The Team that scheduled too soft...

[Nildogg]

Was surprised by this:

Non-conference scheduling studs and duds: The Big East:
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/non-conference-scheduling-studs-and-duds--the-big-east-141347073.html#more-id

Team that scheduled too soft: Probably nobody but Xavier should be nervousGive credit to the Big East coaches. None of them put together embarrassing non-league slates, and those whose are weakest have rosters that aren't ready for a November-December gauntlet.

Four of Seton Hall's top seven players could be freshmen, so the young but talented Pirates needed a schedule that gave them a chance to gain confidence and build on the enthusiasm generated by last year's recruiting success. And bottom-feeding DePaul's constant struggles in the Big East over the years make it easy to forgive the Blue Demons for a relatively soft slate aside from a visit from Stanford and participating in the Diamondhead Classic.

Of the rest of the league, the only team that could suffer from the weakness of its schedule is Xavier, especially since its exempt tournament, the Wooden Legacy, features nobody else of consequence besides maybe Washington or UTEP. If Cincinnati and Missouri regress or Auburn and Alabama aren't improved, the Musketeers' schedule could be light on clout despite plenty of name recognition.

[bleedXblue]

We know the schedule is a bit soft. What's disappointment regarding the article is that we're only returning 2 starters from a very mediocre Xavier team from last year. We have 6 brand new players coming in. This team will need some time before they figure out a rotation. Not mentioning that in the article is a bit irresponsible.

[Nildogg]

We know the schedule is a bit soft. What's disappointment regarding the article is that we're only returning 2 starters from a very mediocre Xavier team from last year. We have 6 brand new players coming in. This team will need some time before they figure out a rotation. Not mentioning that in the article is a bit irresponsible.

Wish we would have gone with a little more of that philosophy... No need for a non-conference gauntlet anymore.

[MHettel]

Dude, I'd be ecstatsic to win the Wooden and mop up the non-con. No problems with me.

[Fireball]

Dude, I'd be ecstatsic to win the Wooden and mop up the non-con. No problems with me.

Agree, but the thing is that with this non-conference schedule, they pretty much have to dominate it. I have no issues with the schedule given the amount of turnover, but if they want to make the tournament this year, they can't come out of the non-conference schedule with 4 or 5 losses.

[XUGRAD80]

Even if it was a very tough non-con schedule, and they lost 4-5 games within it, they would have a tough time making the tourney. Strength or weakness of the schedule is only one part of the equation....you still need to WIN games and get better as the season goes along.

My opinion is that there is far to much unknown at this time to make an honest evaluation of the schedule. We really don't know at this point how good, or bad, the teams X will be playing are going to be. And we really don't know how good X is going to be.

[Kahns Krazy]

Schedule strength has never kept an undefeated team out of the tournament. If you're better than your opponents, win the freaking games.

We might take a seeding hit, but if we win games that we should win, we'll be fine.

[Titanxman04]

Schedule strength has never kept an undefeated team out of the tournament. If you're better than your opponents, win the freaking games.

We might take a seeding hit, but if we win games that we should win, we'll be fine.

This.

If we win the games we're supposed to and take care of business in conference, we will get in. The team is young, this is a great opportunity for them to come together a bit more and get Abell and the freshmen up to the college speed.

We do what we're supposed to do, and we'll be dancing.

[GoMuskies]

Once you look at computer strength of schedule rankings, I think our numbers will be just fine. UC, Alabama and Mizzou will all be decent "big names", and Murray and SFA will be strong "little names". There are no potential headline wins in the group, but it is a relatively solid slate.

[RealDeal]

As long as key players don't cramp up, I like our chances.

[Kahns Krazy]

Or jump off two feet and eat too much at Fuddruckers.

[casualfan]

I understand what people are saying about winning the games we should win and it won't be a problem, but I guess I look at it a little differently.

First and foremost those saying that are correct. If we win the games we should win this team will be fine. Having said that, when's the last time we won all the games we should win in a season?

Go back and look at our past schedules, especially since Mack got here.

Did anyone have us losing to USC or Seton Hall twice last year?

How about in '12-'13? I doubt anyone had that Pacific game penciled in as an L to start the year. Or the Wofford Charlotte or Umass games.

I could keep going, but I think you get the point.

My biggest issue with the schedule is that it provides very little room for error. It's not so much that there isn't enough there to get us where we want to go, it's that I'm not sure there's enough there that if we drop a couple games we shouldn't it may be hard to compensate for that.

With a team full of new guys that scares me a bit.

[xu82]

If there was ever a year to go a little easy on non-conference scheduling, this would be it. Let's just learn to play together, get used to the speed and win.

[XUOHTX]

Well the article is right. Regardless of the reasoning (or lack there of), our non-con schedule is weak and it's exactly what we have made fun of other schools for in the past. We better win now and schedule better in the future.

[GoMuskies]

Well the article is right. Regardless of the reasoning (or lack there of), our non-con schedule is weak and it's exactly what we have made fun of other schools for in the past. We better win now and schedule better in the future.

I don't think that's true at all. I think we will have at least 5 top 100 opponents (probably more) in the OOC schedule and 3 or 4 NCAA Tournament teams. That's much, much better than the UC schedules we've made fun of in the past.

[xubrew]

I don't think our schedule is strong, but I don't think it's weak either. I wish it were stronger, but it's far from being a big pile of crap.

We're playing six OOC games away from home. Not too shabby.

I think SFA will actually be better this year than they were a year ago, so that's not a bad game for a buy game.

Mizzou rarely loses at home. The problem is they rarely win on the road, but that's a really tough game that we'll probably get more credit for winning (if we're able to, of course) than what most probably realize.

IUPUI is a joke. Even by Summit League standards, they're a joke, and that was a bad game to schedule.

I'm also not too thrilled about Auburn. I know Bruce Pearl should get them going, but that may not happen right away. I think Georgia State would have been a much better home and home than Auburn. I'm not suggesting we play Georgia State. I'm just emphasizing how bad Auburn typically is.

So, we're playing two games against teams that royally suck. Everyone else is either average, decent or good, and six games are away from home. I don't think that's crap at all.

[xubrew]

Was surprised by this:

Non-conference scheduling studs and duds: The Big East:
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/non-conference-scheduling-studs-and-duds--the-big-east-141347073.html#more-id

Team that scheduled too soft: Probably nobody but Xavier should be nervousGive credit to the Big East coaches. None of them put together embarrassing non-league slates, and those whose are weakest have rosters that aren't ready for a November-December gauntlet.

Four of Seton Hall's top seven players could be freshmen, so the young but talented Pirates needed a schedule that gave them a chance to gain confidence and build on the enthusiasm generated by last year's recruiting success. And bottom-feeding DePaul's constant struggles in the Big East over the years make it easy to forgive the Blue Demons for a relatively soft slate aside from a visit from Stanford and participating in the Diamondhead Classic.

Of the rest of the league, the only team that could suffer from the weakness of its schedule is Xavier, especially since its exempt tournament, the Wooden Legacy, features nobody else of consequence besides maybe Washington or UTEP. If Cincinnati and Missouri regress or Auburn and Alabama aren't improved, the Musketeers' schedule could be light on clout despite plenty of name recognition.

The guy that wrote this thinks that Indiana will be good this year. I think he is hugely mistaken.

[bleedXblue]

Well the article is right. Regardless of the reasoning (or lack there of), our non-con schedule is weak and it's exactly what we have made fun of other schools for in the past. We better win now and schedule better in the future.

I think you're being a bit too harsh. The schedule isn't that bad. It lacks some marquee matchups. it doesn't have 5 + games against teams with RPI's over 250.

[Muskie]

The guy that wrote this thinks that Indiana will be good this year. I think he is hugely mistaken.

Tom Crean's job security hopes he is correct.

[GoMuskies]

Indiana will remain awesome at producing corn and terrible at basketball.

[xubrew]

San Diego may end up being better than Indiana. At basketball. Not at growing corn.

