Bear Down Wildcats

" SMU and USC have scheduled a home and home series for the 2016 and 2017 seasons."

Chicat wrote:Neutral sites are the best we're going to be able to do when it comes to scheduling many top tier teams. Tucson is just too tough a place to play. Not many teams want to fly halfway across the country to go to Tucson (with a few connections if they're flying commercial) to get their ass handed to them on national television. But Vegas, LA, or even Phoenix allows for the coaches to get out and see national prospects and for alumni to get a chance to see that team live. And it's the same for us. I doubt we'd be interested in playing in South Bend or Bloomington, but Chicago or Indy? Absolutely...

I get that, I just don't get the why. This isn't college football, where one non-conference loss could likely mean saying bye bye to a national championship. Teams play 30 plus. It isn't going to kill you with the selection committee. If you lose, it was a tough loss and you tried. It's a resume builder not a destroyer. As we have seen, some metrics will even reward you just for showing up for a road game like that. And in the event you have a great night and win, or Arizona has a really off night and you win, look out. Last year's road win by Oregon was their defining win of the season and in my eyes, the turning point for them. I guarantee you, when the committee sat down, that game jumped out them when they looked at the totality of everything and gave them the seed they did. All this is completely aside from the fact that it is a great test in a hostile environment. If you can hang with Arizona in McKale, you can hang with anyone. It's great experience for the players and gives you a chance to see what you need to do to compete with a top team. And worst case scenario, you lose, well you get them at home the next year.

It's more about the recruiting. Big-time programs recruit Phoenix, L.A., Chicago, Houston, etc. They usually don't have any targets in Tucson.

rgdeuce wrote:

Chicat wrote:Neutral sites are the best we're going to be able to do when it comes to scheduling many top tier teams. Tucson is just too tough a place to play. Not many teams want to fly halfway across the country to go to Tucson (with a few connections if they're flying commercial) to get their ass handed to them on national television. But Vegas, LA, or even Phoenix allows for the coaches to get out and see national prospects and for alumni to get a chance to see that team live. And it's the same for us. I doubt we'd be interested in playing in South Bend or Bloomington, but Chicago or Indy? Absolutely...

I get that, I just don't get the why. This isn't college football, where one non-conference loss could likely mean saying bye bye to a national championship. Teams play 30 plus. It isn't going to kill you with the selection committee. If you lose, it was a tough loss and you tried. It's a resume builder not a destroyer. As we have seen, some metrics will even reward you just for showing up for a road game like that. And in the event you have a great night and win, or Arizona has a really off night and you win, look out. Last year's road win by Oregon was their defining win of the season and in my eyes, the turning point for them. I guarantee you, when the committee sat down, that game jumped out them when they looked at the totality of everything and gave them the seed they did. All this is completely aside from the fact that it is a great test in a hostile environment. If you can hang with Arizona in McKale, you can hang with anyone. It's great experience for the players and gives you a chance to see what you need to do to compete with a top team. And worst case scenario, you lose, well you get them at home the next year.

Your Oregon example gets at some of the issue. Many coaches look at their conference and say, "I'm going to have 5-6 top 100 RPI road games in conference. Why go all the way to Tucson to get one more?"

KaibabKat wrote:"UCLA will play Michigan in a home-and-home basketball series over the next two seasons."

Michigan is a perfect example of why scheduling is a crap shoot, they were good when we scheduled them, great when we played them the first time and then they way, way crapped the bed and sucked the second time. Who would have guessed a game with Michigan would hurt our RPI?

Chicat wrote:

KaibabKat wrote:"UCLA will play Michigan in a home-and-home basketball series over the next two seasons."

Nice winnable game for Michigan in a big recruiting hotbed in front of an apathetic, late-arriving, totally somnambulant crowd. Nice work by Beilein.

Seriously? UCLA has to be the favorite this upcoming season to win the Pac12.

UCLA
Oregon
Arizona

They are still coached by Alford so no!

enflamo picked Cal last year so it's pretty obvious he doesn't value coaching.

enfuego wrote:

Chicat wrote:

KaibabKat wrote:"UCLA will play Michigan in a home-and-home basketball series over the next two seasons."

Nice winnable game for Michigan in a big recruiting hotbed in front of an apathetic, late-arriving, totally somnambulant crowd. Nice work by Beilein.

Seriously? UCLA has to be the favorite this upcoming season to win the Pac12.

