VU 2016-17 Schedule

[vufan75]

Read somewhere recently we host Ball State this coming season. Maybe that fills late November and early December schedule gap. Hoping it falls on Saturday. Much easier selfishly to make games on weekend.

[vufan75]

FYI, Rhode Island released their non-conference schedule last week... and they will be coming to the ARC on Tuesday, November 29.

http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/releases/20160815l3pm2s

I will say that I am excited that they are indeed coming to the ARC, but the Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday doesn't scream "well attended game" to me. Given the Tuesday night time after the college football regular season and decent matchup, I would hope that this gets ESPN coverage and that would help things out. But, I'm disappointed. I was hoping for a Friday or Saturday Night game for Rhody and I already know I cannot make the trek for a Tuesday night game... 

Updated Non-Conference Schedule:

Friday, November 11: Southern Utah at Valparaiso (Home Opener/MGM Grand Main Event Undercard Game)
Saturday, November 12: Trinity International at Valparaiso ("Tentative")
Monday, November 14: Coppin State at Valparaiso (MGM Grand Main Event Undercard Game)
Thursday, November 17: Valparaiso at Oregon
Monday, November 21: Alabama vs. Valparaiso in Las Vegas (MGM Grand Main Event Heavy Weight Bracket Semi-Final)- 11pm CT
Wednesday, November 23: BYU or Saint Louis vs. Valparaiso in Las Vegas (MGM Grand Main Event Final/Consolation)- 8:30 or 11pm CT
Tuesday, November 29: Rhode Island at Valparaiso
Wednesday, December 7: Valparaiso at Kentucky
Saturday, December 10: Valparaiso at Missouri State
Saturday, December 17: Indiana State at Valparaiso
Thursday, December 22: Santa Clara at Valparaiso

Missing: Home vs. Ball State? (Was Saturday after Thanksgiving last year in Muncie... Date still available this year...)
Home vs. Chicago State?
(Making for 13 Non-Conference plus 18 Conference for 31 Regular Season Games... we had 31 last year.)

Personal Thoughts: Very tough Non-Conference schedule for a first year head coach, and a schedule that some would have loved to see last year with more power conference teams. The thing that is missing is a team like Belmont last year, a strong mid-major that will compete for their conference championship. (No the A-10 is not a mid-major for those that believe that Rhody can win the A-10 with E.C. Matthews back.) A strong mid-major would be a great way to compare how we stack up to last year and of course with other good mid-majors this year. So...If we can still somehow ditch Trinity International for something the likes of an Akron, Ohio, Kent State, or similar team I would like that, but that's probably wishful thinking at this point.

According to the season ticket order form in the mail, the price for bleacher seats is $10 higher than last year. That leads me believe that we may have 1 additional home game over last year. If so, your tentative schedule is missing 1 home opponent. Of course, the other possibility is that simply raised the price.

Read somewhere recently (not on this message board) we host Ball State this coming season? Maybe that fills late November and early December schedule gap. Hoping if true the game falls on a Saturday. Much easier selfishly to make games on weekend.

[justducky]

Read somewhere recently we host Ball State this coming season.

The Ball St game is not in question only the date. I suspect that this unnamed date and the Chicago St date are not finalized to supply us some flexibility for pursuing a much higher priority target. In a pinch either of these teams could be slotted in somewhere for a week night. Should this targeted opponent not be signed then Trinity will become a regular season game and Ball St and Chicago St will fill in the best available weekend slots.

I personally think whatever we are pursuing could be significant. I have trouble imagining us delaying our final schedule just because we are scrounging for another 300 RPI opponent. But -- Who knows! I am purely speculating!

