coolm
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WOOT! Non-conference schedule released!!
- Thread starter coolm
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I read somewhere that OU was trying to make it happen in regards to overseas tour being available online.
That schedule seems tough to me. After last year it would be nice to have couple more easy games early to help with confidence. hahahaha Lon likes a challenge.
That schedule seems tough to me. After last year it would be nice to have couple more easy games early to help with confidence. hahahaha Lon likes a challenge.
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AdaSooner
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Thanks! I have been hoping the games in New Zealand would be available somewhere. It would be great if OU can make that happen!
skyvue
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I've expressed it here before, so I won't belabor it, but I sure hope we don't lose out on a tourney berth because of our very difficult nonconference schedule. I mean, toughening up for conference play is great in theory, but it's not going to be mean much if we accumulate very many losses before conference play begins.
I think most of us would be happy with 11-6 or 10-7 in conference play, but I doubt we’ll make the tourney at 18-12 or 17-13.
It’s also disappointing to see all of our big games, save for Northwestern (if they qualify as a big game), taking place outside of Norman. I mean, it won’t impact me, since I live so far away, but it’d be nice for the home fans to get see some better competition (and for us to have home-court advantage against some of our tougher competition).
I'm not predicting doom and gloom. We might come out of the gate on fire and go 11-2, but that's asking a heckuva lot from a still-young team with a freshman point guard, especially with all those games away from home.
I think most of us would be happy with 11-6 or 10-7 in conference play, but I doubt we’ll make the tourney at 18-12 or 17-13.
It’s also disappointing to see all of our big games, save for Northwestern (if they qualify as a big game), taking place outside of Norman. I mean, it won’t impact me, since I live so far away, but it’d be nice for the home fans to get see some better competition (and for us to have home-court advantage against some of our tougher competition).
I'm not predicting doom and gloom. We might come out of the gate on fire and go 11-2, but that's asking a heckuva lot from a still-young team with a freshman point guard, especially with all those games away from home.
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SoonerTraveler
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Looking at that 12 game non-conference schedule, going 9-3 would be very good for this team, IMHO.
6 .. home games
3 .. very tough opponents in Portland, Oregon
3 .. road games .. Wichita State; Southern Cal; Alabama
Even if we play WSU and USC at non-campus arenas, those are still road games.
Going 8-4 would be encouraging, especially if OU is playing teams like North Carolina close. I like the tough schedule. It makes for an interesting November and December.
I might have to make that trip to Tuscaloosa in January.
6 .. home games
3 .. very tough opponents in Portland, Oregon
3 .. road games .. Wichita State; Southern Cal; Alabama
Even if we play WSU and USC at non-campus arenas, those are still road games.
Going 8-4 would be encouraging, especially if OU is playing teams like North Carolina close. I like the tough schedule. It makes for an interesting November and December.
I might have to make that trip to Tuscaloosa in January.
The desire to schedule subpar teams is mind boggling to me. You gain nothing from beating Maryland-Baltimore County, Alcorn State, or the other cream puffs.
Play good teams. Compete. Don't try to backdoor into a tourney bid through beating up on overmatched competition. It's also complelely irrelevant. The committee rightfully discounts beating creampuffs at home to basically zero.
Play good teams. Compete. Don't try to backdoor into a tourney bid through beating up on overmatched competition. It's also complelely irrelevant. The committee rightfully discounts beating creampuffs at home to basically zero.
skyvue
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No one (certainly not me) is suggesting that we play a slate filled with subpar teams but there is a HUGE middle ground between that and playing the nation's toughest schedule, which we did last year and for which we'll likely be in the running this season, it appears. Especially when virtually all our tough games are played away from LNC.
With this nonconference schedule and our always tough conference slate, we could be significantly improved this season (I expect we will be) and still be on the outside looking in at tourney time (or in the field, but with a lousy seed). I hope, should that happen, you'll still feel it was worth it to take on such a rugged slate of opponents and that you won't have turned on the team because the final record isn't what we all hoped it was.
