Flyers 2008/2009 Basketball Schedule Appears to be Soft

The Dayton Flyers released their non-conference schedule as well as the home and away matchups with their A-10 conference opponents. The dates and times will be released at a later date. The list below shows the schedule and the opponents’ final RPI from 2007/2008 season (hat tip to Figgie 123 for putting the rating info together)

11-16-2008 vs Wofford (191)
11-19-2008 vs Delaware State (207)
11-23-2008 vs Bethune-Cookman (319)
11-25-2008 vs Mercer (315)
11-28-2008 vs Auburn (Chicago Invitational) (154)
11-29-2008 vs Marquette (Chicago Invitational) (20)
12-02-2008 vs Troy (242)
12-06-2008 at Akron (69)
12-10-2008 at Creighton (48)
12-13-2008 vs Coppin State (232)
12-20-2008 vs UNC Greensboro (119)
12-23-2008 vs Marshall (139)
12-30-2008 vs George Mason (59)
01-02-2009 at Toledo (186)
01-06-2009 vs Miami (Ohio) (81)

Conference:
A10 Home and Home: Xavier (9), Saint Louis (139), Duquesne (129)
Home: Fordham (168), Richmond (120), St. Bonaventure (264), Saint Joseph’s (45), Temple (47)
Road: Charlotte (70), George Washington (185), La Salle (164), Massachusetts (42), Rhode Island (77)

The only real highlights of their non-conference home schedule are the Mid-Major matchups with George Mason in late December and with Miami of Ohio in January. These two opponents are the only top 100 RPI non-conference teams that UD plays at home. The only other top 100 RPI teams at home for the Flyers are conference foes Xavier, Temple, and St Joes (all three went to the NCAA tournament last season). The top road teams on the non-conference schedule are Mid-Majors Akron and Creighton.

Overall the nonconference schedule is weaker than last year and a little bit disappointing. For the Flyers’ program to garner national recognition, they need to play at least one more solid BCS team (not a 154 RPI team such as Auburn).

In addition, since Wright State is a quality top 100 RPI team, it would have been nice to see the Gem City Jam back on the schedule. I know some (not all) fans would have been just as happy seeing the Gem City Jam at UD Arena if we couldn’t get a BCS team at home. Instead, UD schedules weak, second-rate teams. Will the 2008/2009 season be another case where the Raiders finish with a better record than the Flyers?

The Dayton Daily News Article entitled Flyers Can’t Get Big Boys to Come to UD Arena may be true. Unlike last season when Dayton got to host and blowout 6th ranked Pittsburgh, the Flyers will not get to play any big BCS powerhouse basketball teams at home. The most exciting matchup appears to be the game against Marquette (Rivals pre-season #20) at the Chicago Invitational.

Okay, so what? Naturally, the Flyers schedule is disappointing for fans that travel to UD arena to support the team. More importantly, to make the NCAA Tournament in 2009, the bar for the quantity of wins is set much higher than last season. While 22 regular season wins would have got the flyers a certain NCAA bid last year, in the up-coming season — with the poor quality of the opponents – the Flyers will probably need to win more than 25 games during the regular season.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 3:39 am and is filed under BasketballDayton Flyers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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