I too think this is a good schedule considering. I read somewhere the civic center had booked an event that limited open dates for BU Bb. I was hoping for a 2 for 1 kinda deal with a BCS school, but what we have is ok. I hope BU has some kind of charter scheduled for FGC.
-
Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.
Non-Con schedule "officially" posted
- Thread starter IheartBU
- Start date
I too think this is a good schedule considering. I read somewhere the civic center had booked an event that limited open dates for BU Bb. I was hoping for a 2 for 1 kinda deal with a BCS school, but what we have is ok. I hope BU has some kind of charter scheduled for FGC.
JBinPeoria
New member
I think the schedule is fine. There are some opportunities for some "Key" or "marquee" wins that help the NCAA cause should we not win the MVC. But the bottom line is that these "marquee" wins for mid-majors still don't count as much in the tournament committee's eyes as medoicre records in conferences packed with BCS competition. We are still in a position where we HAVE to win the MVC in my eyes for me to have any confidence that we will be looked upon favorably come NCAA time.
This leads me to my feelings about the College Basketball Experience Classic, which I never have heard of...so I assume it is new. This calls into question why it is even called a "classic", but that is besides the point. The way I see it is...we are in a pre-season exempt tournament against Richmond (RPI = 0.52), Florida Gulf Coast (RPI = 0.42) and University of Missouri Kansas City (RPI = ???). These three games only bring our overall strength of schedule down and will not be looked upon favorably by the selection committee. The upside of all this is that we get to play Florida or Syracuse on the road as part of this so-called "tournament". That is good, but get this...if we win this game against Florida, we do not advance in the so-called "tournament". Win-or-lose, its is a one way ticket into a "champrionship" series in the losers bracket against teams who's RPIs are so low, it will probably offset the stength of schedule lift we get from playing Florida or Syracuse.
To me, being invited to a so-called "tournament" such as this is an insult and a slap in the face to a program that is deserving of way more national respect than it actually gets. Part of me thinks we have more pride than to accept an invitation to a tournament where a first round victory against a Florida or Syracuse gets you a one-way ticket into the losers bracket. The other part of me realizes that perhaps it was the best deal on the table for our players once the "Top of the World Classic" went down the tubes.
Regardless, in the future, I would like to see Bradley participate in REAL tournaments. Tournaments where early-round road victories allow you to advance and play better teams with the ultimate goal of being in a pre-season championship game that will provide national exposure. A wonderful tournament that achieves this is the Pre-Season NIT. If you look at the Pre-Season NIT in any given year (16 teams, I think). You typically find the four teams they are hoping will make it to Madison Square Garden for the finals and typically 2-3 potential spoilers. That is fine. It is a win-win for participants where schools that have tough early round matchups at least get a strength of schedule boost and good experience. The better teams typically advance to play even better teams to improve their overall SOS. And most of all, the teams that win games don't get a one-way ticket to losersville (i.e. the loser's bracket).
This leads me to my feelings about the College Basketball Experience Classic, which I never have heard of...so I assume it is new. This calls into question why it is even called a "classic", but that is besides the point. The way I see it is...we are in a pre-season exempt tournament against Richmond (RPI = 0.52), Florida Gulf Coast (RPI = 0.42) and University of Missouri Kansas City (RPI = ???). These three games only bring our overall strength of schedule down and will not be looked upon favorably by the selection committee. The upside of all this is that we get to play Florida or Syracuse on the road as part of this so-called "tournament". That is good, but get this...if we win this game against Florida, we do not advance in the so-called "tournament". Win-or-lose, its is a one way ticket into a "champrionship" series in the losers bracket against teams who's RPIs are so low, it will probably offset the stength of schedule lift we get from playing Florida or Syracuse.
To me, being invited to a so-called "tournament" such as this is an insult and a slap in the face to a program that is deserving of way more national respect than it actually gets. Part of me thinks we have more pride than to accept an invitation to a tournament where a first round victory against a Florida or Syracuse gets you a one-way ticket into the losers bracket. The other part of me realizes that perhaps it was the best deal on the table for our players once the "Top of the World Classic" went down the tubes.
Regardless, in the future, I would like to see Bradley participate in REAL tournaments. Tournaments where early-round road victories allow you to advance and play better teams with the ultimate goal of being in a pre-season championship game that will provide national exposure. A wonderful tournament that achieves this is the Pre-Season NIT. If you look at the Pre-Season NIT in any given year (16 teams, I think). You typically find the four teams they are hoping will make it to Madison Square Garden for the finals and typically 2-3 potential spoilers. That is fine. It is a win-win for participants where schools that have tough early round matchups at least get a strength of schedule boost and good experience. The better teams typically advance to play even better teams to improve their overall SOS. And most of all, the teams that win games don't get a one-way ticket to losersville (i.e. the loser's bracket).
I am sure Bradley would not hesitate to be in the Preseason NIT if asked, but they have never been asked. The TOTWC would have been such a "real tournament" with a real championship, but due to circumstances entirely beyond their control, those plans fell apart.
