Coach Lowe delivers one of nation’s toughest OOC basketball schedules

10-11 Basketball Sidney Lowe20

Back when NC State’s basketball schedule was originally released, I noticed some fans referencing/complaining about the out of conference schedule.   Making a subjective observation in a vacuum without comparing the relative strength of the schedule just doesn’t add up.  Who am I (or an fan) to boldly proclaim the magnitude of strength or weakness of a schedule without taking some time to compare the schedule to others.

Of course I know that some people are going to complain about anything, but I didn’t necessarily understand the complaints at the time.  Now, I really don’t understand the complaints as Sports Illustrated has ranked NC State’s Out of Conference schedule as the 7th toughest in all of college basketball.

SI.com HomeAs we highlighted in this entry earlier in the week, NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule also projects to be exceptionally difficult this season.  So, when you marry these schedules together, it appears that Coach Lowe did not do himself any favors on the scheduling front in this all-important year for his future at the helm of the NC State Basketball program.

The text in between the lines below is quoted from Sports Illustrated.  (Link)

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7. N.C. State

ROAD
12/1 at Wisconsin
12/4 at Syracuse

NEUTRAL
11/18 vs. East Carolina (Charleston Classic); 11/19 vs. Mason/Charlotte (Charleston Classic); 11/21 vs. Georgetown/Coastal Carolina/USC/Wofford (Charleston Classic)

HOME
12/19 vs. Arizona
1/11 vs. San Diego

In the first four days of December, we should find out whether this Wolfpack team — newly loaded with elite freshman point guard Ryan Harrow and power forward C.J. Leslie — is capable of playing its way onto the NCAA bubble. Wisconsin’s Kohl Center is as difficult to win in as any ACC venue, and Syracuse has the front line (in Fab Melo, Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph) to do battle with State’s Leslie, Tracy Smith and Richard Howell.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/luke_winn/10/05/schedules/1.html#ixzz11WEryz5E

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10-11 Basketball Sidney Lowe

20 Responses to Coach Lowe delivers one of nation’s toughest OOC basketball schedules

  1. tvp1 11/18/2010 at 11:19 AM #

    ” is capable of playing its way onto the NCAA bubble”

    I certainly hope that we aren’t just trying to “play our way onto the bubble” this season.

    Road games against tough opponents are great in college basketball. Huge upside and basically no downside.

  2. ncsuinpa 11/18/2010 at 11:46 AM #

    And in case you’re wondering about San Diego. Is that the same team that beat Gonzaga the other night?

  3. Prowling Woofie 11/18/2010 at 12:02 PM #

    Given what’s riding on this season for Lowe and staff, I applaud his willingness to go after some OOC heavyweights, especially in light of having the toughest of any ACC schedule this year.

    Will only make this team tougher in Feb-Mar.

    Good job, Sid !

  4. PackerInRussia 11/18/2010 at 12:12 PM #

    I like a hard OOC schedule. Objectively speaking, I think there is a lot of upside. If the team is good, they get to prove it early by passing some tough tests and that gives them confidence, helps them improve more, and gets them national attention. Also, I’d imagine that losing some (and maybe winning some of the hard ones also) while playing a tough schedule helps the RPI (and makes you look better in the eyes of the tourney committee) more than winning a lot of easy games. If the team is not good, why mask it with a weak schedule? If they can’t handle good teams out of conference, why would they suddenly have a chance in conference?

  5. wolfie91 11/18/2010 at 12:29 PM #

    After years of a not so great OOC schedule, I am glad to see it. And it may very well say that Lowe is looking to build up the program and is not constantly keeping an eye on what will help him keep his job.

  6. ruffles31 11/18/2010 at 12:57 PM #

    NCSUINPA, that was San Diego State that beat Gonzaga, not San Diego. San Diego is in Gonzaga’s conference, the WCC, while SD State is in the Mountain West Conference I think.

  7. wufpup76 11/18/2010 at 1:20 PM #

    The staff / program should be commended for putting these games on the schedule.

    We don’t know how the Charleston Classic will work out as far as who we’ll play, but this schedule sure beats playing 12 teams at home with RPI’s of 250+ .

  8. StateFans 11/18/2010 at 1:42 PM #

    tvp1,

    I picked up the same thing as you did about the playing our way on to the NCAA bubble. That misses the mark. We should be playing our way into the tournament. Not this on the bubble stuff.

  9. tractor57 11/18/2010 at 2:04 PM #

    Funny I missed ASU .

  10. packof81 11/18/2010 at 2:38 PM #

    No point in loading up on cream puffs. Give ’em a chance to shine. Maybe they will.

