New Pitino Blog: "Schedulging Thoughts"

[BleedGopher]

This is a perfect blog topic for Hodger!

per the blog:

So looking back our schedule seemed to provide plenty of opportunities to get Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins. We were 2-9 vs. Quad 1, 1-3 vs. Quad 2, 2-3 vs. Quad 3, and 10-2 vs. Quad 4. The biggest issue, besides obviously the losses, was having four conference games count as Quad 4 games. For other teams we would have counted as a Quad 4 as well. Having that many in our league is unheard of. Playing 20 league games in the future should help that.

Moving forward, my immediate thoughts are to get as many Quad 1 and Quad 2 opportunities on your non-conference schedule and hope your league provides the rest. The Big Ten’s unbalanced schedule also makes it tricky. A few years ago, the benchmark for making the NCAA tournament from a Power 5 conference was always 20 wins. Clearly that isn’t the case. Over the next few months we will do our very best to put together an exciting, challenging, and rewarding schedule.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031218aaa.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Oh, and I LOVE this line as it gets so obnoxious hearing how everyone is doing in their brackets...it reminds me of hearing endless updates on how someone's fantasy football team is doing when you aren't in the same league. It's fun in the same league, it's annoying when not.

"In the meantime, I can’t wait to hear how everyone is doing in their brackets! Yes, that’s me being sarcastic."

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031218aaa.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[GFBfan]

He also has this great line in his analysis:
Alabama (Neutral) - Win (I think we won. Depends on who you ask or what you read!)
RPI- 41, Quad 1
NCAA tournament- 9 Seed

 

[ltf]

Should be more opportunities for quality wins next year in conference. MSU and Purdue lose a lot but everyone else should come back stronger than they were this season.

 

[Holy Man]

Should be more opportunities for quality wins next year in conference. MSU and Purdue lose a lot but everyone else should come back stronger than they were this season.

I thought the same coming into this year. There are a lot of variables at play. I thought Penn St. would be much better. I never pictured Nebraska's transfers being so effective. I would never have imagined Iowa being so terrible.

I thought this year's schedule was fine at the top and brutal at the bottom. That has to be fixed. The comment on seeking out more neutral site games at the expense of home and homes doesn't inspire confidence in me as a season ticket holder. I am wondering if the U.S. Bank game will be home or neutral.

 

[Dano564]

I thought the same coming into this year. There are a lot of variables at play. I thought Penn St. would be much better. I never pictured Nebraska's transfers being so effective. I would never have imagined Iowa being so terrible.

I thought this year's schedule was fine at the top and brutal at the bottom. That has to be fixed. The comment on seeking out more neutral site games at the expense of home and homes doesn't inspire confidence in me as a season ticket holder. I am wondering if the U.S. Bank game will be home or neutral.

When the Big Ten went 1-13 in the ACC Big Ten Challenge, that messed up a lot of things...

 

[gophereric30]

When the Big Ten went 1-13 in the ACC Big Ten Challenge, that messed up a lot of things...

Yeah, at one point i told selection sunday i still thought the BIG would somehow get 7 teams in and then 5 days later some teams took bad losses and it was back to only 4 teams looking good.

 

[Ope3]

Quads/RPI

If the RPI already has Road/Neutral weighted into it, I can't figure out why it factors into the Quadrant 1, Quadrant 2 Wins etc as well. Seems like overkill, but I was never that good at calculus or geometry, whatever quads are.

 

[SelectionSunday]

A guess at the schedule

What I read from all this is Pitino will continue his path of not scheduling home & homes (has scheduled one in 5 seasons), despite intimations to the contrary. Those days are over, unfortunately, looking out for season-ticket holders isn't a priority of head coaches. The big schools figured out a long time ago how to game the RPI, and part of that is not scheduling home & homes vs. good programs.

31 games

Non-Conference
5 home games designed to game the RPI by playing teams that are OK (decent mid-majors?) but likely can't beat you. (2 vs. teams in the top-150 range, 3 vs. cupcakes in the 250 range)

2 home games as part of Vancouver Showcase (both cupcakes)

2 neutral-site Vancouver Showcase games (2 of Santa Clara, Texas A&M, Washington. ... safe bet is Gophers draw Washington in opener)

1 road game (ACC Challenge)

1 neutral-site game at U.S. Bank Stadium (presumably a decent opponent, so of course not @ Williams Arena, or part of season-ticket package)

B1G
10 home games

10 road games

Totals
17 home games
11 road games
3 neutral-site games

Key Pitino Quote
"We have to be able to reward our season ticket holders."

