The VOICE with Matt Park
12/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The VOICE with Matt Park...
FRIDAY, Dec. 19--Heading Into Conference Play
What do you do with a week off during a season If youre a player for Michigans womens basketball team, you spent time finishing up the fall semester, taking final exams and writing final papers, and practicing a little bit as well. If youre a broadcaster C which I am C you spend time with your family, work on a redecoration of your bedroom, and take a peek at how not all non-conference schedules are created equal.
Ive been thinking a lot about this as I was getting ready for the Cincinnati game and looking at the overall state of the other 10 Big Ten teams in anticipation of the start of conference play this weekend. Michigan enters its final non-conference game with a 6-4 record and has a chance to finish non-league play with a 7-4 mark with a win over the Bearcats. Last year, Michigan was 7-3 in non-conference play, but I would argue that this seasons mark would be even more impressive despite one more loss. Thats because Michigan has posted wins over two top-25 teams and been competitive in losses to two other top-25 teams, a sharp contrast from last year when U-M lost by an average of 26 points against the three toughest teams on its non-league slate (at Texas A&M, at Notre Dame, vs. Iowa State).
Cincinnati enters tonights game looking impressive with a 8-2 record. But the Bearcats have played all but two of their first nine games at home, and only a win over then-#21 Xavier (8-3, RPI 27) earns distinction. UCs other six wins are against Detroit (3-6, RPI 250), Toledo (2-6, RPI 187), Mississippi Valley State (2-6, RPI 272), Savannah State (0-7, RPI 334), Eastern Illinois (7-3, RPI 107), IUPUI (4-4, RPI 202) and Wright State (2-6, RPI 231). After playing Michigan, Cincinnati finishes its non-Big East schedule against Davidson (4-6, RPI 148) and St. Francis (PA) (2-6, RPI 296), both at home. The Bearcats strength of schedule ranks No. 288 out of 338 Division I teams.
Now, consider Michigan at 6-4. The Wolverines have non-conference wins over then-#8 Notre Dame (8-1, RPI 7), then-#12 Vanderbilt (8-2, RPI 32), Kentucky (5-5, RPI 118), North Carolina State (5-5, RPI 119), Belmont (7-2, RPI 160) and Southern Mississippi (4-5, RPI 195). Michigans strength of schedule ranks as the ninth-toughest slate in the country. Six of the eight teams with tougher schedules than U-M thus far in 2008-09 are small-conference schools who play road games at multiple top-25 teams for guaranteed payouts.
Coppin State, a school in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, has the toughest schedule in the country. The Eagles have not played a single home game yet this season, and have played road contests at #24 Florida (10-1, RPI 24), South Florida (9-1, RPI 22), Wake Forest (8-0, RPI 21), and George Washington (5-3, RPI 84). Any surprise that Coppin State is 0-8 Or how about fellow MEAC school Delaware State, whose schedule is the seventh-toughest in the country The Hornets have played road games at #16 Maryland (8-2, RPI 9), #17 Ohio State (9-2, RPI 16), Michigan State (7-4, RPI 28), and Syracuse (8-1, RPI 61). Delaware State, which actually did manage to play two home games, is 1-7.
The bottom line is its hard to tell sometimes how good a team is just by looking at the record. Upon closer inspection, a teams record may not actually reflect how good it is. There are eight Big Ten teams with winning records entering conference play, and another that sits at .500. Only one Big Ten team has a strength of schedule ranking above 150 (Minnesota at 164), and only one other team (Northwestern at 110) is above 100 in SOS. In general, Big Ten teams are playing quality competition out of conference, which probably helps explain why Big Ten teams are often well prepared for conference play. However, it might also explain why the league hasnt gotten more teams into the NCAA Tournament in recent years, because Big Ten schools are fattening their win-loss records with a steady diet of out-of-conference cupcakes.
I think the approach taken by Michigan and head coach Kevin Borseth and many of the other Big Ten schools is the right one. By scheduling attractive match-ups against non-conference opponents, you get the chance to put your team in difficult situations to see how they respond and prepare them for games down the road, both in the league and in postseason play, where they will be challenged by the best that the conference and the country has to offer. Big Ten teams this season have faced powerhouses Stanford (Minnesota and Purdue), Notre Dame (Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue), North Carolina (Ohio State), Connecticut (Penn State), Duke (Michigan and Iowa), Maryland (Illinois and Purdue), and Texas A&M (Michigan and Penn State). In total, the 11 Big Ten teams have faced 21 ranked opponents, posting a record of 5-16 (Michigan has two of the five wins).
So its one more non-league game, and then Big Ten play starts on Sunday in Columbus against the best the conference has to offer, four-time defending regular season champion and 17th-ranked Ohio State.
Talk to you next week!
