2020-21 Schedule

I guess we're on to scheduling news for next year already?

@TheD1Docket wrote:Portland will be hosting Idaho and two other teams (TBD) in the Portland Thanksgiving Invitational on 11/25, 27 & 28, per public records obtained by @TheD1Docket.

Dean Murdoch wrote:I guess we're on to scheduling news for next year already?

@TheD1Docket wrote:Portland will be hosting Idaho and two other teams (TBD) in the Portland Thanksgiving Invitational on 11/25, 27 & 28, per public records obtained by @TheD1Docket.

Not sure who/what TheD1Docket is, but they must really be hard-up for sports news with all sports canceled.

I'd heard much of the preseason schedule was completed some months ago, but frankly didn't care enough to ask what teams had been scheduled.

In other news, and I don't know the details, but I understand this coming season there will not be Pilot Club activities prior to some men's games (exhibitions?), but there will now be Pilot Club gatherings prior to women's games!!

DoubleDipper wrote:I'd heard much of the preseason schedule was completed some months ago, but frankly didn't care enough to ask what teams had been scheduled.

Heck, we can probably just figure it out for ourselves. You can make four pretty safe guesses from last year's schedule.

Home - #173 Portland State, #214 Seattle, #290 San Jose State
Away - #225 UC Davis

Probably an early November road game against a quality opponent again. A little fundraiser to pay for a team to come to Chiles.

The tournament will feature #323 Idaho along with, I don't know, Cal Poly? Denver? Air Force? Wyoming? A random east coast team that wants to come out for 3 games?

So add the above to, let's face it, probably another two non-D1 home games...there's two-thirds of your non-conference schedule right there.

If you need me, I'll be here awaiting JimmAlacki's feedback.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Away - #225 UC Davis

And their new experienced 6-10/245 post-player and potential Japanese National Team member, Hugh Hogland!

DoubleDipper wrote:

In other news, and I don't know the details, but I understand this coming season there will not be Pilot Club activities prior to some men's games (exhibitions?), but there will now be Pilot Club gatherings prior to women's games!!

Back when the women were going to the dance they had both. Maybe they shouldn’t do the men unless they punch their ticket.

I was gong to bring that up if Terry is retained. Frankly, it was a chore going to the games. Several around me stopped going, including several posters here.
They’d give me their tickets and I couldn’t give them away.

I’m seriously considering not re-uping after 25 years in the same seat.

I sure as hell wasnt going to go to the men’s game for the pasta.

Geezaldinho wrote:I sure as hell wasnt going to go to the men’s game for the pasta.

I thought it was for the booze. The more we lose, the stiffer the drinks.

Geezaldinho wrote:I’m seriously considering not re-uping after 25 years in the same seat.

Hmm, maybe all this losing the last two season is my fault.

I sat next to up7587 for a lot of years (the last two years under Holton, all of the Reveno era, and the first two Porter years, and then I moved to another seat to get more leg room.

Do you suppose if I moved back to my old seat the Pilots would start winning some games?

Geezaldinho wrote:I sure as hell wasnt going to go to the men’s game for the pasta.

I sure was.  The pasta and to support the guys on the court who continued to work so hard and still ended up losing.

DoubleDipper wrote:

Geezaldinho wrote:I’m seriously considering not re-uping after 25 years in the same seat.

Hmm, maybe all this losing the last two season is my fault.

I sat next to up7587 for a lot of years (the last two years under Holton, all of the Reveno era, and the first two Porter years, and then I moved to another seat to get more leg room.

Do you suppose if I moved back to my old seat the Pilots would start winning some games?

You're welcome back any time, but there's still no leg room.  We could use you, as we are down a couple big fans in our section.  

DoubleDipper wrote:

Geezaldinho wrote:I sure as hell wasnt going to go to the men’s game for the pasta.

I sure was.  The pasta and to support the guys on the court who continued to work so hard and still ended up losing.

So yelling at the coaches was just a bonus?

DoubleDipper wrote:In other news, and I don't know the details, but I understand this coming season there will not be Pilot Club activities prior to some men's games (exhibitions?), but there will now be Pilot Club gatherings prior to women's games!!

What’s next? Women play in the evening and men play in the afternoon?

Doesn't the junior varsity usually play before the varsity?

deprofundis wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:In other news, and I don't know the details, but I understand this coming season there will not be Pilot Club activities prior to some men's games (exhibitions?), but there will now be Pilot Club gatherings prior to women's games!!

What’s next? Women play in the evening and men play in the afternoon?

Doesn't seem that many years ago, but I guess it was back in the '90's, that WCC play was always a double-header with the women playing at 5 and the men at 7:30.

Back home and getting ready for his senior season...work to be done!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1240775443499880452

As means of getting some attention from those who are not on the West Coast, and for competitiveness, prestige and recruiting, I believe it’s important to have at least a of couple of Top 25 WCC teams each year …and the prediction is GU will begin next season at #1 according to USA Today.