As I have said before, scheduling for a strong midmajor school like Bradley is perhaps the most difficult task of all. Lower schools don't have any problem getting "buy games" and higher schools can name their opponents. Year after year, Bradley has done a good job. Their overall Strength of Schedule ranks #2 among the MVC schools over the past 6 seasons since JL has been coach.
As I have said before, scheduling for a strong midmajor school like Bradley is perhaps the most difficult task of all. Lower schools don't have any problem getting "buy games" and higher schools can name their opponents. Year after year, Bradley has done a good job. Their overall Strength of Schedule ranks #2 among the MVC schools over the past 6 seasons since JL has been coach.
Garland 22
New member
I agree, this a good schedule with several tough road games. Remember last year we started with a road "cupcake" named UIC and got slapped. We had a BCS team at home and couldn't close the deal. This schedule is solid and will allow our new guys to start meshing in tough, but not overwhelming envioronments. Not to mention maybe a game in the Carrier Dome which would be cool.
Also on the CBE thing, I think the Sprint Center in KC which is a large venue probably told sponsors that there would be 4 big boys in for the final tourney. As much as we all love BU, I imagine most in the KC area wouldn't pay the roughly 30 dollar ticket price to see a couple of mid-majors face off. Cinderella is a big story in march, but not as compelling in Nov.
Rocky-Mountains-Brave
New member
It may have been mentioned earlier - but Kansas is one of the Big 4
teams for this years CBE Classic. I would think that Kansas and every
Kansas fan would love another shot at Bradley in their own back yard.
But Heaven forbid if Bradley were to win again.
teams for this years CBE Classic. I would think that Kansas and every
Kansas fan would love another shot at Bradley in their own back yard.
But Heaven forbid if Bradley were to win again.
basketball nut
Active member
I don't know for certain either but I beleive squirrel is probably right on w/ this line up of games. The one game that concerns me is FGCU as they were not that bad for such a young team last year and if I remember right stayed w/ BU in the second half last year. I wouldn't take them too lightly this year. This is a team and a school that is going to hit the big time very quick becaue of where it is located. It is not only a great place to visit in the winter but it would be a great place to go to school all winter.
It may have been mentioned earlier - but Kansas is one of the Big 4
teams for this years CBE Classic. I would think that Kansas and every
Kansas fan would love another shot at Bradley in their own back yard.
But Heaven forbid if Bradley were to win again.
Yep, has been mentioned. Check the "Cleveland State Mystery" thread.
I have just learned that Bradley does not intend to arrange a fan trip to the Florida games in Ft. Myers, November 24, 25, and 26.
We hope to find out soon what hotel Bradley will be staying at in Ft. Myers, and what the exact schedule is for the games. We should also know within this next week which team (Syracuse or Florida) Bradley will play on November 16.
We hope to find out soon what hotel Bradley will be staying at in Ft. Myers, and what the exact schedule is for the games. We should also know within this next week which team (Syracuse or Florida) Bradley will play on November 16.
chitown fanatic
New member
I think the thing that bothers me most about this non-con schedule is that even with the TOTW cancellation, we still would have had 3 dates to fill,and we stubbornly tried to hang on for home games instead of being bought by a bigger program and an SOS boost. Now we have SEMO, E. Tenn St, and SIU-E????? Who in Peoria would even want to see that garbage?? If I was a season ticket holder, I'd want a refund. One slip up against any of those three, not to mention going to another hyphen on their home floor in FGCU, and you can cancel any hopes of an at-large. I can see Nantz ripping this apart in March now....
SIU-E is an opportunity for Lennox Forrester to make his Peoria comeback, so I think that game will draw a lot of fans, and it should be fun to watch as well
Also, you might want to check up on ETSU before you call them garbage.
SIU-E is a first year Div I basketball program...They went 17-11 as a Div II team last year. That is a lousy opponent any way you slice it. I highly doubt that Lennox Forrester being their head coach is going to be any type of draw at all for that game. Any BU hoops fan that even knows who Lennox Forrester is already going to be at that game without even having to check the schedule...The 'casual' BU fan has no idea who Lennox Forrester is...so the SIU-E game isn't going to draw because of Lennox.
I understand this point, but in the future, I would like to see us schedule some upper mid-major schools to compliment the tournaments and or buy-in games with larger schools. I would think that we are including Butler for future games, but I would like to see a series of games with Xavier for example.
That's not what I'm expecting or asking for. I understand that we cannot consistently get quality BCS teams to come to Carver. However, I don't understand why we cannot bring in several quality mid-majors every year...and stop having to schedule RPI-killers like SEMO and SIU-E...
