University of Massachusets Athletics
Ask The A.D.: McCutcheon On Basketball Scheduling
March 23, 2006 | General
March 23, 2006
UMass Athletic Director John McCutcheon addresses men's basketball scheduling for the future. He writes about the philosophy UMass has taken in regards to scheduling in the coming seasons. Check out his column and feel free to send questions for about additional topics.
It seems that no matter where Coach Travis Ford or I speak we are sure to get a question or two about non conference scheduling. The questions range from, "Do you use a computerized RPI simulator to most effectively model non conference cohorts and indexing scenarios?" to "Why don't you play Duke, Syracuse, UCLA, Louisville, Boston College, Kentucky and North Carolina at home every year because as a fan I would like that.".
The fact is that non conference scheduling has become a very difficult and extremely important process not only for an individual school but also for their home conference. RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) and strength of schedule are very important factors in building your post season resume to be sure, but there is also one rule which must never be forgotten. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD LOSS. You could have the strongest rated schedule in the country and if you don't win any of those games you will still have an RPI of 300+. Add to that if everyone in your conference does the same, the conference RPI will skyrocket as well.
On the other end of the scale if you only schedule opponents with RPIs higher than 200, even if you win every game, your attractiveness to the NCAA selection committee will be compromised by a weak strength of schedule.
Add to theses challenges that many highly visible programs from the BCS conferences simply will not play away games out of conference, that guarantee amounts that schools are requiring for a one time home game have skyrocketed to upwards of $75,000 and $80,000 for one game, factoring in travel time and class days missed, available dates and recovery time for the players, the need to stimulate fan interest with name opponents, finals schedules, a finite number of weeks within the NCAA allowable season to play ... well you begin to get the idea.
Our philosophy is to have a challenging but balanced schedule. In total we want to schedule as high on the competitive ladder as we can but with a realistic chance of winning the game. Where that fits in the competition food chain may vary from season to season depending on our perceived strength. You will generally see our schedule contain several high profile opponents and a balance of challenging games against regional and interconference teams that could best position us for success.
As much as we try to account for all these variables scheduling at times is not an exact science. Teams who we think are going to be strong may have a down year and vise versa. Sometimes we are forced to schedule a game simply because no other opponents are available on a particular date. It's enough to drive you crazy and in fact some of our fans think we are already there.
In any event, we will continue to try and build a schedule that allows our team to develop successfully, generates fan interest, and positions us for post season consideration.