EDIT: and before anyone corrects me, I know it is the San Diego Torreros and not Steve Fisher's San Diego State.

[muskiefan82]

He did get one thing right...Creighton-Wichita State should happen every year.

[GoMuskies]

It won't, though. Those two hate each other passionately.

[muskiefan82]

And? Seems to work for two other schools I know. That's a shame. It would be a travel friendly game with real stakes.

[Xville]

i talked about this non-conference schedule in another thread and I stand by the fact that the schedule is crap and its softer than what we are used too. I'm not saying that yeah maybe SFA and Murray State are top 100 opponents, that's great and all but this non-conference schedule is still crap especially the non-conference home schedule.

Is the non-con schedule good for this young team that will need time to develop? yes
Is the non-con schedule probably better after some analysis than at first glance? Probably
Is the non-con schedule still crap? yes it is....let me see a show of hands..who is excited that we play murray state, SFA and Alabama at home this year? I love Xavier basketball but playing against those teams is boring. I get that we need to play the buy games. However with that, it would be nice to play 2-3 good non-conference games at home or even on the road that actually have some basketball pedigree. What is with all the SEC opponents...the SEC is garbage in basketball outside of Kentucky and Florida.

[xubrew]

And? Seems to work for two other schools I know. That's a shame. It would be a travel friendly game with real stakes.

Don't mistake fans hating each other for schools hating each other. When schools hate each other, they typically don't play. They just come up with as long a list as possible about how they have nothing to gain. (ie Texas v TAMU, WVU v Pitt, Kansas v Mizzou, etc)

I agree that they should play. I just don't think they will anytime soon.

[GoMuskies]

I'm excited about SFA and Murray State. I'm certainly more excited about those than I am about DePaul. SFA could be in the top 25 or close to it.

[Xville]

I'm excited about SFA and Murray State. I'm certainly more excited about those than I am about DePaul. SFA could be in the top 25 or close to it.

i get that but let's take some other fringe top 25 teams this year...would you be more excited about murray and sfa or Uconn, Pitt, Michigan State, Ohio State, Stanford or K state? That's my point.

And I know its just a wee bit harder to schedule teams like that...im just saying.

[GoMuskies]

If the teams are similarly good, I'm not more excited because of name recognition (generally; I mean UC, Kentucky, Louisville, IU, Ohio State, UNC and Duke would probably be the exceptions to that rule for me). I'd be more excited by a K-State game, because I could probably attend.

[Xville]

Gotcha. Well for me...I get more excited about Xavier playing the name recognition teams.

[GoMuskies]

Gotcha. Well for me...I get more excited about Xavier playing the name recognition teams.

Fair enough. As someone who has been a fan of Xavier for about 25 years, I have a hard time taking that stance without feeling like a hypocrite.

[Tu 4 MVP]

Is the non-con schedule good for this young team that will need time to develop? yes

Is the non-con schedule still crap? yes it is..

These contradict each other, no? You can't have a challenging schedule just to have one. It does no good if you don't have a chance to beat them.

[xubrew]

I'm excited about SFA and Murray State. I'm certainly more excited about those than I am about DePaul. SFA could be in the top 25 or close to it.

Agreed.

SFA did lose one of their best players, but they have four starters back, and six of their top eight players back. They won over thirty games last year and made the round of 32. Just sayin.

Now, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think they were way overrated and overseeded last year because I thought they were beating sub 200 teams and struggling to do it, but they kind of proved me wrong in the NCAA Tournament. They're better than what most people probably realize I sure as hell think they'll be better than Indiana this year, and for some reason the guy who wrote the article is listing IU as a marquee opponent.

If you're a numbers geek, SFA is a fantastic team to schedule. They'll likely win thirty again this year, which is nice for the RPI. No one realizes it now, but by February, they may be in the top 25 (albeit by default because they won't lose and they'll move ahead of the other teams that do). SFA isn't "crap," and playing them doesn't make our schedule crap. I'd go so far to say that it's a really good game for us to be playing.

