2013 Non-Conference Schedules: San Diego Toreros

Click for full size view.
All times Pacific.

I like what Bill Grier and his staff have done with this year's schedule. It's very well rounded. First off, over half of the Toreros' games will be played at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Of those seven, two are guaranteed to be blowout victories (two non-D-I teams). The team has a few early season tests on the slate as well. Playing at New Mexico, while almost certainly a loss, will prepare the Toreros for the hostile environments in Provo and Spokane. San Diego State, in Jenny Craig, will provide fans with a great game and (hopefully) a great atmosphere. The atmosphere is up to you, USD fans. Finally, the Gulf Coast Showcase could provide USD with either a few tough games or an easy path to an pretty early-season record, depending on how the bracket shakes out.

My only qualm is the two games against non-D-I teams. Part of the WCC's rationale for adding Pacific was that two additional conference games would make it easier for WCC teams to schedule a non-conference slate of entirely D-I teams. Either San Diego couldn't do that, which I doubt considering the surplus of low quality D-I teams in the state of California. Or, the Toreros's staff wanted to play two games that would be nearly guaranteed victories. All-in-all though, this is a quality schedule for where the Toreros are at this season.

1. November 8th at 7:00 PM in San Diego
South Dakota State Jackrabbits, Summit League
Last Season: 25-10 (13-3), T-1st place Summit. 13 seed NCAA Tournament, lost in Round of 64 to Michigan.

Non-Conference Schedule Analysis - Santa Clara

Click for full size view.
All times Pacific.

I'm a big fan of the Broncos' non-conference schedule. For a team that wants to improve upon a CIT Championship last season, ideally by making a better tournament this year, this slate offers a number of chances to pick up good wins. It also provides fans in Santa Clara with seven home games, two of which are almost guaranteed to be blowout victories. Those two games are its only flaw; the Broncos failed to schedule enough D-I teams. No

1. November 8th at 7:00 PM at the Leavey Center
Bethesda Flames, National Christian College Athletic Association

The Broncos' first game of the real season is against a team that isn't in D-I, D-II, D-III or the NAIA so, they'll be 1-0.

2. November 12th at 8:00 PM at the Leavey Center
San Jose State Spartans, Mountain West Conference
Last Season: 9-20 (3-14), T-8th Western Athletic Conference.
Last Season vs. WCC: Loss at home to Santa Clara.

2013 Non-Conference Schedule Analysis - Loyola Marymount

Click for full size view.
All times Pacific.

The Lions' non-conference schedule is very back-heavy. The first four games feature what will likely be the worst four D-I teams they face all season. The Paradise Jam provides the Lions with three chances for quality wins. Then, three straight road games, two of which are east of the Mississippi. Finally two games at home end the non-conference. This schedule is actually pretty solid when you consider the teams in the Paradise Jam. The only real problem is the Lions play just three home games and go a whole month away from Gersten Pavilion.

1. November 8th at 4:30 PM in San Diego
Grand Canyon 'Lopes, Western Athletic Conference
Last Season: 23-8 (14-4), T-2nd place PacWest Conference (Division II).

Non-Conference Schedule Analysis - Pepperdine

Click to view full size image.
(All times Pacific and subject to change)

The Waves' non-conference doesn't provide many chances to pick up a quality win. San Jose State provides a chance for a WCC team to beat a Mountain West team, but San Jose State isn't up to MWC standards yet. Utah Valley can challenge in the depleted WAC but likely won't win due to New Mexico State's dominance. The Waves' second game in the Great Alaska Shootout will likely be their best shot a quality win, especially if they can win their first game. Both Harvard and Denver will contend for NCAA Tournament berths this season. UC Irvine could make the big dance as well, though Pacific's exit from the Big West certainly helps the Anteaters in that regard. Finally, Washington State is the Waves' only game against a BCS team that is sure to happen (they could face TCU in Alaska depending on how the bracket shakes out). Unfortunately, Washington State is about as bad as a BCS team can get (TCU too, for that matter). 

While there aren't many, if any, strong teams on the schedule, there are ample opportunities for confidence boosting wins. This Waves program has been improving steadily under Marty Wilson. Making it through this slate without a bad loss could be just what they need to make the jump from young and inexperienced to upwardly mobile in the West Coast Conference.

