2018-19 VU Schedule

[VU2014]

What the hell is Winthrop and Pacific travelling to Edwardsville for?

My guess is the Coaching Staffs have a connection. Those are great home games for a weaker ovc team

[VUGrad1314]

Excellent question. Both of those would be winnable and better than non-D1s if they're willing to travel to play Edwardsville surely we could get teams like that here. Of course Winthrop is playing in Carbondale this year so that could be why. That's an easy travel connecting game.

[historyman]

Excellent question. Both of those would be winnable and better than non-D1s if they're willing to travel to play Edwardsville surely we could get teams like that here. Of course Winthrop is playing in Carbondale this year so that could be why. That's an easy travel connecting game.

Have you driven on two lane Hwy 13 in southwest Illinois on a weekday afternoon?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Southern+Illinois+University,+Lincoln+Drive,+Carbondale,+IL/Southern+Illinois+University+Edwardsville,+1+Hairpin+Dr,+Edwardsville,+IL+62025/@38.2548304,-90.2254085,9z/am=t/data=!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x8877123ce908fc03:0x9698c489b70030d3!2m2!1d-89.2249134!2d37.7090577!1m5!1m1!1s0x8875f8759c8a6365:0x7b43439fa62e2836!2m2!1d-89.995654!2d38.793103!3e0!5i1

[VU2014]

Maybe they will be announcing the series will start next season? I'm thinking it will be the Non-Conference schedule.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1032280205589667840
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1032280660449390593
https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/1032277759102517248

[valpopal]

Looking at the OOC schedule, my word for the home games: uninspiring!

[VU2014]

Looking at the OOC schedule, my word for the home games: uninspiring!

I'd describe the home non-conference schedule as: Unacceptable...

It NEEDS to be better than this. Very disappointing. The only interesting home games are Ball State and maybe High Point.

https://twitter.com/ValpoBasketball/status/1032287922668675072

As for the Away Schedule it's satisfying and strong in my book. Lot's of interesting away and neutral site games. Interesting to see that TBD away game on November 18.

[valpopal]

Looking at the OOC schedule, my word for the home games: uninspiring!

I'd describe the home non-conference schedule as: Unacceptable...

It NEEDS to be better than this. Very disappointing. The only interesting home games are Ball State and maybe High Point.

...and the Ball State game will be after students are gone, back home following final exams!

[EddieCabot]

Interesting to see that TBD away game on November 18.

Any idea who that might be?

[crusadermoe]

Yeah the home schedule stinks.  Adding High Point and Purdue NW  is brutal.   High Point seems to be a new Low Point for us.

But did we know about Texas A&M road game? 

The road and neutral schedule is indeed impressive!!!   We get a chance to prove some things.  Looking at the glass half full, the home games give us a chance to re-group between the rugged road games.   

[IrishDawg]

I'd describe the home non-conference schedule as: Unacceptable...

It NEEDS to be better than this. Very disappointing. The only interesting home games are Ball State and maybe High Point.

https://twitter.com/ValpoBasketball/status/1032287922668675072

As for the Away Schedule it's satisfying and strong in my book. Lot's of interesting away and neutral site games. Interesting to see that TBD away game on November 18.

That's just the 3rd game of their exempt tourney.  Easier to do that than list out the 4 teams on the other side of the bracket.

None of their home games, outside of Ball State are even remotely good, and even that one is likely to get an average division 1 team at the ARC.  In terms of kenpom ratings last season - here are the home opponents:
Concordia - N/A
SIUE - 318
UC Riverside - 268
High Point - 241
Ball State - 173
Purdue Northwest - N/A

The good news is that the neutral/road schedule should balance this out.  The problem is that these games are going to be extremely difficult to win, especially the Texas A&M game, which Valpo's going to have to play 2 games in 48 hours, and have to fly from Indiana to Texas.
Western Kentucky - 47
West Virginia - 12
UNLV - 107
GW - 192
Texas A&M - 29

[VUBBFan]

Interesting to see that TBD away game on November 18.

Any idea who that might be?

It is our final bracket game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. It is determined by who wins or loses of the four teams on the other side of the bracket.

[wh]

- 3 of 7 (43%) are against non D-1 opponents
- 2 of 4 D-1 games (50%) the students are gone
- 3 of 4 D-1 opponents had RPI rankings last year of 274, 288 and 300
- 1 of 4 D-1 opponents is an extension school of a sister MVC program

From a positive standpoint, the university has finally found a way to resolve the ARC parking problem. 