I think our schedule is better this year than it was last year. Last year, most everyone defended the schedule. This year, a lot of people are saying it's crap, even though it's better than the one that most defended last year. I just don't get it.

[GoMuskies]

Murray State brings back their top 4 scorers and 6 of their top 7. The top 4 who return averaged a combined 58.2 per game, and the top returning scorer (Cameron Payne at 16.8 ppg) was a true freshman last year. I suspect he will improve.

[XUGRAD80]

There is a difference between a schedule being "crap" and being "attractive" to the casual fan. The teams on this schedule may not be attractive, but they may be just what the team needs. In the final analysis, I'm more interested in seeing this XAVIER team develop and grow, than I am interested in seeing "names" play. Now, if I could get BOTH....Xavier developing while playing names....I'd be extremely happy. But if that's not going to happen this year, so what? I'll still be happy to watch these players develop, AND I expect them to play "names" from New Years on through March, anyways.

[LA Muskie]

The schedule doesn't knock my socks off, but I can live with it given this year's team. And I take the article as a compliment. We are similarly situated to Seton Hall in terms of new faces, but we were singled out. I'm going to take that to mean they think we are further along than Seton Hall is.

[Milhouse]

I do wonder about this schedule though and how some of the guys will do with it.


Last year in our Non Con we had significant contributions from Farr, Randolph, and Myles....all 3 completely dropped off by BE play. And it was only then that Jalen was able to step up to the plate.

I wonder if we wont have some of the same issues this year. I wish UC was still in Dec as it would be a good measuring stick at least.

[GoMuskies]

I don't think it was the strength or weakness of the non-conference schedule that caused Farr and Myles to start missing wide open shots that they were previously hitting. And Myles was pretty good in the first part of the conference schedule.

[Mel Cooley XU'81]

Win.

[PMI]

i get that but let's take some other fringe top 25 teams this year...would you be more excited about murray and sfa or Uconn, Pitt, Michigan State, Ohio State, Stanford or K state? That's my point.

And I know its just a wee bit harder to schedule teams like that...im just saying.

I guess I can't argue over what teams the average fan would be more excited to play, but that really doesn't mean anything to the main objective, which is building a resume. There's no way of knowing for sure yet, but I don't think this year's schedule is all that much different from last year's. That's not to say it's a gauntlet by any means, as our strength of schedule contributed to us being a fringe tournament team last year, but just because SFA and Murray State aren't the most household names doesn't mean they aren't a better option than several other "name" teams. If Mario's goal were to build a schedule with the most "excitement," his priorities would be in the wrong place. This is not a crap schedule. It's not the type of schedule I hope to have every year, but it's not crap.

My biggest complaint is the tournament we're in. If you replace that with a good tournament, which we usually find ourselves in, our schedule looks pretty solid IMO. The whole argument that we're a young team that could use some easing into works both ways. It's nice that we don't start the year with road games at Kansas and Duke with a bunch of freshmen, from a W/L standpoint. But with a bunch of freshmen, you also may risk laying an egg against a team you should beat. The tournament we are in is high risk/low reward to me. If we go 3-0 like we should be favored to, I still don't think it helps us a ton. If we lose one, or god forbid more than one, it could go down as a bad loss on the resume and that scares me. I would have rather scheduled one road or neutral game against a team we'd be an underdog against and roll the dice and see how we match up early on against a big boy, unless we could have found a better tournament, which I don't think was likely. I think we will be back to normal next year schedule-wise, as I expect the conference to be a little better and our tournament to be better. As for this year, I'm not crazy about the tourney, but the schedule overall isn't terrible. It probably leans a little toward being weaker than I'd like, but I don't think it's too inappropriate given the circumstances.

[XU-XHI]

Those games against teams with name recognition, even when the team is not great, do boost the RPI. You do get some credit for the the teams they play which means X gets some credit for the SEC teams. Wish Mizzou was still Big 12.

