2017-2018 Arizona Basketball

[PHXCATS]

I wonder what gif library machina uses now? He is learning and growing. I'm surprised he latched on to the gifs and memes so quickly to be honest.

I have never lived on the east coast but it is truly ridiculous that again THE NUMBER 1 PRESEASON TEAM is not shown at all before 7 or 8 pm for any non conf games. Insane.

edit: silly me, i forgot our matchup with UMBC. that is at 6 pm eastern.

I count few actually.

All Atlantis will be if U of A wins and New Mexico, Long Beach State and UMBC.

[Bear Down Vegas]

I am sure the booing he received helped U of A in scheduling......Last year no 3 day road trips, this year there are two

Wait a minute. Larry Scott sucks & he deserves the booing he gets first of all, I want to be on the record with that.

But he didn't schedule Arizona to play at USC or UCLA this year either. Most likely the two other best teams in the conference. You can't just pick and choose things to fit your (wrong) narrative. Well, you can of course.

[scumdevils86]

It is a travesty that we do not play the LA schools twice per year.

[Bear Down Vegas]

We should definitely play them. However, if the argument is that UofA fans booing LS caused us to have a harder schedule, well - that's just not so.

[scumdevils86]

We should definitely play them. However, if the argument is that UofA fans booing LS caused us to have a harder schedule, well - that's just not so.

correct. but this is machina we're dealing with here.

[PHXCATS]

I am sure the booing he received helped U of A in scheduling......Last year no 3 day road trips, this year there are two

Wait a minute. Larry Scott sucks & he deserves the booing he gets first of all, I want to be on the record with that.

But he didn't schedule Arizona to play at USC or UCLA this year either. Most likely the two other best teams in the conference. You can't just pick and choose things to fit your (wrong) narrative. Well, you can of course.

There has been a schedule of what schools play what schools once and twice before the PAC-10 became the PAC-12. This has been planned for 7 plus years.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I am sure the booing he received helped U of A in scheduling......Last year no 3 day road trips, this year there are two

Wait a minute. Larry Scott sucks & he deserves the booing he gets first of all, I want to be on the record with that.

But he didn't schedule Arizona to play at USC or UCLA this year either. Most likely the two other best teams in the conference. You can't just pick and choose things to fit your (wrong) narrative. Well, you can of course.

There has been a schedule of what schools play what schools once and twice before the PAC-10 became the PAC-12. This has been planned for 7 plus years.

We booed him in 2014-15 too. Why was this the year where he decided to care?

[PHXCATS]

I am sure the booing he received helped U of A in scheduling......Last year no 3 day road trips, this year there are two

Wait a minute. Larry Scott sucks & he deserves the booing he gets first of all, I want to be on the record with that.

But he didn't schedule Arizona to play at USC or UCLA this year either. Most likely the two other best teams in the conference. You can't just pick and choose things to fit your (wrong) narrative. Well, you can of course.

There has been a schedule of what schools play what schools once and twice before the PAC-10 became the PAC-12. This has been planned for 7 plus years.

We booed him in 2014-15 too. Why was this the year where he decided to care?

Miller stopped it in 15, did not in 17.

[PHXCATS]

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/was ... hedule.pdf" target="_blank

November 11, 2010

[scumdevils86]

No one really knows what point Machina is trying to make with all of his extensive research.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I am sure the booing he received helped U of A in scheduling......Last year no 3 day road trips, this year there are two

Wait a minute. Larry Scott sucks & he deserves the booing he gets first of all, I want to be on the record with that.

But he didn't schedule Arizona to play at USC or UCLA this year either. Most likely the two other best teams in the conference. You can't just pick and choose things to fit your (wrong) narrative. Well, you can of course.

There has been a schedule of what schools play what schools once and twice before the PAC-10 became the PAC-12. This has been planned for 7 plus years.

We booed him in 2014-15 too. Why was this the year where he decided to care?

Miller stopped it in 15, did not in 17.

So we're being sort of punished for Miller not stopping something that previously occurred without incident?

But not punished by making us go to LA? Because that was already set, and personal vendettas have to be set aside for preplanned matchups?

[UAEebs86]

We booed him in 2014-15 too. Why was this the year where he decided to care?

