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Dave Reynolds' blog about BU scheduling difficulties

I just read in the twin cities paper today that Minnesota still has THREE non-conference games to schedule and is having trouble with that. Maybe an MVC school could get a home and home with a Minnesota team that is not that good.
 
Tubby Smith knows the MVC well, having coached at Tulsa from 1991 to 1995.
My guess is that he is looking for games he knows he can win, and playing Bradley with his young team might not be what he is looking for. If he's open to it, I would suspect Bradley has already been in contact.
 
Well, it's the same crap every year. Schools like Bradley trying to schedule some good teams to improve their "eye test" potential, but the same big boys who don't care so much about the RPI anymore won't play us. And that puts the mid-majors between a rock and a hard place every year! Well, I guess with many schools still looking to complete their schedules, we still have a shot at playing some good teams, but not a lot of time is left.
 
Da Coach said:
Tubby Smith knows the MVC well, having coached at Tulsa from 1991 to 1995.
My guess is that he is looking for games he knows he can win, and playing Bradley with his young team might not be what he is looking for. If he's open to it, I would suspect Bradley has already been in contact.
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Speaking of Tulsa, has Bradley contacted them yet for a possible new series? That would be a nice team to have on our schedule every year.
 
Da Coach said:
Tubby Smith knows the MVC well, having coached at Tulsa from 1991 to 1995.
My guess is that he is looking for games he knows he can win, and playing Bradley with his young team might not be what he is looking for. If he's open to it, I would suspect Bradley has already been in contact.
Click to expand...

A 2-for-1 might be appealing to him though. . .a relatively safe home game this year, next year show his young team how difficult it is to win on the road, and assuming his team is primed to breakthrough in year 3, a quality home opponent and relatively safe game to schedule.
 
MDCowboy said:
Not sure if anyone else saw this.... it looks like BU is trying to find another tournament to get into at this late date.

http://www2.pjstar.com/index.php?/reynolds
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Have ISU and Bradley been in conversation since the Alaska tourney was dropped to try and find a date to finish our series this year? ISU was advertising in May looking for someone to start a home and home with this year. I am hoping we found a date to play BU and renewed our series with Minnesota as well.
 
Bravesfan said:
Well, it's the same crap every year. Schools like Bradley trying to schedule some good teams to improve their "eye test" potential, but the same big boys who don't care so much about the RPI anymore won't play us. And that puts the mid-majors between a rock and a hard place every year! Well, I guess with many schools still looking to complete their schedules, we still have a shot at playing some good teams, but not a lot of time is left.
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Scheduling is hard for everyone. I don't think Bradley, SIU, etc. are jumping on playing home and homes with schools like UMKC, EIU, or Alabama State. Why should we expect Kentucky, Arizona, or Georgetown do the same with us?

Teams can get games against other good teams if they go on the road. They just won't. Do they have a tough time getting the schedule THEY want in a perfect world? Yes. But they wouldn't have a hard time getting games if they were willing to compromise some. This goes for every team in America.
 
bradleybasketballfan said:
Scheduling is hard for everyone. I don't think Bradley, SIU, etc. are jumping on playing home and homes with schools like UMKC, EIU, or Alabama State. Why should we expect Kentucky, Arizona, or Georgetown do the same with us?

Teams can get games against other good teams if they go on the road. They just won't. Do they have a tough time getting the schedule THEY want in a perfect world? Yes. But they wouldn't have a hard time getting games if they were willing to compromise some. This goes for every team in America.
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I see your point BBF, but I think your comparison using UMKC, EIU, & Ala. St. is really a stretch. BU has never been, nor ever will be, of such a lowly caliber as those teams.

The difference between a BU/SIU and kentucky, Arizona, or Georgetown is really not that great. The difference between a BU/SIU and UMKC, EIU, Ala. St. is VERY significant! Not just in quality of players and play, but also tradition and national prominence.
 
Braves4Life said:
I see your point BBF, but I think your comparison using UMKC, EIU, & Ala. St. is really a stretch. BU has never been, nor ever will be, of such a lowly caliber as those teams.

The difference between a BU/SIU and kentucky, Arizona, or Georgetown is really not that great. The difference between a BU/SIU and UMKC, EIU, Ala. St. is VERY significant! Not just in quality of players and play, but also tradition and national prominence.
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Tell me you're not serious with that comment. Perhaps in the 1950's this might be true, but let's be honest about where BU hoops is in the 21st century. Those programs mentioned above annually land McDonald's All-Americans, compete for Final Fours and national championships, and produce lottery picks. BU makes the tournament once or twice a decade and hasn't won conference title in 12 years. I love the Braves as much as anyone, but let's be realistic here.
 
Braves4Life said:
The difference between a BU/SIU and kentucky, Arizona, or Georgetown is really not that great.
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Huh? Really?
First of all, you have to talk about the gap between BU and SIU...which is fairly significant...Then, you can talk about the chasm between SIU and schools like Kentucky, Arizona, and Georgetown. There is an immense difference (facilities, budgets, level of recruits, realistic tournament expectations, etc.) between Valley schools and those bigger programs that you mention...I wish it weren't the case...but it is.
 
