Arizona basketball's non conference schedule is complete 👀

[WILD]

We are just 120 days away from the start of Arizona basketball! BearDown!

https://twitter.com/APlayersProgram/status/1134194804848496640

[PBCatfan]

Pretty soft as usual, should be able to go at least 11-2. It's going to be nice to have some elite talent on campus again!

[Liquidated]

13 games, 1 ranked team and the next best is Baylor, in most peoples 30's (SB Nation 34). It gives no margin for error if we want a single digit seed in the tournament and a fluke bad streak (like the Bahamas 2 years ago) might take us out of it all together.

This schedule would be embarrassing for a Mountain West team... pathetic.

[mvpreed2]

I am ready for our OOC schedule to get a nice boost.
Playing Gonzaga every year is nice, but after St.John's and Illinois, I am not thrilled nor excited about this schedule.
I will just hope for the better as we move forward.
You can't have everything you want in your favorite program so...

[2020champs]

13 games, 1 ranked team and the next best is Baylor, in most peoples 30's (SB Nation 34). It gives no margin for error if we want a single digit seed in the tournament and a fluke bad streak (like the Bahamas 2 years ago) might take us out of it all together.

This schedule would be embarrassing for a Mountain West team... pathetic.

bruh what three losses isn't going to take us out of the tournament or let alone not let us get a top 10 seed, wtf

[Liquidated]

bruh what three losses isn't going to take us out of the tournament or let alone not let us get a top 10 seed, wtf

I think I know what you meant here... What three losses are going to take us out of the tournament or prevent us from getting a top 10 seed...

If we loose to ANYONE in the non conference schedule other than Gonzaga, I doubt we get a top ten seed and we would certainly not deserve one short of that being our only loss in OOC or conference. My point was a fluke 3 game losing streak, like the Bahamas, where we lost to three complete nobodies, likely prevents us from even getting a bid because the teams we are playing OOC are so weak and the PAC 12 will be better. You cannot loose to South Dakota State or Illinois or Pepperdine and have the committee respect you.

We likely loose 5-7 PAC12 games next year. Oregon is ranked top ten in most rankings now, Washington and USC are bringing in as much talent as we are or close to it and both have more talent on their returning players...we always loose a few games we shouldn't and win a few we shouldn't - so who, specifically, they are, will be key. Can't loose to Cal or have bad shooting night against WSU... 

So bad OOC run of 3 fluke losses + Gonzaga and we will struggle to win 20 games. At 19 wins, I doubt a PAC 12 gets in short of winning the tournament.

[Liquidated]

I am ready for our OOC schedule to get a nice boost.
Playing Gonzaga every year is nice, but after St.John's and Illinois, I am not thrilled nor excited about this schedule.
I will just hope for the better as we move forward.
You can't have everything you want in your favorite program so...

Why St Johns and Illinois? Neither has been good for years.

Illinois finished 12th in the BIG 10, St Johns 7th in the Big East and they have a new coach.

[MDcAtZ]

bruh what three losses isn't going to take us out of the tournament or let alone not let us get a top 10 seed, wtf

I think I know what you meant here... What three losses are going to take us out of the tournament or prevent us from getting a top 10 seed...

If we loose to ANYONE in the non conference schedule other than Gonzaga, I doubt we get a top ten seed and we would certainly not deserve one short of that being our only loss in OOC or conference. My point was a fluke 3 game losing streak, like the Bahamas, where we lost to three complete nobodies, likely prevents us from even getting a bid because the teams we are playing OOC are so weak and the PAC 12 will be better. You cannot loose to South Dakota State or Illinois or Pepperdine and have the committee respect you.

We likely loose 5-7 PAC12 games next year. Oregon is ranked top ten in most rankings now, Washington and USC are bringing in as much talent as we are or close to it and both have more talent on their returning players...we always loose a few games we shouldn't and win a few we shouldn't - so who, specifically, they are, will be key. Can't loose to Cal or have bad shooting night against WSU... 

So bad OOC run of 3 fluke losses + Gonzaga and we will struggle to win 20 games. At 19 wins, I doubt a PAC 12 gets in short of winning the tournament.

Just a bit pessimistic. We finished with 17 wins last season, in our worst season in 30 years. Pretty sure we're not going to have any trouble getting 20 wins considering the class/transfer coming in.

That being said, Baylor is appearing in preseason rankings (20 in Gary Parrish's ranking, Jon Rothstein has them at 13). So there are two top-20 teams in the OOC schedule. I doubt most major programs have more than 2-4 ranked opponents in their OOC schedule.

Also, Oregon has dropped out of most, if not all, preseason rankings. Even with Pritchard returning, they  barely have enough bodies to field a team.

Now a bit of perspective... We are playing five opponents that were in the tournament last year. Here's how teams finished in Kenpom / NET last year, and what quadrant opponent they would be based on those rankings:
Gonzaga - 2/2 - Quad 1
UCF (possibly play in Wooden Legacy)- 34/26 - Quad 1
Baylor - 35/34 - Quad 1
New Mexico State - 53/46 - Quad 2
Providence  (possibly play in Wooden Legacy) - 79/77 - Quad 2
Illinois - 84/105 - Quad 3
St. John's - 88/75 - Quad 2

Is it the most intense OOC schedule ever? No. Is it respectable? Certainly.

[mvpreed2]

I am ready for our OOC schedule to get a nice boost.
Playing Gonzaga every year is nice, but after St.John's and Illinois, I am not thrilled nor excited about this schedule.
I will just hope for the better as we move forward.
You can't have everything you want in your favorite program so...

Why St Johns and Illinois? Neither has been good for years.

Illinois finished 12th in the BIG 10, St Johns 7th in the Big East and they have a new coach.

Because of the narrative that they are Power 5 opponents.
No they are not competitive in their respective conferences, but for me playing them than playing a DII opponent that went to the Final Four last season (doesn't look good for US), or a mid-major who plays in a conference that you can't even name.

Play some opponents you know and grow from there.
Gonzaga/St.John's/Illinois and I believe we have Alabama and are working on something with Indiana?
That's not amazing but those five are better than what we have seen in a while.
I would also like to reschedule Florida; that matchup was pretty good in the early 2010s when we played them and they are no slouch in the SEC.

These home/home series need to extend past two years for this to really work though.
Stretch it to four years and build from there..

[KansasCityCats]

I'll post the exact same numbers that I put up in a previous thread:

Our Non-Con Strength of Schedule under Miller:
2018-19: 25
2017-18: 32
2016-17: 26
2015-16: 44
2014-15: 7
2013-14: 5
2012-13: 11
2011-12: 49
2010-11: 24
2009-10: 60 (not scheduled by Miller's staff)

Similar to the "transfer bashing", fans generally get emotional when the schedule is released...yet there's no mention of the weak OOC opponents when Selection Sunday rolls around.

The staff continues to schedule better than most Power-5 programs & I'll trust that some of the mid-majors will overachieve.