We’ve talked about the schedule ad nauseum — Patrick went Behind the Numbers, and we broke it down briefly here, among other places — but haven’t really given it the proper game-by-game breakdown it deserves. Today is that day. We’ll look at each game, how the opponent did last year, what they’re predicted to do this year, and what Jays fans can look for in the matchup.

Alabama State

Friday, November 12 – Omaha (Part of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge)

• 2009-10 Record: 16-15
• 2009-10 RPI: 275
• Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
• Series History: First Ever Meeting
• McDermott vs Alabama State: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked third in SWAC

The Cougars finished third in the Southwest Athletic Conference last year, and are picked to finish third again this year. ASU returns two starters and nine players from last season’s 16-15 team.

Senior Center Chris Duncan was named to the Preseason All-SWAC Second Team and was also named the SWAC’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The lone ASU representative on the preseason team, Duncan finished last season averaging over six points and almost four rebounds per game. He was also the team’s leading shot blocker, finishing the season with 50, good for third best in the conference.

Max Sez: Dana Altman loved trotting a rogues gallery of SWAC teams out during his tenure, and this game continues the tradition. The other tradition concerning SWAC teams — blowout wins — will also continue. This will be a nice opening night opponent though.

Northern Arizona

Sunday, November 14 – Omaha (Part of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge)

• 2009-10 Record: 14-14
• 2009-10 RPI: 197
• Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
• Series History: Creighton leads 1-0
• Last Meeting: Creighton 91, Northern Arizona 64 (12/16/1959)
• McDermott vs Northern Arizona: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked second by coaches, fourth by the media in the Big Sky Conference

Northern Arizona, led by 12th-year head coach Mike Adras, finished 14-14 in 2009-10, falling to Montana in the Big Sky quarterfinals. The Lumberjacks return four starters, including senior All-Conference guard Cameron Jones, who averaged a whopping 19.3 points per game. The Lumberjacks return nine letterwinners, including senior forward Shane Johannsen, who averaged 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds last year.

Max Sez: Game Two is a slightly better opponent. Northern Arizona is picked second in their league by the coaches; granted, its the Big Sky, which is not a great league by any stretch of the imagination, but the Lumberjacks are a decent low-major team whose RPI could approach the 150s by years end making this a nice game.

Louisiana

Wednesday, November 17 – Omaha

• 2009-10 Record: 13-17
• 2009-10 RPI: 246
• Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
• Series History: Louisiana leads 2-1
• Last Meeting: Louisiana 94, Creighton 87 (12/20/1977)
• McDermott vs Louisiana: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked fourth (out of six) in the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division

Known until this year as Louisiana-Lafayette (which is why many fans may have never heard of “Louisiana University”), the Ragin’ Cajuns are led by Randell Daigle, the Cajuns’ leading scorer from last season. The senior guard averaged 11.5 points a game and made a career-best 68 three-pointers last season. It was the second consecutive season Daigle had drained 60-plus three-pointers. His three-point shooting percentage from last year ranked fourth in the league (.386). He was named to the Sun Belt’s Preseason All-Conference Third Team this year.

Max Sez: The Ragin’ Cajuns went to the postseason five times during the last decade — the NIT in 2002 and 2003, and the NCAA Tournament in 2000, 2004 and 2005. Those latter two were later vacated due to recruiting violations, and the program is now a shadow of their former glory. And now they’ve changed their school name. No one is fooled. They’re one of the worst teams on the schedule.

Iowa State

Sunday, November 21 – Des Moines, IA (Part of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge)

• 2009-10 Record: 15-17
• 2009-10 RPI: 123
• Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
• Series History: Series tied 15-15 (Iowa State has won five straight)
• Last Meeting: Iowa State 70, Creighton 52 (1/18/1995)
• McDermott vs Iowa State: Iowa State leads 4-1
• Season Outlook: Picked 12th in the Big 12

The Cyclones are picked dead last in the Big 12 for good reason: they return just two players
who have played significant minutes and lose 76.5% of their scoring from a 15-17 team a year ago. Their backcourt is where their experience lies, and when they have success, at least early on, it will have to come through senior point guard Diante Garrett (9.2 points and 5.1 assists per game). Garrett was third in the Big 12 in assists a year ago, and will be counted on to direct an offense filled with newcomers this year.

Max Sez: Iowa State is a big-name opponent from a BCS league. They’re also absolutely terrible. They are picked to finish dead last in the Big 12, meaning that the Jays play two of the bottom three from that league. But hey, they’re BCS teams, right?

