"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
This schedule -- especially on the home end -- is horseshit.
Northwest Nazarene and Concordia are non-D1s.
Coppin State and Prairie View are 300-plus RPIs. The rest, minus Butler (56) are 250-plus RPIs. Xavier is the only guaranteed matchup away from home that's worth anything.
Diamondhead is made up of Hawaii (80), Illinois State (113), SDSU (41), San Francisco (227), Southern Miss (314), Stephen F. Austin (66) and Tulsa (58). As the highest-seeded team, one would expect we're entitled to get the opponent of our choice. I hope to God it ain't Southern Miss.
That Diamondhead field is barely NIT-quality, which is fitting, because Larry scheduled as if that's where he thinks we're headed.
And the committee ain't gonna care that we didn't have Barefield or Colette in the non-con.
Can't wait to see how he explains this. Seems pretty much like an admission that we won't be good this year.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Only 10 D1 games?? WTF?
Also, what happened to Larry saying there would be two in-state opponents every year? I fully expected Weber to be on the schedule.
At the end of the day the only thing I really care about is making sure our RPI/SOS is in good position come Selection Sunday, and this schedule worries me. Like SoCalPat said, too many 250+ RPI games on there. I don't understand it. It's not 2013-14 bad, but it's not great. I had hoped we learned our lesson in 13-14, when we had a good enough team to be on the bubble, but our horrid OOC schedule didn't give us a chance.
Yes, this system is so easy to game. Just don't schedule any 200+ teams, and the numbers tell the committee you are doing a good job. It's not like a 175 RPI it's actually a much tougher opponent, but it makes all the difference in the world to something as dumb as the RPI.
It is not handicapping ourselves if we are not going to be any good in the first place. I agree with LA Ute. This is tantamount to an admission that we are going to suck. I think it tells the players the same thing.
Your last sentence is brutal but probably true. Quite a message to send to the players. Quite a message to send to your fans as well. As a season ticket holder I've voted with my feet and walked away from next season. I'm not paying season ticket prices for ten good games (9 league home games plus Butler). Take away a couple played on Sunday that I miss for religious reasons and it's down to seven. I understand putting a few guarantees on the schedule around test weeks and perhaps the Christmas holiday but you've got to get the fans four to five pre-season home games worth attending. I'm not even saying marquee games but there ought to be four or five Butler's on this schedule. Obviously, a BYU home game would count and I'd count USU. Utah Valley might be there in a few years but not yet.
What an embarrassment.
I'm a little confused. Is this schedule really that different then most years? Last year we had SDSU and BYU at home. This year we have Butler and UVU. What's the big deal?
There is no excuse for this schedule.
So I said to David Eckstein, "You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
--fjm.com
Snafu,
Last year's home schedule was bad as well. The road schedule helped the team quite a bit. The Puerto Rico Tournament ended up being better than advertised by season's end, hence my not critiquing the Hawaii trip. The Duke win was huge for us and helped counter the Wichita State beatdown. I've liked the road schedule but I can't go to those games. Larry is not bringing enough good home games and as you say, it's not much different than most years. Although, only one good game - UVU is not a good game yet - is still 50% less than last year.
We had three home games last year vs. the RPI top 100 in the non-con. I will be shocked if we have more than one this year, in Butler.
There's also no comparison between Puerto Rico and Hawaii. We're the only P5 team playing in the tournament. Puerto Rico had five such teams. Hawaii features teams from the Big West and WCC. The worst league represented in Puerto Rico the MVC. Again, no comparison.
I just hope those teams end up being near the top of their conferences so we gain some respectability from the tournament. As you've indicated, it will be a long shot to gain anything from the tournament other than a suntan.
Why isn't this Chris Hill's fault?
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
As usual you raise a compelling issue. I think that Utah being ranked 10th in national athletic programs, even though 8 of the programs ranked above Utah enjoy budgets of over $100 million, was already the last straw. Now all these indispensable basketball players are leaving a program coached by LK, whom Hill hired. LK's coaching tenure has been a huge disappointment: unable to advance past the Sweet 16 in 2015 and stopped in the Round of 32 in 2015. It's now clear that Hill must be fired.
Last edited by LA Ute; 07-09-2016 at 02:15 PM.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I'm not into pointing the finger at any one person. I do wonder whether or not Chris and Larry have ever had a conversation about a scheduling philosophy. Do we want to be known for playing one of the toughest schedules every year, somewhere in the middle or one of the poorest. To be in the middle of that spectrum (where I think we are most years) is not good enough to attract and keep fans dollars these days. At least not mine.
Scheduling must be a difficult thing for basketball teams - it certainly is tougher than football. A weak game in football is much more tolerable given what the Pac-12 gauntlet is annually.
So I said to David Eckstein, "You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
--fjm.com
SoCal knows more about the preseason tournaments than I do. All I know is that the Diamondhead has become the least competitive for several years now.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I wanted to compare this year's non con to teh 2013-2014 non con which has been much lampooned. So here it is......
http://utahutes.com/schedule.aspx?pa...l&schedule=112
First of all.............Geoducks! I will never forget the mighty Geoducks! (pronounced "gooey-ducks" for those who forgot)
Second, did we fall asleep at the wheel with Idaho State?
Anyway, I think we can (and will) get to the tournament this year but we gotta go better than 9-9 in conference. This schedule doesn't leave much room for error as far as tourney entrance goes. But in a "rebuilding" year with some major depth concerns until fall semester is over, I get it. I don't love it, and I still think we could have and should have done better, but I get it.
What Bill Riley thinks:
The State of Utah Basketball
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell