Evansville department-wide scheduling philosophy?

[BirdsEyeView]

Just for grins I thought I would throw out the fact that Murray State historically isn't a pushover and especially from 2009-2010 thru 2014-2015 as they were 158-43 over that period. 26+ wins average a season over those six years - yummy nice cupcake there that UE scheduled.

I do agree that 4 SWAC type teams is excessive as it should never be more than 2 of those type teams but I am not backing off the statement that if UE had beaten UNI or WSU just once I think they were a NIT team. More than non-conf scheduling UE simply didn't win the MVC game or games that they needed. I just don't see where a win (used some teams that are fairly regional to UE within apprx 200 miles) vs Miami (OH) or St Louis Univ would have helped enough, They still lost the 4 key MVC games that would have been a boast to them in the eyes of the NIT committee.

You keep talking NIT, regardless of beating WSU 1x or not to get into the NIT, your goal should have been make the NCAAs in Mock and DJ senior year.

The NonCon schedule completely ruined any chance of that unless you won Arch Madness.

Your priorities are in the wrong place.

[UEACES80]

Your priorities are in the wrong place.

I don't appreciate being told where my priorities should be / you don't me know me and I don't know you.

I would think all Aces fans (I know I did) had hoped to make the NCAA this year with the best team we have had for quite awhile. But after the losses to WSU and UNI it came down to win the MVC Tourney or face the realism of hoping for the NIT.

[acesfool]

Evansville playing @Louisville for season opener, just a year too late

I will be in Vegas to bet this one.

[SubGod22]

Your priorities are in the wrong place.

I don't appreciate being told where my priorities should be / you don't me know me and I don't know you.

I would think all Aces fans (I know I did) had hoped to make the NCAA this year with the best team we have had for quite awhile. But after the losses to WSU and UNI it came down to win the MVC Tourney or face the realism of hoping for the NIT.

Post season resumes are built in the non-con in the MVC. If you're relying on a couple specific conference results just to maybe squeak into the NIT, you're doing it wrong.

[shocktheheart]

Your priorities are in the wrong place.

I don't appreciate being told where my priorities should be / you don't me know me and I don't know you.

I would think all Aces fans (I know I did) had hoped to make the NCAA this year with the best team we have had for quite awhile. But after the losses to WSU and UNI it came down to win the MVC Tourney or face the realism of hoping for the NIT.

Post season resumes are built in the non-con in the MVC. If you're relying on a couple specific conference results just to maybe squeak into the NIT, you're doing it wrong.

100% agree

[Ricardo del Rio]

I disagree with the last three posters. A single win versus WSU/UNI would have given them an RPI in the 80s. Two wins would have put it in the 70s and UE would have then had a 26-7 record and likely been out. The Aces probably needed four more wins in conference giving them a 16-2 record in conference and 28-5. Another way to state the argument for scheduling would be to say, "we don't care about our regular season record and it's all about 3 in a row in St Louis."

Totally agree Marty put this team in an almost impossible position this year with the schedule. He has done a piss poor job with that since he has been here. He needed the wins to justify himself.

Yes, I agree.

Plus it is hard to beat the better teams with a six player team. Five player team, if you discount #50.

[PurpleAcesFootball]

Nobody works harder at scheduling than Evansville. It's a lot of work to not only find opponents, but find them on a down cycle and then convince your fans that you did the best you could. We've announced a few games for next year's non-conference schedule. Let's go to the highlights.

http://www.gopurpleaces.com/news/2016/4/15/ue-mens-basketball-to-open-2016-17-season-at-louisville.aspx

Norfolk State (MEAC) - This gets the "Aww, geez, not this S%@% again" award. UE has scheduled another MEAC school (31st ranked conference) and not only that - we found one who lost it's top 3 scorers from last year's squad (Coincidence??). Then we have the audacity to boast that they've finished .500 or better in the last 5 years. Note that 2 of those years, .500 was only attained after factoring in non-D1 opponents. (15-17 last year for example, but 2 non-D1 wins puts them at .500)

Bowling Green (MAC) - This is the "Hey, we've heard of that school" award. I am more than happy to have a MAC school on the schedule. It's too bad BG finished dead last in the MAC. (Another amazing coincidence??) I would have loved for BG to be on the schedule this year, as even dead last in the MAC finished RPI 206 which is light years above some of the other teams on the schedule.

@Louisville (ACC) - This gets the "Look we're really trying" award. I honestly have no problem with this.. unless it's used as an excuse for playing more SWAC schools because we played such tough road games. One rhetorical question though - was this schedule conversation started back when Louisville thought they would have Evansville Bosse standout JaQuan Lyle on the roster? For obvious reasons, both sides would like to forget that connection. I just wonder because North Carolina (Zeller/Washington) and Purdue (Kiefer/ Ev Mater Dei) only scheduled UE under those kind of circumstances.

Murray State (OVC) - This is the "Green Beans" award. What does that mean? Well like an above poster made the steak/potatoes of scheduling analogy - Murray State is green beans. Definitely not the main course, more than a garnish - just a good solid side. Really not your favorite side - there is still mashed potatoes and stuffing, but you can't really complete a meal without green beans. Hence, Murray should be the green beans on UE's schedule. Unfortunately I'm afraid UE will try to force feed its fans tons of green beans and try to convince them its filet mignon. But I digress.

Challenge in Music City (MTE) - The "We need to save travel costs" award. Not too sure about this one. A MTE only in its second year. The premise last year was that there were 6 mid/low majors who played 3 games in Nashville over Thanksgiving. Also, the six schools got a guaranteed home game against either an NAIA or USCAA team. USCAA? Yeah. Google that one. But the 2015 version of this tournament featured 3 of them.

The six teams who participated were a bunch of 200-275 RPI schools like Mercer, Tulane, Western Michigan, Liberty, and Appalachian State. The lone team that was good RPI wise was Stephen F Austin (RPI 62). Yes, the darlings of the NCAA who upset West Virginia. So the belle of the Challenge in Music City ball ended up being SFA who won 24 D-1 games en route to winning the 30th rated Southland Conference and a 14 seed. By the way, SFA actually lost the challenge to Tulane, the 12-22 cellar dweller of the AAC.

I'm hopeful year 2 of the Challenge boasts better teams - but I'm not going to hold my breath.