[ValpoDad89]

Dare I ask, is anyone going to the Kentucky game? I have a friend whose daughter goes there and if she can't get us tickets we are still going. I already told him I am solid on Valpo gear is he? because he always roots for the underdog. Lets face it fellas and gals we are the underdogs. I already put the time off from work because no matter what we need repping and I will be there with full regalia on!!! Playing a young ULTRA talented team in their arena is tough but  with what we have if there was ever an upset to be had it is then. I don't want to miss that opportunity. And if we lose so be it, I will take a beating like a man but I think if we don't win we play them solid for 40 minutes.

[bbtds]

And if we lose so be it, I will take a beating like a man but I think if we don't win we play them solid for 40 minutes.

I'll certainly agree with this sentiment that Valpo will give UK a solid 40 minutes. I think it will be difficult to be so developed as a team at this point in the season that Valpo will be able to beat UK in a talent vs talent competition. We have Alec Peters and that is a lot to be leaning on but UK will have talent where one player could takeover the game and Valpo will not have enough defensive talent to stop that one player.

[talksalot]

Weather permitting, it is only 5:23 from the chapel to Rupp.  Planning to make a day of it.
Just have to remember the time change.

[ValpoDad89]

talkslot, remember that hour brother!!!!

And bbtds, we are more than Alec Peters. We will have Jubril back, Tevonn Walker healthy, Shane Hammink (who played at LSU KUs conference). Smits will hopefully be who we hope. We have talent and more to that experience. KU will have TONS of talent but chemistry, I don' know that early in December and if somehow Valpo, with their experience jumps on them early, how do they respond? See the thing about KU, is they are super talented but they recruit kids that are so major that they don't know how to lose or how to respond when they are down because most of their basketball lives they dominated.

If we keep this game tight early or jump on them early, we are in this to the finish. If we don't, oh well we are just a Horizon team that KU beat the hell out of (that is to the national scope and not what us here know). I will go out on a limb and say we keep this tight throughout. Will we win? I hope so but my pick is Kentucky wins this game by no more than 7.

I Applaud the staff and admin for setting up this game. This is game that can put you on the map. This is game that recruits stop and watch and play close attention to you. We lose by 30, we are another Stetson, we play it close, we get some exposure and a RPI boost.

[VULB#62]

One only has to look at another sport for the blueprint:  Women's Olympic soccer.  The Swedish WNT made the USA play a different game than they were used to playing by playing very tough defense and not committing errors.  They then used the same approach to smother a very skilled Brazilian WNT side to advance.  In both situations experience, solid team play and selflessness, as well as sticking to Pia Sundhage's game plan worked against teams with superior talent. Add the inexperience of KU's one-and-done freshmen who will not take Val;po seriously despite Calipari's repeated warnings and we have the makings of an upset at best but certainly a very close finish.

[bbtds]

And bbtds, we are more than Alec Peters.

Certainly don't truly believe Valpo = Alec. Just being facetious.

[jtm]

Ball State @ Valpo slated for Sunday, November 27, per BSU Athletics. Time TBA.

[vu84v2]

T

talkslot, remember that hour brother!!!!

And bbtds, we are more than Alec Peters. We will have Jubril back, Tevonn Walker healthy, Shane Hammink (who played at LSU KUs conference). Smits will hopefully be who we hope. We have talent and more to that experience. KU will have TONS of talent but chemistry, I don' know that early in December and if somehow Valpo, with their experience jumps on them early, how do they respond? See the thing about KU, is they are super talented but they recruit kids that are so major that they don't know how to lose or how to respond when they are down because most of their basketball lives they dominated.

If we keep this game tight early or jump on them early, we are in this to the finish. If we don't, oh well we are just a Horizon team that KU beat the hell out of (that is to the national scope and not what us here know). I will go out on a limb and say we keep this tight throughout. Will we win? I hope so but my pick is Kentucky wins this game by no more than 7.

I Applaud the staff and admin for setting up this game. This is game that can put you on the map. This is game that recruits stop and watch and play close attention to you. We lose by 30, we are another Stetson, we play it close, we get some exposure and a RPI boost.

