Three articles from BoilerUp89 in one week? What is this: basketball season? Today marks October 1st - the unofficial start of Off Tackle Republic's basketball coverage for the upcoming season. I was patient. I waited. But now it is time to begin getting everyone excited for the upcoming college basketball season.
Long time readers may recall that I've spent the past three years grading each of the Big Ten men's basketball non-conference schedules. Grades are based on level of competition, a commitment to playing rivalries and local teams, and an absence of cowardice. Honestly it's become my favorite article series I write for the Off Tackle community every season as I get to applaud the deserving coaches and throw rotten tomatoes at certain programs.
Why do I care about non-conference schedules though? There are a few reasons: 1) As a basketball junkie I'm going to be watching many of these games. I prefer a watchable product. 2) I love and hate all our Big Ten basketball programs equally somewhat equally. I want to see each program put itself in the best position to success and make the NCAA tournament. Who teams play is a big part of that. 3) This is my chance to advocate for the sport to be better. Give us more games with interesting storylines. Play your in-state competition that will get up for a game. Give us more Wat shots. Mackey Arena erupting over a big non-conference victory. Rutgers losing to Princeton. All of these make the sport a more complete and enjoyable product.
One thing that's different about this season. I've included other conferences and have ranked all 88 non-conference schedules from the ACC, Big East, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-whatever # in addition to the traditional Big Ten. In part 5 of this series, I'm planning to provide a pass/fail grade to the other top 100 programs not in power conferences.
The Grading Rubric
The most important thing a program can do is schedule games against other top programs. Limit the cupcakes which do nothing for your NCAA tournament resume. Credit is given for any games against members of the top 6 conferences OR other programs projected to be a top 100 team this season. Credit will also be given for true road games & neutral site games against top 200 competition. Collectively these games will be referred to as "good" games.
While the majority of a team's grade is determined by the above paragraph, it should be noted that not every team is graded equally just based on the number of good games. The Big East and Big Ten play 20 game conference schedules. For a Big 12, ACC, or SEC team to have an equal number of road games for the overall season, they need to play 1 more road game than their Big East and Big Ten counterparts. The same goes for games against quality competition. Example: In their non-conference schedule, Iowa and Arkansas play one true road game and 5 "good games". Iowa is playing 1 more road game and 2 more "good" games over the course of the 32 game regular season. Iowa's going to have a better grade than Arkansas because they have less games against bad competition.
Other things being rewarded
1) A higher number of true road games. Road games are challenging and difficult to win. Playing true road games is good for the sport. Some coaches are too cowardly to play any non-conference true road game.
2) More games against out of conference rivals. Give the fans something to get excited about. People want to watch Kentucky v. Indiana, Marquette v. Wisconsin, Missouri v. Illinois. Play those games.
3) More games against in-state & regional competition. In-state mid-majors and low majors will get up for a game against big brother in a way that a mid-major or low-major from the other side of the country won't. Yes, the game might result in an embarrassing loss like Indiana State over Indiana. Or Seattle over Washington. Or Fort Wayne over Indiana. It's worth it overall. Those games get people interested in the sport and people remember them. Play those games.
Things hurting grades
1) A higher number of games against sub-300 competition. Any team with a ranking of 300 or below isn't likely to compete with a high major program. Most of those games are 40-50 point blowouts. Nobody wants to watch these. Season ticket holders hate them. One or two isn't the worst thing in the world, but programs playing three or more just hate their fans. There are 365 teams in college basketball. Don't play a quarter of your non-conference games against the bottom 65.
2) Ducking out of conference rivals. If your program has a long-standing yearly rivalry and your coach or athletic director has decided to quash that yearly tradition in order to play another cupcake, they are going to get called out in this article series.
3) An excess number of neutral site games. College basketball is special because of the student sections. Watching games being played in front of empty Las Vegas arenas instead of a rabid crowd makes me sick. Play more games on campus. Multiple team events and a marquee game (or return game) in a city that's important to one of the team's fanbases is okay, but if there are 6 neutral site games, 0 road games, and your best home game is Central Arkansas that's a problem.
