|
|
Post by commissioner on Jun 25, 2021 15:52:33 GMT -6
So far, confirmations have leaked out for about 40 non-conference games for HL teams in the 2021-22 season. By my calculation, there are currently 26 road games, 11 at neutral sites, and 4 home games. The only home games we have for sure right now are Central Michigan at Youngstown, Tennessee Tech and Bowling Green at Wright State, and Ohio U. at Cleveland State. We'll see home games in greater proportion as more info comes out, but this does show the difficulty of scheduling home games for mid-majors anymore. A few games of note: - Michigan State v. Oakland. This will be held at Ceasar's Palace in Detroit. - Kent State @ Cleveland State. Actually, I'm not 100% sure this will be at CSU--last year's cancelled game had been slated for CSU. Good home game against one of the better MAC programs, some local flavor. - Northern Kentucky @ DePaul. A very winnable game against a P6 school. - UIC @ Valpo. UIC takes on our old friends in the first part of a home and home. This is a good series for an HL team--we should be looking for more like this. - Green Bay at Kansas State and Green Bay @ Minnesota. These are beatable P6 teams, though I'm not sure they're beatable by Green Bay. - Milwaukee @ Florida. The second week of the season. A chance for Pat Baldwin to make a splash. There are some other games of note, but those are a few that caught my eye. I keep a running list of known non-conference games here: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/post/25398 |
|
|
|
Post by freewind on Jun 26, 2021 18:52:42 GMT -6
Nervous about Wright State traveling to West Lafayette to play Purdue. Guessing it was a buy game, usually Nagy schedules winnable games, but Purdue should be super good.
|
|
|
|
Post by commissioner on Jul 10, 2021 12:39:04 GMT -6
UIC will host DePaul on December 14, probably the only game an HL team will host a P6 opponent.
|
|
|
|
Post by freewind on Aug 30, 2021 9:50:45 GMT -6
When is the last day to finalize schedules?
|
|
|
|
Post by freewind on Sept 15, 2021 15:11:59 GMT -6
Ranking the excitement of Horizon League's Opening Games
Tier 4 - The Easy Games
Good for getting your teams to Gel, not great for End of the year Strength of Schedules
12 Purdue Fort Wayne H - Earlham
11 Northern Kentucky H- Wheeling
10 Wright St H - Lake Erie
Tier 3 - The potential opening day slaughters
IUPUI has a new coach and new roster, YSU will be piecing together a roster and showing a new look, UIC will try to build off an inconsistent last season.
9 IUPUI A - Butler
8 YSU A - Penn St
7 UIC A - Dayton
Tier 2 - Decent scheduled games vs unexciting opponents
UCF is mid tier probably in their conference and will be an extremely tough game for RMU on the road. I think Detroit can win this game on Wyoming court. If Green Bay can improve upon last years team, winning a home game against Indiana St will be a good start to the season.
6 RMU A - C. Florida
5 Detroit A - Wyoming
4 Green Bay H - Indiana St
Tier 1 - Taking the show on the road
We get to see PBJ's first game against a Summit team that wont be much different than a Horizon team. I think Oakland might have a down year, but a win against WVU will quickly change that state of mind. BYU was 2nd in their conference only to Gonzaga last year but i think CSU has what it takes to challenge them on the road.
3 Milwaukee A - N. Dakota
2 Oakland A - WVU
1 CSU A - BYU
Only a couple months away!
|
|
|
|
Post by freewind on Sept 22, 2021 6:57:59 GMT -6
Ranking the MTE's
I'll be honest, im partial to MTE's that are bracket style over round robins. I understand it's harder to get brackets due to having to have a large number of teams compete, but i enjoy them more. I also find competitive games more fun to watch than losing to big name schools.
12CSU - Lake Erie Challenge (Canisius, Coppin St)
Nothing spectacular here. Should be a couple of easy wins for Cleveland St, gives them a chance to gel before their final 3 non conf opponents.