Let's see if this comes to fruition. And to be clear, rewarding season ticket holders means more than just adding the 10th B1G home game, ESPECIALLY after getting only 8 B1G home games this season.

 

[Holy Man]

What I read from all this is Pitino will continue his path of not scheduling home & homes (has scheduled one in 5 seasons), despite intimations to the contrary. Those days are over, unfortunately, looking out for season-ticket holders isn't a priority of head coaches. The big schools figured out a long time ago how to game the RPI, and part of that is not scheduling home & homes vs. good programs.

31 games

Non-Conference
5 home games designed to game the RPI by playing teams aren't bad (decent mid-majors?) but likely can't beat you. (2 vs. teams in the top-150 range, 3 vs. cupcakes in the 250 range)

2 home games as part of Vancouver Showcase (both cupcakes)

2 neutral-site Vancouver Showcase games (2 of Santa Clara, Texas A&M, Washington. ... safe bet is Gophers draw Washington in opener)

1 road game (ACC Challenge)

1 neutral-site game at U.S. Bank Stadium (presumably a decent opponent, so of course not @ Williams Arena, or part of season-ticket package)
[/B]
B1G
10 home games

10 road games

Totals
17 home games
11 road games
3 neutral-site games

Key Pitino Quote
"We have to be able to reward our season ticket holders."

Let's see if this comes to fruition. And to be clear, rewarding season ticket holders means more than just adding the 10th B1G home game, ESPECIALLY after getting only 8 B1G home games this season.

Is the U.S. Bank game confirmed as not part of season ticket package? I have the solicitations for renewal but have not looked at them closely. If that game is an extra charge, call me a really po'd season ticket holder. When they did the game at the dome in 96, I'm pretty sure it was part of our package, but I can't remember.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Not being a die-hard, I wasn't sure about this Quad stuff either.

Apparently, for purposes of helping figure out which teams should make the NCAA tournament, schedules are analyzed in terms of the strength of opponents, based on RPI. The Best teams you play are in Quad 1 and so Forth. Also varies depending on whether you play teams at home, on the road, or at a neutral site. Found a grid that lays it out, but my rudimentary computer skills won't let me cut and paste it here.

Again, based on RPI:
home neutral road
Quad 1 1-30 1-50 1-75

Quad 2 31-75 51-100 76-135

Quad 3 76-160 101-200 136-240

Quad 4 161+ 200+ 241+

So, bottom line, for a Quad 1 home win, you have to beat a team with an RPI of 30 or better. at a neutral site, 50 or better. on the road, you can get a Quad 1 win for beating a team with an RPI of 75 or better.

FWIW, the Gophers finished the season with an RPI of 171.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Is the U.S. Bank game confirmed as not part of season ticket package? I have the solicitations for renewal but have not looked at them closely. If that game is an extra charge, call me a really po'd season ticket holder. When they did the game at the dome in 96, I'm pretty sure it was part of our package, but I can't remember.

I called the ticket office. Was emphatically told it will not be part of season-ticket package, and that season-ticket holders will not have any special access to get tickets ahead of the general public. I know for sure the West Virginia game in 1997 at Target Center was part of the season-ticket package, and that they tried to put season-ticket holders as close as possible to where their Williams Arena seats were.

 

[Holy Man]

I called the ticket office. Was emphatically told it will not be part of season-ticket package, and that season-ticket holders will not have any special access to get tickets ahead of the general public. I know for sure the West Virginia game in 1997 at Target Center was part of the season-ticket package, and that they tried to put season-ticket holders as close as possible to where their Williams Arena seats were.

Horrible. Just horrible. Explanation needs to be made.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

I called the ticket office. Was emphatically told it will not be part of season-ticket package, and that season-ticket holders will not have any special access to get tickets ahead of the general public. I know for sure the West Virginia game in 1997 at Target Center was part of the season-ticket package, and that they tried to put season-ticket holders as close as possible to where their Williams Arena seats were.

The same thing is happening in volleyball. The Big Ten/ACC Challenge is at Target Center (a rehearsal for the Final Four) and it's not part of the season ticket package either.