[GoMuskies]

Those games against teams with name recognition, even when the team is not great, do boost the RPI. You do get some credit for the the teams they play which means X gets some credit for the SEC teams. Wish Mizzou was still Big 12.

Yes, but you get twice as much credit for the simple W/L record of your opponent. If SFA wins 30 games again, that's a good thing.

[bleedXblue]

You cant keep everyone happy all of the time......

Wasn't it just two years ago we had to schedule a tougher non conference b/c of the annual 8-10 crap games we played in conference with the likes of Fordham, Duquesne, St Bonnie etc.?

Now we play a much more balanced conference slate and some fans aren't happy with the non-conference schedule.

Get over it. It is what it is. Just win as they say and enjoy watching this young team grow together.

[muskienick]

Gotcha. Well for me...I get more excited about Xavier playing the name recognition teams.
Except you still complain about them bring on our schedule if they are not going to be ranked in the Top 25 as we head into the season. Alabama, Missouri, Auburn, and UC are not exactly either unknowns or chopped liver. SFA and Murray State are potential NCAA teams and FGC is just a year separated from being the darling of the NCAA Tourney. Long Beach State made the post-season both in 2012 (NCAA - 2nd Round) and 2013 (NIT). Big (or recognizable) names are not going to fool the pollsters for long if their basketball teams don't have an attractive W-L record. Xavier, like most NCAA Division I programs in Top 6 Conferences set their sights on the NCAA Tourney. Once in, they then try to go as deep into the Tourney as possible and are equally pleased to beat Lehigh as they are Louisville, Minnesota, or Notre Dame to move on through the Tourney. (Well, maybe not Notre Dame!)

[bobbiemcgee]

SFA, FGC & Murray State will all make the Dance this yr.

[LA Muskie]

Xavier basketball is entertainment for me. (The highest form of entertainment, if you ask me...) So I will neither deny nor apologize for that fact that I much prefer to see big names on our schedule. Those big names get us better home crowd participation, more publicity, and my friends and family are more likely to engage in discussions about the team. Maybe our RPI is the same (or better) with the Stephen F. Austins, Murray States, and Florida Gulf Coasts of the world, but you'll forgive me (hopefully) if those games just don't get me as jazzed.

That said, I don't take scheduling one year at a time. I look at it much more holistically. And while this season's schedule may not knock my socks off (as I said before), I can live with it. Especially given the newcomers and the fact that, from a scheduling perspective, we are still adjusting to the Big East.

[GoMuskies]

So if Indiana is 14-16 with a 120 RPI, you'd prefer a game against them to a game against 30-3 SFA with a 40 RPI?

[LA Muskie]

So if Indiana is 14-16 with a 120 RPI, you'd prefer a game against them to a game against 30-3 SFA with a 40 RPI?
From a purely entertainment perspective, yes I would prefer kicking the shit out of Indiana. I recognize that's not entirely rational from a numbers perspective.

[xubrew]

SFA, FGC & Murray State will all make the Dance this yr.

I like Long Beach's chances as well.

FGCU won't be as good as they've been, but their league is so God awful they should win the auto bid. Mercer and East Tennessee are now in the SoCon.

[xubrew]

Xavier basketball is entertainment for me. (The highest form of entertainment, if you ask me...) So I will neither deny nor apologize for that fact that I much prefer to see big names on our schedule. Those big names get us better home crowd participation, more publicity, and my friends and family are more likely to engage in discussions about the team. Maybe our RPI is the same (or better) with the Stephen F. Austins, Murray States, and Florida Gulf Coasts of the world, but you'll forgive me (hopefully) if those games just don't get me as jazzed.

That said, I don't take scheduling one year at a time. I look at it much more holistically. And while this season's schedule may not knock my socks off (as I said before), I can live with it. Especially given the newcomers and the fact that, from a scheduling perspective, we are still adjusting to the Big East.

I'm the opposite. I think watching us play SFA and Murray would be more entertaining than watching us beat up on mediocre/low level major conference teams. IU I can live with because they're somewhat regional and they'd be kind of fun to beat even if they weren't any good. Outside of that, though, I'd rather watch SFA or Murray or even Long Beach and FGCU play before watching Auburn or even Alabama (in recent years) any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Being better for the numbers is only part of it. Those are better teams, and they're more fun to watch.

