I think you have to set the over/under at 19 games with this schedule. A little disappointing I think. No games at any major alumni hubs, and Penn State on a weeknight.

On second thought, this schedule is much worse than I imagined it would be. No WVU? That's one of our oldest rivalries? The best games (PSU, Bobby Mo - only because they're regional rivals - and Pitt) are a pair of road games and a neutral court. Slim pickings for the home schedule. No games I can get to easily, unless LaSalle is a Saturday game.  I'll keep the over/under at 19, but unless we have a big A-10 season, knock off Pitt, and win 3 A-10 Tournament games, my fear is that 21 wins might not get us into the NIT.

With all due respect, a lot of guys who are more in-the-know than I am have been pummeling me for not being more confident about the direction in which the program is heading. Ferry now has the players he wants, he couldn't get a more favorable schedule without dropping down to the NAIA. He has four returning starters, who most guys think are very solid.

I'm guessing most people will take the over. I sure am. 

I have no stats on these teams, but this non-con schedule must be the shittiest schedule ever put together for a Duquesne team. Who are we - Carnegie Mellon? I can't believe Ferry went along with this bunch of - what is worse than cupcakes - shortcakes?? It's embarrassing!! Time for more conspiracy theories??

duq81 wrote:

Westender wrote:

I have no stats on these teams, but this non-con schedule must be the shittiest schedule ever put together for a Duquesne team. Who are we - Carnegie Mellon? I can't believe Ferry went along with this bunch of - what is worse than cupcakes - shortcakes?? It's embarrassing!! Time for more conspiracy theories??

You do realize that this is mandated by the A10? The league wants all teams to post winning records ooc, in order to maximize the league's RPI. Teams that are expected to be good, are asked to schedule good teams. Teams that are expected to finish near the bottom are expected to schedule lightly. Last year, this policy helped the league garner a record 6 bids to the NCAA Tournament. You may not like it now, but you'll love it if down the road, this policy helps us get a bid.
 

I understand what you are saying duq81, but how does Bluefield State a DII team help in any way?   That is not listed as an exhibition game.  

duq81 wrote:

Westender wrote:

I have no stats on these teams, but this non-con schedule must be the shittiest schedule ever put together for a Duquesne team. Who are we - Carnegie Mellon? I can't believe Ferry went along with this bunch of - what is worse than cupcakes - shortcakes?? It's embarrassing!! Time for more conspiracy theories??

You do realize that this is mandated by the A10? The league wants all teams to post winning records ooc, in order to maximize the league's RPI. Teams that are expected to be good, are asked to schedule good teams. Teams that are expected to finish near the bottom are expected to schedule lightly. Last year, this policy helped the league garner a record 6 bids to the NCAA Tournament. You may not like it now, but you'll love it if down the road, this policy helps us get a bid.
 

Mandated by the A10 or not, it's still embarrassing. What do you think the SOS will be?
 

Grands wrote:

Some observations on OOC schedule:
Like ElDuque - Why no WVU? Who said - "Two great coaches, two great programs - that is bad for college athletics, Shame on both of them." Duquesne coach Jim Ferry on Pitt and West Viriginia for not playing each other this season. Who said - "I want to play Pitt every year, I want to play West Viriginia every year, I want to play Robert Morris, I want to play Penn State. I think it is great for the fan base, I think its great for Western Pennsylvania." - Good Old Jimmy Ferry. There could be scheduling conflicts, but just curious for the reason.
Some say RMU has passed us by as number 2 in the city: RMU OOC schedule this season - (RPI # - last year's final RPI) North Carolina (RPI 19) and Georgetown (RPI 84) in a tournament, @Clemson (RPI 62), @Toledo(RPI 41), Delware (RPI 67), Buffalo (RPI 94)
Duquesne OOC schedule - @Abilene Christian (RPI 348), NJIT (RPI 303), Howard (RPI 331), Saint Francis (RPI 299), UMass Lowell (RPI 290), Maryland Eastern Shore (RPI 344), Texas Pan American (RPI 317), rivalry games Pitt (RPI 32), Penn State (RPI 130), Robert Morriss (RPI 122)
Some on this board say A-10 dictates Duquesne's OOC schedule - not true; from Div I coaches and Div I sources some comments - The A-10 suggests you should not play teams higher than a 150 RPI from previous year, of course you need some cupcakes and winning is key and roads wins are better, playing 300 RPI teams at home kills you, important to make sure you can win games to build an RPI
On the Pitt message boards - the Duquesne game at CONSOL is part of their season ticket plan, Duquesne you have to purchase seperately