Miller stopped it in 15, did not in 17.

So we're being sort of punished for Miller not stopping something that previously occurred without incident?

But not punished by making us go to LA? Because that was already set, and personal vendettas have to be set aside for preplanned matchups?

We're on double secret probation.

[PHXCATS]

How about this. Scott is following the plan as laid out in 2010. If ucla and UA sucked this year no one would care.

Last year Scott did us a solid with the road trips and did not this year. Just because he can't favor us two years in a row or the booing or whatever else, who knows why.

[Puerco]

It's an interesting premise that we're being punished schedule wise for bad fan or bad Sean. Particularly since the PAC just handed us the conference championship on a silver platter. Sucks for our RPI though.

[gumby]

I am sure the booing he received helped U of A in scheduling......Last year no 3 day road trips, this year there are two

I'm sure there is no connection.

[Jefe]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... he-league/" target="_blank

The Pac-12 schedule-maker did Arizona a favor at the expense of the league

by Gary Parrish Sep 19, 2017

Let me be the first to congratulate Arizona's Sean Miller on his fifth Pac-12 regular season title. And credit the Pac-12 schedule-maker with an assist.
"How does Arizona get to skip the L.A. road trip?" one coach asked me Tuesday afternoon right after the Pac-12 released every school's schedule for this season, at which point I put my phone down and tried to make sense of it.
But I cannot make sense of it.
And before Arizona fans start clapping back like an anonymous Kevin Durant Twitter account, let me make one thing clear: The Wildcats are, on paper, the Pac-12's best team -- and perhaps the nation's best, too. So that fifth Pac-12 title was probably coming regardless of the kind of 18-game league schedule Arizona was handed Tuesday. I, frankly, would've picked Arizona to win the league regardless of how the league schedules looked. But that doesn't change the fact that the Wildcats have a massive advantage in that they only have to play USC and UCLA once each. And both games will be at McKale Center!
How fortunate.
Arizona is No. 2 in the CBS Sports Preseason Top 25 (and one). USC is No. 9. UCLA is No. 20. So the Los Angeles-based Trojans and Bruins are perceived to be Arizona's strongest challengers in the Pac-12. And yet Arizona won't have to visit Los Angeles this season. Again, the Wildcats only play USC and UCLA once each. Again, both games are at home. Which means Andy Enfield and Steve Alford are probably shaking their heads and wondering why their goal of unseating Arizona atop the Pac-12 standings has senselessly been made more difficult than it otherwise would be.
And it really is senseless.
Oh, I'm sure the Pac-12 has its reasons. And I'm sure somebody will try to explain those reasons in time by citing a system that's been in place for years. But those people will be missing the point entirely. Because the point I'm making here is that there's never a good reason for a league to not have its best teams and biggest brands playing each other as often as possible on a year-to-year basis. In fact, every unbalanced league's scheduling policy should be as follows: Put the perceived best teams against each other as often as possible because it theoretically creates the maximum amount of interesting games. And, in the case of the Pac-12, Arizona and UCLA should be required to play each other twice every regular season, no matter what, because they're traditional powers and rivals. The ACC makes Duke and North Carolina play each other twice every regular season, no matter what, for that exact reason -- i.e., because they're traditional powers and rivals. So why would the Pac-12 be so foolish as to not take a similar approach with Arizona and UCLA?
The Pac-12 already has too many obstacles that prevent fans from watching it -- most notably the reality that games sometimes end after midnight on the East Coast, but also because the Pac-12 Network isn't available to DirecTV subscribers. So why not maximize the compelling matchups to maximize interest? The Pac-12, with a better approach, could've had a total of six regular-season games between preseason top-20 teams. As it is, the Pac-12 will only have four regular-season games between preseason top-20 teams.
And that's a mistake.
Yes, it's also an advantage for Arizona.
But, more than anything, it's just a mistake.

[CalStateTempe]

What Gary is missing is most Arizona fans want to see the matchups in so cal as well.

We aren't ducking them, where missing out on the opportunity to curb them on their own turf because Larry scott and his minions who run the PAC 12 are imbicles.