[hoyahooligan]

I think and definitely hope for my team's RPI sake that Indiana is better than you guys think they are.

[LA Muskie]

I'm the opposite. I think watching us play SFA and Murray would be more entertaining than watching us beat up on mediocre/low level major conference teams. IU I can live with because they're somewhat regional and they'd be kind of fun to beat even if they weren't any good. Outside of that, though, I'd rather watch SFA or Murray or even Long Beach and FGCU play before watching Auburn or even Alabama (in recent years) any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Being better for the numbers is only part of it. Those are better teams, and they're more fun to watch.
This shows me I need to clarify my statement. When I say big names I mean big national or regional games. I have little interest in Alabama or Auburn. I have only marginally more interest in Missouri -- if only because they actually field good basketball teams on occasion.

I recognize that scheduling big names is not easy, which is why I give Mario a lot of leeway (as if he needs it from me). I liked when we had Duke on our schedule even if we played like crap. I'd like to have IU on our schedule, even if they are crap. I'd like to see us get Michigan or Michigan State on our schedule at some point. And obviously Ohio State (no need to start that debate again), UK, and Louisville. I've loved the Gonzaga series and enjoyed our Memphis series. I'd love to see us play Syracuse, even if it meant we had to travel to the Dome. Or Maryland. Or Illinois (although I don't think Mack and Groce would want to play one another). I'd be fine with a West Virginia series, and while Purdue has been dung lately I liked playing them. This is all just off the top of my head.

[xubrew]

I think and definitely hope for my team's RPI sake that Indiana is better than you guys think they are.

Well, Yogi Ferrell is back!! That's good. Then there's........

Yeah, I just don't see it happening. They weren't that good last year, they lost something like six of their last nine, and other than Ferrell no other contributors are back. I don't think they're recruiting class set the world on fire either. Tom Crean is the coach. That's also a huge problem.

Georgetown's schedule is still pretty rock solid anyway, though.

[XUGRAD80]

seems that the debate is between scheduling to develop a team vs scheduling to develop a resume for the team

Resumes are all good and fine, but after you get hired, you then have to perform.

[xu82]

Win.
Please try to not dominate the conversation.

[X-band '01]

I like Long Beach's chances as well.

FGCU won't be as good as they've been, but their league is so God awful they should win the auto bid. Mercer and East Tennessee are now in the SoCon.

But NKU is finally eligible for their conference tournament!

[hoyahooligan]

Well, Yogi Ferrell is back!! That's good. Then there's........

Yeah, I just don't see it happening. They weren't that good last year, they lost something like six of their last nine, and other than Ferrell no other contributors are back. I don't think they're recruiting class set the world on fire either. Tom Crean is the coach. That's also a huge problem.

Georgetown's schedule is still pretty rock solid anyway, though.

Don't they just lose Vonleh and Sheehy and return everyone else? They also add 1 5 Star and aanother top 50 player. They're definitely thin up front, but they should have a pretty good back court.

[Xville]

my view on this just comes from a completely selfish point of view. I get way more excited about our team playing a school with name recognition that is good, rather than a team like SFA or Murray State that my be good, but doesn't have the big name. The reason for that is much like La Muskie's opinion....the crowd atmosphere and the hype for the game is much better against those good brand name teams than a game against SFA in my opinion.

[Xville]

Don't they just lose Vonleh and Sheehy and return everyone else? They also add 1 5 Star and aanother top 50 player. They're definitely thin up front, but they should have a pretty good back court.

i think the main problem is that they still have Crean as their coach who rode Dwayne Wade for a couple of seasons, and made it seem that he is a way better coach than he actually is. Plus, he just comes off as a smug asshole.

[hoyahooligan]

i think the main problem is that they still have Crean as their coach who rode Dwayne Wade for a couple of seasons, and made it seem that he is a way better coach than he actually is. Plus, he just comes off as a smug asshole.

