Creighton Chided for Weak Schedule

[Angelo Roncalli]

And thanks to Greg McDermott’s stubborn refusal to play guarantee games, Creighton’s schedule may end up being weaker this season:

Creighton is promised only one game against a team that made the NCAA tournament last season. One. That’s at California, which got bounced in the play-in round in March.

There are home games against Akron, Tulsa, St. Joseph’s, Alabama-Birmingham, Boise State and two punching bags to be named later (opening-round games of a Las Vegas tournament).

There’s a road game at Nebraska (in addition to a BracketBusters game in February) and dates in Vegas against two of these three: Wisconsin, Arkansas and Arizona State.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/15/creightons-schedule-next-season-leaves-much-to-be-desired/

[MDABE80]

Hurts everytime. The Jays keep saying they want to play home and home with us. McDermott though...he's a funny bird. One season like this past one and he thinks the program is top 10 right away. He should have scheduled some high end teams for some national TV for his kid. In the big O, they are certain the son will be POY and the campaign has begun. Funny thing is 9 of their top 10 kids are back. They lose one shooting guard.

They have a window to show something..........and they are NOT thinking like we did all those years ago when the tough Zags showed up anywhere, anytime, etc and put up our dukes, played hard and went at it win, lose or draw.

This is the mentality the Jays need...not Mr Scowl prancing the sidelines like he's entitled to something one great season simply doesn't merit. Such an opportunity missed.

[CDC84]

What's notable about Creighton is that unlike some schools which get criticized for their non-league scheduling, the Blue Jays play in a beautiful 18,000 seat sports arena and are well supported by the locals in Omaha. So it's not like BCS programs would be forced to play in a 3,000 seat cracker box gym.

Baylor, Wake Forest, Illinois, Notre Dame and Michigan State just aren't coming to Omaha, yet they are coming or have come to Gonzaga. The Zags occupy a very special (and fortunate) place in the basketball world for a non-BCS program.

[omahazag]

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcspor...to-be-desired/

I've been critical of this for years, and even broached the subject with Creighton's AD a couple years ago only to be told that the non-conference schedule was pretty "darn good". As with other season ticket holders, not much to get excited about until conference play begins.

Gonzaga earned the right to demand home and home or neutral site games by going out and playing these games. Creighton needs to follow, even if it means a few blowout losses. Nothing to lose IMHO.

[gamagin]

I've climbed back on the fence re this

after watching SMC plow through its cupcake schedule and not suffer by stepping up for its big games & winning the conference and the dance ticket.

who's to say with any certainty which tack is best after that ? I know I like the tougher schedule, fwiw. As a fan, it's great. I think it has worked for us.

I don't know if it works as well if/when everyone jumps in.

Turns out it's not just the schedule, but the makeup & quality of the players and the teams, the philosophies of the coaches, that matter in the final analysis, season-to-season.

In other words, nothing has really changed and the path to the dance is pretty much the same for everyone, and certain only for those who win their way to the postseason playoffs from within their conferences.

[MDABE80]

Gamagin...the difference is why the article is written. They get no respect. We do.
We play the tough ones. They do not We travel to find the tough ones. They don't.....

And yes CDC, I've been in the QWEST center in Omaha. It seats lots but it doesn't feel like 18000 chairs. Very well done. $50 K per seat to enlarges MAC or the Arena. Do it right the first time. One thing we faced when the MAC was built was money. We ran out at 6000 seats.

[ZagsObserver]

I love the MAC, but they outgrew it before the first game was played

[gamagin]

thanks, abe

Gamagin...the difference is why the article is written. They get no respect. We do.
We play the tough ones. They do not We travel to find the tough ones. They don't.....

And yes CDC, I've been in the QWEST center in Omaha. It seats lots but it doesn't feel like 18000 chairs. Very well done. $50 K per seat to enlarges MAC or the Arena. Do it right the first time. One thing we faced when the MAC was built was money. We ran out at 6000 seats.

I didn't realize why the article was written.

I thought it was slapped together, like your note, on the fly, by some sportswriter wannabe who was trying to meet a deadline AND continue greeting folks as they entered WalMart.

Besides lining up to "play the tough ones," you also have to win enough of "the tough ones" to make the recipe work. Like GU has done to become at least a respected contender in the larger arenas and venues year after year. It takes time.

I'm not defending nor condemning SMC or Creighton, per my note, but it's just too simple to suggest these teams are ducking out while GU is marching ahead.

Anyone besides you and the sportswriter really think anyone is ducking ? I haven't seen SMC ducking us.

Are you sure it isn't something else ? Some with real curiosity might look at the admin., the commitment, the $$ it would take, etc etc., to even try to become another GU-like phenom.

Or, like SMC, you can figure out, within your limitations, how to beat GU instead, as Bennett and BYU, and others, seem to be doing, with some success.

Maybe you could toughen up your reading and comprehension skills and discern what I'm writing before making the tough choice to try and explain the obvious in the process of missing my point.

that might make a difference, too.

[MDABE80]

Gotcha~!

[Martin Centre Mad Man]

I love the MAC, but they outgrew it before the first game was played

In a metro area as big as Spokane, a perennial Top-25 team should sell out a15,000 seat venue for most home games.

There is something to be said for the amazing environment that a smaller arena provides.

[SteelCityZag]

It wasn't so very long ago on this board, or an earlier iteration, that we were wondering why folks would not come play us at home. The short answer was and is, "It's a process." A BCS team goes into SMC to play in a very tough environment, and gains almost nothing if they win, but gets a black eye for losing.

Now when it comes to going on the road or playing neutral games against tough competition, you can choose the SMC route. However, there are years they haven't made the NCAAs because of their weak schedule and lack of quality wins. There are also years, like this one, where they get bounced in the first round because perhaps they haven't played they toughest competition during their OOC to prepare themselves. They've proven they know how to win tough conference games, but the OOC is a different animal altogether. A much higher risk/reward factor.

I'm just glad that GU can get both quality wins in the OOC (including home games) and now plays a tougher WCC schedule to keep our game sharp for the NCAAs. We're actually pretty lucky in this regard.

[Angelo Roncalli]

In a metro area as big as Spokane, a perennial Top-25 team should sell out a15,000 seat venue for most home games.

I think it's a little more complicated. Price point. Seat licenses. Club contributions.

The hockey team doesn't sell out; neither does the arena football team. In a facility smaller than 15,000.

[75Zag]

I think the "sweet spot" for the GU arena would have been around 8500 but I am told that construction costs would have gone up too much and there were political issues with building a facility that might have overlapped with the Spokane Arena.

I get it that those in the anointed 6000 attending games at K2 do not wish to share the spiritual experience with the unwashed masses who could buy tickets at the Spokane Arena, but I have to wonder if that mindset might come back to bite GU in the long run.

[sittingon50]

?

The unwashed masses didn't come close to filling the Arena last year.

And now back to the original topic of this thread......

[TheGonzagaFactor]

Anyone besides you and the sportswriter really think anyone is ducking ? I haven't seen SMC ducking us.

They would if they could. We are talking about OOC games here, aren't we? For being such a smartass in your response you missed a pretty big point. Go ahead and grill me too, just wasting your time.