Every year, Joe U.D. Seasonticketholder cannot wait to see the big names coming into the UD Arena to meet up with our beloved Flyers. When things are going well or even not so well, the Flyers can play with just about anybody when they are wearing the home whites. Usually, this means a little time on SportsCenter and some free publicity. It also means that ESPN might be covering the game live and the students will actually use all of their allotted seats and do whatever it takes to get on national TV.

Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at this year’s home schedule and realize that none of that will be happening during the pre-conference games. With the likes of Wagner, Louisiana-Lafayette, IUPUI, Prairie View, and Wofford on the home schedule, there will not be any ESPN cameras looking for our pretty coeds. When the big home game is against a regional foe like Miami, nobody cares but those of us stuck out in the sticks, if I may paraphrase John Chaney.

Guess what? There is nobody to blame but the UD Administration on this one. They were the ones that went out and hired a coach that could actually turn the program around and make us Top-25 material. They were the ones that invested the money to improve the Arena to make it a fun place to go to. They were the ones that enticed we fans to show up and make the Arena the place to be on game nights and one of the worst places to play if you don’t matriculate to the University of Dayton.

They really blew this one. It wasn’t tough to get in big names like Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, and others just a few years ago. They had to turn us into a winner. Damn that Ted Kissell!

If you can’t tell, I’m tired of all of the complaining that I have been hearing about this year’s schedule. I too am a season ticket holder and yes, I’m a little disappointed with who we will be playing in the home non-conference schedule. Yet, this schedule is not a great deal different that what we have seen in the past. In the majority of the 1990’s we might have wished we played these teams instead of Tennessee and the like.

There are certain limitations that UD faces every year when it comes to putting together a schedule that is challenging yet fits their financial needs. As with most schools the size of UD, the basketball program is used to fund the rest of the athletic programs. With that in mind, a certain number of home games are necessary and only a handful of home-and-home series can be scheduled.

Ted Kissell, Vice President and Director of Athletics relates, “The basic scheduling model is six series games, three at home and three away; plus four one-way games. We traditionally play Miami, so that leaves five series games. We try to schedule the most competitive teams that we can. Recently, we have benefited from the GMC agreement, which has enabled us to schedule St. Louis, UC, and Marquette. With the one-way games we are looking for quality teams (150 or better on the RPI).”

This year’s schedule does not feature teams like Marquette, DePaul, or Notre Dame, teams that Dayton has played numerous times in the past and teams that would make logical playing partners. Yet it lists teams such as Pepperdine and Wyoming.

Kissell clarifies, “I think you can expect to see more teams out of region. The top BCS conferences do not want to play us home-and-home. And we’ve tried everybody. On top of that, many of our peers are reluctant to play us as well. DePaul never exercised the option on the final game we owed them at their place, and Marquette did not schedule us this year when we owe them one game in Milwaukee. So, if we have to go out of region to find strong opponents, that’s what we will do.”

With the 100th anniversary of flight taking place this year, there was a good deal of hope that a marquee game between Dayton and North Carolina could take place. NC has often played in places that would seem illogical, but that always centered around Dean Smith’s desire to have each of his players play near their home at least once.

Kissell did his best to make it happen. “I had two conversations with Coach Smith who liked the idea,” he said. “At the time of our conversations he was in charge of men’s basketball scheduling. Once Matt Doherty became head coach, it is my understanding that Coach Smith was no longer involved in scheduling. Doherty had no interest in the game.”

It is impossible to discuss scheduling in college basketball without talking about the Ratings Percantage Index or RPI as it is more commonly known. Used extensively by the Selection Committee to pick the at-large berths and seeding in the NCAA Tournament, it is always on the mind of basketball coaches. Everyone has their own theory on the importance of the ratings, but there is one thing that is very clear: get an RPI ranking worse than 40 and you will be sweating on Selection Sunday. With that in mind, Big East teams usually schedule cupcakes at home to build their nonconference winning percentage and use the high ranks of their in-conference foes to keep their rating high despite losses to those tougher opponents. Temple, on the other hand, will play anybody, anywhere. If you are very good, this works. In Temple’s case the last few years, it has not.

Kissell explains his belief concerning scheduling and the RPI. “Two critical success factors in scheduling are putting together a schedule that will lead to an at-large berth and putting together a good home schedule for our fans. With this in mind we must manage to the RPI and demonstrate a willingness to play tough competition on the road. These are the most important elements.”

Scheduling and television cannot be separated. There are dozens of games created by the networks just to improve ratings. We would be foolish at this point to believe that the University of Dayton is poised to bring in a huge national TV audience. That may change over the next few years, but today that cannot be said.

When asked about appearing in made for TV games, Kissell responded, “The most effective way is to perform at a level that draws interest from TV. For example, Arizona would probably not schedule Marquette home-and-home, but they will if national TV is involved. So in those instances, TV is the deal-maker, not the institutions. Several things contribute to the difficulty of scheduling marquee names at home. BCS schools view themselves as better positioned in the minds of the media and recruits, so they avoid match-ups with non-BCS schools, which could challenge that perception. Often, I will speak to Athletic Directors who like the idea of a series with Dayton, but the coach nixes the idea. The amount of money at stake and the high-risk nature of coaching jobs deter competition. Currently, we are not perceived as a “good win” or a “good loss” by peers or the media. In addition, having four starters back from a Top-25 team that won the A-10 Championship might have given people pause.”

Kissell is no fool, he realizes that this year’s home schedule is not one that would excite the casual observer. “In terms of marquee names, the schedule is far less attractive than a year ago. In terms of competitive teams and programs, we’re going to see some good basketball at the Arena.”

What we fail to realize, in criticizing this schedule, is the quality of the road schedule. With tough road games against Wyoming and Pepperdine and possible match-ups with a very good and underrated Ohio State team as well as others in Hawaii, the out-of-conference schedule will be formidable. The A-10 should be much more competitive this year with a good deal of improvement by the middle teams and continued strength from Xavier, St. Joes, Temple, and Richmond. Although there isn’t the flash of a Duke this year, UD will be challenged both at home and on the road. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Next year will be a different story. Pepperdine and Wyoming will appear in Dayton and Tulsa will likely be a road opponent. With another Top-25 finish a distinct possibility and a potentially good-to-great recruiting class coming in, made-for-TV games could very well happen in Dayton. This year’s home schedule would appear to be more of a glitch than something that will continue to happen. Have faith, there will be a day when we tell the DePauls, Notre Dames, and Marquettes of the world that they are not good enough for a home-and-home series.