One of the big factors in their preseason #1 ranking is rising junior center Filip Petrusev, who was named to the AP All-American Third Team on Thursday.

Petrusev was the leading scorer on the nation’s best offense, averaging 17.5 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. Not sure what the NBA Draft pool will look like this year, but I think we can expect Petrusev to test the waters again as he did after his freshman year ...but last year there was really no expectation of being drafted …this year could be different.  

GU was #2 behind Kansas in this season’s final poll, and they have a very promising recruiting class and return five of their top eight scorers ...if there are no defections between now and then.

As the WCC schools put together next year’s schedule most would like to return to the 18-game conference schedule because by doing so, it’s obviously less difficult to schedule fewer non-conference games.

I think most are aware the 16-game schedule is GU driven, but they obviously didn’t take full advantage of not playing the likes of UP and UOP only once this past season, instead taking on teams like Detroit, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Alabama St, while SMC did a little better, but still played Cal-Poly and Lehigh.

I’m of the opinion the WCC will eventually return to the 18-game schedule for ease of scheduling and to ease the burden of having to shell-out more money for “buy” games to get opponents to visit.  But I believe this coming season will be another 16-game schedule.

With the 16-game schedule it’s possible the Pilots won’t have to travel to Spokane or Provo (not an easy place to get to in the ice and snow), but we have to hope one of those two teams (I much prefer the GU fans/team) will come to UP so the athletic department can sell some tickets.

We haven’t seen SMC in the Chiles Center in two seasons, it would be nice if they will make the return trip, even though Jordan Ford will have graduated.

DoubleDipper wrote:As means of getting some attention from those who are not on the West Coast, and for competitiveness, prestige and recruiting, I believe it’s important to have at least a of couple of Top 25 WCC teams each year …and the prediction is GU will begin next season at #1 according to USA Today.

I agree with 2 of your 4 reasons why it is "important to have at least a couple of Top 25 WCC teams each year." But I disagree with the other two.

Having Top 25 teams in our conference certainly gets attention from those who are not on the West Coast, and it does improve the "prestige" of the conference (although that prestige really only benefits three of the ten programs). However, it does not enhance competitiveness. The Top 25 teams in the WCC routinely blow out the competition, and the pecking order of a "big 3" and "bottom 7" has become completely calcified with almost no hope for a team like UP to ever reach the NCAA Tournament. That is the opposite of enhancing competitiveness, except among the big 3 themselves.

For the bottom 7 teams, I think there is an argument to be made that this lack of competitiveness actually hurts recruiting. I'm assuming here that the chance to win a league title and play in March Madness are high on the list of goals for any college basketball player. If you are a mid-major-level high school or JUCO player who is being recruited by mid-level WCC teams along with teams in the Big West and Big Sky, going to the WCC school is a sure way to guarantee that you will never compete for a conference title or play in the NCAA Tournament. Going to just about any school in the Big West or Big Sky means you have a fighting chance.

Having "Top 25 teams" each year might enhance the overall conference in all four ways DD lists IF there were a rotating cast of teams that were in the Top 25 each year. That's not the case, and what we are really talking about is three of the ten teams that are always in the top tier. Maybe that brings more "prestige" for those three teams, but it certainly doesn't create competitiveness and is perhaps hurting recruiting for the remaining schools.

One more thought...

If Gonzaga/BYU/SMC really want the WCC to be more competitive top-to-bottom, they are really shooting themselves in the foot with this 16-game schedule. For schools like UP, USD, LMU they cannot honestly recruit with a pitch that the team will have a chance to make it to March Madness. But they COULD (until two years ago) tell recruits that they'll get to play Gonzaga, BYU and SMC at least twice each year, with a couple of those games likely on national TV. Now that recruiting hook is undercut by the ridiculous 16-game schedule. And how does an unbalanced schedule contribute to the "competitiveness" of the conference? Unbelievable that the other WCC presidents went along with this.

Case in point: Pacific finished 11-5 this year. The two games they skipped were at BYU and home to Gonzaga. Those would have probably been losses, resulting in an 11-7 record. Meanwhile San Francisco finished 9-7. They skipped playing at home to USD and at Pepperdine. Those would have been likely victories, putting USF also at 11-7 and in a tie for fourth place with UoP.

Those two split their regular season games, and USF would have had the tie-breaker to earn the #4 seed given their victory over #2 seed BYU. That would have given USF a double-bye into the conference quarterfinal, rather than the single-bye that they had as the #5 seed. Instead of the semifinal game against Gonzaga being USF's third game in four nights, it would have been only their second game. That could have been the difference for the Dons to pull the upset and advance to the finals. As it was, they played within a couple of possessions of Gonzaga for the entire second half and ultimately lost by only four points.

