No teams with any pizazz...none that will attract the casual fan. And then they'll wonder why they don't get bigger crowds.
Don't our coach and AD have any connections to get just one "name" opponent to the convo every year or two? Have we at least tried to call John Groce? Xavier? Bob McKillop at Davidson? Penn...or for that matter, Harvard? Northwestern? St. Joes? Both St. Joes and Davidson have Columbus kids playing for 'em. Did anyone even think to call VCU? They got a kid from Gahanna who'll probably start this year...wouldn't it be fun to see his neighbor Stevie Taylor go against him...and a name coach in Shaka Smart?
Yes, I know Mercer went to the NCAA, but I bet if I walked down Court Street right now, no one else would. First thing I heard in my freshman journalism class at OU was names make news. This home sched is full of no-names...and certainly won't make much news...
Alabama A&M? Heidelberg? Who drew this up, Thad Matta?
I suppose it depends on who you're referring to, but I think UMass is a great game. I wish it were a Saturday game. I also think the NIU return game, Valpo game, and Evansville are good games.
We go over this on this board every year, but I think everyone who criticizes the schedule must think it's just as easy as saying, "Hey Chris Mack, why don't you and Xavier come play us. Here are the dates we have open."
That said, I'm rather disappointed to see Heidelberg on the schedule. I'm sure it's because someone backed out at the last minute, but I don't like seeing D-II schools on the regular season slate. Otherwise, I think you'll see this schedule get a little better in future seasons if what JC told us at Bobcat Caravan comes true.
OUC, I think perhaps you missed my point. For the sake of argument, I'll stipulate UMASS will be a "great" game and the others you mentioned will be "good." That's not the issue. The issue is getting power NAMES into the convo--schools, coaches and or players--that even the casual fan might be familiar with. Sorry, most folks, even some good fans, might have to stop and think about what NIU stands for, and then come up with the wrong answer--Northern Illinois.
I'm not naive about scheduling. Having lived in Athens and worked for Ohio University, no one needs to tell me about the difficulties of getting good teams with recognizable names to come to town (which is why I constantly caution every starry-eyed poster that it will be FAR more difficult than he or she thinks to take this team to the "next level"). But I'm beginning to wonder if Schaus (particularly Schaus) and Christian even try. I'd love Arkley to sit down and do a story about scheduling, and ask about each team I mentioned. I will bet we've never called half of 'em. And if they did call Groce, did they put on a full court press? Did they make it clear they would do whatever it took, and will not take no for an answer? Or if on the first call, Groce said, gee, I dunno, I'll have to think about it, did they hang up the phone and never follow up, and instead just waited for Groce to call them?
I mentioned Schaus in particular because he should have taken the lead in scheduling following our great tournament run and the coaching change. Whatever opportunity we had to upgrade the schedule after the sweet 16 appearance is now gone.
I'm not asking that we get 3 top 20 schools to visit Athens each year. And I also recognize the fact that there are some good teams coming to the convo this season. But I'm just tired of hearing on this board and in some cases from the athletic department itself that we wanna be more than a mid major, but from a home scheduling standpoint doing little about it. Maybe they're trying, but if they are, they need to try MUCH harder.