Agree that's the one positive about a weaker...
Posted on: July 16, 2017 at 10:15:53 CT
bluetiger_ MU
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non conference schedule. It gives the team some time to gel and come together and see who fits in where. Replacing Kan is going to be tough. And Thater was really under rated I think. Both will be sorely missed, although elite teams are replacing great players every year and moving on. Even with those top 3 stud players returning, plus our two setters, Eckenrode and Kreklow, we are going to need some significant contributions from several of the talented freshmen and some of the others returning who didn't play as much last year, like Sents and Hanus. Deeken could be a key, if she is fully recovered from her injury she should be getting a lot of playing time. There is a lot of potential for this team to still be as good as last year despite losing Kan and Thater, but you just never know for sure how a team will mesh together. So playing an easier NC schedule give you time to do that before SEC play starts.
I'm looking at the big picture though, and getting positioned for a high RPI and the best resume possible for NCAA seeding purposes. That's what jumped out at me about the schedule. 2 of the 4 tournaments we play in are pretty must wasted weekends for NCAA resume purposes. Here are those 7 teams and their final RPI rankings from 2016:
54 Northern Iowa
84 Nevada
89 Pepperdine
110 Sacramento State
111 Marshall
127 Austin Peay
278 MTSU
Facing BYU, San Diego, Boise State, and Utah will be good tests, although I think only BYU is top 25 material in 2017. San Diego was a very good mid-major last year, finished ranked #14 with a #17 RPI, but they werent seeded and got upset in the first round by an average Baylor team, and they lost 3 seniors all conference players including the conference POY.
It's not a bad schedule overall, I just think it could have been tougher, to offset a little more the drag that the SEC is going to have on our RPI. I would love to see Mizzou schedule a few B1G teams each year, and take a few more chances. I'm not saying go crazy like scheduling Wisconsin, Penn State, Stanford, and Texas. Although that's exactly what SEC rival TAMU did this year. They will likely go 0-4 in those matches, but playing teams like that will better prepare them and enhance their RPI and national perception.