SoonerTraveler
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Thanks baller. The Trojans are loaded. That trip will be a challenge and an opportunity for the Sooners. Playing Southern Cal and Wichita State in back-to-back road games in mid-December should show the OU team where they are at, and what they need to improve.
thebigabd
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Totally agree with skyvue... there is a lot of middle ground. Would anyone really be upset with a schedule like this filled with "middle" teams? Give them a couple of nice trips like Pepperdine, UCF, etc.. Open up with an easy 5-0, maybe add one high profile game like UCONN, Maryland, Syracuse, etc. Something on the east coast... End the non-conference with some mid-majors or easy wins because the students are gone and the attendance is horrible in December.
Central Arkansas (home)
UMKC (home)
UT Corpus Christi (home)
Tulane (home)
Arkansas Pine-Bluff (home)
Pepperdine (@ Pepperdine)
ORU (home)
Arkansas (home and away series)
UTEP (home)
Central Florida (@ UCF)
Tulsa (home and away series)
Arkansas State (home)
AdaSooner
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While I agree this is a tough non-con schedule, there are two schools of thought here. Should the load be lighter because the number of wins counts for something at selection time, or do you challenge a relatively young team with a number of new pieces by giving them the difficult early season test we see here?
The good news for OU is that the NCAA selection committee peanalizes teams with an easy non-conference schedule, while rewarding those with a semi-brutal road to a tourney birth. That's why I agree with what Sperry and Traveler said about playing really good teams. Playing teams like USC, WSU, and possibly UNC, will also help to prepare this team for a far more difficult Big 12 schedule than anything they'll face early on.
The good news for OU is that the NCAA selection committee peanalizes teams with an easy non-conference schedule, while rewarding those with a semi-brutal road to a tourney birth. That's why I agree with what Sperry and Traveler said about playing really good teams. Playing teams like USC, WSU, and possibly UNC, will also help to prepare this team for a far more difficult Big 12 schedule than anything they'll face early on.
thebigabd
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If I were the head coach, I would want to enter conference at 12-0, and 12-1 at the worst. I'd fill the schedule with recognizable name schools, but pretty easy wins. I'd throw in 1-2 tougher games to get on TV and boost the RPI.
skyvue
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Ada, I'm not saying we shouldn't play any tough teams, but we're playing eight of them, and all but one of those games are away from home. We played a similarly tough schedule last year and a fat lot of good that did us.
It's entirely possible to play a schedule tough enough to satisfy the committee and to challenge the team, but not so difficult a slate that it amounts to shooting ourselves in the foot. Two or three, perhaps four very strong opponents, with some decent mid-majors thrown in for good measure and we'd be in a much better position entering the season than we currently are.
Once again, I'm not discounting the possibility that we're going to go on an early-season tear -- anything is possible, and I'm a card-carrying sunshine pumper from way back -- but we've stacked the odds against ourselves for the second season in a row.
Yes making the big dance is a part of scheduling but another part is having success and building confidence. After last season, a confidence building early schedule may be the way to go. Obviously Lon wants to set the bar high but part of last season was due to the schedule. If any team made the dance and is returning most of their core, i.e.4 starters or 5 of their top 7 etc., they should be playing top competition.
AdaSooner
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Sky, I'm not saying you're wrong. That's why I said there are two schools of thought in this debate.
All I'm saying is that the reward at the end of the regular season could be greater with a tougher non-conference schedule. Win your fair share of those games and half or more Big 12 games, and the odds are good you'll be in the tourney again. The downside, of course, is that losing too many non-con games
could make earning a bid in conference play a lot tougher.
As I see it, there is no right or wrong side in this argument. Keep in mind, however, that some if not all of these games were scheduled well in advance (sometimes years) of the current season. It can't be easy to match the strength of the schedule to the strength of our team from one season to the next.
For the record, I'm all for a well balanced schedule if at all possible.