I don't like playing D2 teams, but Ron played a D2 game his last year here as well. I can't imagine that it was Duquesne who nixed a game with WVU, but you seem quick to blame it on Ferry. Also, does anyone really think fans would come out for Buffalo, Toledo, or Delaware? Do you really think we should have whored ourselves out as a cupcake, basically assuring a losing record this year? The ooc is basically the exhibition season. The Dukes are not expected to contend for an at large berth, or even the NIT this year, so sos is really not that important. That said, next year is a different story. Next year's team should expect to play in the NIT at the least, and to be, a fringe buble team, thus sos will be important, even though none of the teams they add to the home schedule will be attractive draws, despite the fact that they should be decent teams.

In Ron's last year they did play a Div II school in DC, but was part of a tournament - no control over it. In 2010-11 season they opened with Bluefield State and then played at RMU and lost - I think they regret opening with Bluefield State now. I never blamed Ferry on WVU game, just curious and I said it could be scheduling conflict. In 2011-12 season WVU had a conflict with their scheduling and could not play Duquesne that year, but they did give up their home game with Duquesne, thus 2010-11 season and 2012-13 season Duquesne played WVU at Consol and Duquesne won, so I can't see WVU not playing Duquesne since they don't play Pitt. It could be a conflict in scheduling, but would be nice if Athletic Department said due to scheduling problems, WVU will not be on the schedule, but will be on next year or two years from now. As far as playing  Buffalo, Toledo or Delaware top 100 programs over AC, NJIT, etc 300 programs - I will leave up to true College basketball fans. 

Thanks Grands for the research on the RPI. I do not believe this is what the League had in mind for scheduling.  This has to be the worst OOC schedule in the League.  Unless we beat Pitt, and/or PSU or RMU even if we win all the rest we will bring a horrible RPI into League play. That can't help the League.  God forbid we lose to the likes of Abilene Christian.  Speaking of  Abilene Christian I believe DU will be the only D1 OOC home game for them.

After looking at the schedule, 5 of the games are return games from last year. These are all vs crap teams. Obviously, we signed 2 year contracts, and were obligated to play these schools again this year. I wonder if something fell through late (maybe a tournament), and if the D2 school was a last second replacement ( a cheap opponent that wouldn't ask for a return game)? I wonder, is Duquesne seen as such a zero, that we can't get even crap schools to play us here, without requiring a return game? Can we reach a point where we can get decent level teams to come here, without having to play them on the road, or at least make it a 2 for 1 type deal? I'm talking about America East, or Summit League type teams. Road games vs those types of teams are just a no win situation.

Last edited by duq81 (7/31/2014 4:58 pm)

I'm pretty new here and I found this forum when a local kid signed to Duquesne and will be a freshman this year. The question I have for the forum is, who do you want them to play? I agree the non-conf schedule is weak, but you have a pretty young team and granted you have four returning starters, but you have one senior. In my opinion building confindence is key, if you go 9-2 or 8-3 in your first 11 games you start build that confidence going into conf play.

Welcome neoprep! Certainly not a DII. Don't know why WVU is off the schedule. Plenty of "good Catholic schools" around (Seton Hall, DePaul, BC, St. John's). Some old conference rivals (Xavier, Temple). Bottom feeders of bigger conferences looking for "winnable games." There were rumors of Youngstown State ... why not them? Ohio? Bowling Green? Why not a Patriot League game (Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, Holy Cross)? Why not a military academy (Army, Navy, Air Force)?

The other way to look at it, and a few guys have mentioned this: season ticket holders have to be disappointed. Who wants to shell out money before Christmas to see the likes of Howard and NJIT?