1. November 9th at 5:00 PM in Malibu
San Diego Christian Hawks, Golden State Athletic Conference (NAIA)
Last Season: 7-17 (0-9 vs. D-I, not included in official 7-17 record)

WCC Releases 2013-14 Schedule

Today the West Coast Conference announced its 2013-14 men's basketball schedule. Most schools have yet to formally announce their schedule for the non-conference portion of the season, but that doesn't mean we can't look forward to the games they'll play later in the season.

The season will begin on Saturday, December 28th with four games. Monday, December 30th features ten teams -- for the first time ever -- on the same day with Pacific, in its first conference game as a WCC member since 1971, hosting the other team not scheduled to play on opening day, Saint Mary's. As it has been in recent seasons, games will be mostly confined to Thursday and Saturday, though because of that slate of games on Monday it will seem like the season begins at a full sprint. From Saturday the 28th through Saturday the 4th there will be 18 WCC games. The only other deviation from the Thursday and Saturday schedule comes on Wednesday, February 5th, when Gonzaga hosts Portland.

Saturday, March 1st, will be the final day of the regular season. All ten teams will be in action on that final day, so seeding at the WCC Tournament should come down to the wire. Also, because having a  tournament seed on the line isn't enough pressure, bragging rights will be on the line with Gonzaga playing at Saint Mary's.

The conference tournament begins on Thursday, March 6th. There will no longer be an extended break for the top two seeds between their final conference game and first tournament game, thanks to the elimination of the double-bye. Every team will have played at least one tournament game by the end of Saturday, March 8th. The Semifinals are set for March 10th and the finals for March 11th, with 7th and 9th both being off days for all teams.

Here's the full conference schedule for your viewing pleasure.

Countdown 10/17

22 days remain...

The preseason Coaches' Poll was released today and the WCC is represented by two teams. The Zags come in at #22 and the Gaels sit in the "others receiving votes" category. Here are the rankings in their entirety.

1. Indiana Hoosiers
2. Louisville Cardinals
3. Kentucky Wildcats
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. North Carolina State Wolfpack
7. Kansas Jayhawks
8. Duke Blue Devils
9. Syracuse Orange
10. Florida Gators
11. Arizona Wildcats
12. North Carolina Tar Heels
13. UCLA Bruins
14. Michigan State Spartans
15. Creighton Blue Jays
16. Memphis Tigers
17. Missouri Tigers
18. Baylor Bears
19. UNLV Rebels
20. San Diego State Aztecs
21. Wisconsin Badgers
22. Gonzaga Bulldogs
23. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
24. Florida State Seminoles
25. Texas Longhorns
    
    Others receiving votes: Saint Louis 58, Virginia Commonwealth 40, Cincinnati 33, Murray State 30, Kansas State 13, Saint Mary's 11, New Mexico 10, Tennessee 10, Minnesota 9, Pittsburgh 9, Marquette 8, Stanford 7, Oklahoma State 6, Butler 6, Colorado State 4, Middle Tennessee 3, Saint Joseph's 2, Drexel 2, Georgia 2, Miami (FL) 2, Marshall 1

Portland will play two teams ranked in this top 25 during their non-conference slate, #3 Kentucky and #19 UNLV along with two teams that received votes, New Mexico and Colorado State.

Brigham Young will face at least two teams ranked in this top 25, #18 Baylor and #24 Florida State, with the potential to face #23 Notre Dame in their preseason tournament. The Cougars, if they do not play Notre Dame, will play the Saint Joesph's Hawks who received 2 votes.

Gonzaga will face one team ranked in this top 25, #18 Baylor, as well as three that received votes, the Kansas State Wildcats, Oklahoma State Cowboys, and Butler Bulldogs.

San Francisco will face one team ranked in this top 25, #20 San Diego State. The Dons also have games against teams that received votes, they open the season against the Stanford Cardinal and also play the Saint Joseph's Hawks.

Santa Clara will face one team ranked in this top 25, #8 Duke. They will also play one team that received votes, the Saint Louis Billikens.

San Diego will face one team ranked in this top 25, #20 San Diego State.

Loyola Marymount will face one team that received votes in this poll, the Saint Louis Billikens.

Saint Mary's (which has an awful schedule) will not face any team currently ranked but will face one team that received votes, the Drexel Dragons which received only two votes.

Countdown 10/10

29 days remain...

