SEC changes underscore importance of nonleague scheduling

[Biggus Piggus]

Memo to Mike Anderson and the Arkansas Athletic Department:

Last season's nonconference men's basketball schedule ranked in the worst 10% in college basketball.

This does not change merely by playing road games at SMU and Clemson. You also lose the three high-major games from the Maui tournament from the schedule.

The following non-league opponents from the latest schedule were absolutely horrible:

SIU Edwardsville
Southeastern Louisiana
Savannah State
Tennessee Martin
South Alabama
Texas-San Antonio

and on the same schedule, High Point had a poor RPI despite winning a division of the Big South. This was because the Big South barely got one of its 12 teams rated in the top 200. No one in the top 150.

Playing anyone in the following conferences does more RPI damage than the win is worth, because of how bad these leagues are in overall strength:

SWAC
MEAC
Southern
Southland
America East
Big South

Six untouchable conferences out of 32. We're talking about 70 teams out of 351. Just walk away from them. Just walk away.

The only good opponents from these six conferences last season would have been Stephen F. Austin (32-3), Vermont (22-11), Davidson (20-13), and North Carolina Central (28-6). Everybody else was far from the top 150. What it took for SFA to get a decent RPI -- go virtually undefeated.

It is important to throw the crap off the schedule because of what is happening to the SEC.

Tennessee was a top 10 team in any objective ranking system. Missouri won 23 games and ranked in the top 80. Both will be crippled with personnel losses and coaching changes. Mizzou had two four-star recruits before Frank Haith left, but what will become of them now?

The only teams in the SEC that had top 25 recruiting classes were Kentucky, Florida and Missouri. Alabama got enough help to raise some hope there, but the coach only kept his job because the AD didn't want to lay out any money for buyouts. Bruce Pearl has little to work with at Auburn. Andy Kennedy at Ole Miss has resorted to recruiting on the fringe. It's hard to take Mississippi State basketball seriously anymore. They lost 14 of their last 15 games, with no freshmen in their top six. Rick Ray had no outside shooting, so he signed power forwards. South Carolina, with four usable big men, signed three guards.

They're Kentucky: Kentucky
Could improve (but won't be really good): Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama, Vanderbilt
Likely worse: Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss
Hard to get worse: Auburn, South Carolina, Mississippi State

The SEC is going to be a mishmash in 2015, and Arkansas has a serious opportunity to rise to the top. But it is going to be hard for the SEC to stay even in the top six conferences. The Razorbacks cannot afford another schedule that includes six or seven opponents from awful-RPI conferences. Scheduling that way will show up in the form of fewer conference wins and lower NCAAT seeding.

[Smokehouse]

Just walk away.

[hdturner]

Need to schedule at least 5 team that in NCAA/NIT this team

[Smokehouse]

Be nice if we could get a Big-10/SEC challenge along with the Big-12/SEC. Play a Big 12 team in Dallas, play a Big 10 team in St. Louis.

[Biggus Piggus]

I AM GLAD YOU RECOGNIZED THAT.

One of my favorite movies.

[HawgAdvocate]

Memo to Mike Anderson and the Arkansas Athletic Department:

Last season's nonconference men's basketball schedule ranked in the worst 10% in college basketball.

Hopefully all those fancy blue stars under your handle will force the remaining holdouts to comprehend this fact about last season's NCSOS and how it relates to helping us rise up among the other bubble teams.