4) Division 2 or NAIA games. Programs that scheduled a non-Division 1 opponent automatically receive a F. No exceptions. These games do not count on your Selection Sunday resume. Any program that schedules them is not making the most of their opportunities to add to the resume and metrics that the committee will consider. With 365 Division 1 programs in the 2026-27 season, there is no reason for any team with NCAA tournament at-large dreams to schedule these games. If you really, really want to play a former assistant coach or traditional exhibition opponent, use one of your three allowed exhibitions for that.
Not every team will get a full explanation, but I will include every team's schedule, grade, ranking within the 88 power conference teams, and some additional numbers. Opponents' preseason Torvik rankings as of Monday are included in (). Scroll til you see an embedded schedule if you just want to see the Big Ten teams.
An Enemy of College Basketball
Team #88 Washington Huskies - F
Big Ten, 12 possible non-conference games, Maui Invitational
1 true road game, 4 neutral games, 6 home games
5 good games, 3 sub-300 games
Road: Utah (78)
Neutral: BYU (40, Maui), Mississippi/Clemson (Maui), VCU/Providence/Colorado St/Arizona (Maui), Baylor (48, Seattle)
Home: Southern Miss (200), Colgate (211), Cornell (227), Utah Tech (335), Norfolk St (345), Mississippi Valley St (364)
Fire Danny Sprinkle! While Oregon found a way to play Oregon State, USC to play Cal, and UCLA to play Arizona, the Huskies are running away from Washington State. This marks the first time since 1917 the two teams will not play a regular season game. 109 years of tradition out the window because Sprinkle is afraid he's going to lose to his in-state rival. Instead the two teams will play an exhibition game.
Fire Danny Sprinkle! If the end of a 109 year tradition wasn't enough, the Battle for Seattle (Washington v. Seattle) is now on hiatus after Seattle University has won the past two matchups. Washington leads the all-time series against Seattle 35-6 and this was the first time ever the Redhawks won consecutive victories. The two teams had played annually since Seattle rejoined Division 1 at the start of the 2008-2009 season.
Fire Danny Sprinkle! There's more. Washington continues their trend of not playing in-state basketball power Gonzaga. Sprinkle enters year 3 at Washington and the last Huskies game against Gonzaga was the season before he took over the program.
Fire Danny Sprinkle! Washington has elected to not schedule their full compliment of 12 non-conference games. I know what you are thinking? Perhaps Washington just hasn't finalized their schedule. Nope, they've announced their 11 game non-conference schedule as the complete slate.
Fire Danny Sprinkle! Just to complete the list of reasons Sprinkle is an enemy of the people: there's no non-conference games against the final in-state foe (Eastern Washington) or from neighboring states Oregon (Oregon St, Portland, Portland St) and Idaho (Boise St, Idaho, Idaho St). Washington is hoping they can be the preeminent northwestern program by virtue of playing in the Big Ten and not giving anyone else an opportunity to defeat them.
Fire Danny Sprinkle! Danny Sprinkle is a coward and an enemy of college basketball. I wish him an 0-32 season and hope that Washington replaces him as soon as possible. I would wish him an 0-33 season, but Sprinkle isn't even interested in playing a full schedule.
The Pac 12 Teams
This is the first season of the rebuilt Pac 12 and I debated whether to include them or not as the conference is somewhere in between the ACC and A10. Ultimately I decided to include them as over half the conference should be capable of competing for an at-large bid and that isn't something I can say about the A10.
Unfortunately it was only after I made the decision to include them that I looked at the Pac's schedules. In their first chance to introduce themselves as a conference that is serious about college basketball, all 9 programs scheduled a Division 2 or NAIA team. Unacceptable. Here they are in order of most unacceptable to least unacceptable.
