ZachTheZip Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 http://www.cleveland.com/collegesports/pla....xml&coll=2Elton Alexander wrote a blurb saying that, aside from the tournament in Florida, we're going to be playing Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Niagara, Texas A&M, Malone, North Carolina-Greensboro, St. Francis, Valparaiso, Austin Peay, Wyoming and Rhode Island.URI, Wyoming, and Texas A&M are the highlights of the schedule, along with NC State. Total, that's 13 teams we're playing so far. Only 1 spot left to fill on the schedule. Let's hope it's another marquee opponent (A Gonzaga rematch after the flight to Wyoming, perhaps?) Quote
Quickzips Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/in...chedule_wh.htmlAccording to the PD our OOC games include the Glen Wilkes Classic teams already mentioned plus:Arkansas Pine-BluffNiagraTexas A&MMaloneNorth Carolina GreensboroSt. FrancisValparaiso (Bracketbuster return game)Austin PeayWyoming Rhode IslandI can't say it is a huge upgrade over past schedules. A&M is a nice addition, but they are far from an elite Big 12 team. Pretty much every one of those games is winnable for us. Rhode Island is a pretty good A-10 team, but not on the same level as a Xavier which Can't has apparently been able to schedule. Wyoming is a mid-level MWC team. Not a bad challenge, but not great. I think we are all pretty familiar w/ Austin Peay, Valpo., St. Francis and Niagra from past yearse. Pine-Bluff, Malone, Greensboro should be easy rolls. I have to say, I'm still kind of disappointed in the scheduling. It's a slight upgrade from past years, but still not quite enough. Certainly not enough to get us an at-large bid unless we practically win out. Quote
ZZZips Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Elton missed one game on his list...add University Illinois - Chicago as a home game on December 22nd. Quote
ZachTheZip Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Posted July 1, 2009 UIC makes 14 games, which is it. There's your Zips schedule. Now, are we doing a 2-for-1 with A&M? Who's home and who's a road game? Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Didn't the Wyoming coach freak out after the Zips mopped the JAR with the Cowboys last year? I'm surprised they remain on the upcoming schedule. Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Can the Texas A&M / Arkansas Pine-Bluff match-ups be part of a tourney? A & M won an NCAA tourney game in March (BYU), so they're a great schedule addition. Quote
ZZZips Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 All are home games except:NC State - Neutral siteDrake - Neutral siteHoward - Neutral siteTexas A&M - College Station TXWyoming - Laramie WY Quote
ZachTheZip Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Posted July 1, 2009 So 9 out of 14 OOC games are home games? Plus a Bracketbuster which I am guessing is on the road. Quote
Quickzips Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 I'm honestly not that sure that this schedule is even any better than last years.09 08A&M<PittWyoming<WinthropDrake<VCURhode Island=Rhode IslandSt. Francis=St. FrancisNiagra=NiagraPine Bluff=NC A&TMalone=UrbanaGreensboro=GreensboroAustin Peay=EKUHoward=Fairleigh DickinsonUIC>YSUNC State>DaytonYou look at that. Only the NC State and UIC games can really be considered upgrades. I could even make the argument that NC State is equal to or a downgrade from Dayton. A&M isn't far behind Pitt, but Pitt is still a better program. Winthrop has had more success than about every other team on this years schedule outside of A&M and maybe Drake recently. Same for VCU. Rhode Island, St. Francis, Niagra and Greensboro are all holdovers. For tournament purposes Pine Bluff, NC A&T, Malone, Urbana, Howard and Fairleigh Dickinson might as well all be the same team. Austin Peay and EKU are about in the same place at this point as well. I really am not impressed with this schedule. We just won the MAC. We've got a top 50 7' C coming on campus. Plenty of returning talent. It's time to step it up scheduling wise. Quote