[PHXCATS]

It's an interesting premise that we're being punished schedule wise for bad fan or bad Sean. Particularly since the PAC just handed us the conference championship on a silver platter. Sucks for our RPI though.

They handed it to us knowing UCLA and USC would be good this year 7 years ago?

[Alieberman]

It really is a pleasure to have Machina back

[gumby]

Dauster hits this, too.

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/ ... ar-season/" target="_blank

[NYCat]

When we only got one ucla game @ ucla a couple years back it was bullshit.

When we only played Oregon once at Oregon, it was bullshit

[YoDeFoe]

We should flip to the AAC model of scheduling based on the top teams vs the top teams twice, and the bottom teams vs the bottom teams twice. Improve the conf SOS / RPI for those heading to the tournament and give the big names the best publicity.

[PHXCATS]

We should flip to the AAC model of scheduling based on the top teams vs the top teams twice, and the bottom teams vs the bottom teams twice. Improve the conf SOS / RPI for those heading to the tournament and give the big names the best publicity.

I like that a lot as long as you play asu twice for sure

[Chicat]

We should flip to the AAC model of scheduling based on the top teams vs the top teams twice, and the bottom teams vs the bottom teams twice. Improve the conf SOS / RPI for those heading to the tournament and give the big names the best publicity.

I like that a lot as long as you play asu twice for sure

I like that too. I would just hope Arizona also always plays UCLA twice. The conference needs the name brand quality even if what the bRuins put on the court is inferior.

[YoDeFoe]

We should flip to the AAC model of scheduling based on the top teams vs the top teams twice, and the bottom teams vs the bottom teams twice. Improve the conf SOS / RPI for those heading to the tournament and give the big names the best publicity.

I like that a lot as long as you play asu twice for sure

I like that too. I would just hope Arizona also always plays UCLA twice. The conference needs the name brand quality even if what the bRuins put on the court is inferior.

That'd make sense to me then. One local rival, one protected non-local (as requested / deemed appropriate). The rest is up to who is playing well and deserves the good competition.

[RichardCranium]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

[Chicat]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

It means 12 more losses for the conference per season. Which could keep bubble teams out of the tourney.

[prh]

I think that would be 24 extra losses, which would be a bloodbath for the bubble teams

[Puerco]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

It means 12 more losses for the conference per season. Which could keep bubble teams out of the tourney.

I'm okay with that.

[Puerco]

It's an interesting premise that we're being punished schedule wise for bad fan or bad Sean. Particularly since the PAC just handed us the conference championship on a silver platter. Sucks for our RPI though.

They handed it to us knowing UCLA and USC would be good this year 7 years ago?

Can't we ask the same question of your premise that we're being punished for booing Larry Scott?

[Puerco]

We should flip to the AAC model of scheduling based on the top teams vs the top teams twice, and the bottom teams vs the bottom teams twice. Improve the conf SOS / RPI for those heading to the tournament and give the big names the best publicity.

I like that a lot as long as you play asu twice for sure

Why? ASU sucks at hoops. No benefit to us playing them other than getting another McKale North game every year.

[Chicat]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

It means 12 more losses for the conference per season. Which could keep bubble teams out of the tourney.

I'm okay with that.

I'm not.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

Or two fewer chances for ooc wins against P5 teams that have a massive benefit on the conference strength.

If the Pac schedule expanded, it would likely mean having teams play the week of Christmas and the prior week. The week of Christmas, well, I've ranted enough about how NCAA basketball is cloaked pro sports, and compelling teams not to give players a Christmas break for family would be a nice way of proving it. The week prior is an attractive week for big time OOC opponents. The semester is over and travel is easier. We've had our biggest non-tournament OOC games in mid December.

In addition to the conference L's hit that other people covered, my end would be that people only really care when you miss trips like LA. Is anyone seriously mad when we don't need to go to Pullman?

[Alieberman]

Kick out WSU and OSU.

I don't think anyone would even notice.
Problem solved

[YoDeFoe]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

Or two fewer chances for ooc wins against P5 teams that have a massive benefit on the conference strength.

