2021-22 Schedule

Yesterday's welcome and long overdue news about two non-D1 games no longer being an automatic part of the schedule got me wondering... anyone know anything about the Pilots' schedule for next year?

Usually we can at least piece together something based on previous seasons, but who knows coming off of the COVID year. And I haven't seen Portland mentioned in any MTEs or any one-off non-conference games just yet.

Only guesses I have for home games are Seattle and San Jose State (both return games from 2019-20). Maybe Portland State, Montana State (return from last year), and UC Davis (return from 2019-20) for away games?

Dean Murdoch wrote:Yesterday's welcome and long overdue news about two non-D1 games no longer being an automatic part of the schedule got me wondering... anyone know anything about the Pilots' schedule for next year?

It is true the non-D1 games are not automatic, but I think UP will still play their two WCC allowed non-D1 games this coming season.

Scheduling is difficult, and for UP it is even more difficult because the Pilots do not currently help other school’s NET.  I know it sounds crazy, but I welcome non-D1 games this season in the hopes they give players who might not otherwise get minutes (freshmen!), a chance to show their talent.

WCC matchups are out:

Portland
Home/Road: BYU, LMU, Pacific, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara
Home: Saint Mary's
Road: Gonzaga

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2021/6/17/mens-basketball-wcc-announces-2021-22-mens-basketball-conference-matchups.aspx

2021 WCC Spring Coaches Poll Results

1. Gonzaga
2. BYU
3. Saint Mary's
4. LMU
5. San Francisco
6. Santa Clara
7. Pepperdine
8. Pacific
9. San Diego
10. Portland

Dean Murdoch wrote:Usually we can at least piece together something based on previous seasons, but who knows coming off of the COVID year. And I haven't seen Portland mentioned in any MTEs or any one-off non-conference games just yet.

UP played in some big-time MTEs in the past, but now because of its mediocrity over the last few years, the only way UP was able to get in a Multi-Team Event this season was to go to a school looking to stay home and buff up their resume….and that is what they have done.

Tentatively, UP (321) will be in San Antonio the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Thanksgiving Day to play, Incarnate Word (343), Trinity (D3) and SE Missouri State (269). (KenPom 2021-22 final rankings).

(Both Incarnate Word (Southland Conference) and SE Missouri State (Ohio Valley Conference) are twice as big as UP with enrollments of over 9,000 students. Trinity has an enrollment under 3,000).

I hope that TRINITY is the one in Hartford Connecticut, because the one in San Antonio was 10-2 last year.

DoubleDipper wrote:Tentatively, UP (321) will be in San Antonio the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Thanksgiving Day to play, Incarnate Word (343), Trinity (D3) and SE Missouri State (269). (KenPom 2021-22 final rankings).

Thanks, Coach Porter!

Hearing rumors that the Pilots will open the regular season on Nov. 9 at Arizona State.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Hearing rumors that the Pilots will open the regular season on Nov. 9 at Arizona State.

I heard the same, so it must be true!!  

Based upon Coach Legans’ time at EWU, we know that he loves to take on the challenge of playing Power 5/6 schools on the road as a way of testing his players and the coaching staff…and I am told that is the plan this coming season.

Tentatively, the Pilots will be in Tempe, Arizona to play the Sun Devils (86) on the first day non-exhibition games are allowed, November 9, and then travel to Eugene to play the Ducks (16) on December 15.

DoubleDipper wrote:Based upon Coach Legans’ time at EWU, we know that he loves to take on the challenge of playing Power 5/6 schools on the road as a way of testing his players and the coaching staff…and I am told that is the plan this coming season.

I'll bet Coach Legans still thinks they should have won at Washington State last year in their opener and his EWU team gave Arizona all it could handle a week later, too.

I also heard that the Pilots will get a Mountain West school at home this year, but that's probably just San Jose State returning the game from two years ago. Shantay Legans vs. Tim Miles sure gives the ol' Pilots/SJSU matchup a bit more excitement than Terry Porter vs. Jean Prioleau, though!

DoubleDipper wrote:Tentatively, UP (321) will be in San Antonio the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Thanksgiving Day to play, Incarnate Word (343), Trinity (D3) and SE Missouri State (269). (KenPom 2021-22 final rankings).

The Pilots defeated Incarnate Word 65-56 in their only meeting between the two schools back in 2019.
- Malcolm Porter and Jojo Walker led the way with 15 pts each.

Outstanding

There are probably many reasons why #1 Gonzaga will play #321 UP only once instead of twice this season, and yet they will open their season by playing #328 Dixie St. at home.  

DoubleDipper wrote:There are probably many reasons why #1 Gonzaga will play #321 UP only once instead of twice this season, and yet they will open their season by playing #328 Dixie St. at home.  

Utah Tech!

But yes, it has become apparent that the intent of moving to the 16-game schedule from 18 was to give Gonzaga the ability to trade an away game against a WCC team for a home game against a patsy. Good for them, I suppose.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Only guesses I have for home games are Seattle and San Jose State (both return games from 2019-20). Maybe Portland State, Montana State (return from last year), and UC Davis (return from 2019-20) for away games?

Because they canceled on UP last season during the pandemic, it looks like we will see Cal Poly and VMI come to Portland along with Ben Johnson and SJSU.  Not sure about Seattle U. because UP played them twice last season, but yes, MSU, UCD, and PSU on the road in return games are likely.

