2022-23 Out of Conference Schedule

[GMUgemini]

Nobody is asking for a home game against a blue blood, Navy being our second best home opponent each non conference is not cutting it.

Traditionally, ODU has been a better opponent than they have been of late. Going to the Sun Belt will only hurt them more. I think we have to do what vcu did and seriously think about cutting bait with them or at the very least put them on a rotation with the other regional schools. There is no reason to play as many area schools as we did last season (UMD, Navy, Coppin State, American, ODU, JMU, Morgan State). Maybe three or so every year, but 8 seems excessive.

 

[sleeperpick]

Traditionally, ODU has been a better opponent than they have been of late. Going to the Sun Belt will only hurt them more. I think we have to do what vcu did and seriously think about cutting bait with them or at the very least put them on a rotation with the other regional schools. There is no reason to play as many area schools as we did last season (UMD, Navy, Coppin State, American, ODU, JMU, Morgan State). Maybe three or so every year, but 8 seems excessive.

So we agree so im not sure why you posted that some people expect us to schedule home games vs blue bloods

 

[GMUgemini]

So we agree so im not sure why you posted that some people expect us to schedule home games vs blue bloods

Just a little internet exaggeration poking fun at tblack’s “we’ll play anyone anywhere but…” comment.

 

[gmujim92]

Umass, URI and St Joes all consistently schedule better than us. Umass hasn’t had success since I was in middle school. It is a cop out King

Rhody benefits from its rivalry with Providence and the fact that BC is willing to play them home and home for some reason.

Joe’s gets games with Villanova and Temple through the Big 5. Other than that they aren’t landing great opponents at Hagan.

Haven’t noticed UMass scheduling significantly better than us, but I’ll take your word for it.

The reality is most programs on our level struggle to get good home games. It’s not a uniquely Mason problem and expecting Kim to change it in Year 2 isn’t realistic.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I expect this will be the last time we play ODU for a while, unless something changes on their end.

This should be obvious, but a school like Mason has to use any and all connections that we have to schedule the best opponents possible. The head coach largely calls the shots, but assistant coaches, assistant ADs, etc., may be involved if they have personal connections that are helpful.

Bottom line is we have to get better if we want to schedule better. Right now, we're good enough to be a threat to win but not good enough to be a low-risk loss.

 

[GMUgemini]

For comparison, this is our home OOC in 2011: Harvard (35), Florida Atlantic (113) Radford (333), George Washington (145), Loyola (MD) (179)

Edit: editing to include RPI

 

[tblack33]

I get not liking the Queens game. Nobody is going to like that one.

What are the thoughts about Toledo? Do you guys hate that one too?

I don’t mind the Toledo game at all. I get that it’s tough to schedule P5s for home and homes. So why aren’t we going after quality mid majors like this? I’m looking at NET not names. If this is a problem for mid majors across the board, why would we be struggling to schedule each other? Schools like N. Iowa, Witchita, Colorado State, etc. should be well within our ability to schedule. If it weren’t for the Kansas game last year our NET would have been a**. You can’t break top 100 without playing other top 100 schools.

 

[dr. gunnie]

Ok - that makes sense. Wasn’t sure if it was a “name school” that will help sell tix vs a NET school that helps our resume.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Would love to see a Mountain West or an AAC type school that’s similar to us on the schedule for a home/home. Those should be doable.

I also get having a few Queens type games that let you maybe try some things, especially in a season with a lot of player turnover. Just as long as it’s maybe 2 of those and not 4 of those. Throw in a few local rivalry games, your tournament, and your road power 5 games and I think it’s a respectable schedule.

I think we just need a few more Toledo’s and a few less Queens coming up.

 

[mkaufman1]

Ok - that makes sense. Wasn’t sure if it was a “name school” that will help sell tix vs a NET school that helps our resume.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Would love to see a Mountain West or an AAC type school that’s similar to us on the schedule for a home/home. Those should be doable.

I also get having a few Queens type games that let you maybe try some things, especially in a season with a lot of player turnover. Just as long as it’s maybe 2 of those and not 4 of those. Throw in a few local rivalry games, your tournament, and your road power 5 games and I think it’s a respectable schedule.

I think we just need a few more Toledo’s and a few less Queens coming up.

I think we are all on the same page now. We get the challenges/excuses. But at the end of the day, if Mason is trying to be an ncaa tournament contender, we need more quality and not just our usual 4 buy games at home. Yes we need 1 or 2 of those, everyone does.

Wins are nice, but quality wins and opportunities are important. Hopefully they can find another home game or series like Toledo.

 

[GMUgemini]

I think we are all on the same page now. We get the challenges/excuses. But at the end of the day, if Mason is trying to be an ncaa tournament contender, we need more quality and not just our usual 4 buy games at home. Yes we need 1 or 2 of those, everyone does.

Wins are nice, but quality wins and opportunities are important. Hopefully they can find another home game or series like Toledo.

It also helps when the conference is better. Mason had 6 too 100 wins, 3 top 50 in 2011, Harvard was the only one in the OOC.

