This Month in Non-Conference Scheduling (June 2020)

Schedules Released This Through June

June 3rd:
Iowa State

June 3rd:
Ole Miss

June 11th:
Marquette

June 15th:
Nebraska

June 23rd:
Hawaii
Old Dominion

June 29th:
James Madison

Event Schedules Released Through May

Hall of Fame Tip-Off (Marquette, Minnesota, Rhode Island, UCF)
Emerald Coast Classic (Florida, Illinois, Iowa State, Oregon)
Global Sports Invitational (SMU, Georgia, Wofford, Charleston Southern)

Rainbow Classic (Hawaii, San Diego, Washington)

Scheduling News:

This offseason in particular has proven tough for teams in the market for guarantee games. The possibility of remote learning, reduced enrollment and limited game attendance has teams working harder to balance their budget with the threat of funding shortfalls looming overhead. Teams higher up the pecking order are seeking more guarantee checks than normal, saturating the market. Several coaches that have communicated with me are all looking for the same thing, guarantee games, and many of these coaches lead teams in contention to win their leagues or even make a case for at-large bids.

Old Dominion has released their C-USA league schedule, confirming that the flex-scheduling experiment has come to a conclusion. The idea was bought into after C-USA had three KenPom Top 65 teams in 2018 but received no-at large bids. In the two seasons of flex-scheduling C-USA had just one total KenPom Top 75 teams. The system was never expected to yield results if the quality of the teams were not at-large caliber.

Five Best Games

Ole Miss at Dayton: The Flyers might not be in contention for a 1-seed in 2021, but they will still be favored to make the NCAA tournament. Ole Miss had a surprisingly strong first year under Kermit Davis but came back to earth in year two. If Ole Miss makes a leap back to form this year they could put a scare in Dayton, but their home court will give them an edge.

Florida vs Illinois: Both of these programs are at a crossroads. In Illinois, Brad Underwood had broken through in his third season and had the Illini on track for their first NCAA Tournament in 7 seasons. Meanwhile in Gator Country fans are growing impatient with Mike White. After making the Elite 8 in his second season White has yet to break through to the second weekend of the tournament, a justifiably high standard considering Florida's success this century.

Rhode Island at Providence; Creighton at Nebraska, Wisconsin at Marquette: : These are both three fierce rivalries with between Big East teams and their local state schools. Creighton and Providence should be favored in their match-ups but Marquette will likely be underdogs to Wisconsin. With Creighton having hopes of locking down a 1-seed they will have the expectation of winning on their rivals court against Fred Hoiberg's fresh roster, following a very rough first year. Rhode Island's head coach, David Cox, is looking to return the Rams to the NCAA Tournament after replacing Dan Hurley in 2018 while Providence will believe they have as good of a shot at winning the Big East as anyone. Marquette will have a hole to fill in the roster without Markus Howard

Four Sneaky Good Games

North Carolina at Hawaii: North Carolina has a tradition of playing a pit-stop game as a prelude to playing in the Maui Invitational, visiting Hawaii, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and once... Santa Clara. A road game after skipping 4 time zones may be a real test this season as Roy Williams tries to gain footing after last year's uninspiring campaign.

Old Dominion at Arkansas: Old Dominion has been one of the most consistent programs in the latest iteration of C-USA, however, after making the 2019 NCAA Tournament the Monarchs had to rebuild. Arkansas got off to a hot start last season under 1st-year coach Eric Musselman, but a five game losing streak in conference play put the Razorbacks on the bubble. If Old Dominion can claw back to its status quo they will give Arkansas a test with stout defense and a grinding tempo.

Rhode Island at Western Kentucky: From C-USA's most consistent team to most talented team. The Hilltoppers were able to finish tied for 2nd last season in C-USA in spite of losing pro-prospect Charles Bassey to injury early in December. With his return they will be favored to win C-USA while at the same time Rhode Island has their eyes set on winning the Atlantic 10. Both teams could find themselves in the NCAA tournament and winning this game could move either team up a seed-line.

North Carolina A&T at Iowa State: If any MEAC team is able to pull an upset at a power conference school this season it will be the Aggies. A mid-season coaching change rejuvenated the team, and their tempo. It has been feast or famine for the Cyclones under Steve Prohm, with three KenPom Top-20 seasons and two KenPom Sub-75 seasons. An Aggies win could signal second consecutive famine season for Iowa State.

