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Any thoughts or comments on the Non-Conference schedule for the Lady Shockers Basketball team?
As with last year it does not seem overly challenging. Of the 7 home games 5 are vs D-1 opponents who had an average RPI of 272 and a combined record of 50-98. The other two home opponents South Dakota (18-11) and SIU-Edwardsville (5-21) are both teams attempting to transition into D-1.
The toughest part of the non-con schedule is the road games at Colorado State (RPI 216) who the Shocks lost to at home 76-69 last year and Kent State (RPI 115) who defeated the Shocks 65-58 in Koch Arena last year.
They have a nice trip to the Bahamas (which can't hurt recruiting) but again the competition is not overwhelmingly tough. SMU (RPI 85) finished 20-11 last year and is the highest-rated team (based on 2008-09 RPI) on the non-con schedule. The 2nd game in Nassau is vs UKMC (RPI 276 and 10-18 last year). A long way to go to play the team just up the road, but a nice trip nevertheless.
Perhaps this is exactly what this relatively young and unfamiliar team needs this year, although I am not sure how well it prepares the team for conference play.
As a fan, I would like to see an upgrade in the future, if possible, to the quality of the non-conference schedule, especially at home. Maybe this will come if and when the program improves its standing.
I can see the Shocks going anywhere from 7-4 to 11-0 with this schedule depending on how well they adapt to each other, to D-1 ball and to Jody and her system. A lot of variables there.
Will the team be prepared to improve on the back-to-back 4-14 conference records of the last two years. Let's hope so, but it is a real guessing game as to what we will actually bring to the table this year.
Shocker Madness is going to be more interesting than usual this year. We have the mystery women's team and we have the men coming off a reportedly big training effort in the off-season plus the addition of some interesting new faces.
As with last year it does not seem overly challenging. Of the 7 home games 5 are vs D-1 opponents who had an average RPI of 272 and a combined record of 50-98. The other two home opponents South Dakota (18-11) and SIU-Edwardsville (5-21) are both teams attempting to transition into D-1.
The toughest part of the non-con schedule is the road games at Colorado State (RPI 216) who the Shocks lost to at home 76-69 last year and Kent State (RPI 115) who defeated the Shocks 65-58 in Koch Arena last year.
They have a nice trip to the Bahamas (which can't hurt recruiting) but again the competition is not overwhelmingly tough. SMU (RPI 85) finished 20-11 last year and is the highest-rated team (based on 2008-09 RPI) on the non-con schedule. The 2nd game in Nassau is vs UKMC (RPI 276 and 10-18 last year). A long way to go to play the team just up the road, but a nice trip nevertheless.
Perhaps this is exactly what this relatively young and unfamiliar team needs this year, although I am not sure how well it prepares the team for conference play.
As a fan, I would like to see an upgrade in the future, if possible, to the quality of the non-conference schedule, especially at home. Maybe this will come if and when the program improves its standing.
I can see the Shocks going anywhere from 7-4 to 11-0 with this schedule depending on how well they adapt to each other, to D-1 ball and to Jody and her system. A lot of variables there.
Will the team be prepared to improve on the back-to-back 4-14 conference records of the last two years. Let's hope so, but it is a real guessing game as to what we will actually bring to the table this year.
Shocker Madness is going to be more interesting than usual this year. We have the mystery women's team and we have the men coming off a reportedly big training effort in the off-season plus the addition of some interesting new faces.
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