The good mid-major teams cry every year about how hard it is to put together a quality schedule because the big boys won't play them...well, why aren't these teams scheduling each other? You can build a quality non-conference schedule without having 10 BCS teams on it....Putting teams like Tulsa, Xavier, Charlotte, St. Joseph's, Temple, UMass, Dayton, UAB, Western Kentucky, Kent St., Ohio, etc. on our home schedule would make a huge difference...we have enough bad road games (FGCU, UMKC) on our schedule because of this CBE Tournament, we don't need two more on our home slate (SEMO, SIU-E).
I'm glad Butler is on our schedule...and yes, they were a great team last year...But they should be way, way down this year...They lost 4 of their top 5 scorers from last year's team...so raving about having a Sweet 16 team coming into our building this year is a bit misleading...The Butler team coming into Carver this year will in no way resemble a Sweet 16 caliber team.
We likely have at least 4 teams on our non-conference schedule this year that will have an RPI greater than 200 (SEMO, FGCU, UMKC, SIU-E)...that is not good.
Last year's schedule was very good...no question. We took a step backwards with this year's...it happens.
Do you really believe that Butler is going to be anywhere near the RPI top 20 this year? They lose Graves, Green, Campbell, and Betko...They will be young and nowhere near as good as they were last year...
Syracuse had an RPI of about 55 last year and Donte Green left early for the NBA...so I doubt it would be realistic to project them as a possible RPI top 20 team.
Do you really believe that there will be no 200+ RPI teams on our schedule this year?
FGCU had an RPI of 294 last year...
SEMO had an RPI of 291 last year...
UMKC had an RPI of 288 last year...
SIU-E is a first year Div-I program...
I don't see how all four of those teams will be in the top 200 this year. Frankly, I'd be surprised if more than one of them had an RPI better than 200 at the end of the season...
In time...maybe...I was merely saying that they are likely to be a lousy RPI 200+ team on our schedule this year...
The schedule isn't terrible this year...it just is a disappointment when comparing it to last year's...Having a non-con schedule with 4 games against probable RPI 200+ teams is a little underwhelming, IMO. And only having one game this year against a probable top 20 team (Michigan State) doesn't give us much of a boost...Butler and Syracuse are nice teams to have on the schedule, but I don't think either team projects to be a world-beater this year.
We'll see how it all plays out. Hopefully the Valley is stronger this year and that will be where the rest of our quality opponents will come from...
It would be nice if scheduling teams like these was as easy as you apparently think it is. I can assure you that the people at Bradley who do the scheduling have tried every one of these schools, and they are not interested in playing Bradley in Peoria.
If it was easy as you think, then why aren't any of these schools playing at SIU, ISU, MSU, or any other MVC home court (except when forced to by the Bracket-Buster deal)?
I don't understand why schools such as that are not interested in playing us. It seems like a quality game for both teams and would be a good win for either side.
I dont think that anyone is thinking that scheduling is easy. That being said, some of the upper Mid-major schools have to realize that one way to beef up their NCAA resume is to schedule each other to compliment scheduling larger schools in a 2 for 1 series.
One other aspect concerning this schedule is that I think that our schedule is about right for a team going into the season with some questions at key positions. I expect next years schedule to be tougher.
Really? BU has played both UAB and WKU at home in the last 10 years. Creighton has played multi-year series with Xavier and St. Joe's recently.
Obviously I know scheduling is not the easiest thing to do, and I am thrilled with the CBE Classic considering it looked like those might be lost games.
But I think the current regime has overemphasized local/regional games to an extent. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But when it becomes the primary M.O. you hold the program back, in terms of RPI connectors, visibility, and potential for TV games, IMO.
Also, I don't complain about the DI newbie/provisional member games as the NCAA offers incentives for schools playing them to help their scheduling, as they have to play x (or a % of) number of DI opponents in a progressive fashion.
But I do have to agree that the schedule is disappointing. I understand all the reasons for it, but I won't use that as an excuse.
It's the direct result of too many multi-year deals (no excuse when you can get home buy games), too many multi-year deals against teams from the same regional league (again irresponsible schedule development), and the tourney falling through.
Only one of those is not the coach's fault.
But I am optimistic that the lessons have been learned and there will be changes for future scheduling.
Obviously I know scheduling is not the easiest thing to do, and I am thrilled with the CBE Classic considering it looked like those might be lost games.
But I think the current regime has overemphasized local/regional games to an extent. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But when it becomes the primary M.O. you hold the program back, in terms of RPI connectors, visibility, and potential for TV games, IMO.
Also, I don't complain about the DI newbie/provisional member games as the NCAA offers incentives for schools playing them to help their scheduling, as they have to play x (or a % of) number of DI opponents in a progressive fashion.
But I do have to agree that the schedule is disappointing. I understand all the reasons for it, but I won't use that as an excuse.
It's the direct result of too many multi-year deals (no excuse when you can get home buy games), too many multi-year deals against teams from the same regional league (again irresponsible schedule development), and the tourney falling through.
Only one of those is not the coach's fault.
But I am optimistic that the lessons have been learned and there will be changes for future scheduling.