Most Lopsided Games

Virginia at James Madison
UT-Martin at Ole Miss
Chicago State at Marquette
Chicago State at Iowa State
Alabama A&M at Iowa State

Flimsiest Schedule

No teams in June really fall into the flimsy schedule category, all the teams this month did a fair job of mixing in competitive games outside of exempt events and conference challenges. The exceptional challenge of this specific season will cause a spike in Non-D1 games, Old Dominion, for example, is playing their first Non-D1 home game this century. 

Contract Unload: Long Beach State

The Docket has obtained contracts from California State University, Long Beach. Below are the games that Long Beach State has agreed to play in per these contracts. All games reported have had contracts signed by all parties, but are still subject to being amended at the discretion of both parties.

Date	Opponent	Terms
November 16th	@ VIRGINIA	$80,000 Guarantee
November 20th	TBD (St. Thomas, USVI ; Paradise Jam)
November 21st/22nd	TBD (St. Thomas, USVI ; Paradise Jam)
November 23rd	TBD (St. Thomas, USVI ; Paradise Jam)
December 4th	@ SAN DIEGO	Home & Home
December 6th	SEATTLE	Home & Home
December 11th	@ CAL BAPTIST	$80,000 Guarantee

Long Beach State is currently locked into 8 non-conference games, including the Paradise Jam, an exempt event. Long Beach State is a member of the Big West Conference with a league slate of 20 games in 2020-21. If Long Beach State is eligible to schedule three more non-conference games in addition to the games listed above.

Contract Unload: North Texas

Contract Unload: North Texas

The Docket has just obtained contracts from The University of North Texas. Below are the games that North Texas has agreed to play in per these contracts. All games reported have had contracts signed by all parties, but are still subject to being amended or terminated at the discretion of both parties. Several games have already been disclosed via open records requests to other institutions and diligence from other media outlets.

Date	Opponent	Terms
November 17th	@ LSU	$95,000 Guarantee
November 29th	CHICAGO STATE	$75,000 Guarantee
December 2nd	@ WICHITA STATE	$75,000 Guarantee
December 6th	@ MISSISSIPPI STATE	$95,000 Guarantee
December 15th	ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF	$85,000 Guarantee
December 18th	HOUSTON BAPTIST	$70,000 Guarantee
December 22nd	TBD (Honolulu, HI Diamond Head Classic)
December 23rd	TBD (Honolulu, HI Diamond Head Classic)
December 25th	cv TBD (Honolulu, HI Diamond Head Classic)

Other records obtained from North Texas reveal potential opponents and dates on the Mean Green's schedule, opponents will not be disclosed since games are yet to be finalized with the exception of one game, which was part of an ongoing series.

Date	Opponent	Terms
November 13th	@ Undisclosed Power Conf. Team	-
November 20th	Undisclosed Southland Conf. Team	-
November 23rd	UT ARLINGTON	Tow For One
December 10th	Undisclosed Non-D1 Team	-
December 13th	Undisclosed Non-D1 Team	-

Records also indicate that North Texas is pursuing participation in an exempt event. A full field for this event has already been announced, so out of respect for the process these details will not be shared until anything is finalized but The D1 Docket is working to secure the correct information at the moment.

These contracts lock North Texas into 7 non-conference contests and pursuing an additional 7 games, North Texas is a member of the Conference USA with a league slate of 18 games. In total, the Mean Green is committed to 25 games with the option to add 6 more contests of the 7 it is pursuing to their schedule.

Edit: Jon Rothstein reported what documents indicated, which is that North Texas intends to replace Western Michigan in the 2020 Diamond Head Classic

This Month in Non-Conference Schedules (May 2020)

Welcome to the Weekly Round-Up from The D1 Docket!

These updates will be weekly as the offseason progresses but for now I will re-cap schedules released through the Month of May

Schedules Released This Week   Schedules Released This Month  Schedules Released This Through Mid-May

March 23rd:
West Virginia

May 5th:
Ohio State

May 13th:
UNLV
Kansas

Exempt Event Schedules Released Through May

Maryland Showcase (Maryland, Duquesne, San Jose State, Cal Baptist)
Bluegrass Showcase (Kentucky, Richmond, Detroit Mercy, Hartford)

Non-Conference News:

The big story of the year is the COVID-19 health crisis, the effect it will have on college athletics will be a story that unfolds in the coming months. Many athletic departments operate in the red as budgets for salaries, recruiting, facilities, etc. have bloated in recent decades. Already we've seen several of athletic departments decide to cut sports programs all together. The full impact of scheduling will be known at the end of summer but UNLV's schedule is the first to really shine a light on what to expect. The Runnin' Rebels will host two non-division 1 games, a departure from their recent scheduling patterns. This comes down to money. Per public records obtained by The D1 Docket UNLV owes at total of $247,500 to Florida A&M, Montana State and Omaha for their guarantee games. For two non-division one games that bill is likely under $20,000. The other options UNLV had were to hit the road for (at the risk of compromising their win/loss record) or start a series which puts them on the road next season when they don't know what their budget (including travel) will be.

