Gophers nonconference schedule update (Aug. 11)

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SelectionSunday

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Gophers nonconference schedule update (Aug. 21)

Who knows what's going to happen with the NIT. Presently the Gophers have nothing close to resembling a decent home game. Opponents' 2013-14 RPI is noted in parentheses.

ROAD2MARCH15 (Minnesota)
Nov. 14: vs. Louisville (19)
Nov. 17-18: SAINT JOSEPH'S (32)/WESTERN KENTUCKY (125)/STONY BROOK (165)/LIU (298) (NIT)
Nov. 22: UMBC (327)
Nov. 26: vs. TBD (NIT/MSG)
Nov. 28: vs. TBD (NIT/MSG)
Dec. 2: @ Wake Forest (113)
Dec. 5: WESTERN CAROLINA (221)
Dec. 8: NORTH DAKOTA (197)
Dec. 10: SOUTHERN U (171)
Dec. 19: SEATTLE (267)
Dec. 22: FURMAN (339)
Dec. 27: NC-WILMINGTON (281)

Games still TBD = 1 (NIT quarterfinal opponent)
Current Average RPI of All Opponents: 215
Current Average RPI of Home Opponents: 257.571
 

So 2014 is going to be "that one year Southern was our best home non-conference opponent"?
 



That's bad. Seems like the more people complain, the worse it gets.
 



I really don't have an opinion on our home NC opponents, plus I live out of state and won't make it to any games, but I'm interested to know if most would be more happy with 1 solid home, NC opponents? Two? Three?

What does "good" look like?

If our terrible home NC schedule helps us get to the dance (at least this year), is it worth it?
 

Woof. This is approaching Iowa non conference territory.
 

BarnBoy said:
I really don't have an opinion on our home NC opponents, plus I live out of state and won't make it to any games, but I'm interested to know if most would be more happy with 1 solid home, NC opponents? Two? Three?

What does "good" look like?

If our terrible home NC schedule helps us get to the dance (at least this year), is it worth it?
Click to expand...

Playing 5 200ish plus RPI teams isn't helping anybody's resume. Only 1 top 100 team on the schedule so far is disappointing.
 



afurry91 said:
Playing 5 200ish plus RPI teams isn't helping anybody's resume. Only 1 top 100 team on the schedule so far is disappointing.
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You didn't really answer the question. So 1 or more "top 100" NC opponents to play at The Barn?

(again, just an impartial observer... I don't have a dog in this hunt)
 

BarnBoy said:
You didn't really answer the question. So 1 or more "top 100" NC opponents to play at The Barn?

(again, just an impartial observer... I don't have a dog in this hunt)
Click to expand...

In my opinion. Good is 1 high major home game every other year.

Followed by at least 1 top 100 RPI teams in addition to the high major game every other year.

And no more than 1 300+ RPI team.
 

afurry91 said:
In my opinion. Good is 1 high major home game every other year.

Followed by at least 2 top 100 RPI teams in addition to the high major game every other year.

And minimal 300+ RPI games.
Click to expand...

Thanks, duder. Is this sort of what other top-notch programs do (Indiana, Mich, MSU)?

(I'm not fishing or setting you up.. just trying to learn)
 

BarnBoy said:
. ... I'm interested to know if most would be more happy with 1 solid home, NC opponents? Two? Three?
Click to expand...

Speaking for myself, 2 "good" home games every November-December would be sufficient. Presumably that would be the ACC opponent + one other in years the Gophers host the ACC, two other opponents in the years they don't. Hopefully the Dave Gavitt Challenge with the Big East will help with that starting next season.

I'd consider "good" any team from a major conference (ACC, Big East, Big XII, Pac 12, SEC) and/or teams from other conferences expected to be good enough (generally speaking) to be an at-large candidate at the end of the season. Basically, I'd say those would be top 75 RPI-type teams. Some examples this coming season might be George Washington/UMass (A-10), Towson (CAA), Louisiana Tech (C-USA), Harvard (Ivy), Iona (MAAC), Toledo (MAC), Boise State (Mountain West), and Georgia State (Sun Belt), not even to mention the many "name" quality/solid programs outside of the other 5 major conferences.
 



BarnBoy said:
Thanks, duder. Is this sort of what other top-notch programs do (Indiana, Mich, MSU)?

(I'm not fishing or setting you up.. just trying to learn)
Click to expand...

I know Michigan State schedules home and homes with high major teams very regularly.

Sometimes you have to get the 300+ teams in here to fill out a schedule, but that would be much more tolerable if great teams were coming to the barn every other year.

Hopefully Louisville can become a regular visitor, but I would hope we wouldn't just bank on daddy Pitino and bring some variety in as well.
 

