I prefer a strong schedule, but this was Murray State's last year....   

Fri, Nov 11	vs   Harris Stowe	W 76-49	1-0 (0-0)
Mon, Nov 14	@   Morgan State	W 80-69	2-0 (0-0)
Thu, Nov 17	vs   TENN Temple	W 83-41	3-0 (0-0)
Sun, Nov 20	@   UAB	W 62-55	4-0 (0-0)
Wed, Nov 23	@   Alaska Anchorage	W 64-62	5-0 (0-0)
Fri, Nov 25	vs   San Francisco*	W 70-67	6-0 (0-0)
Sun, Nov 27	vs   Southern Miss*	W 90-81 2OT	7-0 (0-0)
Thu, Dec 1	@   Western Kentucky	W 70-59	8-0 (0-0)
Sun, Dec 4	vs   Dayton	W 75-58	9-0 (0-0)
Sun, Dec 11	@   #20 Memphis	W 76-72	10-0 (0-0)
Thu, Dec 15	vs   Lipscomb	W 89-65	11-0 (0-0)
Sat, Dec 17	vs   Arkansas State	W 66-53	12-0 (0-0)

They entered the AP Top 25 December 12th the day after beating Memphis.  They were not receiving any votes to start the season.  Note that when they were 5-0 they were coming off a big 2-point life on the road win @ Alaska Anchorage.  

Disagree with most of this. 3 is the only valid point IMO.  Being noticed in November is hardly what you are striving for. And the MAC hasn't been holding us back. We haven't won a regular season title in nearly 20 years.  We have been holding us back. If you want to be one of "those" programs like Gonzaga or Butler you've got to do a couple of things.

#1  Increase spending on basketball.  We have already started to do that and if we can keep it up the rewards will come.
#2. Play a schedule that is tough enough to keep your RPI as high as possible but not too tough where you lose a lot of games.  Playing home games is key here.  Playing too hard of a schedue will kill you.

By doing these two things we should be good every year and our RPI and profile will be consistenly good enough where better teams will play in Athens. 

I would take a 2-1 to get programs like that to Athens.

#2. Play a schedule that is tough enough to keep your RPI as high as possible but not too tough where you lose a lot of games.  Playing home games is key here.  Playing too hard of a schedue will kill you.

By doing these two things we should be good every year and our RPI and profile will be consistenly good enough where better teams will play in Athens. 

The three thousand pound gorilla in the room is the O.U. attendance. O.U. ranked 99 of the top 100 teams last year in average home attendance. Now, before anyone mentions that those home attendance figures include home games played during winter break, when I excluded those games, average home attendance increased a little more than one-hundred attendees per game, which would have bumped them to ninety-four.

Of those top one hundred teams, only Louisville, O.S.U., Creighton, UTEP, Oregon, Colorado, Auburn, and Hawaii played more home games than O.U. The national champs only had fifteen home games. My hunch is that no matter how O.U. does against better opponents, it probably will not lead to more home games because better teams want some gaurantee they will play in front of double digit crowds. I would agree they probably would in the Convo., but I think a major player wants some better history.

At the end of the day, I think O.U., in the short term, needs to give up some home games in order to get in some pre-season tournaments on neutral sites. I'm not going back to look at the schedules, but my guess is that beginning with sometime in the TOS regime, a decision was made to not play pre-season tournaments, play an easier non-conference schedule with more home games, rack up a very good non-conference record, and then hope for the best in the conference.

I agree with the idea that O.U. needs to schedule a couple more tougher games from the bigger conferences, but the question is whether the powers that be are willing to give up two or three home games to do it.

Couple Responses:

*My understanding is that OHIO will not do 2 for 1's and while I understand the logic/pride, I probably would've struck this deal if I could've got these seniors one premier home game this year, in return for a couple trips the next couple years.  These would need to be strategically picked.  I hear IU gave us this offer and picking the #1 team in the land probably isn't the right team, but other are.  And in response to those who say you can't pick/ensure who's up or down to know who to schedule--I think you can to some degree as much of each basketball schedule is constructed in the months leading up to the season.