UCLA
Oregon
Arizona

UCLA? Why? You do remember they finished 10th last year, right? Lots of chemistry problems next year for UCLA. Bryce will get minutes that should be going to others, and Stevie will again struggle to figure things out. Their roster looks great, but I'm not sure Alford has shown that he can do much with a loaded roster. It would surprise most of us to see UCLA finish ahead of Arizona or Oregon. Watch out for USC next year, too.

Beachcat97 wrote:

enfuego wrote:

Chicat wrote:

KaibabKat wrote:"UCLA will play Michigan in a home-and-home basketball series over the next two seasons."

Nice winnable game for Michigan in a big recruiting hotbed in front of an apathetic, late-arriving, totally somnambulant crowd. Nice work by Beilein.

Seriously? UCLA has to be the favorite this upcoming season to win the Pac12.

UCLA
Oregon
Arizona

UCLA? Why? You do remember they finished 10th last year, right? Lots of chemistry problems next year for UCLA. Bryce will get minutes that should be going to others, and Stevie will again struggle to figure things out. Their roster looks great, but I'm not sure Alford has shown that he can do much with a loaded roster. It would surprise most of us to see UCLA finish ahead of Arizona or Oregon. Watch out for USC next year, too.

Ball is a great point guard, move Alford over to the 2g and talent across the board. Alford is a good,not great coach. Shouldn't be able to mess that one up next year.

enfuego wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

enfuego wrote:

Chicat wrote:

KaibabKat wrote:"UCLA will play Michigan in a home-and-home basketball series over the next two seasons."

Nice winnable game for Michigan in a big recruiting hotbed in front of an apathetic, late-arriving, totally somnambulant crowd. Nice work by Beilein.

Seriously? UCLA has to be the favorite this upcoming season to win the Pac12.

UCLA
Oregon
Arizona

UCLA? Why? You do remember they finished 10th last year, right? Lots of chemistry problems next year for UCLA. Bryce will get minutes that should be going to others, and Stevie will again struggle to figure things out. Their roster looks great, but I'm not sure Alford has shown that he can do much with a loaded roster. It would surprise most of us to see UCLA finish ahead of Arizona or Oregon. Watch out for USC next year, too.

Ball is a great point guard, move Alford over to the 2g and talent across the board. Alford is a good,not great coach. Shouldn't be able to mess that one up next year.

But Bryce has to show PG skills to go League, so Steve will give him every opportunity. Guaranteed.

enfuego wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

enfuego wrote:

Chicat wrote:

KaibabKat wrote:"UCLA will play Michigan in a home-and-home basketball series over the next two seasons."

Nice winnable game for Michigan in a big recruiting hotbed in front of an apathetic, late-arriving, totally somnambulant crowd. Nice work by Beilein.

Seriously? UCLA has to be the favorite this upcoming season to win the Pac12.

UCLA
Oregon
Arizona

UCLA? Why? You do remember they finished 10th last year, right? Lots of chemistry problems next year for UCLA. Bryce will get minutes that should be going to others, and Stevie will again struggle to figure things out. Their roster looks great, but I'm not sure Alford has shown that he can do much with a loaded roster. It would surprise most of us to see UCLA finish ahead of Arizona or Oregon. Watch out for USC next year, too.

Ball is a great point guard, move Alford over to the 2g and talent across the board. Alford is a good,not great coach. Shouldn't be able to mess that one up next year.

Can't tell if you're trollin or being sincere, fuego. Look at UCLA's 2015-16 team. They were similarly "loaded," maybe not quite as much as they will be next season, but they were a team who beat UK and Gonzaga before absolutely unraveling over the course of the season. To me, that means this coach failed. Improvement between Nov and Mar is arguably a primary measure of a coach's abilities. UCLA had perhaps the 2nd best backcourt in the Pac and finished in 10th place. So while the influx of talent will help, I'm not sure it boosts them as far as you're envisioning, not with a below-average coach and so much being immediately expected of Ball. I don't think they'll finish 10th, but finishing in the top 3 would surprise me.

Beachcat97 wrote:
Can't tell if you're trollin or being sincere, fuego.

Good one BC97!

UAEebs86 wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:
Can't tell if you're trollin or being sincere, fuego.

Good one BC97!

Well, he sort of vacillates between straight-trollin posts and seemingly earnest posts, and yes, I'm giving him some benefit of the doubt.

I'm always game for discussion of next season.

Karnowski returning to Gonzaga. So there's a schedule upgrade.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... egon-ducks" target="_blank

Watch out for Oregon. I'd say AZ and ORE are looking like the top Pac teams to start the season.

gumby wrote:Karnowski returning to Gonzaga. So there's a schedule upgrade.

