Our Future OOC

[stuball888]

I was looking at some other midmajors OOC and I am baffled. Monmouth. They already played and beat Notre dame and UCLA. They have a respectasble 3-2 record. They lost to Dayton which is probably top 20 team and today they play USC (southern Cal) Stony Brooks schedule is even more baffling. They play two div III schools but then they play Vanderbilt and Notre Dame to balance it out. Now our schedule this year isnt bad but would like to see more top teams on the schedule.

[Cards]

Hopefully another nice holiday tourney for us next year, add to it Kentucky, and hopefully more A10 games......possibilities???????

Of course we cant forget that next year we change from a very experienced team to a more junior team without the "Green factor". Even though I'm very excited about Jams recruiting results and prospects, next year will be a little more challenging than this year.

[ProudofPride]

I was looking at some other midmajors OOC and I am baffled. Monmouth. They already played and beat Notre dame and UCLA. They have a respectasble 3-2 record. They lost to Dayton which is probably top 20 team and today they play USC (southern Cal) Stony Brooks schedule is even more baffling. They play two div III schools but then they play Vanderbilt and Notre Dame to balance it out. Now our schedule this year isnt bad but would like to see more top teams on the schedule.

Monmouth beat USC by 10 today. I wonder how long before King Rice bolts for a bigger job.

[Polito]

don't even get me started... HU's scheduling excuses are so tired I can't take it anymore.

By the way, Monmouth is having the exact kind of season I've been expecting HU to have - beat the big boys and make big noise - HU is close, but those guys are really getting it done in a big way

Happy for them, true small timer catching their lightening - that coach won't be there long!

Hopeful that HU is on track to do the same this yr and in the future - in last part of OOC now, not big boys but some solid games, so just keep winning...just keep winning.

[pridehoops2015]

don't even get me started... HU's scheduling excuses are so tired I can't take it anymore.

By the way, Monmouth is having the exact kind of season I've been expecting HU to have - beat the big boys and make big noise - HU is close, but those guys are really getting it done in a big way

Happy for them, true small timer catching their lightening - that coach won't be there long!

Hopeful that HU is on track to do the same this yr and in the future - in last part of OOC now, not big boys but some solid games, so just keep winning...just keep winning.

what exactly have they done wrong with the schedule this season?

played sec, acc and mvc. going on road to TWO a-10 teams. sbu is a huge rivalry game. thats six already and i am sure they had a bunch of contracts to finish/start. we know app st was one. fau is one.

[Polito]

really?

This schedule is DEF better than last yrs cupcake central, but let's also be honest in assessing it - they're far from 'making fire'. Some thoughts to improve just off the top of my head:

- Do better than average to crappy home games, with only 2 the first 2 MONTHS - I'm good with Canisius to start, but only having 1 more against a D2 until the end of Dec? C'mon, have to expect and do better than that.
- Playing in the Garden against App St is a complete head scratcher - what is the draw in a NC mid at MSG? If you're going to waste a garden game on a mid, then at least do it against a name one, or a regional one.
- Play a RANKED team for goodness sake - there's no excuse not to play at least 1 every yr - don't care if it's on the road, play a top 25 team every yr - THAT'S a barometer - esp when you have a Sr led talented team, put yourself in a position to make national noise - this isn't the time to play footsie with a local D2 and some average mids - HU has proven they can hang with AND BEAT power teams, so go out there and play a couple of big boys

Yes, I agree fully the ACC and SEC games were big and important - that was a good tourney for HU, they just didn't get the job done fully as they should have. But outside of that and SBU being a rivalry game, this schedule leaves plenty of room for improvement.

My biggest issue with scheduling is every HU staffs tired old excuse of no one will play them - that is a load of crap - it's amazing how many power schools and ranked teams won't play HU but they'll play ever other mid major on planet earth, many at HOME - did you guys know that UNC plays road games in the regions of it's seniors every year? It's the reason they played AT UNI...and UNI took full advantage of the opp and upset the #1 ranked team - don't you think UNC has had guys from NYC/LI?? Coaches need to stop saying bigs won't play mids, and people need to stop believing the bull, it's simply not true - but you DO have to go the extra mile to find options.

sorry, but when you're own conference brethren like NE are getting those games, when other lower level mids like Monmouth and NJIT are getting it accomplished, you have NO excuse. I KNOW it's not easy, never said it was - but it is absolutely doable. Get creative, work harder, find ways. Others do it, so there is ZERO excuse for HU to struggle they way it does, and quite frankly, it's getting really old listening to them make sad excuses for the lame scheduling every friggin yr.