If the Pac schedule expanded, it would likely mean having teams play the week of Christmas and the prior week. The week of Christmas, well, I've ranted enough about how NCAA basketball is cloaked pro sports, and compelling teams not to give players a Christmas break for family would be a nice way of proving it. The week prior is an attractive week for big time OOC opponents. The semester is over and travel is easier. We've had our biggest non-tournament OOC games in mid December.

In addition to the conference L's hit that other people covered, my end would be that people only really care when you miss trips like LA. Is anyone seriously mad when we don't need to go to Pullman?

Agreed.

[gumby]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

This. People would rather kick out OSU and WSU and keep teams like Baltimore County and Bakersfield on the sked? Sorry, but that's weird.

I say you start with a round robin, then build the rest of the sked. If you can't squeeze in the cupcakes ... oh well. Have to start in December? Oh well. Want the cupcakes and don't want to start in December? Then dump the Pac-12 tournament, where we play some teams a THIRD time.

The LAST thing I would do is kick out teams to solve OUR basketball problem (there are other sports -- OSU is elite in baseball. WSU is better than us in football). Myopic and arrogant.

Yeah, we COULD load up on power 5 schools, but we haven't. Still could if we did round robin. It's not like we're ever going to schedule more than a handful of those games anyway.

[gumby]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

If the Pac schedule expanded, it would likely mean having teams play the week of Christmas and the prior week. The week of Christmas, well, I've ranted enough about how NCAA basketball is cloaked pro sports, and compelling teams not to give players a Christmas break for family would be a nice way of proving it. The week prior is an attractive week for big time OOC opponents. The semester is over and travel is easier. We've had our biggest non-tournament OOC games in mid December.

It's the same number of games. Can be arranged so it's the same holiday burden it is now.

In this new reality, new times would emerge for attractive OOC games. If you really want them, you can make them happen. Are you sure we want them? Just haven't been to find teams to play during that sweet-spot week? Seems like we've narrowed the times that are available for those games on our own.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

If the Pac schedule expanded, it would likely mean having teams play the week of Christmas and the prior week. The week of Christmas, well, I've ranted enough about how NCAA basketball is cloaked pro sports, and compelling teams not to give players a Christmas break for family would be a nice way of proving it. The week prior is an attractive week for big time OOC opponents. The semester is over and travel is easier. We've had our biggest non-tournament OOC games in mid December.

It's the same number of games. Can be arranged so it's the same holiday burden it is now.

In this new reality, new times would emerge for attractive OOC games. If you really want them, you can make them happen. Are you sure we want them? Just haven't been to find teams to play during that sweet-spot week? Seems like we've narrowed the times that are available for those games on our own.

I'm not sure I understand the statement that it's the same number of games. The Pac schedule would increase by 4. We'd either need two extra weeks or to go to a 3 games a week schedule to compensate.

Right now, all P5 conferences start conference play after Christmas. Everyone but the Big 10 starts between Christmas and New Year's. The Big Ten starts after New Year's and compensates by having a pair of games in early December.

We complain about a weak OOC schedule, but we would walk into a conference schedule that shaves two weeks off our OOC slate that other P5 teams don't have tied up.

I also don't get it because this year our best OOC road game and UConn at home are in the two weeks we'd be tying up. The year before, we had Texas A&M and UNM in that period. Year prior, UNLV and LBSU. UNLV, the tough UTEP roadie and Michigan the year before that. We've consistently used those weeks to get decent games.

Bottom line is that I don't see the point behind the big push to get more Pac teams. If I had to choose, I would push to avoid the sucky teams, not a guaranteed home and home with everyone.

[gumby]

Add four, subtract four. Same number of games.

Or add two, subtract two -- and always play UCLA-USC.

Don't skip four AND keep OOC cupcakes. What's the upside of that, other than those games push conference start into the new year?

I don't get the big deal with starting conference sooner, other than "we've always done it that way." Right, and we always did round-robin until we didn't. We always went without a conference tourney, until we didn't.

We complain about weak OOC because it is. Could be stronger already. Isn't. So let's play UCLA and USC, at least, instead. Odds are, those will be better games (for fans and metrics).

[Spaceman Spiff]

Add four, subtract four. Same number of games.

Or add two, subtract two -- and always play UCLA-USC.

Don't skip four AND keep OOC cupcakes. What's the upside of that, other than those games push conference start into the new year?

