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Post by Commissioner on Aug 29, 2024 14:17:03 GMT -5
Oakland did as I thought, and finished off its schedule by adding a home game against non-D1 Defiance as the same opener. Far and away the toughest schedule in the league, though.
Worth noting that every HL school now has at least one non-D1 opponent slated except for Wright State. I strongly suspect, however, that they will have two such games when they finally announce the schedule. I totally get that some fans don't like these games, don't think they help the team, don't interest fans, etc. But there must be some reason that virtually all mid-majors (and a great many high majors) schedule them.
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Post by larrytitan on Aug 29, 2024 16:36:01 GMT -5
Back in my day, 65-69, we always played some non D1 games. At that time, 5hey were know as small college teams. We played Aquinas, Hillsdale, Western Ontario, Windsor, John Carroll and others. Most of the time, we won in a rout and all of the benchwarmers got an opportunity to play some minutes.
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Post by ptctitan on Aug 30, 2024 12:24:50 GMT -5
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 1, 2024 22:24:42 GMT -5
Milwaukee's non-conference schedule is out. Six home games, thanks to hosting a 3-game MTE and picking up two non-D1 opponents. The 6th home game will be played against Akron at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee (I assume it counts as home, perhaps neutral under NCAA rules for NET--but it's in town for fans). They've got low-key buy games at Northern Iowa, Duquesne, and Central Florida.
The Panthers are one of the HL favorites in most pre-season polls out so far, and if they win some tough but hardly insurmountable games--those three buys, Southern Miss on the road, Akron--and do well in conference they could have a glittering record. But they won't have much to tout as impressive wins, and will likely have little or no chance of an at-large bid.
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Post by ptctitan on Sept 3, 2024 17:49:07 GMT -5
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 4, 2024 21:33:05 GMT -5
Wright State's schedule is out. As I expected, they filled their last 2 slots with non-D1 fodder, Central State and Ohio Christian. They have just 4 non-conference home games, but the other two are two of the better home games in the HL this year--Air Force and Marshall. They've got some nice road games within easy driving distance: Kentucky for those who want the big $$ buy game and the remote chance for a big upset, Toledo, EMU, and Miami (with whom they've got a pretty solid rivalry) as mid-majors on the road and good tests for HL play. A bracketed MTE in Myrtle Beach has an attractive slate, with Princeton, then probably Bradley, and then another decent mid-major attraction, likely Ohio U or South Florida, in the third game.
We're still waiting on CSU, NKU, and YSU to release full schedules.
Everybody except NKU has a non-D1 game on the regular season slate (earlier reports that NKU was playing Midway appear to have been incorrect) but with 4 open dates left, I still project they'll have at least one and possibly as many as 3 non-D1 opponents on the schedule. Milwaukee, PFW, and Wright State have two non-D1 games; IU-Indy has 3. My guess is that YSU, NKU, and CSU will all end up with at least two non-D1 team as well. So don't complain that about Cleary!
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 5, 2024 20:12:22 GMT -5
Youngstown's schedule is now complete. As expected they added a second D-3 opponent, Bethany. They have 4 home games in non-conference play, with Toledo and WMU along with the D-3 schools. They get bought by Syracuse and Ohio State, and have a decent 3 game MTE at Stephen F. Austin. They'll aim for road wins at Chicago State and South Carolina-Upstate. Presumably those are both the front ends of H & H series, so they're well underway for next year's schedule. I'd look for them to be 7-4 or so in non-conference play.
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 11, 2024 10:44:26 GMT -5
CSU will host its own MTE on Nov. 28-30, with Morehead State and NJIT. That leaves one opening for the Vikes. They've got 6 home non-conference games scheduled, including two against non-D1 teams.
That also means every HL team is committed to an MTE, which is good.
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Post by ptctitan on Sept 16, 2024 8:38:34 GMT -5
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 16, 2024 13:08:48 GMT -5
Nice schedule for the Norse. They've got big money buy games at Florida State and Purdue (a relatively short drive) to start. Their other non-con games include 7 at home, which they get from 2 non-D1 games (one against Kentucky State, a decent draw for them, like us playing Wayne State), and hosting a two game MTE. That MTE incldues the league's marquee home game, against Cincinnati, and a couple decent mid-major H&H series on the road, at Charleston and Akron. They've put their old D-2 rival, Bellarmine, back on the schedule, now that Bellarmine has joined them in D1 (The Horizon should probably just extend an invite to Bellarmine, a much better program than, say, IU-Indy). That will be at home and should draw well. Mixed in their are very winnable Horizon games against IU-Indy on the road, at our Titans at NKU's home arena. Obviously, you gotta play the games, but the Norse should be about 10-3 at Christmas with a likely 2-0 Horizon League start. |
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Post by ptctitan on Sept 17, 2024 15:46:11 GMT -5
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 17, 2024 18:14:30 GMT -5
With non-conference schedules finished up, we can rank the best home non-conference games. Unfortunately, it's a marked decline from 10 or so years ago, when you could find schools like Virginia, Wisconsin, Wichita State, DePaul, and Mississippi State dotting Horizon team home schedules. But the decline is the same across all mid-major conferences, as the big boys sweep in more and more.
Anyway, my list for this year's 10 best home games:
1. Cincinnati at Northern Kentucky, November 19. The only high major to visit an HL gym this year, this game is payback for NKU allowing UC to use the former's facility a couple years ago while UC's underwent renovation. NKU won this game a couple years ago--maybe they can turn the trick again.
2. Air Force at Wright State, November 30. Air Force isn't exactly a power, but they play in the Mountain West, one of the best mid-major leagues, and are a recognizable name.
3. Kent State at Cleveland State, Novembere 23. A local MAC rival. Kent is usually one of the better MAC teams, the Golden Flash haven't had a losing season since 1998.
4. Marshall at Wright State, December 11. Marshall is in the Sun Belt Conference, kind of a better league, and has at least a modest national profile, if only thanks to the football movie. The Thundering Herd won 24 games in 2023, but slipped to 13 wins last year.
5. Toledo at Detroit, November 16. Another case where one of the better MAC programs pays a visit in what is almost a real rivalry. Detroit and Toledo have played 62 times over the years. Toledo has won the last 6 for a 35-27 lead in the series.
6. UC-Santa Barbara at Green Bay, December 14. The Gauchos, from the Big West Conference, are working on a string of 7 consecutive winning seasons, 5 of those with 20 or more wins, and made the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and 2023. They're a nice change of pace from the usual MAC and low-major teams on HL home schedules these days.
7. Bellarmine at Northern Kentucky, November 30. Now that Bellarmine has joined NKU in D-1, what was once one of the most heated D-2 rivalries in the country can resume. Should draw a decent crowd.
8. Morehead State at Cleveland State, November 29. Morehead State has won 94 games in the last 4 years, and reached the NCAA Tournament last year.
9. St. Thomas at Green Bay, November 8. St. Thomas has been pretty good since its leap from D-3 to D-1, with 39 wins in the last two years, and feels vaguely like a local rivalry, though really it's not.
10. St. Thomas at Milwaukee, November 24. St. Thomas has been pretty good since its leap from D-3 to D-1, with 39 wins in the last two years, and feels vaguely like a local rivalry, though really it's not, and a bit less so than Green Bay.
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