I have no problem with the top seeds receiving extra byes. But creating an unfair playing field among the lower-tier teams as they scrap and claw against each other for the #4 seed (the best that any of them can realistically hope for) is anti-competitive.

These anti-competitive rules were designed by and for the top-tier teams, in order to solidify their Top 25 credentials and give THEM prestige. Their prestige is not for the conference, but for themselves. It comes at the expense of competitiveness and fairness for the majority of the teams in the conference.

Pilots at #263 Cal St. Fullerton, December 3.

If there is a season, I guess.

Dean Murdoch wrote:The tournament will feature #323 Idaho along with, I don't know, Cal Poly? Denver? Air Force? Wyoming? A random east coast team that wants to come out for 3 games?

Tournament field is Portland, Idaho, Cal Poly, and the Virginia Military Institute.

What do I win?

Dean Murdoch wrote:

Dean Murdoch wrote:The tournament will feature #323 Idaho along with, I don't know, Cal Poly? Denver? Air Force? Wyoming? A random east coast team that wants to come out for 3 games?

Tournament field is Portland, Idaho, Cal Poly, and the Virginia Military Institute.

What do I win?

Okay, okay, your good guessing won the preliminary round...but let's see who actually shows up after the regional rescheduling shuffle.  

NoPoNeighbor wrote:If Gonzaga/BYU/SMC really want the WCC to be more competitive top-to-bottom, they are really shooting themselves in the foot with this 16-game schedule.

Will the WCC eventually follow suit?

San Diego Union Tribune wrote:Mountain West basketball to expand to 20-game schedule against SDSU’s wishes. But conference schedule will stay at 18 games for the next two seasons, with the new slate beginning in 2022-23

SDSU has long fought against playing everyone in its conference, much like GU is doing now, and at one time played only 14 conference games in the 11 team Mountain West Conference.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/aztecs/story/2020-05-18/san-diego-state-sdsu-aztecs-basketball-mountain-west-20-game-conference-schedule?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

The 11 school Big Sky Conference has reduced its conference schedule for both men's and women's basketball to 16 games this coming season.

Big Sky Commissioner wrote:“This one-year adjustment to our conference basketball schedules is an appropriate measure that delivers significant cost savings to our member institutions while providing our basketball programs with more flexibility in their non-conference scheduling,”

Not only will it give teams flexibility, if they are short on cash they can go on the road for some "buy" games, although the price of some of these games is apparently already being deeply discounted by 30-50% due to probable low attendance.

The Atlanic-10 is also discussing reducing their conference schedule, but I have heard nothing about the WCC considering a similar move.

DoubleDipper wrote:Not only will it give teams flexibility, if they are short on cash they can go on the road for some "buy" games, although the price of some of these games is apparently already being deeply discounted by 30-50% due to probable low attendance.

Due to probable low attendance for sure, and this is also likely a supply-and-demand situation. I guarantee you there are FAR more teams in a position where they want/need to get "bought" for away games than there are schools with the available funding to buy these games.

DoubleDipper wrote:We haven’t seen SMC in the Chiles Center in two seasons, it would be nice if they will make the return trip, even though Jordan Ford will have graduated.

Make it three years. WCC opponents are out and the Pilots play Gonzaga at home only and SMC away only... so just like last year.

Also Pilots at UC Davis will be on December 5. That'll finish off a two-game road trip as they've got Fullerton on the 3rd.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:We haven’t seen SMC in the Chiles Center in two seasons, it would be nice if they will make the return trip, even though Jordan Ford will have graduated.

Make it three years. WCC opponents are out and the Pilots play Gonzaga at home only and SMC away only... so just like last year.

Also Pilots at UC Davis will be on December 5. That'll finish off a two-game road trip as they've got Fullerton on the 3rd.

Hey where can we see the fixture/ schedule for the Pilots games ??
Thank you

Aussie Baller wrote:Hey where can we see the fixture/ schedule for the Pilots games ??
Thank you

Honestly this thread is probably your best resource until the Pilots officially announce their schedule, which I think usually happens in August or so.

Confirmed
Nov 25 - Idaho (home)
Nov 27 - VMI/Cal Poly (home)
Nov 28 - VMI/Cal Poly (home)
Dec 3 - Cal St. Fullerton (away)
Dec 5 - UC Davis (away)

Confirmed (but no specific dates yet, these games will be in Jan & Feb)
BYU (home/away)
Gonzaga (home)
Loyola Marymount (home/away)
Pacific (home/away)
Pepperdine (home/away)
Saint Mary's (away)
San Diego (home/away)
San Francisco (home/away)
Santa Clara (home/away)

Suspected
Portland State (home)
San Jose State (home)
Seattle (home)
Non-Div. I (home)
Non-Div. I (home)

That leaves five open dates on the schedule. There likely won't be too many surprises with these five. Maybe they got a deal to play at a Pac-12 school before the pandemic hit, maybe some mid range Big Sky schools like Weber State or Idaho State, who knows.