ZachTheZip Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Posted July 1, 2009 2008 non-conference opponent's overall record (Gonzaga and Valparaiso not included since they weren't scheduled): 205-192, average RPI rank 171.72009 non-conference opponent's overall record: 193-205, average RPI rank 174.7On paper, it's a very slight step down but it gives us an opportunity to beat some name teams, which wasn't present last year. I like this schedule. It's pretty average in terms of RPI and record. The real trick to getting an at-large bid is to play in a good conference. Unless the MAC steps up we could run the non-conference table and still be on the bubble. Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 I'm honestly not that sure that this schedule is even any better than last years.09 08A&M<PittWyoming<WinthropDrake<VCURhode Island=Rhode IslandSt. Francis=St. FrancisNiagra=NiagraPine Bluff=NC A&TMalone=UrbanaGreensboro=GreensboroAustin Peay=EKUHoward=Fairleigh DickinsonUIC>YSUNC State>DaytonYou look at that. Only the NC State and UIC games can really be considered upgrades. I could even make the argument that NC State is equal to or a downgrade from Dayton. A&M isn't far behind Pitt, but Pitt is still a better program. Winthrop has had more success than about every other team on this years schedule outside of A&M and maybe Drake recently. Same for VCU. Rhode Island, St. Francis, Niagra and Greensboro are all holdovers. For tournament purposes Pine Bluff, NC A&T, Malone, Urbana, Howard and Fairleigh Dickinson might as well all be the same team. Austin Peay and EKU are about in the same place at this point as well. I really am not impressed with this schedule. We just won the MAC. We've got a top 50 7' C coming on campus. Plenty of returning talent. It's time to step it up scheduling wise.A fair assessment. I think it will be very important to get a quality Bracketbuster opponent in 2009-10. To do so we need to get off to a solid start, which includes beating one or more of our marquee opponents. Getting the likes of a Nevada or VCU on our schedule, home-home, is great. Getting Austin Peay or Valpo home-home is ho-hum Quote
Quickzips Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 The key games for this years Zips are obviously A&M, NC State and to a lesser extent Drake, Rhode Island, Niagra and Wyoming. We absolutely have to get 1 win from the A&M and NC State games in order to garner any kind of credibility w/ the tournament committee. We also can't afford more than 1 loss to Drake, Rhode Island, Niagra or Wyoming. Losses to any of the teams on the remaining schedule will automatically be looked at as "bad losses" and must be avoided at all costs. I don't like having to count on the bracketbuster to "save" our schedule. We've gotten some nice matchups in VCU and particularly the Fazekas lead Nevada teams, but we've also gotten some real clunkers recently in Austin Peay and Valpo. Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 I don't think the Bracket Buster is looked upon by anyone to "save" our schedule. That said, year-in year-out it is a tremendous opportunity to get a quality opponent scheduled that otherwise would never have the JAR on it's radar. And the television exposure on one of the ESPN's, assuming you merit a quality opponent, is big too. Quote
WinZip Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 I don't think it's much of a change from last year, which to me is a let down. I think with the addition of a Gonzaga I'd be much happier, but we should have a good chance at winning all of these games. It really doesn't jump out at me but the more games at the JAR the better.How many of these games could be on tv? Quote
zippyman23 Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Rhode Island is a pretty good A-10 team, but not on the same level as a Xavier which Can't has apparently been able to schedule.Difference is Rhode Island is a home/home, and Cant's game with Xavier is a buy-game at Xavier. I think if we wanted a buy-game @Xavier we could have gotten one. Still hoping Dayton is on the schedule even though I believe they decided not to extend the series. Quote
Quickzips Posted July 2, 2009 Report Posted July 2, 2009 Rhode Island is a pretty good A-10 team, but not on the same level as a Xavier which Can't has apparently been able to schedule.Difference is Rhode Island is a home/home, and Cant's game with Xavier is a buy-game at Xavier. I think if we wanted a buy-game @Xavier we could have gotten one. Still hoping Dayton is on the schedule even though I believe they decided not to extend the series.I don't quite get this. Why wouldn't we take a buy-game from Xavier? They are a program that is nationally recognized, has made some deep tournament runs, they've been in the top-25 quite a bit, and they are close by. You think we signed a home/home or a 2/1 with Texas A&M? I have a hard time believing we will ever see them at the JAR. Is Texas A&M really that much better an opponenet than Xavier? Yeah, they are in the BCS/Big 12 and they are a pretty good team in their conference with some history of hoops success but are they really that far ahead of Xavier? Quote
