Creighton fans are salivating at the 2013-14 conference season in men’s basketball when the Bluejays join the Big East. Games against new conference foes Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette, St. John’s, Seton Hall, DePaul, Providence, Butler, and Xavier will make for a challenging conference season.
While things are still being put into place for that gauntlet of games, Creighton has quietly put together a non-conference schedule that is mostly in place already for next season.
The Jays will play in this year’s Anaheim Classic (Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 28, 29 and Dec. 1). The event announced seven of its eight teams last November. Yesterday, CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman tweeted that Cal State-Fullerton is the eighth team to round out the exempt tourney.
Anaheim Classic has Creighton, Miami, Arizona State, Marquette, San Diego State, Charleston, George Washington and Cal State Fullerton.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS) May 2, 2013
While some were hoping for a team like Kentucky or Illinois to round out the field, it makes sense that Fullerton joins the already strong group as the representative of the Big West Conference that sponsors the tourney along with ESPN.
San Diego State ultimately deciding to stay in the Mountain West conference instead of joining the Big West opened the door for the Titans, who finished last season eighth in the 10-team Big West.
This tournament features a twist that pertains to Creighton. Both the Bluejays and Marquette appear in the field, despite being members of the same conference.
Obviously, the organizers brought the Bluejays in before CU made its move to the Big East. The conference had to submit a waiver to the NCAA so that two teams from the same conference can be part of this tournament.
Organizers will likely try to put them on opposite sides of the bracket, but it isn’t always a guarantee. Oklahoma and West Virginia both played in the Old Spice Classic last season as a part of the Big 12 and ended up facing each other in the second round.
Of all the tournaments announced so far, the Anaheim Classic is tied with this season’s Puerto Rico Tip-off that includes at least four top 35 RPI teams from a year ago.
The Anaheim Classic is a bracketed tournament that allows Creighton to play three games that only count as one against the schedule.
The rest of the non-conference schedule so far:
- Speaking of the Big West, the Bluejays will be playing at Long Beach State, a matchup that has been rumored to take place sometime the week after the Anaheim Classic. This is a return game from the memorable 2012 BracketBusters matchup when Long Beach State came to Omaha.
- The Bluejays continue two multiple game series with Tulsa and St. Joseph’s. Creighton will host Tulsa at the CLink this season in the third of a four game series. The Jays will head to Philadelphia for a game against St. Joe’s.
- The Cal Bears will come to the CenturyLink Center this season as Bluejays complete a home and home series with them.
- The Nebraska Cornhuskers also come to Omaha. The in-state rivalry game shifts back to Creighton’s home court.
- As for buy games, Alcorn State from the SWAC is on the schedule. This game was actually pushed back to this season from last season so that the Bluejays could play North Texas to open last season.
- St. Mary’s should be visiting CU for a game. The Bluejays played the Gaels in Moraga in February as part of the last BracketBusters event. In the past, there has been some leniency as to when teams could return BracketBusters games (see: Loyola, below). However, the rules this year stated that the games would be returned in the 2013-14 season.
- The Bluejays might be playing Loyola in Chicago. Creighton hosted the Ramblers in the 2010 BracketBusters, which meant a return game should have been played in Chicago during the 2011-12 season. Due to some scheduling conflicts with Loyola remodeling their home arena and Creighton’s own scheduling conflicts with open dates, the game was reportedly pushed back to the 2014-15 season. Depending on how the schedule shakes out for this upcoming season, the Bluejays could be playing the Ramblers either this season or may be pushed back until the 2015-16 season. Creighton’s 2014-15 season already features a lot of road games, which could be why this keeps floating around. It could also be ironic that the first MVC team Creighton plays after their move to the Big East would be their replacement.
- Creighton could still add games, depending on how things turn out with St. Mary’s and Loyola.
The schedule is looking pretty good for the Bluejays so far. The tough non-conference slate to go along with the new Big East schedule should help build a resume that in years past would be hard to solidify due to the perception of the Missouri Valley Conference. With Doug McDermott returning, the hope is that there is one more big game put on the schedule that is made for TV to showcase McDermott, the Bluejays and the move to the Big East before conference play starts. Stay tuned.
For a complete look at Creighton’s non-conference schedule as well as the schedules for the other Big East schools, check our scheduling page for more information.