Not buying it. Staff has the resources, the connections, the know-how, the work ethic, and is paid well. Get better, and get it done.

PS: Kentucky is a damn good start.

[EvanJ]

- Play a RANKED team for goodness sake - there's no excuse not to play at least 1 every yr - don't care if it's on the road, play a top 25 team every yr - THAT'S a barometer - esp when you have a Sr led talented team, put yourself in a position to make national noise - this isn't the time to play footsie with a local D2 and some average mids - HU has proven they can hang with AND BEAT power teams, so go out there and play a couple of big boys

What ranked team do you propose with a trip short enough to be done by bus (let's say 6 hours or less by bus without stops or traffic)? What schools in the northeast are ranked all the time? This matters because schedules are made in advance. Hofstra went to Connecticut a few years ago. Connecticut has won championships, but they're not ranked now and last season they had 15 losses and went to the NIT. Syracuse is ranked now but wasn't at the start of the season. Villanova is ranked, but if Jay Wright won't play us that doesn't matter. Do you want Hofstra to go to Maryland? Providence entered the polls this week and was good but not ranked last season.

[stuball888]

How about Villanova now that Pecora isnt here. What is that 2 and a half hours to Philly. Maryland, Cuse, UConn cmon its there for the picking.

[Polito]

Evan, my friend, I hope you are not being for real right now...you do not want to go down this road with me . For kicks and giggles, what do I propose?

Well for starters you happened to pick the total FLUKE yrs that 'Cuse and UConn are not ranked - you're talking about perennial national powers with NAT TITLES under their belts - pick one, schedule them, 9 out of 10 times they'll be ranked when HU plays them.

Don't need Nova, not happening with Jay, BUT how about regionals like Seton Hall, Temple, URI, heck even Penn State is buzzy with strong recent recruiting classes - Rutgers stinks right now but UMass, BC, Providence, and sure DC area works fine with Georgetown, Maryland, GW - I could go on and give 15-20 options, I'm talking about playing 1-2 - not difficult.

And why does it have to be within driving distance? Teams travel. Mids travel. HU can travel. Elon (!) plays Michigan, 'Cuse, and Duke this yr, on the road - take a look at that and get back to me about driving distance and questions about what bigs to play. HU HAS played at Maryland, I was AT the game when Speedy put on a show for them in College Park.

As for home games, hey, I'll give you 1 guess where our brethren College of Charleston just knocked off Ben Simmons and LSU? Hate to shock those of you who believe the scheduling nonsense, but big bad LSU lost AT CofC. UD has decent ones in Bradley and USF AT HOME...you know about MSU and NE, I could go on and on and... you get it I hope.

Look, I don't expect HU to have a killer sched every yr, but more often than not seems quite reasonable, esp when they have SR TALENT and CAN make real noise. I love this school, program, and staff. I'm not bashing at all, I'm just pointing out something that has to change. The mens basketball scheduling needs to improve, that is just a fact. And it absolutely can be done - that is another FACT.

Any excuses to the contrary are simply TIRED, OLD, and UNTRUE. Let's ELEVATE - let's expect more and better - UK should be just the beginning. I truly believe this staff can do it, I have full faith

[HUSID80]

They'll be happy to play us next year but will JAM want to?

[EvanJ]

Evan, my friend, I hope you are not being for real right now...you do not want to go down this road with me . For kicks and giggles, what do I propose?

Well for starters you happened to pick the total FLUKE yrs that 'Cuse and UConn are not ranked - you're talking about perennial national powers with NAT TITLES under their belts - pick one, schedule them, 9 out of 10 times they'll be ranked when HU plays them.

Don't need Nova, not happening with Jay, BUT how about regionals like Seton Hall, Temple, URI, heck even Penn State is buzzy with strong recent recruiting classes - Rutgers stinks right now but UMass, BC, Providence, and sure DC area works fine with Georgetown, Maryland, GW - I could go on and give 15-20 options, I'm talking about playing 1-2 - not difficult.

And why does it have to be within driving distance? Teams travel. Mids travel. HU can travel. Elon (!) plays Michigan, 'Cuse, and Duke this yr, on the road - take a look at that and get back to me about driving distance and questions about what bigs to play. HU HAS played at Maryland, I was AT the game when Speedy put on a show for them in College Park.