zippyman23 Posted July 2, 2009 Report Posted July 2, 2009 Rhode Island is a pretty good A-10 team, but not on the same level as a Xavier which Can't has apparently been able to schedule.Difference is Rhode Island is a home/home, and Cant's game with Xavier is a buy-game at Xavier. I think if we wanted a buy-game @Xavier we could have gotten one. Still hoping Dayton is on the schedule even though I believe they decided not to extend the series.I don't quite get this. Why wouldn't we take a buy-game from Xavier? They are a program that is nationally recognized, has made some deep tournament runs, they've been in the top-25 quite a bit, and they are close by. You think we signed a home/home or a 2/1 with Texas A&M? I have a hard time believing we will ever see them at the JAR. Is Texas A&M really that much better an opponenet than Xavier? Yeah, they are in the BCS/Big 12 and they are a pretty good team in their conference with some history of hoops success but are they really that far ahead of Xavier?No, I think Texas A&M is a buy game as well (at best a return game at the Q). I was saying that a home/home with Rhode Island is better than a one time deal at Xavier, which I believe we could have gotten, maybe not. Xavier also has buy-games verse Youngstown State, Bowling Green, and Sacred Heart. Last year Toledo and Ohio had buy-games at Xavier.Really I think it is either we are concentrated at getting home/home games won't accept the buy game (alot of mid majors are refusing buy games), or Xavier is looking for easier games for their buy games. Quote
Quickzips Posted July 2, 2009 Report Posted July 2, 2009 I understand that a home/home with Rhode Island is probably better than a buy game with Xavier, but what would be even better is a home/home with Rhode Island AND a buy game from Xavier. I just don't understand why we continue to open ourselves up to getting raped by the selection committees just to try and sign home/home or 2/1 contracts. I'm pretty disappointed with Dambrot on this one. Quote
Blue & Gold Posted July 2, 2009 Report Posted July 2, 2009 Eric Coblentz transferred to Malone. Quote
ksu sucks Posted July 2, 2009 Report Posted July 2, 2009 Eric Coblentz transferred to Malone.I wish him luck. He probably got tired of being on the practice team. Can't blame him. Quote
Z.I.P. Posted July 2, 2009 Report Posted July 2, 2009 Eric Coblentz transferred to Malone.I wish him luck. He probably got tired of being on the practice team. Can't blame him.What little I know he should be a starter, even a star. at Malone. Quote
ksu sucks Posted July 3, 2009 Report Posted July 3, 2009 What little I know he should be a starter, even a star. at Malone.Yeah but no girls in his dorm room. One sacrifice for another. Quote
Blue & Gold Posted July 3, 2009 Report Posted July 3, 2009 <br />Eric Coblentz transferred to Malone.<br />I wish him luck. He probably got tired of being on the practice team. Can't blame him.<br /><br /><br /><br />Very true. It's a good move for him. He'll do very well @ that level. Good luck Eric! Quote
Zipmeister Posted July 3, 2009 Report Posted July 3, 2009 The key games for this years Zips are obviously A&M, NC State and to a lesser extent Drake, Rhode Island, Niagra and Wyoming. We absolutely have to get 1 win from the A&M and NC State games in order to garner any kind of credibility w/ the tournament committee. We also can't afford more than 1 loss to Drake, Rhode Island, Niagra or Wyoming. Losses to any of the teams on the remaining schedule will automatically be looked at as "bad losses" and must be avoided at all costs. I don't like having to count on the bracketbuster to "save" our schedule. We've gotten some nice matchups in VCU and particularly the Fazekas lead Nevada teams, but we've also gotten some real clunkers recently in Austin Peay and Valpo.How did that Valpo game turn out? Quote
Dave in Green Posted July 3, 2009 Report Posted July 3, 2009 Valpo hasn't gotten a lot of respect on Zips Nation, primarily I think because they just happened to have an off year last season when the Zips played them. Over the last 14 years, Valpo has averaged more than 20 wins per season and earned a NCAA Tournament berth 7 times -- a feat we Zips fans can only dream of.Valpo has added a lot of firepower to their 2009-10 roster, and will be tougher than the team that beat the Zips last season. Quote
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