On Tuesday, Creighton announced their non-conference schedule, always a highly-anticipated event as the season draws near. This year, they did it a bit differently, using Twitter to announce one game every ten minutes, from 11AM to just before 1PM. While some expressed their annoyance at the drawn-out process, they appeared to be in the minority as the vast majority of fans I talked to thought it was an exciting way to add some drama and excitement to the process.
The schedule itself is light on marquee home games, but is far better overall than last year with several opportunities for solid wins. Yes, almost all of those opportunities come away from Omaha, but when you’re a mid-major team coming off a CBI bid, you have to take opportunities wherever you can, even if its on the road.
Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern from the Big Ten will not be picked to finish in the top tier of that league, but could provide a nice RPI boost and if one or more of them surprise, they could even become “good” wins come March. Tulsa, San Diego State and UAB lose a lot from their postseason qualifying teams of a year ago, but should be solid Top 100 teams with potential to be even better. St. Joseph’s scuffled to a 11-19 record but as we saw last December in Omaha, has a boatload of sophomore and junior talent. That talent has a full year of tough A-10 experience under their belt since we last saw them — and they were a handful then, as you’ll recall.
WBR’s Paul Liberty, along with several other local media members, talked to Greg McDermott about the schedule yesterday after practice. His thoughts can be found in this video, courtesy of GoCreighton.com:
Let’s analyze the schedule, game by game, with a quick look at each of the teams. First up, some quick stats:
Average RPI of teams on the home schedule: 227
Average RPI of teams on the road schedule: 72
Breakdown of home/road/neutral games: 6/4/1
Rockhurst (Exhibition)
A Jesuit school from Kansas City, Rockhurst competed in NAIA until 1999 when its programs moved to NCAA DII. For an exhibition game, you hope for two things from an opponent: a team that can compete enough to provide a solid tuneup, and a school of regional interest. Rockhurst fits the bill on both accounts, and their roster includes two Omaha natives to boot.
Fun fact: Rockhurst is the alma mater of George Wendt (“Norm” from Cheers).
North Carolina A&T Aggies
Friday, November 11 >> CenturyLink Center Omaha
2010-11 RPI: 232
2010-11 Record: 15-17, 9-7 MEAC
Starters Returning: 4
Series History: Creighton leads 1-0
Last meeting: 11/18/2001, Creighton won 72-51
Quick Hit: The Aggies are the first (and on paper, best) of the three opponents to visit Omaha as part of the Dale Howard Classic, which is the tourney that culminates with a game versus Iowa.
Chicago State Cougars
Sunday, November 13 >> CenturyLink Center Omaha
2010-11 RPI: 339
2010-11 Record: 6-26, 3-9 Great West
Starters Returning: Zero
Series History: Creighton leads 1-0
Last meeting: 01/18/1987, Creighton won 74-65
Quick Hit: The Cougars literally can’t be any worse than they were a year ago, when KenPom rated them 344th out of 345 teams. Well, I guess they could be one spot worse, but you know what I mean. On the bright side, their entire starting five from last year’s disaster has moved on, and RealTimeRPI had them rated slightly higher at 339.
UAB Blazers
Wednesday, November 16 >> Bartow Arena, Birmingham, AL
2010-11 RPI: 40
2010-11 Record: 22-9, 12-4 Conference USA
NCAA Tournament: 0-1
Starters Returning: 3 (But top two scorers have departed)
Series History: N/A
Last meeting: Teams have never met
Quick Hit: Former Indiana coach and Bob Knight successor Mike Davis has built a solid program in Birmingham, taking them to the NCAA Tournament a year ago despite the protestations of Jay Bilas and others. This is part of a home-and-home, and the Blazers will return the game to Omaha in 2012-13.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Sunday, November 20 >> Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA
2010-11 RPI: 169
2010-11 Record: 11-20, 4-14 Big Ten
Starters Returning: 4
Series History: Iowa leads 14-10
Last meeting: 3/15/2001, Iowa won 69-56 (NCAA Tourney First Round)
Quick Hit: The Hawkeyes are in Year Two of their massive rebuilding program under Fran McCaffery, and should be an improved team with only Jarryd Cole departing from their starting five of a year ago. They’re a year away from contending for a postseason bid, but should wind up in the Top 125 of the RPI ratings, making this a great addition to the schedule. Of prime concern to Creighton fans, however, is whether there will be courtside monitors this year…
Campbell Fighting Camels
Friday, November 25 >> CenturyLink Center Omaha
2010-11 RPI: 286
2010-11 Record: 12-19, 6-14 Atlantic Sun
Starters Returning: 3
Series History: N/A
Last meeting: Teams have never met
Quick Hit: I can’t imagine you’d want to tangle with a fighting camel, because they’re pretty big. Luckily the Fighting Camels are another of the mediocre teams sent to Omaha for the Dale Howard Classic, and shouldn’t be nearly as formidable as an actual fighting camel.