I'm holding out hope that Pitino bails out of the NC-Wilmington and/or UMBC games. Those games haven't been officially announced by the schools, so if the NIT has been severely weakened maybe Pitino is looking to strengthen the schedule.
 

Southern U (Gopher opponent)

Southern U head coach Roman Banks said today the school should know in the next 6 weeks or so whether their NCAA tourney ban will be lifted by the NCAA. Also said the Jaguars may need walk-ons to fill out their roster after the likes of Calvin Godfrey (Memphis) transferred due to the NCAA probation.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I'm holding out hope that Pitino bails out of the NC-Wilmington and/or UMBC games. Those games haven't been officially announced by the schools, so if the NIT has been severely weakened maybe Pitino is looking to strengthen the schedule.
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They still have two games to fill right, the voided NIT game and one more to get to 13 non conference games? We usually 13 non con games right?
 

Yes, it's always 27 games + an exempt tournament, meaning 30 or 31 games prior to the Big 10 tourney. NIT was slated to be 4, but I suppose it's possible it'll only be 3.
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gophers?src=hash">#Gophers</a> basketball Armed Forces Classic vs Louisville is set for November 14 at 6pm CT on ESPN.</p>— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherHole/statuses/499926415161434113">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

Game Time Set for Armed Forces Classic Against Louisville

Aug. 14, 2014
(Gophers open the season in Puerto Rico at 6 p.m. on ESPN)
On the opening night of the 2014-15 men’s college basketball season, the University of Minnesota and University of Louisville will take center stage on ESPN in the Armed Forces Classic, with the Gophers and Cardinals set to tip at 6 p.m. central time (8 p.m. local time).

The contest will take place inside the hangar of the United States Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It pits the Gophers, coming off a school-record 25 wins and NIT championship, against the Cardinals, who advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and captured American Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools, including a 70-64 Gophers victory in the most recent competition at the 2008 Stadium Shootout in Glendale, Ariz. Overall, Minnesota leads the all-time series 3-1.

November’s game will be the third-annual event in the Armed Forces Classic series, after games last year in Camp Humphreys, South Korea (Oregon 82, Georgetown 75) and the inaugural contest in Ramstein, Germany in 2012 (Connecticut 66, Michigan State 62).

In addition, both teams will also take part in a number of activities on and around the coast guard base leading up to the November 14 game.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/081414aaa.html
 

SelectionSunday said:
Who knows what's going to happen with the NIT. Presently the Gophers have nothing close to resembling a decent home game. Opponents' 2013-14 RPI is noted in parentheses.

ROAD2MARCH15 (Minnesota)
Nov. 14: vs. Louisville (19)
Nov. 16-24: 1 or 2 NIT home games
Nov. 26: vs. TBD (NIT/MSG)
Nov. 28: vs. TBD (NIT/MSG)
Dec. 2: @ Wake Forest (113)
Dec. 8: NORTH DAKOTA (197)
Dec. 10: SOUTHERN U (171)
Dec. 19: SEATTLE (267)
Dec. 22: FURMAN (339)
Dec. 27: NC-WILMINGTON (281)
Date TBD: UMBC (327)

Games still TBD = 1 + whatever they do with NIT
Click to expand...

One home NC game with a high major each year should be an objective, I guess with Louisville and the AAC challenge away this year might be an exception, makes it tough for the fans though.
 

Gopher scheduling since they started playing an exempt tourney every season

The Gophers have played in an exempt tournament (allows 3 or 4 games to count as 1) every season since 2006-07, Dan Monson's final (abbreviated) season. I agree playing at least one high major at home every season should be a minimum expectation. Here are the high majors (ACC, Big East, Big XII, Pac 12, SEC) the Gophers have played at home since 2006-07, when participating in exempt tournaments became the norm for high majors. An * denotes the game was part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

2006-07 (3 high-major home games): Exempt tourney = Old Spice Classic. High majors = Arizona State, *Clemson, and Iowa State.

2007-08 (0): Exempt tourney = Duel in the Desert (@ UNLV).

2008-09 (1): Exempt tourney = NABC Classic (@ The Barn). High major = *Virginia.

2009-10 (0): Exempt tourney = Anaheim 76 Classic.

2010-11 (1): Exempt tourney = Puerto Rico Tip-Off. High major = *Virginia.

2011-12 (2): Exempt tourney = Old Spice Classic. High majors = USC and *Virginia Tech.

2012-13 (0): Exempt tourney = Battle 4 Atlantis.

2013-14 (1): Exempt tourney = Maui Invitational. High major = *Florida State.

2014-15 (0 so far): Exempt tourney = NIT Season Tip-Off.

Over the last 8 seasons (not counting the pending 2014-15 NC sked), the total is 8 high-major home games, 5 of which were required by the Challenge. Of those 8, 3 came in Monson's final season.

vs. ACC = 5
vs. Big East = 0
vs. Big XII = 1
vs. Pac 12 = 2
vs. SEC = 0
 

Gaps in the Gopher schedule: Any chance the final opening will be a notable opponent?