I don't get the big deal with starting conference sooner, other than "we've always done it that way." Right, and we always did round-robin until we didn't. We always went without a conference tourney, until we didn't.

We complain about weak OOC because it is. Could be stronger already. Isn't. So let's play UCLA and USC, at least, instead. Odds are, those will be better games (for fans and metrics).

We don't have absolute control over OOC. Getting neutral site games is not a given. Same with home and homes. A lot of big time teams don't want to make the trek to Tucson.

Cupcakes are the ones you have flexibility with. For a low major, a game at Arizona is a money maker and a chance to get publicity. For a team roughly equal to us, they don't have to jump at a chance. If we constrict the availablity for OOC scheduling, the more likely solution is sliding around the cupcakes to fit.

Also, I think it matters that other P5 conferences don't start until later. The more our availability aligns with other P5 schools, the more mutual dates there are. Legit teams for a home and home are harder to come by nowadays. Why restrict anything?

I do think that this is largely driven by not having a LA trip this year. If we were missing the dumpster fire Washingtons and the meh Utah/Colorado trip, no one would really care.

[gumby]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

If the Pac schedule expanded, it would likely mean having teams play the week of Christmas and the prior week. The week of Christmas, well, I've ranted enough about how NCAA basketball is cloaked pro sports, and compelling teams not to give players a Christmas break for family would be a nice way of proving it. The week prior is an attractive week for big time OOC opponents. The semester is over and travel is easier. We've had our biggest non-tournament OOC games in mid December.

It's the same number of games. Can be arranged so it's the same holiday burden it is now.

In this new reality, new times would emerge for attractive OOC games. If you really want them, you can make them happen. Are you sure we want them? Just haven't been to find teams to play during that sweet-spot week? Seems like we've narrowed the times that are available for those games on our own.

I'm not sure I understand the statement that it's the same number of games. The Pac schedule would increase by 4. We'd either need two extra weeks or to go to a 3 games a week schedule to compensate.

Right now, all P5 conferences start conference play after Christmas. Everyone but the Big 10 starts between Christmas and New Year's. The Big Ten starts after New Year's and compensates by having a pair of games in early December.

We complain about a weak OOC schedule, but we would walk into a conference schedule that shaves two weeks off our OOC slate that other P5 teams don't have tied up.

I also don't get it because this year our best OOC road game and UConn at home are in the two weeks we'd be tying up. The year before, we had Texas A&M and UNM in that period. Year prior, UNLV and LBSU. UNLV, the tough UTEP roadie and Michigan the year before that. We've consistently used those weeks to get decent games.

Bottom line is that I don't see the point behind the big push to get more Pac teams. If I had to choose, I would push to avoid the sucky teams, not a guaranteed home and home with everyone.

As to the bolded. I don't want to do it this year or retroactively. Once there's a new reality, everyone adjusts. College hoops has changed a lot. It can change some more. There are really good games each year in November. We used to do it ourselves.

To pick some

1996
UNC -- Nov. 22
UNM -- Nov. 30

1998
Tenn -- Nov. 3
Texas -- Nov. 25
BYU -- Nov. 28

2001
Maryland -- Nov. 8
Florida -- Nov. 9
Nov. 17 -- Texas
Dec. 1 -- Kansas'

It can be done. Other schools do it. Last year, Indiana-Kansas, Nov. 11

Check out all these games that occurred on Nov. 15

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men ... p-marathon" target="_blank

Arizona should be doing this, but if we don't, let's drop UMBC and pick up UCLA.

[gumby]

Add four, subtract four. Same number of games.

Or add two, subtract two -- and always play UCLA-USC.

Don't skip four AND keep OOC cupcakes. What's the upside of that, other than those games push conference start into the new year?

I don't get the big deal with starting conference sooner, other than "we've always done it that way." Right, and we always did round-robin until we didn't. We always went without a conference tourney, until we didn't.

We complain about weak OOC because it is. Could be stronger already. Isn't. So let's play UCLA and USC, at least, instead. Odds are, those will be better games (for fans and metrics).

We don't have absolute control over OOC. Getting neutral site games is not a given. Same with home and homes. A lot of big time teams don't want to make the trek to Tucson.