Looking at it they'll actually have a pretty damn good team. Return majority of their guards from last year, add a bunch of talented foreigners, also add PF transfer Jonathan Williams & Nigel Williams-Goss.

Certainly the possibility of two Pac teams in the final four next year

ChooChooCat wrote:

gumby wrote:Karnowski returning to Gonzaga. So there's a schedule upgrade.

Looking at it they'll actually have a pretty damn good team. Return majority of their guards from last year, add a bunch of talented foreigners, also add PF transfer Jonathan Williams & Nigel Williams-Goss.

And now Jordan Mathews. We're gonna have a battle on our hands in L.A.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/j ... o-gonzaga/" target="_blank

better than last year...

Jefe wrote:better than last year...

...better than #303 out of 351.

what an absolutely atrocious non-conf home schedule -- Coach Miller and Greg Byrne should be effin ashamed of themselves.

considering what the tickets cost a season ticket holder (including the seat fee) and taking into account how passionate the locals are and how well the games are attended, not to mention the generosity of so many the boosters who go above and beyond to support the program outside the cost of attending the games at McKale, this has to change -- the best OOC home game cant be fucking New Mexico.

i usually come for one OOC home game a year and travel to one away location ive never been to, but not this year. maybe i will come when the LA schools visit but thats it.

embarrassing

does kinda suck that all our good games aren't at home. we have a solid neutral/away schedule with michigan state, butler/vandy, gonzaga and texas a&m. would be nice if 1 or 2 of those were at home.

only 1 true road game too in non conf

CATS vs Gonzaga dec 3, staples

Tickets are a linked with a game of USC vs BYU.

Anyone know who will go first?

I assume the CATS game is the premier game and would go last, but I also read somewhere that tip off of the CATS was 2:30. Not sure if that was the game time or the time slotted for the set of games to start.

Thinking of flying in and flying out same day and don't want to waste my time on scrub teams.

97cats wrote:what an absolutely atrocious non-conf home schedule -- Coach Miller and Greg Byrne should be effin ashamed of themselves.

considering what the tickets cost a season ticket holder (including the seat fee) and taking into account how passionate the locals are and how well the games are attended, not to mention the generosity of so many the boosters who go above and beyond to support the program outside the cost of attending the games at McKale, this has to change -- the best OOC home game cant be fucking New Mexico.

i usually come for one OOC home game a year and travel to one away location ive never been to, but not this year. maybe i will come when the LA schools visit but thats it.

embarrassing

I was contemplating moving from the upper level down to priority seating. Got my wife hooked and she gave the green light, and my oldest son is a diehard fan in the making. Ultimately, I decided to keep the cheaper seats and the schedule was what did it. I personally find the $900 or so I spend on two season tickets to be a steal, but I don't think it is worth dumping thousands more into lower seats just to watch us beat the pants off these weak teams, maybe get one or two semi-close nonconference games in a season, and then a handful of competitive games in the conference season, especially since our conference doesn't have any other perennial giants in it.

I'm also a little peeved at all of the late starts this year. I think half the home games start at 8:00 or later, and two are at 9:00. My oldest is a year older, but he struggled with the late games last year. I can forget about bringing my 1-year-old for anything 8 or later. 9:00 games, forget about it for both kids, and by the time I get home and unwind, it is nearly midnight with the office waiting on me on Friday. It gives me a chance to enjoy the game with a buddy but I'd much rather be there with my kids. I am grateful there are more morning/afternoon games this year though. But yea, Arizona fans give a lot to the program and pay a lot of money for their seats, despite it being a fairweather city for everything else. Give us better home games. A lot of us have kids too, and even an 8:00 start is bad if you are watching it on TV at home with your kids. I'll make exceptions for my kids, but I cant recall how many endings of world series and U of A bball games I missed as a kid because my mom made me go to bed by 9 and my dad couldn't always talk her out of it.

Preach 97 and deuce!

Serially what's up with the late starts. So the televised version can be bumped for ucla vs ntosu and I get game 10 minutes in? (Like grambling game where I got televised action at the beginning of the 2nd in favor of uclas blow out of Unlv.)

They way this conference treats our Bb program is trash. Damn geography or we'd be in a better conference.

CalStateTempe wrote:CATS vs Gonzaga dec 3, staples

Tickets are a linked with a game of USC vs BYU.

Anyone know who will go first?

I assume the CATS game is the premier game and would go last, but I also read somewhere that tip off of the CATS was 2:30. Not sure if that was the game time or the time slotted for the set of games to start.

Thinking of flying in and flying out same day and don't want to waste my time on scrub teams.

I am headed there for the game. Hope we get the time info soon.