[vu84v2]

While the neutral site games at Myrtle Beach are helpful and Texas A&M and West Virginia are interesting road games, this is an AWFUL home schedule. Absolutely awful! Last year they had a very poor home non-conference schedule - but this is even worse. The number one thing that you can do to build enthusiasm around the team is to have quality home opponents. I am not talking Power 5 plus the Big East, but you need upper half teams in good mid-majors and NO non-Division 1 teams. The only decent opponent is Ball State and that is when school is not in session. People complain about marketing and enthusiasm, but you can't market cr%$ and there will be absolutely no enthusiasm for SIUE, High Point, UC-Riverside and (abysmally) TWO non-D1 opponents. The basketball program gets an F that is not even close to a D for scheduling.

[EddieCabot]

Yeah the home schedule stinks.  Adding High Point and Purdue NW  is brutal.   High Point seems to be a new Low Point for us.

But did we know about Texas A&M road game? 

The road and neutral schedule is indeed impressive!!!   We get a chance to prove some things.  Looking at the glass half full, the home games give us a chance to re-group between the rugged road games.   

I wish the home schedule was better, but as the coaches and AD have pointed out, few teams are willing to play a team like Valpo in a tough environment like the ARC.  Before complaining, we need to understand that scheduling is difficult.

[vu84v2]

The people in the basketball program do a lot of good things and they deserve credit for that. And yes, scheduling is difficult - but that is their job. Lots of job are difficult, but that is not justification for doing a terrible job. Unless the team pulls off highly unlikely upsets against West Virginia or Texas A&M, there will be absolutely no enthusiasm going into the MVC schedule. None!! GW is a nice road game and I think it is part of a home and home...but Valpo has the road game first, which always leads to the possibility of the return game getting delayed or bought out. Why isn't the home part of that deal first?

Here are my suggested ticket prices for this non-conerence home schedule, based on the value:
Concordia-Chicago: Valpo pays all attendees $5 to attend
SIUE: Free
UC-Riverside: Free
High Point: Free
Ball State: Normal ticket prices
Purdue Northwest: Valpo pays all attendees $5 to attend

This will be the only way to get more than 2000 people in the ARC for any of these games.

[VU2014]

Yeah the home schedule stinks.  Adding High Point and Purdue NW  is brutal.   High Point seems to be a new Low Point for us.

But did we know about Texas A&M road game? 

The road and neutral schedule is indeed impressive!!!   We get a chance to prove some things.  Looking at the glass half full, the home games give us a chance to re-group between the rugged road games.   

I wish the home schedule was better, but as the coaches and AD have pointed out, few teams are willing to play a team like Valpo in a tough environment like the ARC.  Before complaining, we need to understand that scheduling is difficult.

I know the challenges of scheduling but that home schedule is pretty darn bad...

This schedule feels like it is being made to put us in the best situation possible for 2019-20 season when we have our best chance to earn a at-large bid. High Point just hired Tubby Smith who is a pretty good coach. HP might not be great this season, but maybe he could get them to Quadrant 2 (76-135) away game status the following season (pretty unlikely but a guy can dream). HP will likely be a Q3 (136-240) opponent next season.

[mj]

I'd rather see Valpo play on the road two more times than play Concordia and Purdue Northwest during the regular season.

It seems like Valpo and other similar situated mid-majors should try and schedule games with each other, rather than filling the schedule up with garbage. Or has that been tried before?

[Chairback]

Very disappointing.  It will be interesting to see how they price season tickets. I'm on the fence if I will continue to buy them or just buy tickets for the valley games.  I do not want to pay for games I will not go to. 

Chicago state and ipfw looks pretty good right now...... 

[VUGrad1314]

When will the hatchet be buried between us and the HL so that we can schedule series with them? That will really help us.  We need to get in touch with more HL and MAC schools for scheduling. Minimal travel likely to give us home games (maybe even one-off games with no return) and so much better than series with the likes of Edwardsville and High Point. That said I might actually go to the High Point game because Tubby Smith is their coach but even that may not be enough of a draw for me Hopefully with RPI going out the window we will finally see a reduction in non D1s because the main excuse for playing them is gone. We can't afford to keep trotting out these awful home slates. We need to do whatever we have to do in order to get decent mids here. I am pleased with the road/neutral games. Those are very tough but it's really hard to look past those home offerings. On the whole we are trending up schedule wise and that's good but more needs to be done about getting better home games. The fans deserve it.