Hofstra went to UMass and I think George Washington within the last few years. Beating Seton Hall would get Hofstra some media attention, but Seton Hall isn't normally elite. If St. John's and Villanova won't play Hofstra, Seton Hall and Rutgers are the nearest elite conference schools. As for the driving distance, is it worth traveling and making athletes miss class for a far away game that Hofstra has very little chance at winning just to improve Hofstra's schedule? There are so many teams within driving distance that Hofstra shouldn't have to make many flights out of conference, especially considering that 4 out of 9 CAA opponents are in southern Virginia or farther. Some mids travel, but the RPI doesn't have a bonus for more travel miles (home, road, or neutral matters but all road games are treated the same whether you went 10 miles or across the country). Elon going to Michigan and Syracuse are long trips, but Elon going to Duke would be like Hofstra going to Rutgers or Seton Hall in terms of travel distance.

[HofstraFan101]

Evan, my friend, I hope you are not being for real right now...you do not want to go down this road with me . For kicks and giggles, what do I propose?

Well for starters you happened to pick the total FLUKE yrs that 'Cuse and UConn are not ranked - you're talking about perennial national powers with NAT TITLES under their belts - pick one, schedule them, 9 out of 10 times they'll be ranked when HU plays them.

Don't need Nova, not happening with Jay, BUT how about regionals like Seton Hall, Temple, URI, heck even Penn State is buzzy with strong recent recruiting classes - Rutgers stinks right now but UMass, BC, Providence, and sure DC area works fine with Georgetown, Maryland, GW - I could go on and give 15-20 options, I'm talking about playing 1-2 - not difficult.

And why does it have to be within driving distance? Teams travel. Mids travel. HU can travel. Elon (!) plays Michigan, 'Cuse, and Duke this yr, on the road - take a look at that and get back to me about driving distance and questions about what bigs to play. HU HAS played at Maryland, I was AT the game when Speedy put on a show for them in College Park.

Hofstra went to UMass and I think George Washington within the last few years. Beating Seton Hall would get Hofstra some media attention, but Seton Hall isn't normally elite. If St. John's and Villanova won't play Hofstra, Seton Hall and Rutgers are the nearest elite conference schools. As for the driving distance, is it worth traveling and making athletes miss class for a far away game that Hofstra has very little chance at winning just to improve Hofstra's schedule? There are so many teams within driving distance that Hofstra shouldn't have to make many flights out of conference, especially considering that 4 out of 9 CAA opponents are in southern Virginia or farther. Some mids travel, but the RPI doesn't have a bonus for more travel miles (home, road, or neutral matters but all road games are treated the same whether you went 10 miles or across the country). Elon going to Michigan and Syracuse are long trips, but Elon going to Duke would be like Hofstra going to Rutgers or Seton Hall in terms of travel distance.

If we were willing to travel to Jackson, Mississippi for Jackson State and have the players spend thanksgiving on the road I don't think missing a day of class for Syracuse or UCONN would be a problem. Also the point of going to these teams, especially this year, is that we would have a good chance of winning. For a mid of our size and budget traveling across a couple states is nothing. If we can travel to St. Bona we can travel to Syracuse. If we can go go La Salle we can go to Penn State, Rutgers and Seton Hall. If we can go to Coppin State(last year), we can go to Maryland, GW, Gtwon. If we can fly to NC State and USF we can go to any school in either of those states (those 2 are good examples of times the staff got good games). And yes like you've said we've gone to these local schools in the past ,but we need to do it consistently.

[Polito]

Exactly. Cost and coordination of travel is not even a discussion, that's simply the cost of doing business. EVERY school in America does it, across ALL levels. And trust me, there's plenty of $ to do what's needed. This is D1 - you don't play a season in your zip code. And when you have an opportunity to catch lightening, when you have a Sr player like Green on a very good team, you do whatever it takes to get on the national stage.

And is it worth it? Ask Monmouth and NJIT if it's worth the effort and cost - NJIT's win over Michigan last year literally catapulted them into D1 conference membership this yr (though the ASun makes no sense to me lol, doesn't matter, they're legit now) - on top of that they are opening a 100 million dollar facility in a yr or 2 that will house a brand new home bball facility - and this is a program that no one knew existed 5 yrs ago, a program HU played previously in basically an exhibition game, and STILL hasn't even been to the NCAAT - this is ALL from knocking off a power ranked team.

Forget what will happen with Monmouth this yr - marketing you can't buy, increased fan support, applications are a lock to increase, etc etc etc.

Now don't get me wrong, the ultimate goal is ALWAYS the NCAAT - a run in the tourney will trump all of the above, and that is what I desire above all else for the HU program - the value a Sweet 16 run for HU would be through the roof - I'm just making the point you cannot question the value of the OOC schedule, it's right there in plain sight. And the HU staff stance on it, and effort to improve it, needs to take a giant leap forward.