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charlie creamESPN.com
The debate over schedule quality usually doesn’t begin until February, when the spotlight begins on the NCAA tournament selection process.
But why wait?
Non-conference schedules may affect team seeding or participation in the 68-team tournament field. That made schedule building an art form. Programs need enough wins to join the tournament selection conversation, but they also need enough quality opponents to make those wins worthwhile.And Nov 7 It all starts as soon as the 2022-23 season ends on the day.
Here’s what you need to do to (and prepare for) March with a look at the collection of November and December games from November and December. And which teams are likely to look back with regret (or at least play on a softer-than-usual schedule). .
Which team has helped us the most with our schedule?
UConn Husky: Some might say that this schedule is too difficult.Did the husky go too far, especially now Paige Bookers Miss the season? Of course, Geno Auriemma never agrees with that theory. What UConn is trying to do this season is do their best to be the best. This is the top non-conference slate in the country, the kind of schedule that suits the sport.
Before Thanksgiving weekend is over, the Texas Longhorns, the NC State Wolfpack, the Duke Blue Devils, and possibly the Iowa Hawkeyes (both at the Phil Knight Legacy championship game in Portland, Oregon on November 27). ), the Huskies equate November to an NCAA Tournament run. Throw in the South Carolina Gamecocks, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Maryland Terrapins, Tennessee Lady Volunteers, Princeton Tigers, and Florida State Seminoles, and UConn has a challenge.
Seven of these opponents are potential Elite Eights. UConn lost four of them outside of the Big East last season, but survived to reach the title game of the NCAA Tournament. This series of games is even more rigorous. Only the results and the Huskies show in March will tell if it’s worth it.
Tennessee Lady Vols: These aren’t Pat Summitt days playing for anyone, anywhere, but the Lady Vols will be tested regularly in their first two months. It should pay dividends in March. They started the season with back-to-back games against the Hoosiers and soon after he started the season in Battle 4 in the Bahamas on November 19-21. Head to Atlantis. Or the Louisville Cardinals. Tennessee also played against Virginia Tech, the Hokies, the Stanford Cardinals and UConn, giving the Lady Volds the best non-conference schedule he has of any team in the SEC and a well-deserved No. 1 seed.
Clayton Blue Jays: A seventh-ranked non-conference schedule is the biggest reason the Blue Jays won a massive bid and the 10th seed for the NCAA Tournament a season ago. They then turned it into appearances in the Elite Eight.In addition to games at South Dakota Coyotes, South Dakota State Jack Rabbits and Stanford, games against the Arkansas Razorbacks and Nebraska Cornhuskers in Omaha, this slate of is even better. His two wins in this group of hopes of success in the Big East and Clayton would be far better than the 10th seed in his March of this year.
Belmont Bruins: This is what scheduling a major non-meeting looks like. Belmont is the league’s first-year Missouri Valley favorite in his conference. Conference Even with his tournament flops, the Bruins put in quality games in his first two months, strengthening his résumé as a whole. Belmont will host the Louisville and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, visit Iowa and the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, and play Florida’s Villanova Wildcats and possibly Baylor his Bears at his showcase on the Gulf Coast on November 25-27. increase. The Bruins are good enough to win any of those games. If so, the NCAA Tournament bids have arrived.
Ohio State Buckeyes: The Buckeyes didn’t play a single non-conference game against any team in the NET Top 100 last season, but benefited from the Big Ten’s favorable schedule to improve their 23-6 record prior to the NCAA Tournament. left. So even with a share of the Big Ten regular season titles, the Buckeyes were only able to secure the 6th seed. Success against the schedule this season will have a greater impact. His Nov. 8 game against Tennessee in Columbus is his one of the best games of Week 1. Louisville at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, plus the South Florida Bulls and either the Arkansas or Oregon Ducks at the San Diego Invitational will better prepare this veteran Ohio State team.
Toledo Rocket: When will the league-dominant 26-5 team fail the public bid? The Rockets lost the chance to play in the 2022 NCAA Tournament if five games were played against any team outside the top 250. Coach Tricia Kallop fixed that this offseason. Some nuisances are still there, but Toledo has added Duke and Michigan Wolverines to the Missouri State He Ready Bears and Dayton Flyers into repeat games. This should prove very useful should the MAC regular his season favorite falter once again in a conference tournament.
Which team could have had a tighter schedule?
South Carolina Gamecock: Gamecocks’ schedule isn’t bad. Maryland, Stanford and UConn are still there. This isn’t the usual South Carolina non-conference slate, it was tops in the country last year. The Gamecocks are setting a high bar for scheduling that they failed to achieve this season. It’s hard to watch the East Tennessee State Bucks with North Carolina State last season or the Memphis Tigers with Duke.
Cardinal Stanford: The same goes for cardinals. The non-meeting schedule does not meet program standards this year. South Carolina and Tennessee are the only Top 10-calibre teams Stanford will play all season, and the Cardinals won’t play a single non-conference game after December 20. This is a veteran group and, like South Carolina, a No. 1 seed, it seems inevitable, but November and he said that if the December tests weren’t challenging enough, the March tests would be less so. It’s not easy.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish: The Irish have grown into a veteran group aiming for the Elite Eight and above. However, the Irish have a schedule designed for a young team simply looking to build confidence. Aside from a back-to-back showdown with Maryland and her UConn starting in December, Notre Dame will face none other than her resume-building ACC. If Ireland goes 0-2 in those games, the margin of error is small if she wants to secure a high NCAA Tournament seed in the highly competitive ACC.
LSU Tigers: Excited to see angel wreath The fact that LSU won’t be playing a marquee game until Jan. 30, when Tennessee visits the Maravich Center, puts on a Tiger uniform. To have a meeting with the Oregon State Beavers. LSU’s chances of getting a high seed all come down to a lacking SEC slate, with just one game each against the Lady Vols and South Carolina.
Hawkeyes at Virginia Tech: The Hokies’ schedule could have been completed or come close by then Ashley Owusu When taylor soul Transferred to Blacksburg, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing. Potential first-team All-American center Elizabeth KitleyLeading a Potential Top 10 Team . A game in the Bahamas between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Missouri Tigers isn’t as glamorous as it was a year ago.
