Sooners Announce Non-Conference Schedule

[SoonerTraveler]

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=211717311&KEY=


Oct. 30 Pittsburg State (Exh.) Norman
Nov. 9 at UTRGV Edinburg, Texas
Nov. 12 at UTSA San Antonio, Texas
Nov. 18 Wofford Norman
Nov. 21 vs. TBD (Battle 4 Atlantis) Paradise Island, Bahamas
Nov. 22 vs. TBD (Battle 4 Atlantis) Paradise Island, Bahamas
Nov. 23 vs. TBD (Battle 4 Atlantis) Paradise Island, Bahamas
Nov. 27 North Texas Norman
Dec. 4 vs. Notre Dame New York, N.Y. 6 p.m.
Dec. 8 Wichita State Oklahoma City, Okla.
Dec. 15 vs. Southern California Tulsa, Okla.
Dec. 18 Creighton Norman
Dec. 21 at Northwestern Evanston, Ill.
Jan. 26 Vanderbilt Norman

https://twitter.com/OU_MBBall/status/1001845889831403520/video/1

For only the second time since 1940 and the first since 1977, the Sooners will open the regular season with a pair of true road games. Oklahoma begins the year at UTRGV on Nov. 9 in Edinburg, Texas, and then faces UTSA in San Antonio on Nov. 12. The Vaqueros and Roadrunners are coached by a pair of former OU assistants in Lew Hill (UTRGV) and Steve Henson (UTSA), who took their head coaching positions following Oklahoma’s run to the 2016 Final Four.

The Sooners return to Norman for their home opener on Sunday, Nov. 18 against Wofford. The Terriers will be making their first trip to Norman, coming off a 21-13 season that included a trip to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Wofford has reached the NCAA Tournament four times in the past nine seasons, most recently in 2015.

The Sooners will face the Fighting Irish for the first time in program history, taking on Notre Dame inside of Madison Square Garden as part of the 2018 Jimmy V Classic. Oklahoma is 7-13 all-time at MSG and will be playing inside the historic arena for the first time since winning the 2009 NIT Season Tip-Off.

 

[ksSooner13]

Tough, but overall I really like this schedule

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Battle 4 Atlantis / Bahamas
> Wisconsin
> Florida
> Virginia
> Stanford
> Oklahoma
> Butler
> Dayton
> Middle Tennessee State

The 2018 Battle 4 Atlantis will be played during Thanksgiving week.. It is played at the Imperial Arena inside the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort from Nov. 21-23. The tournament bracket will be revealed on a later date.

 

[thebigabd]

Geez, brutal schedule. Look at the stretch between November 27th and end of the year.

North Texas
Notre Dame
Wichita State
USC
Creighton
Northwestern
Vanderbilt

That is a BRUTAL stretch of games. The easiest stretch in there is North Texas, and they won 20 games last year. Their coach improved their win total by 12 games in one season.

They return:
Roosevelt Smart - Guard who averaged 19.5 points per game as a sophomore... 3rd in the nation in 3pointers made.
Ryan Woolridge - 6'3'' guard who averaged 13 points and 6 assists per game as a sophomore.. Broke the school record for assists as a sophomore in his first year..
Umoja Gibson - Averaged 10ppg as a freshman
AJ Lawson - 6'5'' guard who averaged 9ppg as a sophomre
Zach Simmons - 6'9'' 235 forward who averaged 6.5 and 5.5 as a true freshman

They were a very young team and they return basically every contributor from that team.

They had another guy, Jordan Duffy, who was hurt all year... He played at the end of the season and in all their CBI games and averaged 18 ppg in their 6 CBI games. He might be their 2nd best player and he didnt even play most of the season. They have another guy redshirting from Arkansas State that might be solid too.

They are an interesting team for sure... But even more interesting is that they are the easiest opponent on schedule for that stretch of games.

 

[TulsaWorld]

Nice nod to former assistants

Oklahoma’s first two games will be on the road against Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Texas-San Antonio, which are coached by former Lon Kruger assistants Lew Hill and Steven Henson, respectively. Both were on Kruger’s staff during the Sooners’ Final Four run in 2016-17.

It is only the second time since 1940 and the first since 1977 that Oklahoma opens the regular season with two true road games.

Back to the Bahamas

Thanksgiving dinner will be featured in a tropical setting as OU joins the eight-team field in the prestigious Battle 4 Atlantis (Nov. 21-23). The eight-team field also includes Butler, Dayton, Florida, Middle Tennessee, Stanford, Wisconsin and Virginia. A tournament bracket will be reveled later.

Link

 

[WichitaSooner]

Love the schedule. No true cupcakes, and lots of very good teams. But, depending on how the bracket turns out in the Bahamas, no games where we figure to be completely outclassed. A lot of the tough tests are in OK, and the rest are neutral sites except Northwestern. Even Wofford doesn't figure to be a pushover -- they won at North Carolina last season and seem to always play a handful of Power 5 teams, so they certainly won't be intimidated coming into the LNC.

I know some of you are worried that it might be more than we are ready for early in the season, but the same is almost certainly true for many of the teams we will be playing. WSU has much less returning experience than OU, for example. A lot of these games figure to be tossups. Hold our own against this kind of slate, and not only should it boost the confidence, it will significantly help if we are in the mix come March.