San Diego State Aztecs
Wednesday, November 30 >> Viejas Arena, San Diego, CA
2010-11 RPI: 4
2010-11 Record: 34-3, 14-2 Mountain West
NCAA Tournament: 2-1
Starters Returning: 1
Series History: 3-1
Last meeting: 1/3/1974, Creighton won 79-61
Quick Hit: Gone are Kawhi Leonard, D.J. Gay, Malcolm Thomas and Billy White, the core of last year’s national powerhouse that advanced to the Sweet 16. Steve Fisher’s team should still be one of the top teams in the Mountain West, though, making this (in my opinion) the best game on the non-conference slate. This is part of the MWC/MVC Challenge, like last year’s game with BYU in Omaha, so there is no return game.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Sunday, December 4 >> CenturyLink Center Omaha
2010-11 RPI: 85
2010-11 Record: 19-13, 7-9 Big 12
NIT: 0-1
Starters Returning: 4
Series History: Nebraska leads 25-19
Last meeting: 12/5/2010, Nebraska won 59-54
Quick Hit: Creighton has won seven straight against the Huskers in Omaha, dating to 1997. Nebraska will struggle to replace point guard and catalyst Lance Jeter, making it tough to foresee a repeat of their NCAA bubble-status of a year ago, but should still finish in the Top 150 of the final RPI ratings.
St. Joseph’s Hawks
Saturday, December 10 >> Hagan Arena, Philadelphia, PA
2010-11 RPI: 165
2010-11 Record: 11-22, 4-12 Atlantic 10
Starters Returning: 4
Series History: Tied 4-4
Last meeting: 12/11/2010, Creighton won 82-75
Quick Hit: Phil Martelli’s group of underclassmen who nearly pulled off the win in Omaha last year are a season older, and are poised to move up the A-10 standings. Though this is the Jays’ second trip to St. Joe’s in recent years, it will be their first game in the newly renovated Hagen Arena which opened in 2009.
Houston Baptist Huskies
Saturday, December 17 >> CenturyLink Center Omaha
2010-11 RPI: 345
2010-11 Record: 5-26, 2-10 Great West
Starters Returning: 2
Series History: Creighton leads 2-0
Last meeting: 12/22/2009, Creighton won 85-56
Quick Hit: The Huskies were the single worst team in all of Division 1 last year, and probably won’t be much better this year. Between Chicago State and Houston Baptist, two of the ten worst teams in America will visit the Qwest, er, CenturyLink this year. Thanks, Dale Howard Classic!
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Monday, December 19 >> Reynolds Center, Tulsa, OK
2010-11 RPI: 80
2010-11 Record: 19-13, 11-5 Conference USA
Starters Returning: 4
Series History: Tulsa leads 43-32
Last meeting: 12/19/2000, Creighton won 86-76
Quick Hit: One of Creighton’s oldest rivals from the days when Tulsa was in the MVC, the Jays and Hurricane meet for the first time in a decade. This is a home-and-home, and Tulsa will play in Omaha in 2012-13.
Northwestern Wildcats
Thursday, December 22 >> CenturyLink Center Omaha
2010-11 RPI: 76
2010-11 Record: 20-14, 7-11 Big Ten
NIT: 2-1
Starters Returning: 4
Series History: Northwestern leads 3-1
Last meeting: 11/28/2010, Northwestern won 65-52
Quick Hit: Leading scorer Michael Thompson is gone, but it was John Shurna who destroyed the Jays in Evanston a year ago — and Shurna is still around. So are the other three starters from a team that won two games in the NIT a year ago. With apologies to Nebraska, this is the highlight of the home schedule, at least for me.
***
So, yes, this schedule is light on marquee home games, but there are four really tough road games on this slate. Taken as a whole, the schedule is one that should give the Jays the ability to be in the conversation for an at-large bid come March IF they can win the games and take care of business in the conference season. That’s all anyone can ask for, isn’t it?