Sun Belt takes on schedules
Posted on Wednesday, October 25, 2006
LAFAYETTE, La. — When it comes to men’s basketball scheduling, all Sun Belt Conference members do not play on an even field.
For financial reasons, most schools need to play guarantee games — nonconference road games, usually against a stronger opponent, for a substantial amount of money — to support the athletic program. For other schools, guarantee games aren’t necessary.
“I think from a league standpoint, we’re all trying to go from playing more road games to more home games. But in order to do that, you can’t get bought too much,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said Tuesday at Sun Belt Conference media days in Lafayette, La.
Scheduling was a hot topic this summer, and it carried over into this week’s event. Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters said the conference needs to improve on its No. 18 ranking in conference Rating Percentage Index last season.
The RPI is a scale used by the NCAA Selection Committee to rank Division I basketball teams by their performance in light of strength of schedule. Low RPI ranking numbers denote strong teams; and high numbers, weaker ones. Conference RPI is determined by averaging schools.
Of the 13 Sun Belt schools, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Denver are no longer playing guarantee games, which Waters thinks needs to happen across the board in order to improve the conference’s RPI and image. UALR is playing guarantee games at Minnesota and Texas A&M, while Arkansas State is playing at Memphis and in a tournament with a guarantee.
“The most important thing when it comes to scheduling is structure. It’s not about who you play,” Western Kentucky Coach Darrin Horn said. “We’ve been able to work it out without playing guarantees, and that gives you an opportunity to at least have some success.”
That doesn’t mean Western Kentucky is playing an easy nonconference schedule. The Hilltoppers’ schedule ranks second-toughest in the Sun Belt Conference when factoring in opponents’ RPI and home and away games. Middle Tennessee ranks first. The Blue Raiders signed a five-year deal to play Tennessee. Three games will be played at Knoxville, Tenn., one at Nashville, Tenn., and one at Murfreesboro, Tenn.
“We were playing three or four [guarantee games ] when I first got there. I know some schools can’t do it, but that’s the biggest thing out there. That’s the direction we’ve got to go,” Middle Tennessee Coach Kermit Davis said. “And if you do play guarantee games, you’ve got to turn that money into buying teams to play at home.”
The other 10 are just trying to make the best of their situations. And some don’t really have a choice. Arkansas State’s schedule is put together by Athletic Director Dean Lee.
“That takes a lot off my shoulders,” Indians Coach Dickey Nutt said. “My philosophy is that we’ll play anybody in the country — whoever wants to go to Jonesboro, Ark. I don’t think it’s fair that we continue to take our players out on the road without these teams coming to Jonesboro. But a lot of times you can’t control that. Some teams are just not going to play in Jonesboro.”
Others, like New Orleans Coach Buzz Williams, who was hired in June, were handed a schedule. New Orleans will play three nonconference home games and has guarantee games at Florida State, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
“Obviously, I didn’t come up with that schedule,” said Williams, who was an assistant coach at Texas A&M last season. “It’s real simple. It’s like recruiting. You want to sign the best player you can. And you want to schedule the best situations you can. But it’s hard to do.”
Conference newcomer Louisiana-Monroe plays only one nonconference home game against an NCAA Division I school (Northwestern State ) this season. The Warhawks play guarantee games at LSU, Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss.
UALR is paying for Belmont, Tennessee-Martin and McNeese State to come to the Jack Stephens Center this season. UALR also has to return a home game to Texas State, which played at the Stephens Center last season. The Trojans also started home-andhome series with Centenary and Tulsa. UALR preferred to start the Tulsa series at home this season, but chose to start at Tulsa rather than lose out on a potential home game next season.
“You have to be flexible. Starting that series at Tulsa put us in a situation where we play a lot of games on the road. But it will pay dividends next year,” Shields said.
Guarantees received by Sun Belt schools to play at SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten schools can vary from the $ 20, 000 range to nearly $ 100, 000. Arkansas State got $ 90, 000 to play in a three-day tournament at Old Dominion, but that’s not the norm. Typically, Sun Belt schools get between $ 40, 000 and $ 60, 000 to play. Those who wait longer to strike deals can get more money.
The results rarely change. Sun Belt teams went 0-18 in guarantee games last season.
“Our first thing is that we have to bring in so much money for the athletic department,” Louisiana-Monroe Coach Orlando Early said. “We try to figure out the math. How much money do we have to bring in ? Then we try to find games we don’t have to fly to.”
Across the NCAA, road teams only win 34 percent of games, Horn said.
“That takes everybody into account. You can’t go on the road, and on the road only, and expect to have success,” Horn said. “We’ve been fortunate to get some of those home-and-homes or neutral site deals.”
And that plays into the problems the Sun Belt has had with the conference RPI in recent years.
“It’s difficult. We’ve got two [nonconference ] home games with an NAIA and one with Southeastern Louisiana that we played at their place last year,” Troy Coach Don Maestri said. “I think until all the schools commit to buying home games, we’ll never be able to put together a nonconference schedule that is more conducive to winning games. You’ve got to have more home games.”
Even the conference schedule isn’t the same for everybody.
The Sun Belt adopted a new scheduling philosophy this year. In the past, teams have played either 14 or 15 games, depending on which division they were in. Now, all teams play 18 conference games with all teams playing nine home and nine road games.
No school was slated to play more than two consecutive home games, and most will have an equal number of home and road games during each month of conference play. Travel partners, where two schools are paired on the schedule in order to cut travel expenses, no longer exist, and over the course of three seasons, each team will play the same number of games against each opponent.
UALR plays each team in the West Division twice, except for Louisiana-Lafayette. UALR plays each East Division team once, except Troy. Arkansas State plays West Division school New Orleans once and East Division school South Alabama twice.
Confused ? So are the coaches.
“I can’t figure it out to be honest with you,” Williams said. “I’ve looked at it 15 times, I can’t figure it out. That’s why these nonconference games are so important. You only want to play games that you can win, because those are the only games you can control.”
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