[vu72]

The people in the basketball program do a lot of good things and they deserve credit for that. And yes, scheduling is difficult - but that is their job. Lots of job are difficult, but that is not justification for doing a terrible job. Unless the team pulls off highly unlikely upsets against West Virginia or Texas A&M, there will be absolutely no enthusiasm going into the MVC schedule. None!! GW is a nice road game and I think it is part of a home and home...but Valpo has the road game first, which always leads to the possibility of the return game getting delayed or bought out. Why isn't the home part of that deal first?

Here are my suggested ticket prices for this non-conerence home schedule, based on the value:
Concordia-Chicago: Valpo pays all attendees $5 to attend
SIUE: Free
UC-Riverside: Free
High Point: Free
Ball State: Normal ticket prices
Purdue Northwest: Valpo pays all attendees $5 to attend

This will be the only way to get more than 2000 people in the ARC for any of these games.

I think scheduling Concordia-Chicago (River Forest) is part of a plan to reestablish the Crusader Classic!  ;)Last played in 1977!

[SanityLost17]

When will the hatchet be buried between us and the HL so that we can schedule series with them? That will really help us.  We need to get in touch with more HL and MAC schools for scheduling. Minimal travel likely to give us home games (maybe even one-off games with no return) and so much better than series with the likes of Edwardsville and High Point. That said I might actually go to the High Point game because Tubby Smith is their coach but even that may not be enough of a draw for me Hopefully with RPI going out the window we will finally see a reduction in non D1s because the main excuse for playing them is gone. We can't afford to keep trotting out these awful home slates. We need to do whatever we have to do in order to get decent mids here. I am pleased with the road/neutral games. Those are very tough but it's really hard to look past those home offerings. On the whole we are trending up schedule wise and that's good but more needs to be done about getting better home games. The fans deserve it.

Interesting thoughts...   Not having any of our old HL rivalries on the non-con schedule hurts attendance and the bottom line.    Of course, probably not as much of the bottom line as paying the HL millions and millions of dollars.   

[elephtheria47]

Simply unacceptable.

[VU2014]

I'd like to see us start getting quality mid-majors into the ARC. I understand there are challenges with scheduling P6 and AAC teams, but let's start getting good teams to come play us. If that means giving them the first home game so be it. We should be aiming to schedule at least one or two Mid series of the caliber of a: Dayton, Rhode Island, VCU, Richmond, St. Mary's, FGCU, Belmont, Murray State, Vermont, UT Arlingtion, etc.

It's ok to have one or tops two of the SIUE/UCR caliber opponents, because you need fill the schedule but when you have as many non-d1s and just bad d1 teams at home as we do it just becomes unacceptable.

Not having any of our old HL rivalries on the non-con schedule hurts attendance and the bottom line.    Of course, probably not as much of the bottom line as paying the HL millions and millions of dollars.   

I'm not sure if the lawsuit is impacting scheduling HL teams or not. Our other sports play them post lawsuit frequently.

TBH other than OU, NKU and maybe Wright State/UIC I don't think any of them are particularly helpful or interesting opponents to schedule. I'd be good with a "break" from playing them for a while.

[IrishDawg]

Interesting thoughts...   Not having any of our old HL rivalries on the non-con schedule hurts attendance and the bottom line.    Of course, probably not as much of the bottom line as paying the HL millions and millions of dollars.

Isn't it just $500k that the suit is all about?  As bad as the attendance could be, I think it'll still take years to lose that kind of money in ticket and concession sales.  I don't think it's as big of a factor in scheduling as 1314 does.  There are still MAC schools, Summit League schools, OVC programs that can be called upon for scheduling games as well.  I do understand with their neutral/road schedule that they also need to make sure they don't destroy a team's confidence ahead of the conference season, but dang, this doesn't give many fans a reason to come to the ARC.

[crusaderjoe]

Last year we had two MVC games before January 1, Indiana State (December 28th) and MoState (December 31st). The scheduling of this year's Purdue NW game tells me that probably won't happen again.  Too bad.  We are planning on visiting dear old NWI for the Christmas/New Year holiday this year and were hoping to catch a decent Valpo game while there.  Looks like it's "Hello Tiebels!" instead of VU basketball, unless there is some sandwiched-in MVC home game in there between the 19th and 31st.

A pretty good job on the away/neutral schedule though, so not all is lost.