Valpo will be fine up front with Peters and a combination of Smits, Adekoya, etc. at the 5 and subbing at the 4. The big issue of whether Valpo can play with teams like Kentucky and Oregon and can have an overall successful season is going to come down to point guard. It is difficult at this point to be confident in any option - hopefully that will change.

[valpopal]

Looks like VU conference home opener will be against Oakland on Jan. 6, which is unfortunate because students do not return for spring semester until the following week.

[vu72]

Schedule is out:

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2016-17/15676/valpo-mens-basketball-announces-2016-17-schedule/#.V9BP3ZgrLNO

[vu84v2]

As someone that has been critical in the past about scheduling, I would say that this is a very good schedule for a mid-major team like Valpo. Lots of non-conference home games including Rhode Island. A neutral site tournament with quality opponents. One three non-conference road games, with two of them against marquee opponents. To everyone with the program that was involved in scheduling...thank you and nice job!!

[VULB#62]

By way of background, I clipped the following from the newest CRUSADER REPORT that headlines MLB's description of how the 2016-17 schedule was assembled:

As we put the final touches on our men's basketball schedule, I wanted to take some time to explain why we chose to play the non-conference opponents on this year's slate. Excitement for our participation in the MGM Grand Main Event in Las Vegas continues to grow, and I want you to know our participation in this event was very intentional. Keeping in mind the end-goal of winning games in the NCAA tournament, we utilized strategic scheduling methods to not only set ourselves up for a successful season, but also put ourselves in the best post-season position possible by establishing ourselves as an "at-large" team.

We first look to maximize exposure and play high-major opponents in multi-team events (MTEs). MTE's are a convenient venue for us to expand our schedule beyond the NCAA's 27 game regular season limit. A number of these events allow us to tackle top-tier teams on a neutral court, giving us the opportunity to earn significant wins against teams that will not come to the ARC.  It is certainly a reflection of what the program has achieved thus far; that we can secure invitations to MTE's that include high-major neutral court games.   

Continuing to arrange home-and-home series against strong RPI teams will also allow us the opportunity to improve our chances of receiving an at-large bid come tournament selection time. This strategy gives us the chance to beat other strong mid-majors; and in many cases allows us to continue in-state and long standing rivalries. With these factors in mind, we look for every chance to secure "good wins" against high ranking teams preceding conference play.

[wh]

10 critical match ups for Valpo men's hoops

http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/inside-vu-sports/critical-matchups-for-valpo-men-s-hoops/collection_15d055de-95e0-51ee-bdad-ad18be10d8ce.html?utm_content=buffer97a5d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC#1

[Kyle321n]

For those of you who want a web version in an actual calendar I'm here to provide it once again!

This is the web version you can bookmark to check out whenever

If you click this link you'll download the calendar so you can put it in your Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar and whatever Apple calls their calendar <<<THIS LINK WILL AUTOMATICALLY DOWNLOAD, JUST AN FYI. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT NOT DOWNLOAD AUTOMATICALLY.

[4throwfan]

I read this forum every day, but I obviously don't post much.  I do enjoy reading it.  After reviewing the schedule, I felt compelled to write a short note.  I am really pleased with the schedule.  It has a good combination of tough games and easy games.  It's back down to two non-D1 home games.  It also shows geographic breadth, which I assume will help with recruiting (given that Lottich went to Stanford, he may be looking more in the West - just a hunch).  It also exhibits a real confidence in this year's team.  Given the uncertainty of the team relative to last year, the team could have scheduled some real creampuffs.  That would have destroyed RPI, but at the end of the year, they would have had a much better W/L record, which helps in marketing and recruiting.  Again, I think that there is a real show of confidence in this year's squad.  If I had to nitpick, it would simply be this: the final two games are away games.  Since the Horizon League tournament is no longer in Valpo each year, it shortens our season by about 2 weeks.  This is now several years in a row that the final games are away.  When we reasonably expected to host the tournament each year, that wasn't a problem.  Now it is.  Seems that there should be a rotation.

