OUCH!!!!

[gmartin]

Earlier in the week BG jumped from #9 to #3 in the Mid Major Polls.

After last night win, collegerpi, has BG's RPI at 23 and SOS at 48. Sure those sound good but they will certainly drop and drop quite a bit because in our next 20 plus games we play only one team, Kent State with a decent rpi rating. KSU is rated 40. No one else on our schedule is under 50. In fact the lowest is 112 with majority over 170.

OUCH OUCH OUCH

[able1]

Keep playing well and winning...win the MAC tourney, make a good showing at the dance. That would be a perfect season. RPI. It doesn't matter.

[bgsufalcon24]

See, this is one of the things I keep bringing up year after year. Our schedule isn't difficult for the most part. Occasionally we will play some stronger teams, like Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Dayton, Hartford, etc, but very rarely do we face off against the really top tier teams of women's college basketball. I blame our athletic director for not aggressively scheduling against top 25 opposition. There was only really one year out of this whole run in which we played many, many teams in the top 50, and that was 2007. That season we beat a whole bunch of strong teams and only lost to Notre Dame (in OT), and Duke (who was ranked #1) out of conference.

Our schedule up to this point has been decent. UALR is pretty good, Creighton and Detroit are decent, and Vanderbilt is obviously very strong. However, when you play a whole bunch of RPI 200+ teams every year, like those that we are about to play during the remainder of OOC play and in MAC play, it puts a lot of pressure on you to not stub your toe because the committee LOATHES RPI 100+ defeats like the one we had on opening night against Evansville. History says if you get more than 2 of those in a season you can kiss your chances of an at-large bid goodbye.

But I'm not going to worry about that right now. The team is playing extremely well, and should continue to do so, especially since they got their annual early season no-show out of the way already.

[factman]

I don't believe the AD has much to do with the women's basketball schedule. I believe Coach Miller does most of his own scheduling just like most sports other than football.

[gmartin]

Going into our game with CS Fullerton our RPI is now 16. Our SOS is very good as well. Of course that will drop when MAC play does begin however this year the MAC is rated as the 12th best conference. In years past including the sweet 16 run we never were higher than 16. The MAC is getting better and slowly getting recognized. Heck, only 1 school that is under .500. And CMU is the 5th highest team in the nation at 87.0 ppg. BG in top 3 in FT shooting and then there is Lauren. Our conference is finally getting some respect!

Let's just hope the MAC continues to win its ooc games. The teams we beat continue to win and dare I say it, the MAC could be one of the top 10 best conferences!

[FalconTurf]

I also believe the coaches at handle their schedules in basketball as well.

What "big name" teams are going to come to BG to get it handed to them like Vanderbilt just did? Those coaches need good records going into conference play. If they are going to be challenged it is going to be on a limited basis and more than likely someone regionally or a national name. It seems to me that Coach Miller builds his schedule on the same basis with some easy wins, challenges from regional mid-majors and looks to bring in whoever else he can find for a challenge. Unfortunately mid-major powers are who will schedule BG. I'm sure a lot of coaches want nothing to do with this program right now, they need wins to keep their jobs.

What BG needs is some money to pay people to come in and travel to those exotic holiday tournaments where a Duke may show up.

[bgsufalcon24]

What BG needs is some money to pay people to come in and travel to those exotic holiday tournaments where a Duke may show up.

Agreed 100% on this point. It was during a tournament where we played then-#1 Duke in 2007. It's not just the top of the top teams that we might see either, it could be the lower-tier top 25's or teams in the 26-50 range. Those are the teams that we ideally should play more often.

[daspollak]

If you're a top 50 school from a major conference, why would you want to schedule BG? On paper you don't gain much if you win, and it can come back to bite you if you're trying to go for an at-large spot.

[factman]

.......or if you win the league every year it makes no difference!

[daspollak]

.......or if you win the league every year it makes no difference!