Team #87 San Diego State Aztecs - F
Pac 12, 16 possible non-conference games, Players Era 16
1 true road game, 6-7* neutral games, 8* home games
8-9* good games, 1 sub-300 games, 1 non-Division 1 game
Road: UCLA (23)
Neutral: Iowa St (19, Players Era), Players Era Game #2, Players Era Game #3, Colorado (86, San Diego), New Mexico St (156, Oceanside), BYU (40, Palm Springs)
Home: UNLV (99), Montana St (170), Cal St Fullerton (191), Bethune Cookman (192), Long Island (271), Texas Southern (343), Life Pacific (NAIA)
*The Players Era 16 includes a 4th neutral site game for the two winners of the 8-team brackets. San Diego State's 8-team bracket includes Iowa State, Tennessee, Maryland, Louisville, Texas Tech, St. John's, and Oregon. While it's possible San Diego State win their bracket, I want to point out that their non-conference schedule includes only 14 guaranteed games. Assuming the Aztecs don't win their Players Era bracket, they have two empty slots on a non-conference schedule they've announced as complete. Even if they make the Players Era championship game, there will still be 1 extra game that the Aztecs could have played but didn't. Inexcusable for a team that could be fighting for a tournament bid in March.
Team #86 Boise State Broncos - F
Pac 12, 16 possible non-conference games, Snake River Invitational
1 true road game, 6 neutral games, 8 home games
7 good games, 1 sub-300 games, 1 Division 2 game
Road: Wichita St (70)
Neutral: Nebraska (15, Sioux Falls), Drake (145, Snake River), North Texas (114, Snake River), North Dakota St (150, Snake River), Santa Clara (95, SoCal Challenge), New Mexico (66,SoCal Challenge)
Home: Butler (94), Utah Valley (122), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (178), Sam Houston (181), Lamar (202), Oakland (221), Idaho St (319), West Coast Baptist (D2)
Boise State has also decided to not make use of their full allotment of regular season games and only scheduled 15 non-conference games. Shame! Shame! Shame!
Team #85 Texas State Bobcats - F
Pac 12, 16 non-conference games, No MTE
4 true road games, 1 neutral game, 11 home games
3 good games, 3 sub-300 games, 1 Division 3 game
Road: Houston (5), Texas Rio Grande Valley (203), Texas San Antonio (205), Louisiana Tech (276)
Neutral: North Texas (114, Fort Worth)
Home: McNeese (91), San Francisco (169), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (178), Southern Miss (200), Texas Rio Grande Valley (203), Louisiana Tech (276), Nicholls (295), Incarnate Word (323), Texas Southern (343), Alcorn St (358), Howard Payne (D3)
Finally a full schedule. Unfortunately, it's a really weak one. To be fair to Texas State, they haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 1997 and were invited to the Pac 12 to fill out the numbers in football. Basketball is pretty clearly an afterthought for their athletic department. Interesting that the Bobcats have TWO home & home non-conference series that are being completed in one season. Don't think I've ever seen that before.
Team #84 Oregon State Beavers - F
Pac 12, 16 non-conference games, Acrisure Series
0 true road games, 5 neutral games, 11 home games
6 good games, 2 sub-300 games, 1 Division 2 game
Neutral: Tulsa (81, Acrisure), San Francisco (169, Acrisure), Oregon (32, Portland), New Mexico (66, SoCal Challenge), Santa Clara (95, SoCal Challenge)
Home: Arizona St (63), Cal Baptist (177), Eastern Washington (186), Southern Miss (200), Lamar (202), Milwaukee (239), Cleveland St (281), Weber St (298), East Texas A&M (320), Mississippi Valley St (364), Western Oregon (D2)
The Beavers will play just 8 true road games all season. Two of those come at Texas St and Fresno St. To put it politely those two programs have struggled with winning. The Beavers were in the Elite 8 just 5 years ago. I know that was a miracle run, but they have really fallen off.