Oh I agree. Crean is a major douche. We had to deal with him when he was at Marquette. Always chugging a diet soda on the side line and always coming up with excuses for losses. He complained about his team being sick so many times after Georgetown beat him we started referring to Marquette as the Flu. His face is just super punchable too.

[xubrew]

Don't they just lose Vonleh and Sheehy and return everyone else? They also add 1 5 Star and aanother top 50 player. They're definitely thin up front, but they should have a pretty good back court.

I thought they had a four star player, and that he was the only top fifty player they had. I could be wrong. Much of what I'm hearing is from friends I have who are close to IU's program. Admittedly, they are pessimistic by nature though.

But, even with all that, I don't think IU rises to the level of being a tournament caliber team. They my return "everyone else" but no one else other than Ferrell was all that good anyway. They lost six of nine last year to end the year. They started the season off somewhere around okay, and then slowly tapered off after that.

[xubrew]

But NKU is finally eligible for their conference tournament!

They've still got two more years. Teams who move up to div1 are transitional for four years.

I'd still rather play them than IUPUI. That's really the only team that has me REAALLLY holding my nose.

[ammtd34]

I thought they had a four star player, and that he was the only top fifty player they had. I could be wrong. Much of what I'm hearing is from friends I have who are close to IU's program. Admittedly, they are pessimistic by nature though.

But, even with all that, I don't think IU rises to the level of being a tournament caliber team. They my return "everyone else" but no one else other than Ferrell was all that good anyway. They lost six of nine last year to end the year. They started the season off somewhere around okay, and then slowly tapered off after that.

2 top 50 players. One was 47/48 on most recruiting sites and the other was James Blackmon (3rd in Indiana Mr. Basketball voting behind Lyles and Bluiett). The rest of the class is uninspiring on paper. A 3 star guy and 2 no-star guys.

[PMI]

Oh I agree. Crean is a major douche. We had to deal with him when he was at Marquette. Always chugging a diet soda on the side line and always coming up with excuses for losses. He complained about his team being sick so many times after Georgetown beat him we started referring to Marquette as the Flu. His face is just super punchable too.

Funny, we used to have to deal with the dayton flu on several occasions too. Must be a universal douche bag thing.

As for IU, I don't see them having a very good year. The Big Ten is so stacked with much more talented teams that have coaches who can coach circles around that slurper Crean. I really don't see them having another big year until he gets canned.

[kyxu]

His face is just super punchable too.

Really, I think this is the ultimate critique of Tom Crean. Nothing further needs to be said.

[SlimKibbles]

They've still got two more years. Teams who move up to div1 are transitional for four years.

I'd still rather play them than IUPUI. That's really the only team that has me REAALLLY holding my nose.

Actually the Atlantic Sun announced a couple of months ago that they are giving NKU a waiver on that. They are eligible for conference championship participation starting with Fall 2014 sports. They just can't compete for NCAA titles for another two years.

http://www.atlanticsun.org/sports/msoc/2014-15/releases/20140722hevxiz

[xubrew]

Actually the Atlantic Sun announced a couple of months ago that they are giving NKU a waiver on that. They are eligible for conference championship participation starting with Fall 2014 sports. They just can't compete for NCAA titles for another two years.

http://www.atlanticsun.org/sports/msoc/2014-15/releases/20140722hevxiz

WOW!!! Good for NKU, I guess. I'm not sure how I missed this.

I think the reclassification rules are a little too harsh. They still can't play in the NCAA Tournament, even if they were to win the ASun Championship. Having said that, I think it would be kind of ridiculous if NKU made the final, and it was already determined that the other team was getting in regardless of what happened in the championship game. The rules say conference champions get the automatic bid. If conferences determine their champion via a tournament, and the team who wins it isn't eligible, then why should a team who didn't win a conference championship get to go?? (unless said team gets an at-large, of course)

[MADXSTER]

Brew

You would hope the selection committee would be smart enough to take the other team as an at-large.