For the second year in a row Pittsburgh will shy away from participating in their rivalry with Duquesne. This move becomes even more confounding when you factor in that schedules this season will have a greater emphasis on regional games. Cross-town rivalries are good for the sport and help the local media engage with the teams participating that are outside the power conference structure. 

Five Best Games

Kansas vs Kentucky: Nobody needs to be explained why the Champion's Classic will produce one of the best games of the season. Between the Champion's Classic, SEC/Big XII Challenge and NCAA Tournament this will be the 8th game between the Wildcats and Jayhawks since 2011.

Ohio State vs North Carolina: This game could go a lot of ways. Ohio State has been one of the best teams in November & December the last two seasons while North Carolina will look to put last season in the rear view mirror. Ohio State's 25-point win in the Dean Dome last season was when the wheels started to fall of last year, can Roy Williams keep the wheels on this season?

Creighton at Kansas: Kansas may not have a tougher home game this season than when the defending Big East co-champions pay a visit to Allen Field House, the Blue Jays are reloaded after one of the best seasons in program history. This game could be the difference between a 1 or a 2-seed for both teams.

UCLA at UNLV: Mick Cronin will take his team to Las Vegas early in the season for this tough road game featuring two 2nd-year coaches. Both overachieved preseason expectations in their first season and look to be even better this season. A win in this game will look great on an NCAA resume in March.

Kansas at Colorado: The Buffaloes had a great season going a year ago but had it fall apart in the final weeks. A neutral court win over Dayton was the gem in their resume but the after losing five straight sliding to close the season they had slid towards the bubble fast as their season ended with a loss to Washington State. If Colorado can recover from last season's skid a visit from Kansas will be a great opportunity to solidify their resume before PAC-12 Play.

Five Sneaky Good Games

Richmond at Kentucky: Kentucky showed a new vulnerability with the loss to Evansville last season and followed that game up by letting Utah Valley stay within striking distance until the final minute. If any team on their schedule can capitalize on an off night from the Wildcats it will be the Chris Mooney's Spiders.

Akron at Ohio State: Akron gets a shot at the in-state flagship school but the Buckeyes have yet to drop a non-conference game at home to a team outside the Power 5 since Chris Holtmann took the reigns in 2017. This will be the first regular season visit to Columbus for Akron since 1986, having played NIT games there in 1989 and 2016, and just the 5th game between the schools since 1914.

UNLV at VCU: These are two programs that have both lost coaches to Oklahoma this century but the comparison's end their. No program has been better at moving coaches on to the next level like VCU, while UNLV has struggled to stop it's back-slide since losing Lon Kruger. This game could be the moment where both of those trends reverse each other. T.J. Otzelberger had UNLV back in the KenPom Top 100 in his first season, their first time in five years, while Mike Rhoades had VCU trending the wrong way to close the 2019-20 season, losing seven of their last eight games on their way to missing their second NCAA Tournament in his three seasons at the helm.

Southern Utah at Kansas: Coach Todd Simon has quietly pulled Southern Utah out of purgatory after the Thunderbirds had an average KenPom rating of 326.5 the four-years before he arrived. The Jayhawks aren't likely to slip up and lose but it will take longer than they want to put the Thunderbirds away.

Duquesne at Maryland: Keith Drambot's 4th season could be the Duke's best chance to break a 44-year NCAA Dry Spell since the waninig momements of the 2009 Atlantic 10 Championship game against Temple. Terrapin fans that want Turgeon out are not hard to find and the Dukes could give those fans an early Christmas present if they can derail Maryland's season.

Most Lopsided Games

Fairleigh Dickinson at West Virginia
San Jose State Maryland
Niagara at Ohio State
Morehead State at Ohio State
Alabama A&M at Ohio State

Flimsiest Schedule

Ohio State: Aside from participation in the Battle 4 Atlantis, Ohio State's schedule is full of buy games with a neutral site game versus North Carolina and the ACC-B1G Challenge. If Buckeyes find themselves in the losers bracket in Atlantis and North Carolina does not rebound effectively from it's off-year they will find themselves playing catch-up to fill their resume through the B1G season which isn't a good position to be in for a team that plays their best basketball before New Year's Day.