Since there are two tens in today's date I will provide for your reading pleasure two links in today's countdown.

The first, is ESPN.com's assessment of the non-conference schedules for each WCC team. On their 1-10 toughness scale Portland comes in on top with a 10 and Pepperdine brings up the rear with a 3.

The second, pertains mostly to BYU. I'm a couple days late on this one, since I'm not a Mormon I don't really keep up with the Church's policy dealings, but it's by no means out of date. ESPN.com examines how the lowering of the age at which an LDS mission can begin will affect recruiting of Mormon student athletes.

This guy will be rejoining the Cougars after missing the last two seasons due to his mission.

Also, please let me know if any of my terminology pertaining to missions and the LDS church is incorrect. One of my longtime friends/former roommate is a Mormon so I gained a solid understanding of the LDS community through him but probably missed some of the details.

The Problem With Poor Scheduling

I often complain about the Gaels aversion to setting up a quality non-conference schedule. Those complaints, normally a sentence or two in length, are followed by something along the lines of "...but I won't get into that now".

I have been working, for a while, on a team-by-team analysis of the Gaels' non-conference schedule as I did for BYU and Gonzaga. I became more and more frustrated the further I went with the analysis. So, now, I am writing this because, for one, I need a break but also because I need to finally explain myself for all those times I've said "I won't get into that now".

Do you remember January 21st, 2012?

Early Analysis: Gonzaga's Non-Conference Opponents

The non-conference schedule for the Zags was released last week. Once again, as is becoming the trend, big time programs are coming to Spokane and the Zags are playing only two true road games before WCC play. The farthest the Zags will travel is Orlando, for the Old Spice Classic. In mid January the Zags will travel to Butler for the second of a home and home series with the Bulldogs that started last season in Spokane. I'm excited for this year's schedule because it has a lot of big games and a decent (though in my opinion too many) games that should be entertaining blow out home wins for the Zags. The Zags will face three teams that made the NCAA tournament last season and five that made the postseason, potentially six depending on how the Old Spice Classic works out.

Zags' non-conference schedule, click for larger size.

Early Analysis: BYU's Non-Conference Opponents

Brigham Young University released the out of conference schedule for the Cougars (about a week ago, I got lost in the depths of kenpom.com and similar stat websites so it took a while to get this article finished) and it's a pretty solid one for a mid-major. From extremely elite teams like Baylor and Notre Dame, thru the strong mid-majors of Saint Joe's and Montana and the mid-majors on the rise like Tennessee State to just awful teams like Northern Arizona. Five of the 15 teams are coming off NCAA tournament berths, 10 earned a postseason berth in either the NCAA, NIT, or CIT, and only four finished the season below .500. This schedule looks to provide plenty of exposure for the Cougars, opportunity to knock off top 25 teams, and chances for blowout wins at home. I'm pretty darn excited for it.

I've analyzed every D-1 team on the schedule and now present you with a summary of each team's 2011-12 season, the players they aren't returning, and their key player for next season. This is just a brief overview, I'll revisit each team in the days before the match up for more in depth analysis.

ESPN Tip Off Marathon 2012

Last year's Tip Off Marathon saw Kevin Pangos (right) start his freshman campaign off with a bang, can Przemek Karnowski (left) do so this year?

ESPN has announced the schedule for the 2012 edition of its Tip Off Marathon.  At 9pm local time on November 12th the 24 hours of college hoops will once again begin in Spokane. Last season the Zags, though playing their second game of the season, tipped off the Tip Off Marathon with an 89-81 win over Washington State. That was the game that started Kevin Pangos' fantastic freshman year as he tied a school record (set by Dan Dickau) with nine made three-pointers on his way to 33 total points.

This year the Zags will face a familiar foe in the West Virginia Mountaineers, although it will be only the second meeting between the schools. If this is to be Gonzaga's first game of the season it will be only one game removed from the last Gonzaga vs. West Virginia contest, which took place in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament on March 15th and saw the Zags demolish the Mountaineers 77-54 in Pittsburgh, PA. This is only the second meeting between the two schools, like I said a few lines up, with both of them coming in 2012. Somewhat amazingly, these two squads that had never met before this year could well meet for a THIRD time in 2012 as both are participating in the Old Spice Classic which takes place around Thanksgiving, only 10 days after the Tip Off Marathon.