teams matters, which we've had solid results with thus far. According to Warren Nolan, our current SOS is 74th. If we can win out in the OOC, Akron will be in the discussion for the top 25 come January.