Kennesaw State

Friday, November 26 – Omaha (Part of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge)

• 2009-10 Record: 13-20
• 2009-10 RPI: 284
• Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
• Series History: First Ever Meeting
• McDermott vs Kennesaw State: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked fifth in the Atlantic Sun Conference

Head Coach Tony Ingle’s squad, who returns four starters and 65 percent of their scoring last year’s team, which compiled a 13-20 overall record and a 7-13 mark in A-Sun play,. They qualified for the A-Sun Tournament in their first year of eligibility, and made history when, as the No. 8 seed, they shocked top-seeded Lipscomb, 72-69, in the quarterfinals to become the first No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the A-Sun Tournament since 2000. Sophomore Markeith Cummings was a unanimous selection for the Preseason All A-Sun Team, after leading the team in scoring and finishing fourth in the conference and third nationally among freshmen at 17.4 points per game last season.

Max Sez: The fourth of four crappy teams on the schedule from the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge, Kennesaw State will also likely be the fourth win against said teams.

Northwestern

Sunday, November 28 – Evanston, IL

• 2009-10 Record: 20-14, 0-1 NIT
• 2009-10 RPI: 116
• Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
• Series History: Northwestern leads 2-1
• Last Meeting: Northwestern 76, Creighton 57 (12/27/1991)
• McDermott vs Northwestern: Northwestern leads 1-0
• Season Outlook: Picked sixth in the Big Ten*

* The Big Ten only releases the top three vote getters

The Wildcats’ appearance in the National Invitation Tournament a year ago was its second consecutive, marking the first time in school history that NU has made postseason appearances in back-to-back seasons. Drew Crawford became the first player in school history to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year when the media bestowed him the honor last season; Crawford averaged 10 points and 4.3 rebounds while starting all 34 games. Senior Michael Thompson enters his final season ranked 21st in school history with 1,136 career points, and second in school history with 381 career assists after averaging 14.4 points and 4 assists a game last season. And junior John Shurna set a school single-season record by scoring 619 points last season; his 362 points in conference play were also the most of any Big Ten player, and he was named the nation’s Most Improved Player by Sporting News after boosting his scoring average 10.9 points per game from his freshman season (7.3 to 18.2).

Northwestern led the Big Ten in scoring in conference play last season (68.7 ppg), marking the first time the Wildcats led the league in scoring since the 1966-67 season, and they assisted on 71.6 percent of its field goals in 2009-10 to rank second nationally (789 makes, 565 assists).

Max Sez: The tough stretch of the non-conference slate begins in Evanston. Northwestern is the only BCS team to never make the NCAA Tournament, but this group of Wildcats is the best in school history and has made the postseason two straight years. It will be three straight after this season, and if the Jays can get a win here, it will be one of their biggest chips come March.

BYU

Wednesday, December 1 – Omaha

• 2009-10 Record: 30-6, 1-1 in NCAA Tournament
• 2009-10 RPI: 23
• Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
• Series History: BYU leads 5-3
• Last Meeting: Creighton 74, BYU 64 (12/7/2002)
• McDermott vs BYU: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked second in the Mountain West

Any discussion of BYU begins and ends with Jimmer Fredette, a preseason first-team All-American who may well be the best player in college basketball. He returns for his senior season after averaging 22.1 points and 4.7 assists for last year’s 30-win Cougar team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His backcourt mate Jackson Emery may not get the national accolades, but he’s an amazing player in his own right; in the last two seasons starting together they have combined for 1,981 points, 490 assists, 229 steals, 254 three-pointers and 55 wins. Fredette is known for his scoring, getting 33 at San Diego State, 36 in the Coaches vs. Cancer game against Utah, 36 at Colorado State and 45 vs. TCU in the MWC Tournament — and a monster 49-point, nine assist, seven rebound game against Arizona where he made an incredible 9 three-pointers. Emery is known as an outstanding all-around player, with nine conference games with three or more steals. Together, they should make the Cougars one of the nation’s best teams in 2010-11.

Max Sez: BYU could well be a Top 15 team by December 1; regardless of ranking, they will be the best non-conference team to play the Jays at the Qwest Center. Jimmer Fredette may well win the national player of the year award, and if the Jays play perimeter defense like they did last year, they could lose by 20 and Fredette could break Cavel Witter’s arena scoring record. Look no further than Arizona last year for proof of what he can do when he’s hot and the opponent plays poor defense.

Nebraska

Sunday, December 5 – Lincoln, NE

• 2009-10 Record: 15-18
• 2009-10 RPI: 149
• Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
• Series History: Nebraska leads 24-19
• Last Meeting: Creighton 67, Nebraska 61 (12/6/2009)
• McDermott vs Nebraska: McDermott leads 6-2
• Season Outlook: Picked tenth in the Big 12

Nearly 40 percent of Nebraska’s total points were scored by freshmen last season, as Jorge Brian Diaz (8.8 ppg) and Christian Standhardinger (8.1 ppg) ranked third and fourth on the team in scoring; four of Nebraska’s eight top scorers by the end of last season were either true or redshirt freshmen. So there is hope in Lincoln. Given that youth, one of the keys to the Huskers’ success in 2010-11 will be the play of Lance Jeter. The 6’3″ point guard is their only senior and comes off a junior year where he started every game, averaging 7.5 points, 4.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game in his first year at Nebraska to earn a spot on the Big 12 All-Newcomer team. He ranked in the top 10 in the league in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9-to-1).