11PFW - Ft Myers (SE Louisiana, W Mich, SIU Edwardsville)
Should be 3 easy wins for a Horizon League team, but if PFW has inconsistent games like last year, they may drop one or two.
10IUPUI - RR Invitational (Denver, Texas AM CC, Tex SA)
A good series for IUPUI on a rebuild year. Lackluster big names, but getting slammed by the competition doesn't help.
9GB - Jersey Mikes (UNC Greensboro, Flo Int, Weber St)
A chance for GB to go 3-0, but their coach has to have the team looking better.
8YSU - YSU MTE (St. Thomas, Niagara, SIU Edw)
Kind of nice to be able to host your own MTE. I hope the 300 fans comes out to support the Penguins, they can definitely come out 3-0 in this.
7UMW - Ft Meyers Tip Off (Bowling Green, N Yale/S. Utah)
PBJ should have a field day with these teams.
6UIC - LV Classic (Hawaii, S Alabama/Sd st.)
UIC will struggle here, but if they can gel in their early games, they might have a significant chance to win some important games here.
5NKU - Depaul MTE (E Mich, W Ill, Depaul)
Norse should take care of business the first two games which would setup a great 3rd game against the hometown favorite of Depaul.
4RMU - Kentucky MTE (Kentucky, Ohio U, Mt St Mary)
I don't have high hopes for RMU, and this probably wont' be exciting but if Toole gets a new team look that works maybe they win a game here.
3Det - Baha Mar Bahamas Championship (Miss St, Louisville, Hofstra)
What a tough 3 games for Detroit. If they can play on the same level they finished last year, they might win a key marquee game or two here.
2Oakland - Gulf Coast Showcase (Vermont, Rice/Evan, Ak/app st/del/ford)
I feel like this might be a down year from Oakland and they might flop around, but Kampe gets the team together, they can win this.
1WSU - NAPLES MTE (GWash, JMU/Kent St, ETennSt/LBST/MissouriST/MurraySt )
Lot of good solid Mid Major programs in this one. I think the winner will get a significant RPI/NET boost due to the tournament format. Anything less than 3-0 probably won't change much.
|
|
|
|
Post by commissioner on Sept 22, 2021 18:51:23 GMT -6
How about the best home games? Sadly, it's not a very impressive bunch. I'll base this on both quality of opposition and rivalry interest, plus some chance for a good win.
First, a bonus to Oakland, which gets Michigan State at Little Ceasar's Arena in Detroit. But for true home games...
10. Eastern Kentucky @ Milwaukee, Nov. 13. EKU was 22-7 last year, and is projected to finish 2d in the Atlantic Sun.
9. Northern Illinois @ UIC, Dec. 19. An in-state MAC team.
8. Akron @ Wright State, Dec. 15. Akron is down this year, but the Zips usually put a decent product on the floor. There's not exactly a rivalry here, but it is an in-state opponent.
7. UNC-Greensboro @ Northern Kentucky, Nov. 12. Greensboro is working on a string of 5 consecutive 20-win seasons in the rising Southern Conference.
6. Ohio U. @ Cleveland State, Nov. 13. The Vikes will want revenge for last year's shellacking. Ohio U. is projected for 2nd in the MAC.
5. Western Michigan @ Detroit, Dec. 11. This rivalry goes way back, with the first game played in 1917. Western holds a 28-26 all-time series lead but Detroit has won 22 of 41 games since the series resumed in the 1960s.
4. Toledo @ Oakland, Nov. 17. One of the better MAC programs with a lot of alums in the Detroit area. Just over an hour by bus.
3. Indiana State @ Green Bay, Nov. 9. The Phoenix get an MVC team in the season opener.
2. Rhode Island @ Milwaukee, Dec. 13. Rhody is likely to finish in the middle of the pack in the A10. A very winnable game for the Panthers.
1. DePaul @ UIC, Dec. 14. DePaul may be the Big East's bottom feeder, but this is only HL team hosting a P6 team this year.
|
|