Pilots at Montana State, December 19.

https://twitter.com/roccomiller8/status/1417111623215456256?s=21

Dean Murdoch wrote:Pilots at Montana State, December 19.

Oh boy!

The Bozeman/Yellowstone Airport is not the worst airport to fly into during a nighttime December snow storm, but the high terrain can make it tricky.  

It is much nicer the next morning when the sun is shining.

DoubleDipper wrote:It is much nicer the next morning when the sun is shining.

Yeah but by then it's 30 degrees colder than it was when the snow started!

Montana State is the third closest D1 school to where we are. Only the two ND schools are closer... still waiting for the Pilots to put UND or NDSU on the schedule!

Dean Murdoch wrote:Pilots at Montana State, December 19.

UP’s first semester finals end on the afternoon of December 9, and then the Pilots prepare for the WCC schedule by playing five games in 10 days (tentative):

Dec 13 Cal Poly
Dec 15 @ Oregon
Dec 17 San Jose St.
Dec 19 @ Montana St.
Dec 22 @ UC Davis

Morgan State at Portland, Nov 20.

https://twitter.com/ssn_wcc/status/1415049447340449796?s=21

Dean Murdoch wrote:Morgan State at Portland, Nov 20.

I am told the Pilots will also play Alcorn St. on Nov 13, continuing a recent trend of playing HBCUs at home.

As far as I can determine, this will be the first meeting between Morgan St. and UP.

In the past few years, the Pilots have played Historically Black Colleges and Universities' Florida A&M twice, Alcorn St., Jackson St., and Grambling St.

(Also, as noted in the WBB schedule thread, the men will play Willamette U. on Veterans Day and the women will take on UC-San Diego in a doubleheader).

It may be in bits and pieces, but do we now have the entire preseason schedule, or are there a few more games we still don't know about?

StudentPilot wrote:It may be in bits and pieces, but do we now have the entire preseason schedule, or are there a few more games we still don't know about?

I think you can have 31 games including the MTE, right?

I count 29 games that we know about (16 WCC plus 13 scattered around in here).

at Arizona St (Nov 9)
vs. Willamette (Nov 11)
vs. Alcorn St (Nov 13)
vs Morgan St (Nov 20)
at MTE (Nov 28) Incarnate Word/SE Missouri St/Trinity
at MTE (Nov 29)
at MTE (Nov 30)
vs. Cal Poly (Dec 13)
at Oregon (Dec 15)
vs. SJSU (Dec 17)
at Montana St (Dec 19)
at UC Davis (Dec 22)
vs. VMI (????)

Surely the Pilots will play Portland State, right? If so, that would leave room for one more game on the schedule.

My understanding is that the Pilots will play Portland State at Viking Pavilion Nov. 23

Dean Murdoch wrote:

StudentPilot wrote:It may be in bits and pieces, but do we now have the entire preseason schedule, or are there a few more games we still don't know about?

I think you can have 31 games including the MTE, right?

I count 29 games that we know about (16 WCC plus 13 scattered around in here).

Surely the Pilots will play Portland State, right? If so, that would leave room for one more game on the schedule.

Oldguyfan wrote:My understanding is that the Pilots will play Portland State at Viking Pavilion Nov. 23

I asked about the possibility of a VMI game and was told it was tentatively scheduled for Dec 3 in Portland.

And yes, there is still room for one more game after Long Island pulled out of a game that was tentatively scheduled for Dec 5 in the Chiles Center…so if you know of any D1 school looking for a “buy” game in Portland…

I also learned the Pilots will play an exhibition game against Lewis & Clark on Nov 3 after playing a secret scrimmage against a D1 team in October…

So, at this point the schedule looks like this (I have added the end-of-season KenPom rankings):

UP MBB (321) Preseason Schedule:
Nov 2 Lewis & Clark (Exhibition)
Nov 9 @ ASU (86)
Nov 11 Willamette (D2)
Nov 13 Alcorn St. (342)
Nov 20 Morgan St. (223)
Nov 23 @ PSU (245)
Nov 26 – 28 @ Incarnate Word (343) /SE Missouri St. (269) /Trinity (D3)
Dec 3 VMI (153)
Dec 5 OPEN
Dec 13 Cal Poly (329)
Dec 15 @ UO (16)
Dec 17 San Jose St. (333)
Dec 19 @ Montana St. (207)
Dec 22 @ UC Davis (209)

The WCC schedule is usually made public in mid-August.

DoubleDipper wrote:The WCC schedule is usually made public in mid-August.

2021-22 PORTLAND MEN'S WCC BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Jan. 1 vs. BYU
Jan. 6 at LMU
Jan. 8 vs. Santa Clara
Jan. 13 at San Diego
Jan. 15 at Pepperdine
Jan. 20 vs. San Francisco
Jan. 22 at BYU
Jan. 27 vs. Pacific
Jan. 29 at Gonzaga
Feb. 3 vs. Saint Mary's
Feb. 5 at San Francisco
Feb. 12 vs. LMU
Feb. 17 vs. San Diego
Feb. 19 vs. Pepperdine
Feb. 24 at Pacific
Feb. 26 at Santa Clara

Mar. 3-8 UCU WCC Championships (Las Vegas)

*Home games in BOLD
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