Cupcakes are the ones you have flexibility with. For a low major, a game at Arizona is a money maker and a chance to get publicity. For a team roughly equal to us, they don't have to jump at a chance. If we constrict the availablity for OOC scheduling, the more likely solution is sliding around the cupcakes to fit.

Also, I think it matters that other P5 conferences don't start until later. The more our availability aligns with other P5 schools, the more mutual dates there are. Legit teams for a home and home are harder to come by nowadays. Why restrict anything?

I do think that this is largely driven by not having a LA trip this year. If we were missing the dumpster fire Washingtons and the meh Utah/Colorado trip, no one would really care.

With this attitude, we couldn't. That's for sure. It's always something.

[YoDeFoe]

I don't get Gumby's argument.

We want to play the best teams in our conference more often, right? Like this year we don't give a hoot about playing WSU/UW and Utah/CU twice. Right?

So a couple of ways to fix that, from least to most disruptive:

1. a second handcuff series (our local w/ ASU plus the LA schools) - the ACC does this,
2. a schedule based on perceived season performance that pits the best teams against each other twice a season - the AAC does this, or
3. a full round robbin and the removal of four OOC games - no one does this.

Given our goal, no clue why IT MUST BE NUMBER THREE PEOPLE ADAPT AND LIVE COME WITH ME is anywhere near reasonable. Gumby taking a hatchet to scheduling when the goal is "get the best matchups most often."

Anyways... official practice starts one week from tomorrow.

[Spaceman Spiff]

To respond to Gumby's post without a long quote:

Opening week of the CBB season always has a lot of kickoff games. Indiana/Kansas was the second half of the Hawaii doubleheader after we beat MSU.

Then there's a lull. Then there's Feast Week for Thanksgiving and then another lull. Then semesters end and you have freedom.

Now, it's not always that hard and fast, but OOC, we actually have leeway to try to get good teams to help our RPI. How does it help to drop 4 OOC games in favor of 4 Pac games, where we're locked into a potentially awful team with no hope of changing? Sometimes even wins vs the Pac hurt our RPI.

I do think it makes sense to have schedules that match other P5 leagues. It means our open OOC dates match the open OOC dates of other P5 schools, that gives us the best shot at a good OOC schedule. If we have 2 weeks where other P5's are scheduling OOC games and we're in Corvallis, it just reduces our chance of good OOC games.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I don't get Gumby's argument.

We want to play the best teams in our conference more often, right? Like this year we don't give a hoot about playing WSU/UW and Utah/CU twice. Right?

So a couple of ways to fix that, from least to most disruptive:

1. a second handcuff series (our local w/ ASU plus the LA schools) - the ACC does this,
2. a schedule based on perceived season performance that pits the best teams against each other twice a season - the AAC does this, or
3. a full round robbin and the removal of four OOC games - no one does this.

Given our goal, no clue why IT MUST BE NUMBER THREE PEOPLE ADAPT AND LIVE COME WITH ME is anywhere near reasonable. Gumby taking a hatchet to scheduling when the goal is "get the best matchups most often."

Anyways... official practice starts one week from tomorrow.

I'd like to see a guaranteed home and home with all division members and then rotating non-divisional opponents for the unbalanced aspect. That keeps the every year guarantee for the schools closest to you...i.e., the natural rivals.

[zonagrad]

Add four, subtract four. Same number of games.

Or add two, subtract two -- and always play UCLA-USC.

Don't skip four AND keep OOC cupcakes. What's the upside of that, other than those games push conference start into the new year?

I don't get the big deal with starting conference sooner, other than "we've always done it that way." Right, and we always did round-robin until we didn't. We always went without a conference tourney, until we didn't.

We complain about weak OOC because it is. Could be stronger already. Isn't. So let's play UCLA and USC, at least, instead. Odds are, those will be better games (for fans and metrics).

We don't have absolute control over OOC. Getting neutral site games is not a given. Same with home and homes. A lot of big time teams don't want to make the trek to Tucson.

Cupcakes are the ones you have flexibility with. For a low major, a game at Arizona is a money maker and a chance to get publicity. For a team roughly equal to us, they don't have to jump at a chance. If we constrict the availablity for OOC scheduling, the more likely solution is sliding around the cupcakes to fit.