Thanks to everyone who posts regularly.  I enjoy reading.  Now I'm just looking forward to the Commissioners annual pre-season analyses.

[sliman]

I agree with 4throw that there should be some way to rotate the home-road games so that a team that opens the conference season at home one year, does so on the road the next; the team the closes the season on the road one year should be at home the next.  I'm sure this is complicated by facility availability, TV adjustments, etc. but surely there is a way to at least come close to making this happen.  Similarly, it seems very unfair when any conference team has an imbalance of road/home games monthly.  A team that might get 6-8 conference games at home in the final four weeks would seem to have a greater chance of building momentum for the tournament than a team on the road for a similar number of games in that period.  I would be interesting to hear the problems that make this difficult if not impossible.

[vu72]

I agree with 4throw that there should be some way to rotate the home-road games so that a team that opens the conference season at home one year, does so on the road the next; the team the closes the season on the road one year should be at home the next.  I'm sure this is complicated by facility availability, TV adjustments, etc. but surely there is a way to at least come close to making this happen. Similarly, it seems very unfair when any conference team has an imbalance of road/home games monthly.  A team that might get 6-8 conference games at home in the final four weeks would seem to have a greater chance of building momentum for the tournament than a team on the road for a similar number of games in that period.  I would be interesting to hear the problems that make this difficult if not impossible.

To be sure, I have zero idea about how the schedule is determined.  I do wonder if there isn't a bit of NFL thinking that goes into the mix.   I the NFL, the better you do the harder the next year's schedule will be.  It is a way to "level" the playing field.  Just a guess and probably not a very good one. 

[wh]

Misstatement from the Wright State athletic website:

February will feature five home games with Northern Kentucky, Milwaukee, defending League Champion Green Bay, Valparaiso and UIC and three road games at Youngstown State, Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky.

Valpo is the defending league champion - not Green Bay.  Green Bay is the defending league tournament champion (by virtue of 1 game where they collectively played out of their minds).

http://www.wsuraiders.com/mobile/ViewArticle.dbml?atclid=211160499&DB_OEM_ID=27000&;

[valpopal]

I believe the overall schedule does seem pretty good this season, especially considering this is the first year for Coach Lottich. However, as in the past, I find fault with the Horizon League scheduling. Elsewhere, it has been mentioned that there seems to be an imbalance when the same team is scheduled in consecutive years as an away team in games during the first week or final week of the season, although this could be an advantage for Valpo since the last two games of the year would be after classes end for spring break, limiting student attendance, particularly for Senior Night.


What bothers me more about the Horizon League scheduling is the lack of insight when scheduling important games between likely conference leaders or teams with rivalries. The opening home game for Valpo is against Oakland. These two teams are expected to be fighting for the conference championship, and they have developed a strong rivalry with a history of dramatic games. In addition, that game will likely be covered by ESPN for a national audience. Yet, the Horizon League schedules the game a week before spring semester begins, guaranteeing an absence of students and a lessening of the great atmosphere one would expect at the ARC for a Valpo-Oakland game. In addition, the Valpo game at Oakland will be while school is in session, so Oakland gets the advantage of playing in front of its student body. 

[oklahomamick]

Sounds too complicated LeCrone

[valpo64]

You don't really think that  LaCrone knows anything about it,do you?  He's probably sitting in his office scratching his head trying to figure out the schedule himself, then trying to see if the entire schedule can be moved to Detroit.

[wh]

Pac-12 Basketball: Your Complete Non-Conference TV Guide

17: Valparaiso @ Oregon (6pm, Pac-12) - Valpo senior forward Alec Peters could make a run for All-American status. He and UO's Dillon Brooks in the post...get your popcorn.

http://www.pacifictakes.com/2016/9/15/12922448/pac-12-basketball-tv-guide-dillon-brooks-allonzo-trier-bryce-alford