Excluding their one or two guaranteed NIT home games, by my count the Gophers have one nonconference home game left to fill. Assuming the Gophers play those NIT game(s) between Nov. 16-18, that appears to leave three gaps in their schedule:

Nov. 20-22 (the Gophers have an ad on the Basketball Travelers board offering a six-figure guarantee game for Nov. 20);

Dec. 12 (the U does not allow games during finals week, this year that's Dec. 13-18); and

Dec. 29-31 (guessing the Big Ten season will start Jan. 2-3?)

There are still a lot of notable and/or Power 6 conference programs who have yet to release their schedules, and quite a few appear to have some of the same schedule gaps as the Gophers. The list includes: Georgetown; Harvard; Louisiana Tech; Massachusetts; Memphis; Notre Dame; San Diego State; SMU; Washington; and Wichita State.

In the event Pitino & Company are in dire need of an intriguing home game, I'd guess Memphis, Harvard, Washington, or Wichita State (in that order) are the most likely possibilities. Memphis and Wichita State play a neutral-site game in Sioux Falls on Nov. 18 and have gaps in their schedules after that. Who knows, maybe the Tigers or Shockers would be willing to take a short flight to Minneapolis, collect a $100,000 paycheck, and maybe even get a quality road win for their trouble? Washington (similar school & program) would be a good fit, too.

Or, maybe I'm still wet behind the ears, and the Gophers will complete their schedule with the likes of a Presbyterian, Grambling, Southern Utah, or NJIT.
 

Cross off U-Dub and Memphis as Gopher schedule hopefuls

SelectionSunday said:
Excluding their one or two guaranteed NIT home games, by my count the Gophers have one nonconference home game left to fill. Assuming the Gophers play those NIT game(s) between Nov. 16-18, that appears to leave three gaps in their schedule:

Nov. 20-22 (the Gophers have an ad on the Basketball Travelers board offering a six-figure guarantee game for Nov. 20);

Dec. 12 (the U does not allow games during finals week, this year that's Dec. 13-18); and

Dec. 29-31 (guessing the Big Ten season will start Jan. 2-3?)

There are still a lot of notable and/or Power 6 conference programs who have yet to release their schedules, and quite a few appear to have some of the same schedule gaps as the Gophers. The list includes: Georgetown; Harvard; Louisiana Tech; Massachusetts; Memphis; Notre Dame; San Diego State; SMU; Washington; and Wichita State.

In the event Pitino & Company are in dire need of an intriguing home game, I'd guess Memphis, Harvard, Washington, or Wichita State (in that order) are the most likely possibilities. Memphis and Wichita State play a neutral-site game in Sioux Falls on Nov. 18 and have gaps in their schedules after that. Who knows, maybe the Tigers or Shockers would be willing to take a short flight to Minneapolis, collect a $100,000 paycheck, and maybe even get a quality road win for their trouble? Washington (similar school & program) would be a good fit, too.

Or, maybe I'm still wet behind the ears, and the Gophers will complete their schedule with the likes of a Presbyterian, Grambling, Southern Utah, or NJIT.
Click to expand...

Follow up. ...

Washington and Memphis have released their nonconference schedules. We can cross them off the list of 10 hopeful Gopher home opponents.
 

Gopher schedule complete except for NIT quarterfinal opponent

All I can say about the nonconference home schedule is, "Wow". At the very best the Gophers' best home opponent will be Saint Joseph's, a NCAA qualifier last season, but one that lost most of its key players.
 

By my count only 1 exhibition (2 last year) and 8 NC (9 last year) - I assume that means the season ticket holders will be getting a refund again this year since we were charged for the same number of home games as last year - right?
 

Southpaw said:
By my count only 1 exhibition (2 last year) and 8 NC (9 last year) - I assume that means the season ticket holders will be getting a refund again this year since we were charged for the same number of home games as last year - right?
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Yes. We paid for 20 this year, and it'll be short 2 (1 ex, 1 NIT. ... was supposed to be 2).
 

I know sometimes instead of two exhibitions a team can do a closed scrimmage with another d1 school, are we doing that this year instead of second exhibition. Also how come we don't get a 13th NOC game? NIT doesn't get an exempt
 


SelectionSunday said:
Memphis and Wichita State play a neutral-site game in Sioux Falls on Nov. 18 and have gaps in their schedules after that. Who knows, maybe the Tigers or Shockers would be willing to take a short flight to Minneapolis, collect a $100,000 paycheck, and maybe even get a quality road win for their trouble?
Click to expand...

Tell T. Denny just to write Wichita 2 checks instead of one. Simple!
 

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