Max Sez: Kenneth “Doc” Sadler’s fifth Nebraska team is picked to finish 10th; with the impending move to the Big 10 and to the new Haymarket Arena, his seat is getting awfully warm. Enjoy heckling him while you can, Jays fans.

St. Joseph’s

Saturday, December 11 – Omaha

• 2009-10 Record: 11-20
• 2009-10 RPI: 184
• Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
• Series History: St. Joseph’s leads 4-3
• Last Meeting: Creighton 69, St. Joseph’s 58 (12/6/2008)
• McDermott vs St. Joseph’s: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked sixth in the Atlantic-10

The Hawks had a down year in 2009‐10, especially by the standards that Phil Martelli has established for the program. He brought in the 25th ranked recruiting class in the country, though, and two of those newcomers — freshmen C.J. Aiken and Langston Galloway — were named to the 2010-11 Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Rookie Team and should make the Hawks a much more dangerous opponent this year. Aiken is a 6’9″ forward who was the Pennsylvania Class AAAA Player of the Year in 2010, when he averaged 16.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.5 blocked shots. Galloway is a 6’2″ guard who averaged 26.2 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 steals at his high school in Louisiana.

Max Sez: Since Xavier is too chicken to continue playing the Jays, its nice that another traditionally solid A-10 team is on the schedule. Problem is, St. Joes had a down year last year and figures to be only slightly better this year. By next year when the Jays return to Philly, they could be awfully good though.

Idaho State

Saturday, December 18 – Omaha

• 2009-10 Record: 7-22
• 2009-10 RPI: 305
• Starters Returning/Lost: 1/4
• Series History: Creighton leads 5-2
• Last Meeting: Creighton 77, Idaho State 66 (12/6/1971)
• McDermott vs Idaho State: McDermott leads 1-0
• Season Outlook: Picked eighth in the Big Sky Conference

Idaho State loses four starters from an awful team a year ago; the lone returning starter is Broderick Gilchrest who averaged 15.5 points a game last year and earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky honors while playing nearly 36 minutes a game. Also returning is Deividas Busma, a 7-foot, 240 pound senior. Busma only played in seven games last year before missing the rest of the season with an injury but is healthy and is expected to give them a strong post presence. Backing up Busma will be Kamil Gawrzydek, a 6-11, 260 pound junior college transfer from North Platte Community College; also on the bench is 7’4″ — yes, seven-foot-four (!) — Jakub Kusmieruk, a transfer from Central Florida who is sitting out his transfer season.

Max Sez: 7’4″? Really? That’s insane. Idaho State is awful, so I don’t know what else to say except … 7’4″?

Western Illinois

Monday, December 20 – Omaha

• 2009-10 Record: 13-17
• 2009-10 RPI: 280
• Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
• Series History: Creighton leads 2-0
• Last Meeting: Creighton 96, Western Illinois 50 (11/20/2000)
• McDermott vs Western Illinois: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked seventh in the Summit League

Western Illinois returns two starters and nine letterwinners off last year’s 13-17 team that finished in a tie for seventh in the Summit. Junior guard Ceola Clark led the Leathernecks last year with 14.2 points, 87 assists and 72 steals, and was named by various preseason publications to the All-Summit League team. A First Team selection last year, Clark was also voted as the League’s ‘Defensive Player of the Year’. The Leathernecks are coached by former Bradley coach Jim Molinari, who had a 174-152 (.534) record over eleven seasons and guided the Braves to the postseason six times – five National Invitation Tournament appearances and the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

Max Sez: The second of three games scheduled purely for the purpose of getting Gregory Echenique some game action once he’s eligible on December 17, Western Illinois is intriguing because they’re coached by a familiar foe — Jim Molinari, whose Bradley teams were known for solid fundamental defensive play that kept them in games. This could be a tougher game than people think.

Samford

Wednesday, December 22 – Omaha

• 2009-10 Record: 11-20
• 2009-10 RPI: 262
• Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
• Series History: First Ever Meeting
• McDermott vs Samford: First Ever Meeting
• Season Outlook: Picked sixth (out of six) in North Division of the SoCon

Samford, which is in the midst of its third season as a member of the SoCon, returns three starters and an additional nine letterwinners from last year’s squad. The Bulldogs also boast a pair of talented redshirt freshmen, as well as a trio of highly-touted newcomers. In 2009-10, the Bulldogs concluded a tumultuous year with an 11-20 overall record and a 5-13 mark against conference opponents. Samford finished its second season in the SoCon as the fifth-place team in the North Division. Their leading returning scorer is Josh Davis, who averaged 12.5 points and 3.9 rebounds last year.

Max Sez: The final non-conference tuneup comes against Samford, and is the perfect game to end the pre-MVC portion of the slate with. They’re a team the Jays ought to beat handily while preparing for the MVC opener in Normal.