Team #83 Fresno State Bulldogs - F
Pac 12, 16 non-conference games, Second Line Showcase
4 true road gamex, 2 neutral games, 10 home games
4 good games, 2 sub-300 games, 1 Division 2 game
Road: UC San Diego (131), San Jose St (183), Santa Clara (95), UC Irvine (126)
Neutral: South Alabama (261, Second Line), South Dakota St (286, Second Line)
Home: UC Santa Barbara (101), Sacramento St (159), San Francisco (169), Cal St Northridge (215), Georgia St (216), UC Riverside (263), Alabama St (277), Southern (342), Mississippi Valley St (364), Fresno Pacific (D2)
There are nine fellow Division 1 California teams on this non-conference schedule with four of those coming on the road. I really, really like that but it doesn't make up the D2 game or the general quality of the opponents.
Team #82 Utah State Aggies - F
Pac 12, 16 non-conference games, Acrisure Series
3 true road games, 4 neutral games, 9 home games
7 good games, 2 sub-300 games, 1 Division 2 game
Road: New Mexico (66), BYU (40), Memphis (110)
Neutral: SMU (52, Acrisure), Southern Cal (30, Acrisure), Tulsa (91, Frisco), George Washington (87, Frisco)
Home: UC San Diego (131), Pacific, Montana (132), Winthrop (225), Omaha (289), Weber St (298), Idaho St (319), Utah Tech (335), Westminster (D2)
This might be the start of an okay schedule if it wasn't for two things: the Division 2 game and the fact that the Pac 12 plays just 16 conference games. To bolster your resume, you've got to make up for the fact that you can't count on your conference record carrying your resume metrics by itself.
Team #81 Washington State Cougars - F
Pac 12, 16 non-conference games, No MTE
6 true road game, 4 neutral games, 6 home games
8 good games, 0 sub-300 games, 1* non-Division 1 game
Road: LSU (43), High Point (68), Murray St (103), Duquesne (155), Southern Illinois (251), Weber St (298)
Neutral: Hawaii (116, California), Duke (1, Palm Desert), UNLV (99, Henderson), Seattle (152, Seattle)
Home: Davidson (115), North Dakota St (150), Sam Houston (181), Eastern Washington (186), Idaho (207), 1 TBA non-D1 opponent
The Cougars are a bit tough to grade. Although they've released their non-conference schedule, they've only announced 15 games with the 16th a TBA non-Division 1 program. I'm taking them at their word with an acknowledgement that this would be a D-level schedule if that was a bad Division 1 opponent instead.
Team #80 Colorado State Rams - F
Pac 12, 16 non-conference games, Maui Invitational
2 true road game, 5 neutral games, 9 home games
7 good games, 0 sub-300 games, 1 NAIA game
Road: Colorado (86), Wisconsin (49)
Neutral: Arizona (2, Maui), Maui Game 2, Maui Game 3, Nevada (89, Frisco), Florida Atlantic (124, Frisco)
Home: Wyoming (118), North Dakota St (150), Loyola Chicago (151), Montana St (170), Idaho (207), Queens (208), Portland St (212), UT Arlington (213), Northern New Mexico (NAIA)
A C+ level schedule if not for the game against Northern New Mexico. Love the continuation of their rivalry with Wyoming and the games against Nevada & Loyola Chicago are definite boosts.
Team #79 Gonzaga Bulldogs - F
Pac 12, 16 possible non-conference games, Players Era 16
1 true road game, 9-10* neutral games, 5* home games
10-11* good games, 1 sub-300 games, 1 NAIA game
Road: Creighton (41)
Neutral: Kansas St (83, Players Era), Players Era Game #2, Players Era Game #3, Purdue (22, Las Vegas), Michigan St (10, Palm Springs), Oregon (32, Seattle), Duke (1, Detroit), LSU (43, Spokane), UCLA (23, Anaheim)
Home: New Mexico St (156), Montana St (170), Cornell (227), Incarnate Word (323), Eastern Oregon (NAIA)
Why is Gonzaga playing Western Oregon? Set an example for your conference. If you can play that many good teams, you can schedule Seattle or Idaho State and risk taking a bad loss. Or play any of the WCC programs you left behind.