*If you don't schedule up a bit for the kind of team we had coming back this year, when would you?  I keep hearing the day will come when we do this, that, or the other (win our conference, dominate the MAC, etc...). Kind of like remembering my father telling me tomorrow, on your birthday, for Christmas as excuses to delay something I wanted as a kid.  Im not saying we do this every year, but once again--we had the entire squad returning from a Sweet 16 team.  We beat Georgetown in the NCAA's the year before that.  It was a good enough run to get Groce $1.0 million+ and a promotion.  Why wasn't it good enough to justify a bump up this year?  If anything, just for a year?  I see where racking up a great record in the OOC, beating a Memphis and dominating MAC action would ultimately put us in the position we want to be in.  But once again, it leaves little room for error.  Case in point, last year two bad loses on the road in MAC play was deemed enough to knock us out if we didn't win the tournament title.  WInthrop, Maryland Eastern Shore, etc... just seem like a waste of time.  Bascially like questions on a test that get you no points.  Honestly, I wouldn't have scheduled @Robert Morris either.  Yes, a little RPI jump.  But it's a higher risk, lower reward type game.  You could easily  lose what will be probably be a tough game, which would hurt all together.  But if you win, what do you get in regards to respect points if you're trying to get to the next level?  Is anybody on that selection committee going to look at Robert Morris as a quality win?  We will, they won't.  And while we were excited to beat Richmond to see if that got noticed, the polls told us few got excited.    Plain and simple, this team stood little to lose by having a holiday tournament, or another couple at Memphis type games this year.  Likewise, it stands little to gain (and more to lose) by playing most of the rest of the OOC schedule. 

mf279801--I think you're probably correct and I also would guess that the person scheduling would be aware of the team we have returning and not wish to come this year.  At the same time, my only point is that I don't think we do these deals ever.  And while I can understand our stance, I woud've bent those rules this year in an attempt to capitalize on the resources we have on the roster RIGHT NOW.  I said no IU, but I could argue that as well.  Could you imagine IU in the Convo say Dec 8th instead of Oakland?  Low risk, high reward.  I'd exchange that opportunity for a couple beat downs in the next 2 years in Bloomington.  Sell out?  You bet ya.   Opportunity to go from 10 votes to 80 in one game--that opportunity would be there.  If that really was an offer, I would've taken it this year just for the opportunity.    Season changer?  Yes.  IU would be low risk, high reward.  Oakland is some risk, little to no reward.  Take your pick? 

Changing to a 'better' conference and scheduling the 'name' teams is as simple as snapping one's fingers.  So, keep advocating for those as solutions.



The only way to move up is to win, win, win so the name is developed and there's cache/karma/prestige in playing us.

Unless everyone on the schedule keeps losing...

I would say minimum three in a five year span.

You get Ws beating Oakland/Winthrop.

Everyone on this board would like to play some better programs.  It's just not that easy.  It's common knowledge that they tried to schedule up this year, and nobody wanted to play us. 

Embarassed for myself for not dropping this topic from the day the schedule came out.  Nothing we can do about it like it or hate it and it "can" get us to where we want to be if we execute it without many hitches.  My ending theme is simply that I think mid-majors such as OHIO return entire teams like this very rarely, or at least not since I can remember.  Adding one at a minimum, 3 at a maximum, games/tournament would've been perfect in my opinion.  I think the majority of the season tickets holders would want it; the general fan looking for a reason to come to the Convo would embrace it; the students would want it; the Selection Committee if it comes to that will like to see it; and I bet the players if they read this thread wanted it.  I wanted it so bad I'm flying my tail to Memphis to watch the one big OOC chance (while at the same time I won't bother going to Robert Morris Saturday).  Bottom line, it is what it is and it'll be fun either way.  Go Cats!

Let's face it. O.U. does not get to the next level unless they are playing teams at the next level. If you want to get into the party, you better have a pretty lady on your arm. O.U. will never get to the next level by playing a weaker out of conference schedule, and then, what many consider to be, a weaker conference schedule. At some point in the season you need to play teams from the next level. Memphis and Oklahoma are okay starts, but I agree that with the team they had returning this year, and with the experience they gained last year, now was a golden opportunity to play some of the bigger schools, even if away, and perhaps on a neutral court, to highlight the program to a national audience. If the administration's position is that they will not play 2-1, then good luck in playing many of those bigger programs.

I would even argue that bringing premier teams to the convo. really does not do much. O.U. is pretty much the only game in town in Southeast Ohio, and while I'd like to have more fans, I'd also like to have more blue chip players or second tier players looking at O.U., and that only happens if you establish yourself as being able to play with the bigger teams. Which you can't really establish unless you play them.

And I am not sure why we keep talking about at-large bids. They are a fantasy in the MAC in the present age. If a Trent team that beats UConn and VIrginia, both elite teams the year O.U. beat them, and they still did not get an at-large bid with those wins, ain't no way anyone can count on an at-large bid. I think this team is the best team at O.U., from top to bottom, that I've seen in watching O.U. hoops in twenty-five plus years. I just think it is a shame that one or two more elite teams could not have been added to the schedule.