Mike Rhoades Show, Media Minutes & Pressers

[HBK]

He’s talking about next year, not this year. And he’s including several hypotheticals for next year.

This year’s schedule is crap.

And I was speaking about next year's hypothetical that was laid out.

 

[RamJamFan]

Okay. I'd take odu over howard under any circumstance. It doesn't make sense to terminate a rivalry with 160+ net team if they replaced with 300+ net team

Exactly. Not to mention the history. Many of these OOC games are very lowly rated, can only hurt if we don’t win big. I’d rather see us we play in-state teams. At least they’d provide minor interest in tuning-in to see an opponent. How about VMII, Liberty, JMU, Longwood, Hampton, etc., etc. Forget NET, this OOC schedule doesn’t pass the yawn test.

 

[Mercury]

Considering everyone else in the A-10 is dropping ODU I'm not sure how much say VCU had in the matter.

Mason is playing ODU but that is the last game in the contract and it won't be renewed.

 

[N Mollen]

Okay. I'd take odu over howard under any circumstance. It doesn't make sense to terminate a rivalry with 160+ net team if they replaced with 300+ net team

Not a rival. They've beaten us twice in the last 13 meetings, and have apparently decided basketball is no longer their jam. The history counts for zero to me. I know others disagree, which is their right of course. But I DGAF about ODU now.

As for Howard, it doesn't excite, I agree, but they were looking for better opportunities that didn't open up despite their efforts. Ended up with a buy game.

Finally, based on last year's numbers, Howard is A BUY GAME at NET 241; ODU would have been H/H at 201. Not a ton of difference in NET and ODU would have been a potential disaster on the road. Definitely the right outcome for me.

 

[BradRamFan]

As for Howard, it doesn't excite, I agree, but they were looking for better opportunities that didn't open up despite their efforts. Ended up with a buy game.

Exactly! It is not like VCU dropped ODU in the hopes of getting Howard on our schedule. It unfortunately, just turned out that way this season. Next year, perhaps we replace the ODU game with Houston. Now tell me you still want to play ODU instead of Houston.
I don't know why everyone is b*tching about our schedule. We have AzSt, Mich/Pitt, Vanderbilt, Memphis, and Temple all on our schedule. While some here may not be the elite of the elite in their conference, they all have high brand recognition....something that sticks in the mind of the NCAA committee filling out their big dance invitation (even if they say they just go by the numbers....brand recognition - especially if we win - will stick in the back of their mind). Then we have a number of teams we hopefully can rout, like Howard so we can jack up our NET.
Our OOC schedule is set up to do what is needed in order to jack up our NET.

 

[WillWeaverRVA]

Exactly! It is not like VCU dropped ODU in the hopes of getting Howard on our schedule. It unfortunately, just turned out that way this season. Next year, perhaps we replace the ODU game with Houston. Now tell me you still want to play ODU instead of Houston.
I don't know why everyone is b*tching about our schedule. We have AzSt, Mich/Pitt, Vanderbilt, Memphis, and Temple all on our schedule. While some here may not be the elite of the elite in their conference, they all have high brand recognition....something that sticks in the mind of the NCAA committee filling out their big dance invitation (even if they say they just go by the numbers....brand recognition - especially if we win - will stick in the back of their mind). Then we have a number of teams we hopefully can rout, like Howard so we can jack up our NET.
Our OOC schedule is set up to do what is needed in order to jack up our NET.

I don’t know, maybe I do want to play ODU instead of Houston.

Just kidding.

 

[duncanlamb]

Not a rival. They've beaten us twice in the last 13 meetings, and have apparently decided basketball is no longer their jam. The history counts for zero to me. I know others disagree, which is their right of course. But I DGAF about ODU now.

As for Howard, it doesn't excite, I agree, but they were looking for better opportunities that didn't open up despite their efforts. Ended up with a buy game.

Finally, based on last year's numbers, Howard is A BUY GAME at NET 241; ODU would have been H/H at 201. Not a ton of difference in NET and ODU would have been a potential disaster on the road. Definitely the right outcome for me.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[HBK]

Not a rival. They've beaten us twice in the last 13 meetings, and have apparently decided basketball is no longer their jam. The history counts for zero to me. I know others disagree, which is their right of course. But I DGAF about ODU now.

As for Howard, it doesn't excite, I agree, but they were looking for better opportunities that didn't open up despite their efforts. Ended up with a buy game.

Finally, based on last year's numbers, Howard is A BUY GAME at NET 241; ODU would have been H/H at 201. Not a ton of difference in NET and ODU would have been a potential disaster on the road. Definitely the right outcome for me.

I take all preseason rankings with a large grain, or bag, of salt. For what it's worth, college sports madness has Howard at #139: https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/20716

ODU is listed at #127: https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/20731

 

[theyaintwantit]

If VCU also plays in a MTE event along with Houston, UVa, Memphis and Temple, the OOC schedule next year is going to be not only brutal, but probably the best ever OOC VCU has played.

It could be awesome, but...... VCU did have the #2 OOC SOS in 2018-2019.

A UVA (1 seed NCAA, top 5 NET)
A Texas (1 seed NIT, top 40 NET)
N Temple (11 seed First Four, bounced between NET 45-55 most of the season)
N St. John's (11 seed First Four, bounced around NT 60s most of the season)
A ODU (14 seed NCAA, top 100 NET)

 

[DCRAM]

It could be awesome, but...... VCU did have the #2 OOC SOS in 2018-2019.

A UVA (1 seed NCAA, top 5 NET)
A Texas (1 seed NIT, top 40 NET)
N Temple (11 seed First Four, bounced between NET 45-55 most of the season)
N St. John's (11 seed First Four, bounced around NT 60s most of the season)
A ODU (14 seed NCAA, top 100 NET)

That was enough to give us the #2 OOC SOS? LOL, shows how weak most teams OOC schedules are.

 

[N Mollen]

It could be awesome, but...... VCU did have the #2 OOC SOS in 2018-2019.

A UVA (1 seed NCAA, top 5 NET)
A Texas (1 seed NIT, top 40 NET)
N Temple (11 seed First Four, bounced between NET 45-55 most of the season)
N St. John's (11 seed First Four, bounced around NT 60s most of the season)
A ODU (14 seed NCAA, top 100 NET)

No longer possible. P5 playing 20 conference games changed everything. And TX was a contractual game

 

[GuardTheArc]

No longer possible. P5 playing 20 conference games changed everything. And TX was a contractual game

Not true. Quite possible, actually.

VCU can, if it chooses, adjust its OOC scheduling philosophy/difficulty/metrics parameters (up or down) as it deems necessary.

11-13 non-conf games per year per P6 + a boatload of potential quality non-P6 opponents with 11-13 available OOC games per year. Plenty of quality opportunities/challenges out there annually if we choose to pursue/accept; not to mention the expected top programs in one-bid leagues.

Nothing significant has really changed. Boils down to staff and program choices (i.e. flexibility, finances, at-large impact, timing, etc).

Side Note: The overall strength or weakness of an OOC schedule still has (and will always have) a variable “luck” component baked in (how well or poorly an opponent ends up performing all year long - sometimes affected by team health/injuries, referee calls, etc - see VCU 2022 for a good example).

Amongst typical bubble-level programs (Top 40-80 NET), VCU schedules OOC competently/competitively (including 2022-23). Reasonable/achievable on-court results generally help produce an at-large resume. That likely won’t change.

 

[N Mollen]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1575199400250556433

 

[AlienAiden]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1579521749552885760

 

[mrgeode]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1579521749552885760

Nice! Maybe I can listen to it on my flight Wednesday.