 

[perryj74]

Assuming this team can get into the NCAA discussion this type of scheduling, just like last year, will likely be the difference between getting in the tournament and being left out.

 

[NickZepp]

Only 4 actual home games out of conference? That's insane.

 

[NY Soonerfan]

Tough sledding for a team that may take some time to gel together with all the new pieces, but like many have said/hinted, if we can somehow get into the discussion come Selection Sunday, we have to be in a great spot, compared to the other bubble teams.

 

[SuperHoops]

Only 4 actual home games out of conference? That's insane.

Only 3 actual road games out of conference and 2 of them are against bottom feeders? That's insane.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Only 3 actual road games out of conference and 2 of them are against bottom feeders? That's insane.

Not at all. A lot of power conference teams play just one true road game. And while UTRGV and UTSA aren't exactly world beaters, they definitely aren't bottom feeders. If those are arguably the two "worst" teams we face, it shows that the staff has put together a very good nonconference schedule.

 

[colston15]

I don't really like playing those two roads games to start the season. There's an overwhelming chance they end up being nothing to gain, everything to lose type games.

 

[TINY]

I hate to say it but this team has almost no chance of making the tournament with this brutal of a schedule. There’s a good chance that we could have a team worthy of being in the tourney by the end of the year but we will be lucky to win more than 15 games.

 

[thebigabd]

The more I look at this, the more I don't like it.

4 home games is BS for the season ticket holders... and the schedule is extremely difficult. The positive is that OU will have a very good SOS, and be on TV a lot, but other than that it's not good.

 

[Max Power]

Geez, brutal schedule. Look at the stretch between November 27th and end of the year.

North Texas
Notre Dame
Wichita State
USC
Creighton
Northwestern
Vanderbilt

That is a BRUTAL stretch of games. The easiest stretch in there is North Texas, and they won 20 games last year. Their coach improved their win total by 12 games in one season.

They return:
Roosevelt Smart - Guard who averaged 19.5 points per game as a sophomore... 3rd in the nation in 3pointers made.
Ryan Woolridge - 6'3'' guard who averaged 13 points and 6 assists per game as a sophomore.. Broke the school record for assists as a sophomore in his first year..
Umoja Gibson - Averaged 10ppg as a freshman
AJ Lawson - 6'5'' guard who averaged 9ppg as a sophomre
Zach Simmons - 6'9'' 235 forward who averaged 6.5 and 5.5 as a true freshman

They were a very young team and they return basically every contributor from that team.

They had another guy, Jordan Duffy, who was hurt all year... He played at the end of the season and in all their CBI games and averaged 18 ppg in their 6 CBI games. He might be their 2nd best player and he didnt even play most of the season. They have another guy redshirting from Arkansas State that might be solid too.

They are an interesting team for sure... But even more interesting is that they are the easiest opponent on schedule for that stretch of games.

But all those guys are sophomores, so where are their JUCO's?

 

[WichitaSooner]

I hate to say it but this team has almost no chance of making the tournament with this brutal of a schedule. There’s a good chance that we could have a team worthy of being in the tourney by the end of the year but we will be lucky to win more than 15 games.

Let's let it play out before we start going that route. This is exactly what many posters said this time a year ago. And as far as the tourney, I'd argue the opposite point ... a better schedule is precisely why OU made the tourney and OSU didn't despite having almost identical records. That made very clear that the committee values who you beat, especially road and neutral. Going, say, 9-4 against a very good nonconference schedule is much better than piling up an 11-2 record against consistently weak opponents.

 

[skyvue]

Going, say, 9-4 against a very good nonconference schedule is much better than piling up an 11-2 record against consistently weak opponents.

Yes, but going 11-2 against a lesser schedule is better than going 4-9 against a tough slate -- unless your team goes on a serious tear in conference.

I was worried about last year's nonconference schedule and as I've acknowledged before, I was wrong. But this is one season I'd very much like to see us playing a decent but not rugged lineup in nonconference play. I never give up on our guys, but if forced to predict our nonconference record right now, my prognostication would not be a sunny one. We could end up being a pretty good by season's end and still have a subpar record because of an overloaded schedule and that thought, given the current status of our program, is frustrating to me.

 

[Eielson]

Yes, but going 11-2 against a lesser schedule is better than going 4-9 against a tough slate -- unless your team goes on a serious tear in conference.

I was worried about last year's nonconference schedule and as I've acknowledged before, I was wrong. But this is one season I'd very much like to see us playing a decent but not rugged lineup in nonconference play. I never give up on our guys, but if forced to predict our nonconference record right now, my prognostication would not be a sunny one. We could end up being a pretty good by season's end and still have a subpar record because of an overloaded schedule and that thought, given the current status of our program, is frustrating to me.

If this team goes 4-9 against this schedule, we're not even worthy of being in the discussion for NIT.

 

[skyvue]

If this team goes 4-9 against this schedule, we're not even worthy of being in the discussion for NIT.

I hope it was clear that I'm not predicting that record. But it's a tougher schedule than I would like to have seen us line up for ourselves this season. I think this team might well take some time to gel, and there are an awful lot of teams on that slate that we certainly could lose to.

 

[Stikboy]

I think my wife and I might go to the UTRGV game and visit King Ranch. Yes we know how to party.