  11. wolfbuff 11/18/2010 at 2:43 PM #

    If I’m not mistaken the AD makes the schedule. And in some cases (such as the ACC/Big Ten Challenge) the conference makes the schedule. So, I don’t believe technially that Lowe made this schedule. Plus, as someone above mentioned, you never know who you’re going to play when you sign up for one of these pre-season tournaments. Either way, I think it’s a good thing. Add that to the always tough ACC schedule, and the boys cannot skate into the dance this year. They’ll have to earn it.

  12. BJD95 11/18/2010 at 2:43 PM #

    I take exception with several points here. First and foremost, the selection committee process clearly rewards teams for playing strong schedules, especially OOC. As stated earlier, there’s almost zero downside. But lots of opportunity.

    Weak scheduling is only a coach “doing himself a favor” if he’s trying to make himself look good with meaningless overall win totals and high NIT seeding. In the Debbie Yow “era of accountability,” that dog won’t hunt anymore.

    And enough already with the groaning about a “tough” ACC schedule. We have no way of knowing that yet – and yes, the selection committee also takes note of that if it does turn out tough or soft (ask Seth Greenburg). All we can tell in the early going is that Duke is really good, and that Wake is really, really bad. We play both “bookends” twice. The rest in the middle is a mashup, really.

  13. rky 11/18/2010 at 2:45 PM #

    I gave that ‘playing onto the bubble’ line a WTF as soon as I read it, too. I guess until we prove differently, that is an unfortunately common perception.

  14. VaWolf82 11/18/2010 at 3:24 PM #

    First and foremost, the selection committee process clearly rewards teams for playing strong schedules, especially OOC.

    We may be saying the same thing, but my take:

    The selection committee selects teams who have BEATEN other good teams. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t matter whether those teams are in conference or out of conference (Reference Herb’s 5 NCAA teams at State). ALSO….losses to good teams do not appear to hurt your standing with the selection committee.

    Conversely, weak OOC schedules are punished by the selection committee when the opportunity arises. Several teams in recent years (VT twice, ASU, and Penn St) were left home. Even if you make the field, your seeding will have been damaged by a weak OOC schedule.

    The Selection Committee has made some recent changes saying that end of year finish has no special meaning. So far, there is no data to say exactly what that means. So ignoring a possible shift if tournament selection philosophy going forward, OOC wins in Nov/Dec have not meant as much as wins in Feb/March over the last 10 years or so that I’ve been watching the selection process closely.

    Bottom line:
    – Play as many good teams as you can;
    – Get at least several good wins throughout the year;
    – Don’t stumble in Feb/March

  15. packalum44 11/18/2010 at 3:38 PM #

    If we can get 2 of 4 from these: Arizona, G-Town, Syracuse, Wisconsin…we’ll be in great shape come selection Sunday. No way we do worse than 8-8 in ACC play IMO. Can’t wait to watch the boys tonight.

  16. ryebread 11/18/2010 at 4:15 PM #

    With as weak as the ACC is this season, the league won’t carry teams to a bid alone. The bottom will clearly hurt the overall league’s perspective because it is historically bad. A team’s total body of work will be considered and OOC will be very key.

    I love the schedule. We have a chance to play our way in. If we take care of business, then we get in. If we flounder around non-conference, then we won’t. We won’t be VT last year though.

  17. Wufpacker 11/18/2010 at 5:50 PM #

    “If I’m not mistaken the AD makes the schedule.”

    I’m sure final approval must go through the office of each school’s respective AD, and the conference office does have some say so in certain situations as well, but I believe by and large the schedule consists of opponents that the head coach puts on a “short list” of sorts, and the AD does the leg work.

    Putting it another way, it’s no accident that NCSU’s OOC schedule was creampuff city for about 10 seasons (’96-’97 thru ’05-’06) even though it likely wasn’t the coach (at the time) who was on the phone setting up the OOC games using a who’s who list of RPI 150+.

  18. PoppaJohn 11/18/2010 at 8:55 PM #

    Sid’s doing what we want. Bringing in the recruits and upping the quality of the schedule. Now he’s got to do something with it.

  19. wolfonthehill 11/18/2010 at 9:57 PM #

    After watching the 2nd half of that game, I’m going with 10-6 in the league. We don’t have good guards – we have great ones… and guard play wins in college ball.

  20. wolfy85 11/19/2010 at 12:02 AM #

    I don’t think the importance of this can be overlooked, this is huge progress. There is a reason good teams play a lot of tough OOC opponents early every year(Duke comes to mind). When you have talent (clearly we do) and your good enough to beat some decent teams (It looks like we will be), playing tough opponents will allow us to be ready to compete on a high level when the ACC schedule rolls around. This hopefully translates into working out the kinks and winning a couple more conference games than we otherwise would. Also, it looks like their are some really bad teams in the ACC this year, WF/GT/BC are losing to Universities/Colleges I’ve never heard of or wasn’t smart enough to attend. I’m really excited with what i see right now.

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