Well, depends how you measure it. Turns out that when you put a Valley team on a neutral floor against those blow-hards and play 40 minutes, the difference really is NOT that great. But don't tell any KU fans that . . . oh no no no. Just an off night, that's all.
 
brocks said:
Well, depends how you measure it. Turns out that when you put a Valley team on a neutral floor against those blow-hards and play 40 minutes, the difference really is NOT that great. But don't tell any KU fans that . . . oh no no no. Just an off night, that's all.
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This is EXACTLY what I meant by my above comment! Not budgets, players and facilities. Sure, I'm biased and jaded when it comes to BU and BU Basketball but BU/SIU have a MUCH better chance to beat any of these "powerhouse" teams than UMKC, EIU, or Alabama State have to beat us. IMO

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it :) (and I can NEVER admit SIU is better than BU just like I can NEVER admit that the Packers are better than Da Bears :lol: )
 
brocks said:
Well, depends how you measure it. Turns out that when you put a Valley team on a neutral floor against those blow-hards and play 40 minutes, the difference really is NOT that great. But don't tell any KU fans that . . . oh no no no. Just an off night, that's all.
Click to expand...
b...
Yeah, I would agree that it is all in the method of measurement. If you want to look at a single meeting as the definitive way to measure the two programs...then yes, BU did beat KU in that matchup in 2006...and it was awesome.
However, if you want to look at the bigger picture to compare the levels of success of the two programs, you should find it pretty easy to find a bit more of a gap between them...
After their loss to BU in the 2006 tourney...
In 06-07, Kansas went 33-5, won the Big XII regular season and conference tournament titles, and made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.
In 07-08, Kansas went 37-3, won the Big XII regular season and conference tournament titles, and won the National Championship.

BU went 22-13, finshed 4th in the Valley, lost in the semis of their conference tournament, and won an NIT game in 2007.
BU went 21-17, finished 5th in the Valley, lost in the first round of their conference tournament, and finished 2nd in the CBI in 2008.

So, in looking at the total body of work (rather than a single NCAA Tournament game), I would say that there is a huge, huge gap between the two programs.
I'm not bashing BU by saying this...BU can compete against the big boys in a given game...but over the course of a 5 or 10 year period, the top basketball programs make the NCAA tournament nearly every year, and they make deep runs into the Elite 8 or Final Four several times in that period of time...and it is highly, highly unlikely that BU could have anywhere near that kind of sustained success over the same period of time. So, that to me, is why I consider there to be a huge gap between BU and the Kansas, Arizona, and Kentucky types of programs...
 
ER3 said:
b...
Yeah, I would agree that it is all in the method of measurement. If you want to look at a single meeting as the definitive way to measure the two programs...then yes, BU did beat KU in that matchup in 2006...and it was awesome.
However, if you want to look at the bigger picture to compare the levels of success of the two programs, you should find it pretty easy to find a bit more of a gap between them...
After their loss to BU in the 2006 tourney...
In 06-07, Kansas went 33-5, won the Big XII regular season and conference tournament titles, and made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.
In 07-08, Kansas went 37-3, won the Big XII regular season and conference tournament titles, and won the National Championship.

BU went 22-13, finshed 4th in the Valley, lost in the semis of their conference tournament, and won an NIT game in 2007.
BU went 21-17, finished 5th in the Valley, lost in the first round of their conference tournament, and finished 2nd in the CBI in 2008.

So, in looking at the total body of work (rather than a single NCAA Tournament game), I would say that there is a huge, huge gap between the two programs.
I'm not bashing BU by saying this...BU can compete against the big boys in a given game...but over the course of a 5 or 10 year period, the top basketball programs make the NCAA tournament nearly every year, and they make deep runs into the Elite 8 or Final Four several times in that period of time...and it is highly, highly unlikely that BU could have anywhere near that kind of sustained success over the same period of time. So, that to me, is why I consider there to be a huge gap between BU and the Kansas, Arizona, and Kentucky types of programs...
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I agree...especially with the inconsistency that we (and teams like us) play with. It's almost embedded into our basketball "culture".
 
BradleyBrave said:
Tell me you're not serious with that comment. Perhaps in the 1950's this might be true, but let's be honest about where BU hoops is in the 21st century. Those programs mentioned above annually land McDonald's All-Americans, compete for Final Fours and national championships, and produce lottery picks. BU makes the tournament once or twice a decade and hasn't won conference title in 12 years. I love the Braves as much as anyone, but let's be realistic here.
Click to expand...

Sadly, I was serious. Watch this video for a chuckle and simply substitute "Da Braves" for "Da Bears" and you'll better understand my irrationality regarding "Da Braves" :lol:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jbMnXjcv3vA&feature=related
 
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