I'll also note that Gonzaga has taken the approach of several other Players Era 16 contestants in that they have left a game open in case they play for the championship of that tournament. Unlike some of the others, Gonzaga might actually not need to schedule a game last minute.
Another Program That Hates Basketball
Team #78 Southern Methodist Mustangs - F
ACC, 14 possible non-conference games, Acrisure Series
1 true road game, 4 neutral games, 8 home games
6 good games, 2 sub-300 games
Road: DePaul (64)
Neutral: Utah St (61, Acrisure), LSU (43, Acrisure), Minnesota (80, Frisco), UNLV (99, Phoenix)
Home: Oklahoma (33), Stephen F. Austin (123), Texas San Antonio (205), Oral Roberts (247), Prairie View A&M (266), Ball St (273), VMI (333), Southern (342)
Like Washington and some of the Pac 12 schools, SMU released a schedule leaving a spot intentionally blank. You would think a program that was literally the second to last team in the field this past season would want to make sure they had a full schedule. I guess when SMU boosters said they would pay for SMU not having a piece of the ACC media deal they figured they could cut corners on spending with basketball.
More Non-Division 1 Games
Team #77 California Golden Bears - F
ACC, 14 non-conference games, No MTE
1 true road game, 2 neutral games, 11 home games
5 good games, 3 sub-300 games, 1 Division 2 game
Road: Utah (78)
Neutral: Houston (5, Lake Tahoe), Minnesota (80, Sioux Falls)
Home: Vanderbilt (24), Southern Cal (30), Northeastern (245), Southeastern Louisiana (256), UC Riverside (263), Alabama St (277), Radford (280), East Texas A&M (320), Utah Tech (335), Southern (342), Adams St (D2)
This schedule is weak enough to get a F before they added the D2 game.
Team #76 Baylor Bears - F
Big 12, 14 non-conference games, Players Era 16
1 true road game, 5-6* neutral games, 7-8* home games
6-7* good games, 2 sub-300 games, 1* NAIA game
Road: Washington (67)
Neutral: Alabama (20, Players Era 16), Players Era 16 Game 2, Players Era 16 Game 3, Texas (26, San Antonio), Louisville (8, Nashville)
Home: Memphis (110), Yale (198), Queens (208), Jackson St (284), Northwestern St (294), Arkansas Pine Bluff (360), Mississippi Valley St (364), College of the Ozarks (NAIA)
Baylor is a little difficult to grade due to the Players Era 16 tournament. That private equity cash grab includes a fourth game for the two teams that make it through their halves of the bracket. Those two teams will have to cancel another game if make the Players Era 16 championship. Baylor has scheduled the College of the Ozarks as their game that can be cancelled. Now if Baylor had a likelihood that they might have to cancel this game, I might give them a pass. But with a bracket that includes Miami Florida, Michigan, Creighton, Alabama, Gonzaga, TCU, and Kansas State I find it pretty unlikely that Baylor goes 3-0 to start the Players Era 16. Hence the F. Replace the NAIA opponent with a bad mid-major and this is still a D+ type schedule. Too many neutral site game and an extremely poor home slate.
Just Bad Schedules
Team #75 Utah Utes - F
Big 12, 14 non-conference games, Charleston Classic
0 true road games, 2 neutral games, 12 home games
4 good games, 0 sub-300 games
Neutral: Minnesota (80, Charleston Classic), Virginia Tech (36, Charleston Classic)
Home: Washington (67), California (90), Portland (164), Cal Baptist (177), Sam Houston (181), Towson (182), Eastern Washington (186), Abilene Christian (248), Long Beach State (255), Air Force (270), Weber State (298), Southern Utah (299)
I guess the good thing is that Utah doesn't have a sub 300 opponent on the schedule. They also may not play a tournament team and have 12 home games in the non-conference.