Also, I think it matters that other P5 conferences don't start until later. The more our availability aligns with other P5 schools, the more mutual dates there are. Legit teams for a home and home are harder to come by nowadays. Why restrict anything?

I do think that this is largely driven by not having a LA trip this year. If we were missing the dumpster fire Washingtons and the meh Utah/Colorado trip, no one would really care.

Agree with much of this. Unlike the Lute years, the Pac 12 schedule constantly changes. Hence the reason to adjust your OOC schedule accordingly.

Also, I don't care for how the media portrays Arizona "getting a break" with the conference scheduling. We certainly didn't get a break last year when Oregon didn't have to travel to McKale. So, we technically tied for the conference regular season title but Oregon had the head to head advantage thanks to their win at home against us. In years prior, we didn't get UCLA & USC at home but still made the trek to L.A.

And really, what's the point? The media didn't exactly give us our just due after tying Oregon for the regular season title and then winning the conference tourney in Vegas. I don't see the media complaining that there aren't Syracuse-Duke home and homes or L'Ville-UNC home and homes every season. All this really boils down to is our conference is devoid of elite teams. UCLA & Oregon are the closest thing to consistent elite programs. UCLA is perceived as an elite rival. But what have they done in the last five years? Why didn't the media complain loudly the previous two years when Oregon & Arizona only met once? It's been awhile since UCLA won or even contended for the regular season conference title. Yes, Arizona fans would love to play them twice a season because we relish the opportunity to beat a program that I believe gets too much benefit of the doubt because of titles won 50 years ago.

[Beachcat97]

Yes, Arizona fans would love to play them twice a season because we relish the opportunity to beat a program that I believe gets too much benefit of the doubt because of titles won 50 years ago.

Amen! UCLA has not been a consistent power since Wooden. Even the Howland years got unsteady towards the end. It just goes to show that if a program has one era of greatness, at any period in their history, they get tremendous benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, not to get off track. The PAC obviously would be helped if we had a couple other elite programs. Oregon may be on their way. Just gotta keep Altman.

[Puerco]

Screw ALL that. Everybody should have home and home with everybody else.

Yeah OK, so what if that means there are two less OOC Sisters of the Bleeding Heart of Jesus Charity All-Star Benefit College games to stink up the schedule with?

It means 12 more losses for the conference per season. Which could keep bubble teams out of the tourney.

I'm okay with that.

I'm not.

Why not? You've got to figure that maybe once every couple of years a middling PAC team won't make the tournament. Is that such a bad thing? In return you get a balanced conference schedule and scheduling debacles like this year and last don't have to be discussed ad nauseum.

(I understand there is a limited negative financial impact on the conference by losing out on a single tourney game every once in awhile, but an Orgeon State - Tulsa matchup in the first round would be paid back by more conference games every year)

[Puerco]

I'm with Gumby on this. Ditch the conference tournament and get back to a balanced schedule. Why introduce the element of scheduling luck into crowning the champion of a season-long schedule in order to play a two week tournament? Or...

Get rid of a couple of cupcakes on the schedule (lord knows there are enough of them). I'd always rather watch us play just about any conference opponent, even ASU, than Long Beach State.

[PHXCATS]

I'm with Gumby on this. Ditch the conference tournament and get back to a balanced schedule. Why introduce the element of scheduling luck into crowning the champion of a season-long schedule in order to play a two week tournament? Or...

Get rid of a couple of cupcakes on the schedule (lord knows there are enough of them). I'd always rather watch us play just about any conference opponent, even ASU, than Long Beach State.

How do you plan on cutting expenses at UA for the lost revenue of the PAC 12 tournament? Or how do you plan on increasing revenues by several million for the conference to make up for it? PAC 12 is far behind already all the other Power conferences in terms of revenue so UA cannot afford to get further behind. Finally why would you want to give up an epic 3 day UA party and point of pride and recruiting power for UA and it's fans. Anyone who has been to the PAC 12 tournament in Vegas would never say something like this. I suggest you and every UA fan make the trip at least one time, it is simply amazing.