Oh and we also shouldn’t forget that with the new system, blowing out a crappy team at home is almost equal to beating a quality opponent on the road by 3. Why does Davison always have solid numbers? Because they beat bad teams by 20+.

 

[patriotchild]

Agreeing with the points made. Needs some “should be wins” at home and quality opponents (like when Vermont was good)

Another factor that is making the OOC home slate even harder to swallow is the imbalanced conference schedule. We have almost no “name” or quality opponents at home so far. Gonna be tough for casual fans or ticket holders to get amped for the slate coming in this year unless we’re running the table.

 

[sleeperpick]

Agreeing with the points made. Needs some “should be wins” at home and quality opponents (like when Vermont was good)

Another factor that is making the OOC home slate even harder to swallow is the imbalanced conference schedule. We have almost no “name” or quality opponents at home so far. Gonna be tough for casual fans or ticket holders to get amped for the slate coming in this year unless we’re running the table.

I think this is a good point. Playing the top teams in lower conferences are fine. I like a Vermont, Bryant, Iona on the schedule and we should be able to get them to come to Fairfax (maybe not Iona). What scares me is when we play almost exclusively bad P5 teams away and middling to bad low major teams at home. Toledo being the best by far non conf home game is not a good look (they are going to be good this year don't get me wrong)

I am just hoping for a bit less of Morgan St and a little more Bryant caliber teams that should have no problem coming to Mason.

 

[GMUMiked]

Bryant is not the best example, they won 21 games last year and still had a NET of 205 because they played one of the easiest schedules in the country.

If we're going to be playing terrible teams anyway I'd much rather play local/semi-local teams. JMU/ODU at least sell tickets when they come to Fairfax. Towson was really good last year. Even teams like Navy, VMI and Longwood all had a NET of below 175.

 

[tblack33]

Bryant is not the best example, they won 21 games last year and still had a NET of 205 because they played one of the easiest schedules in the country.

If we're going to be playing terrible teams anyway I'd much rather play local/semi-local teams. JMU/ODU at least sell tickets when they come to Fairfax. Towson was really good last year. Even teams like Navy, VMI and Longwood all had a NET of below 175.

So still all Q4 games. Gotta shoot a bit higher here guys. The solution is out there. I’d go out on a limb and say that even the ODU/JMU games don’t sell tickets nearly like they used to to justify playing them constantly. Navy/VMI/Longwood absolutely don’t and should never be scheduled more than one of the above per year for a tune up game.

 

[GMUMiked]

So still all Q4 games. Gotta shoot a bit higher here guys. The solution is out there. I’d go out on a limb and say that even the ODU/JMU games don’t sell tickets nearly like they used to to justify playing them constantly. Navy/VMI/Longwood absolutely don’t and should never be scheduled more than one of the above per year for a tune up game.

I agree we should be aiming higher. My point was more that I'd rather play a somewhat local team than Queens. Towson would have been a Q2 home game last year, Longwood (NET 131) or Liberty (NET 118) would have been Q3 games at home.

Side note: I did not realize how the breakdown worked for what teams fall into which quadrant when playing at home vs playing on the road, so thank you for making me look that up.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Is this what we know so far? (And their NET rankings last year)

Auburn (13)
Boston College (141)
Belmont (79) / Tarleton St (214)
Buffalo (120) / Drake (85) / Howard (241) /Wyoming (58)
Queens College (N/A)
Toledo (86)
ODU (201)

Winning and getting to play the better teams in the Paradise Jam would certainly help the schedule look a bit stronger. Hopefully Queens can come in and have some surprise success akin to Bellarmine.

 

[Patriot8]

Is this what we know so far? (And their NET rankings last year)

Auburn (13)
Boston College (141)
Belmont (79) / Tarleton St (214)
Buffalo (120) / Drake (85) / Howard (241) /Wyoming (58)
Queens College (N/A)
Toledo (86)
ODU (201)

Winning and getting to play the better teams in the Paradise Jam would certainly help the schedule look a bit stronger. Hopefully Queens can come in and have some surprise success akin to Bellarmine.

I’d expect us to add another team that was in the top 100.

 

[FreeGunston12]

I’d expect us to add another team that was in the top 100.

Hopefully Wisconsin will make right by us?

 

[tblack33]

I agree we should be aiming higher. My point was more that I'd rather play a somewhat local team than Queens. Towson would have been a Q2 home game last year, Longwood (NET 131) or Liberty (NET 118) would have been Q3 games at home.

Side note: I did not realize how the breakdown worked for what teams fall into which quadrant when playing at home vs playing on the road, so thank you for making me look that up.

Also to be fair I had no idea Longwood finished at 131, and am still unsure of how quadrants work (does it move as the season goes on or is it locked as a snapshot in time). Overall I agree with what you are saying, if the local teams can help us we should play them, just historically they have not.

 

[GMUgemini]

It’s where the team’ NET rank on selection Sunday.

Here are the quad rankings:

• Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
• Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
• Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
• Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353