Team #74 Arizona State Sun Devils - F
Big 12, 14 non-conference games, Acrisure Series
1 true road game, 3 neutral games, 10 home games
4 good games, 1 sub-300 game
Road: Oregon St (96)
Neutral: LSU (43, Acrisure), South Carolina (72, Acrisure), Oklahoma (33, Tulsa)
Home: San Diego (136), Hofstra (162), East Tennessee St (174), Northern Colorado (199), Montana (201), Idaho (207), Oakland (221), Southern Illinois (251), Mercer (254), Louisiana Monroe (326)
Zero interest in playing regional teams from Arizona State. I guess I shouldn't be surprised their schedule sucked. Randy Bennett always relied on beating Gonzaga once a year to prop up St. Mary's tournament resume.
Team #73 Georgia Tech Yellowjackets - F
ACC, 14 non-conference games, No MTE
1 true road game, 3 neutral games, 10 home games
5 good games, 5 sub-300 games
Road: Mississippi St (62)
Neutral: Florida (4, Orlando), Butler (94, Indianapolis), Murray St (103, Nashville)
Home: Georgia (31), Longwood (219), Samford (229), Eastern Kentucky (260), UNC Asheville (272), Florida A&M (318), Georgia Southern (336), Norfolk St (345), The Citadel (347), South Carolina St (354)
Do you guys remember when Georgia Tech was good at basketball? I remember. There's good regionality here, a rivalry game with Georgia and some difficult neutral site venues. 10 home games and 5 sub-300 opponents is a lot though.
Team #72 South Carolina Gamecocks - F
SEC, 14 non-conference games, Acrisure Series
1 true road game, 3 neutral games, 10 home games
5 good games, 4 sub-300 games
Road: North Carolina St (38)
Neutral: Southern Cal (30, Acrisure), Arizona St (63, Acrisure), Maryland (37, Baltimore)
Home: Clemson (35), Elon (238), Southeast Missouri St (246), Youngstown St (262), Stetson (282), St. Peter's (283), Tennessee Martin (316), Gardner-Webb (352), South Carolina St (354), NC Central (355)
Really? You need three games against bottom 15 teams in Division 1? Who do you think you are: Miami Ohio?
Team #71 Texas Longhorns - F
SEC, 14 non-conference games, Rady Children's
1 true road game, 4 neutral games, 9 home games
5 good games, 5 sub-300 games
Road: Louisville (8)
Neutral: Georgetown (82, Rady), Rady Children's Game 2, Baylor (48, San Antonio), Miami Florida (18, Houston)
Home: Memphis (110), Prairie View A&M (266), Jackson St (284), Southern Utah (299), Southern Indiana (324), East Texas A&M (320), Chicago St (348), Gardner-Webb (352), Grambling (356)
The Memphis game barely keeps Texas above South Carolina but this is a ridiculously poor schedule for a team seen by some as a Final Four dark horse this season. There are 8 games against incredibly bad competition.
Team #70 Florida State Seminoles - F
ACC, 14 non-conference games, No MTE
1 true road game, 4 neutral games, 9 home games
5 good games, 2 sub-300 games
Road: Tennessee (16)
Neutral: Texas A&M (46, Houston), Houston (5, Jacksonville), Florida A&M (318, Tampa), West Florida (363, Pensacola)
Home: Florida (4), Dayton (73), Troy (137), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (178), Green Bay (184), Bethune Cookman (192), Jacksonville (223), UNC Asheville (272), Ball St (273)
I like the Dayton game. More power conference teams should schedule home and home series with Dayton, VCU, and St. Louis. Really not sure I understand the neutral site opponents. You are using the dregs of Division 1 to try and excite your fanbase that lives too far away from campus to make the trip? Definite missed opportunities to schedule UCF, USF, or FAU.
Next Week
We get to the D-/D/D+ graded schedules. The plan is to release an article each week leading up to the season.
Let me know which games you are interested in from the Washington slate and feel free to guess in the comments which Big Ten teams will be included next week. Also, tell me who you feel I unjustly graded this week. I didn't but this is the internet. It's a place to argue.
Basketball season is approaching! See you next week.