 

[Holy Man]

I called the ticket office. Was emphatically told it will not be part of season-ticket package, and that season-ticket holders will not have any special access to get tickets ahead of the general public. I know for sure the West Virginia game in 1997 at Target Center was part of the season-ticket package, and that they tried to put season-ticket holders as close as possible to where their Williams Arena seats were.

I just called and was told the reasons it will not be in the package are twofold. First is that the cost will be considerably higher than a Barn game and they didn't want to have to charge more for season tickets. The second is that there is another game that day, so the U of M can't control the seating. For our convenience, however, we will be able to secure tickets through the U of M ticket office. When I asked what kind of additional game it would be (i.e. D-1 or not) he didn't have an answer because they are still trying to secure the game. I'm not sure St. Thomas and Hamline are worth an extra $50-75. Iowa State and Marquette might be.

Adding to my increasing blood pressure is the fact that nothing was mentioned (as far as I know) in the renewal solicitations about this game. They bragged up not increasing prices, but that was shallow given that we'll all be forking out an additional (I would guess) $50 or more to go to this "neutral site" game two miles from the Barn. How many season ticket holders are going to get caught believing they have a ticket for that game and be pissed off when they are told (after they have purchased) that by the way if you want to see a quality opponent, fork over a little more money?

Just when I think the operation is getting beyond this stuff, they pull something like this. Ugh.

 

[Ope3]

I called the ticket office. Was emphatically told it will not be part of season-ticket package, and that season-ticket holders will not have any special access to get tickets ahead of the general public. I know for sure the West Virginia game in 1997 at Target Center was part of the season-ticket package, and that they tried to put season-ticket holders as close as possible to where their Williams Arena seats were.

On the bright side, not including it with season tix means it will count as a road-neutral win.

 

[Holy Man]

The same thing is happening in volleyball. The Big Ten/ACC Challenge is at Target Center (a rehearsal for the Final Four) and it's not part of the season ticket package either.

Money grab. They should just say it. They are in for a bunch of extra cash because of the added seats available, they could throw a bone to long time supporters of the programs by at least including them in the package. I would be willing to pay the market rate and I think most would as well.

 

[Holy Man]

On the bright side, not including it with season tix means it will count as a road-neutral win.

Quad 1?

 

[Ope3]

Quad 1?

Not sure, I have to check with Joe Esposito.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Not sure, I have to check with Joe Esposito.

Or Bill Walker.

 

[BarnBurner]

Is the U.S. Bank game confirmed as not part of season ticket package? I have the solicitations for renewal but have not looked at them closely. If that game is an extra charge, call me a really po'd season ticket holder. When they did the game at the dome in 96, I'm pretty sure it was part of our package, but I can't remember.

I know the 96 game was part of the package. We attended and didnt pay any extra.

 

[Ope3]

Money grab. They should just say it. They are in for a bunch of extra cash because of the added seats available, they could throw a bone to long time supporters of the programs by at least including them in the package. I would be willing to pay the market rate and I think most would as well.

Could the "Money Grab" be by the Vikings/Wilfs, not the University?

 

[howeda7]

On the bright side, not including it with season tix means it will count as a road-neutral win.

That's good news, Clem.

 

[howeda7]

Money grab. They should just say it. They are in for a bunch of extra cash because of the added seats available, they could throw a bone to long time supporters of the programs by at least including them in the package. I would be willing to pay the market rate and I think most would as well.

What will the capacity be for basketball? It seems unlikely they're going to get 30,000 in there regardless of who the opponent is, so you'd think they could spare 8K for the season ticket holders.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

I called the ticket office. Was emphatically told it will not be part of season-ticket package, and that season-ticket holders will not have any special access to get tickets ahead of the general public. I know for sure the West Virginia game in 1997 at Target Center was part of the season-ticket package, and that they tried to put season-ticket holders as close as possible to where their Williams Arena seats were.

Our athletics department is wildly incompetent. I don't think I am ever going to blame fan apathy/frustration on a coach in any sport so long as these knuckleheads run the show. They seem to actively try to reduce fan interest, and then wonder why they don't sell more tickets.

 

[beavergopher]

Our athletics department is wildly incompetent. I don't think I am ever going to blame fan apathy/frustration on a coach in any sport so long as these knuckleheads run the show. They seem to actively try to reduce fan interest, and then wonder why they don't sell more tickets.

That pretty much sums it up.