2014-15 Wyoming Basketball Schedule

[kansasCowboy]

Just looking at it today, I could see anywhere from 20-11 (9-9) to 23-8 (12-6) and a worst case 15-16 (4-11)

 

[JimmyDimes]

Just looking at it today, I could see anywhere from 20-11 (9-9) to 23-8 (12-6) and a worst case 15-16 (4-11)

If Nance comes back healthy, I'm not sure we see 6 conference losses. But, that is just me.

 

[WyoExpat]

I know some schools with a bigger Christmas break will do a brief winter session where you can knock out a 3-4 credit hour class in 2 weeks. Don't think UW does this though.

Yes they do.

Football players take it to keep their GPA up.

They are also available during the summer--and they are not only the type of class that will help resuscitate a GPA.

 

[NowherePoke]

I think it is a very solid schedule and one that can get us into the tournament if we take care of business. Of course I plan on use winning the conference so of course we will make the tournament. It is too bad that we have so many big games before school starts back up but the if the team is playing well then the students should come back early for the games. I know I did when I was in school during the early 2000's. Plus hopefully the rest of the fanbase is starting to come around and we can carry them through those games. Win and it won't matter much.
If you look close enough every team can have a reason to bitch about their schedule so I don't think it is a way to screw us over. UNLV has to play us in laramie on NYE sandwiched between Arizona and Kansas. Thats a dangerous game and they could be looking past us.

I agree. For Shyatt's fourth year in rebuilding this program, this is a good, solid schedule. If the Pokes take care of business, this schedule can get them a Dance ticket. We'll see if Mr. Nance's claim that this team is "special" holds true. He sees these guys nearly every day, so he is obviously confident in the overall makeup so far. Of course, Larry will need to be 100%, physically, for this team to really excel.

We'll hold Papa Shy to his promise to continue to upgrade the schedule as the program continues to ascend. As noted in the past, many/most "power" conference teams WILL NOT come to Laramie for any amount of money -- and it takes lotsa money to even get others' attention.

In regards to the last section, I don't think the lack of "power" conference schools on the schedule is as big of an issue as just the lack of quality opponents (loosely defined IMO as schools likely to finish in the Top 100 of the RPI). While there is certainly an argument to be made about the importance of having an attractive home schedule for the casual fan (i.e. opponents with name recognition), for this particular season I am more concerned about building a schedule that builds a strong SOS and appeals to the selection committee, regardless of whether or not the casual fan recognizes the opponent.

That means a couple of different things:

1. Scheduling top quartile teams from low to mid major conferences. NMSU and Southern are great examples here, particularly NMSU as they are the top program in their conference structurally (budget, facilities, history, etc.) and are likely to consistently be at the top of the WAC. Now, if we were talking about Shyatt's first season I would argue the opposite. The great thing about teams like NMSU and Southern is that they are going to put up a strong W-L in their conference and help your SOS/RPI. The bad thing is that they just might beat you and the casual fan will have no appreciation for their true ability so the perception hit is larger than it should be (same thing that "power" schools would face when scheduling Wyoming). During Shyatt's first season there was no reasonable expectation that the Pokes would compete for an at-large bid, so the premium would be on scheduling wins, not SOS. Should be the opposite now.


2. Participating in a quality neutral court tournament. Shyatt is well respected and the MWC is a legit conference. I don't believe it should be difficult for Wyoming to be invited to a quality event. It doesn't have to be Maui. There are any number of these tourneys and they could give the Pokes an opportunity to earn a quality win on a neutral court which would look great to the committee.



Look, if at the end of the year we are wondering if our schedule is holding us back from a NCAA bid, that will be a good problem to have as it will have meant we won a lot of games and put ourselves in a position we haven't been in for quite a while. So, I am appreciative that we actually have a reason to care about the schedule again. If it all comes together like it could, then I would just hate to see the accomplishments be diminished due to the presence of a weak schedule.

 

[stymeman]

CU and New Mexico St, can't wait for those 2

 

[NowherePoke]

Random tidbit I came across while looking at the roster's of our OOC opponents for the upcoming year, check out the major's for the Montana State Players:

http://www.msubobcats.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball



10 out of their 13 players major in "University Studies"

Compare that to Wyoming, where there is a broad mix including Criminal Justice, Sociology, Psychology, Communications, Marketing, Business Administration, Mathematics, and TBD for the incoming freshman.

I will let you draw your own conclusions.