We've got floor seats for the Zaga game.

Nice guys, where do I buy tickets? I'm can get a 1030p flight out of lax so i figure I'll block the time for both games and go do something fun with the time during the non UofA game.

Arrive into Burbank noonish, head to staples, leave out of lax, in bed by midnght.

Love it bear down.

Merkin wrote:

Curious why no big names for home games? Don't get it? Yeah, kind of disappointing.

i guess the pac has totally backed off of the gcu scheduling ban. is this the first major sports event they've got on the calendar with the conf?

It will be fun to see these guys on Nov 18

We don't have a single team on the home schedule with only one word in the name. Directional schools for the win(s)!

new mexico is a directional school?

ASUHATER! wrote:new mexico is a directional school?

I didn't say only directional schools, just no one name teams.

And yes, I also think we're sissies for ducking Mexico and playing New Mexico instead. Finally, that home slate blows.

looking around at other schedules, its rare to find top tier home games. UCLA has Michigan, Oregon has Boise, Kentucky has UCLA, Kansas has Stanford....lots of meh in everyone's games. UNLV does have Duke but Im sure that is as rare as threesome with 10s

Weak schedule means we go the longest without losing

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2665 ... ball-teams" target="_blank

Predicting the 1st Loss of the 2016-17 Season for Top College Basketball Teams

19. (tie) Michigan State Spartans

First Loss: Nov. 11 vs. Arizona (in Hawaii)

Like Indiana, Michigan State figures to be more dangerous later in the year.

Head coach Tom Izzo has a sensational incoming recruiting class, but he desperately needed one after losing each of last year's top three scorers and five of the top six. Returning players such as Gavin Schilling, Matt McQuaid and Alvin Ellis III should make significant impacts, but Eron Harris is the only veteran Spartan with a proven ability to lead a team in scoring.

The freshman quartet of Miles Bridges, Joshua Langford, Nick Ward and Cassius Winston is expected to do big things, but let's not pretend these are the can't-miss superstars that Duke and Kentucky have. Bridges is the only Spartan that DraftExpress is projecting to be taken in 2017, and he's just barely a first-rounder. It may take some time for the newcomers to really hit their stride.

Granted, Arizona is also banking heavily on freshmen. 247Sports has Michigan State as the third-best class this year, but Arizona is No. 6—and that doesn't even include redshirt freshman Ray Smith, who was a 5-star guy in last year's class.

However, the Wildcats have more impact returning players in the form of Allonzo Trier, Kadeem Allen and Dusan Ristic. And with incoming freshman Lauri Markkanen taking the world by storm this summer, Arizona should be the team more prepared to make an immediate impact.

But even if we're wrong about the outcome on opening night, don't go betting on the Spartans making it to December with an undefeated record.

They face Kentucky in the Champions Classic four days after this game, will likely need to go through both Baylor and Louisville 10 days later in the Battle 4 Atlantis and have a road game against Duke four days after getting back from the Bahamas. It's a safe assumption that Michigan State will enter Selection Sunday with one of the best strength of schedules in the country.

1. Arizona Wildcats

First Loss: Jan. 21 at UCLA

What's comical about Arizona being No. 1 on this list is the Wildcats may well lose on the first night of the season. Their neutral-court opener against Michigan State could go either way, even though we've talked ourselves into Arizona as the favorite due to MSU's lack of experience.

It's not as if the next two months are without potential stumbling blocks, either. Arizona will likely face Butler in the Las Vegas Invitational and has a neutral-court game against Gonzaga one week later.

The Wildcats also play what might as well be a road game against Texas A&M in Houston, and that game is sandwiched between two sneaky-tough home games against Grand Canyon and New Mexico. Opening Pac-12 play with road games against California and Stanford is no joke, either.

There are quite a few games on the docket for which Arizona's chances of winning are only marginally better than a coin-flip situation.

But it's not until this rivalry game against the Bruins that a loss seems imminent.

That isn't to say UCLA is going to be better than Arizona this year. It's a close call, but we think the Wildcats are more likely to win the Pac-12 than the Bruins. But this is just one of those games that always causes problems for Arizona.

Dating back to March 2010, Arizona has three Pac-12 titles to UCLA's one. However, in games played either at UCLA or on a neutral court, the Bruins are 7-3 with each of the three losses coming by a single-digit margin, including last year's three-point dagger from Bryce Alford with two seconds remaining.

And UCLA should be better this year than it has been since going to three consecutive Final Fours from 2006-08. Even if the Wildcats are 19-0 heading into this game, the Bruins will likely be the favorites