SteveGarvey1
Well-Known Member
So beat each of these next three teams by 10+ points will somewhat mitigate the negative effect of the poor team value index of each of these teams, however they figure that out?
These next three games....
- Thread starter ssckelley
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So beat each of these next three teams by 10+ points will somewhat mitigate the negative effect of the poor team value index of each of these teams, however they figure that out?
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
I didn't even have to look that hard, those were the first 2 I clicked on. Saying these low majors would prefer to schedule Duke over schools like Iowa is a very flimsy excuse.
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
Whether that's true or not that it's easier for Duke to schedule good competition - there are 350+ D1 teams to choose from. Yet somehow we keep ending up with a pretty sizable batch of opponents that are in the bottom 10-15%. Seems like 4-6 of them EVERY year.
One or two of them, OK, but it shouldn't be THAT hard to avoid playing the absolute dregs of college basketball that many times each and every year.
I agree - the Duke thing is an excuse. Nothing more.
And no, Iowa is not the only school that does this. That's not the point.
If nothing else, these types of games are painfully boring to watch.
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mopkins
King Kong
R-e-l-a-x. The B1G is so strong this year all the SoS stuff will be taken care of by just playing the 20 game conference slate.
By the way, in the non-conference:
Iowa played 4 quality opponents, 6 cupcakes, and UNI.
Michigan played 4 quality opponents (nova, providence, South Carolina, North Carolina) and 7 cupcakes
Michigan State played 5 quality opponents (Kansas, UCLA, Texas, Louisville, Florida) and 6 cupcakes
Purdue played 4 quality opponents (VT, Florida State, Texas, ND) and 7 cupcakes
Iowa isn't doing ANYTHING different than the rest of the Big Ten. Keep in mind Iowa was left out of the Gavitt games this year, so other Big Ten teams got an extra quality opponent because of that.
By the way, in the non-conference:
Iowa played 4 quality opponents, 6 cupcakes, and UNI.
Michigan played 4 quality opponents (nova, providence, South Carolina, North Carolina) and 7 cupcakes
Michigan State played 5 quality opponents (Kansas, UCLA, Texas, Louisville, Florida) and 6 cupcakes
Purdue played 4 quality opponents (VT, Florida State, Texas, ND) and 7 cupcakes
Iowa isn't doing ANYTHING different than the rest of the Big Ten. Keep in mind Iowa was left out of the Gavitt games this year, so other Big Ten teams got an extra quality opponent because of that.
JG10Hawk
Well-Known Member
That's basically how I read it.
In other words #3 through #5 are all fixed once you reach a 10 point win margin but #2 can be altered based on how handily you beat an opponent. SOS does not matter for #2 through #5. #1 is the only unknown that some how has opponent strength involved.
mopkins
King Kong
Also...
Illinois has played Georgetown, Iowa State, Gonzaga, Notre Dame and Xavier and lost them all. They also beat UNLV and still play Missouri. Their non conference was pretty brutal and their season is basically already over before it even started.
So keep in mind the negative effect of scheduling a tough non conference and losing a lot of them. It looks bad on your resume, it keeps your win total way down, and it destroys all confidence your players and fans have in your season.
Illinois has played Georgetown, Iowa State, Gonzaga, Notre Dame and Xavier and lost them all. They also beat UNLV and still play Missouri. Their non conference was pretty brutal and their season is basically already over before it even started.
So keep in mind the negative effect of scheduling a tough non conference and losing a lot of them. It looks bad on your resume, it keeps your win total way down, and it destroys all confidence your players and fans have in your season.
And if memory serves me, the UMKC and WGB games were part of the 2K Classic.
I think Fran also said earlier that we got left out of B1G Gavitt game due to the HyVee Classic.
But our fans know all this.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
Wisconsin has only scheduled 1. Are schools like Rhode Island, SMU, and Southern Miss even in power5 conferences?
I didn't say that at all. My complaint is scheduling THREE of them in a row. Not to mention the previous cupcakes Iowa has already played.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
I'm not even calling for them to play a brutal non conference schedule like Illinois did. All I'm saying is play better cupcakes.
If we played easier cupcakes, they would still be boring games against no name schools that fans wouldn't get excited for. It sounds like we all agree we are going to schedule some bad teams. The question is how bad those bad teams should be. The absolute only reason that matters is for strength of schedule and we aren't even sure yet how much this even matters anymore with the new metrics.
The dumbest thing about the RPI is how huge of a difference it made between playing 3 schools you had a 95% chance of winning and playing 3 schools you had a 98% chance of winning. Both were all but 3 guaranteed wins, yet it made a huge difference in RPI. Hopefully it doesn't matter anymore so we can quit bitching about playing teams in the 300s instead of teams in the 250s.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
There's a million reasons why Gutless Gary gets hammered on here.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
Let us know when they schedule all 3 in a row. I'll wait. Even if it takes 30 years.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
lightning1
Well-Known Member
This is a good point against the SOS argument. My argument is that playing 3 cupcakes in a row does nothing to prepare your team for that strong BIG conference play.
This is true. But they only had 4 games to schedule this year. It just so happens that 3 of them are in a row at the end. The only other realistic option would have been slightly less terrible teams that still do nothing to prepare you for conference play.
mopkins
King Kong
I'll probably still bitch.....these games are not all that fun to watch either.
I dont disagree that the games aren't very fun to watch. Even the UNI game was boring as all hell. However, this is a snoozer time of year on campus anyway. The students are gone, its the holidays, etc. Its a good time for the players to work on things and stay healthy before the real schedule begins.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Could Barta's argument (which won't make sense if he has one) be that he doesnt want to schedule attractive non con home games when the students are gone? Does anyone even know how many students actually attend games? Does anyone know how many regular football bowl game attendees are also regular basketball patrons?
No way would Barta schedule Iowa State this close to the holidays. He would lose one of the few guaranteed non con gates he does get. Playing three consecutive cupcakes makes no sense on any level at any time, but doing it on the eve of conference games looks clueless. But perhaps Barta, ever the gutless one, feels that scheduling sub 300 RPI's a week before a date in Mackey Arena is the best way to cut his losses.
Thank God we're playing Cincinnati in that United Center holiday doubleheader next year. That is how you prepare your team for conference play.
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JG10Hawk
Well-Known Member
Would be a perfect time of year to schedule a decent road game(if the opposing AD would agree to it) as the opposing team's students wouldn't be around. Get that SOS up and possibly steal one that would be a bit more difficult if class was in session.