I rather be like Gonzaga (Men's BB) and play a schedule where we are guaranteed an at-large. Anything can happen during conference tourneys. Winning the MAC just guarantees us NIT BB, woohoo.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

.......or if you win the league every year it makes no difference!

I rather be like Gonzaga (Men's BB) and play a schedule where we are guaranteed an at-large. Anything can happen during conference tourneys. Winning the MAC just guarantees us NIT BB, woohoo.

You guys are acting like this is a decision the program has made to not play people. Miller has come out many times saying how much he would love to play against some power teams, but they won't play us. What do you want him to do? He could show up at Geno Auriemma's door and do the whole foot-stomp thing, but I really don't think it would help.

[BgWaRrIoR]

.......or if you win the league every year it makes no difference!

I rather be like Gonzaga (Men's BB) and play a schedule where we are guaranteed an at-large. Anything can happen during conference tourneys. Winning the MAC just guarantees us NIT BB, woohoo.

He could show up at Geno Auriemma's door and do the whole foot-stomp thing

Imagining this in my head was hilarious!!!

[HoustonFalcon]

Scheduling for Curt is very difficult. I was talking to a head coach at a program currently ranked in the top ten down here on Friday. I said that I just wanted to schedule BG once so I could go see them both play. He said he would love to, but he isn't going to sign a home and home against them. He said he learned a long time ago that there is no benefit in it for them. BG at BG scares a lot of the top teams. It's not just BG, it's any mid-major that has the potential of winning on their home floor. This is the problem Curt is running into up there. He would love to schedule some bigger named schools, but they just aren't willing to sign an home and home. While he could sign a guarantee game and get $20,000-$40,000 out of it, you want to be able to sign contracts with teams that are going to come play you at your place also. With the Stroh opening up, I'm sure he wants to get one or two bigger named schools to come play there. Unfortunately, they don't care that we are opening up a brand new facility, they are worried about the potential of losing to a mid-major, even if it is one that is one that is at the top of their conference year in and year out, and would be a pretty good win if they came up there and won. They just don't want to take that chance. Curt has a lot of respect among the women's basketball coaches, and they all know how good BG is. It's a risk not many are wanting to take. Curt could schedule a UCONN or the likes. But it would be a one game deal, with us going there. And more than likely the game wouldn't be on tv, along with the fact not many top 25 teams are recruiting the area as much. It really would do no good for a Texas, Texas A&M or the like to schedule an away game there. It sucks for our program, but I understand why other coaches aren't willing to do it. Akron scheduled a home and home a couple of years ago against Houston, and that would be about what type of team would be willing to sign one. I don't know if the new coaching staff at Houston would do that with BG, but I doubt it. They are committed to trying to get more local kids into their program. Maybe in a couple of years if they start to get to the point where they are playing for possible at-large bids, and feel they have the talent to compete with a BG, but probably not. There are very few teams in the top 50 that would entertain the idea, and they would have to be within the Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky areas. They are about the only teams that might get a recruiting advantage in doing it. All we can do is praise Curt for the job he has done, and be glad we have a program that people are scared to come into BG and play.

[nwofalconfan]

Exactly...I tried to find the story where Coach Miller talked about this very thing, but couldn't. But, you are right, he tries every year to get some of these teams on his schedule, with little to no success. Yes, he probably could, if BG only played road games, but these are college students, who do need to be at home at least part of the time for classes. Remember, they don't jet in and out for games, they bus.

They lost a game on the road...it is over and done with. Move on and appreciate what we have...one of the top teams in the nation...one of the best players ever...and a great coaching staff.

[jburket]

Thanks Houstonfan, for your post. I totally understand why the top-25 teams don't want to play us. And while this question has been bantered about before, I'll ask again: how about some of the perennial mid-major powers? I would just LOVE to have ANNUAL out-of-conference games with folks like Marist, Xavier, Wisconsin Green-Bay, and Middle Tennessee. They're not that far away, and they would be quality teams. I know that the coaching staff does a stellar job with the realities being what they are......and this isn't a complaint. Only a wishful thinking post.