Baylor's schedule released

[schooner2]

This was posted on the national women's basketball email list.

BU is already getting lambasted for such a pathetically easy non-conference schedule. They should easily go undefeated (no, UCLA is not that good). Of course the big question is will they be anywhere near prepared for the Big 12 conference schedule.

NOVEMBER
5 (TUES) HOUSTON JAGUARS (EXHIB.) WACO 7 pm
14 (THURS) BASKETBALL TRAVELERS WACO 7 pm

22-23 (FRI & SAT) WOMEN'S SPORTS FOUNDATION TNY WACO
22 (FRI) 6 pm - Alcorn State vs. Southwest Texas; 8 pm - Baylor vs. Princeton

23 (SAT) 6 pm - Consolation; 8 pm - Championship
26 (TUES) TEXAS SOUTHERN WACO 7 pm

29-30 (Fri & Sat) at GranTree Thanksgiving Classic Bozeman, MT
29 (Fri) 6 pm - Baylor vs. San Jose State; 8 pm - Northern Illinois vs. Montana State
30 (Sat) 6 pm - San Jose State vs. Northern Illinois; 8 pm - Baylor vs. Montana State

DECEMBER
2 (Mon) at Southeastern Louisiana Hammond, LA 7 pm
5 (THURS) ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF WACO 7 pm
14 (SAT) GRAMBLING WACO 2 pm
16 (MON) TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN WACO 7 pm
19 (Thurs) at UCLA Los Angeles, CA 9 pm
28 (SAT) MERCER UNIVERSITY WACO 7 pm
30 (MON) NORTH TEXAS - DH WACO 6 pm

JANUARY
8 (WED) MISSOURI* WACO 7 pm
11 (Sat) at Texas Tech* Lubbock 2 pm
18 (Sat) at Texas* Austin 1 pm
22 (WED) TEXAS A&M* WACO 7 pm
26 (SUN) OKLAHOMA* WACO 2 pm
29 (Wed) at Colorado* Boulder, CO 8 pm

FEBRUARY
1 (SAT) IOWA STATE* WACO 7 pm
5 (Wed) at Nebraska* Lincoln, NE 7:05 pm
8 (SAT) KANSAS STATE* WACO 3 pm
12 (Wed) at Oklahoma* Norman, OK 7 pm
15 (SAT) TEXAS TECH* WACO 1 pm
19 (Wed) at Oklahoma State* Stillwater, OK 7 pm
22 (Sat) at Kansas* Lawrence, KS 1 pm
26 (WED) TEXAS* WACO 7 pm

MARCH
2 (Sun) at Texas A&M* College Station 2 pm
5 (WED) OKLAHOMA STATE* WACO 7 pm

[swok34]

I agree with the lambasting......KMR needs to start putting at least *one* quality opponent on her schedule; and then building on that. Look how far Baylor went last year in the Big XII....ok, forget that disappointing loss at home in the NCAA's.

I can understand "the fluff" with her team being so new and all, but it all goes back to "you can't be the best unless you start playing the best".

[carolann]

Baylor has done o.k. the past couple of years playing weak non-conference schedules so I guess KMR doesn't see any reason to change. Baylor racks up a lot of wins in the preseason. With average success in the Big 12 schedule, the Bears pump up their RPI and voila, another decent tournament bid. In the end, the NCAA tournament is what it is all about to the media and to many fans. The fans are buying up tickets and enjoying the wins. If fans start to complain or Baylor doesn't get the NCAA bids they want, maybe future schedules will look different.

[elfdenmom]

It seems to be sort of a mirror image of what Barmore used to do.
In his case, he played some high recognition, high reputation programs in the pre-season and a powder puff conference. That way he got exposure against top teams, but always had a huge win/loss record at the end of the season.

KMR has the powder puff schedule in pre season and can count on a great win/loss record going into conference with plenty of high recognition, high reputation programs within the conference. By the time they get to the tough teams, their confidence is sky high. I'm not knocking it... it works for her, and Bayor did finish second last year.

Of course, I don't feel like casting stones this year. Our pre-conference schedule is a heck of a lot easier this year than last year.

[schooner2]

Originally posted by elfdenmom:
It seems to be sort of a mirror image of what Barmore used to do.
In his case, he played some high recognition, high reputation programs in the pre-season and a powder puff conference. That way he got exposure against top teams, but always had a huge win/loss record at the end of the season.

KMR has the powder puff schedule in pre season and can count on a great win/loss record going into conference with plenty of high recognition, high reputation programs within the conference. By the time they get to the tough teams, their confidence is sky high. I'm not knocking it... it works for her, and Bayor did finish second last year.


Of course the big difference between the two is that Barmore had no choice about the conference he played in. KMR has a choice in who she schedules for non-conference games.

I don't know that I really care that much about this. Of course Baylor will get some hype about being undefeated going into conference play ..... blah, blah, blah - it will go in one ear and out the other.

But, if I were a BU fan, I would care. Sure wouldn't be exciting going to see one blowout after another against pathetic teams. There would probably be more exciting high school games to go see in and around Waco than watch the Bears beat up another absurdly low-rpi team.

[YemenBear]

First to OhMandy....note the Lady Bears will be in LA when they travel to UCLA on 19 December. Hope you can make the game.

One Baylor fan's perspective on lady's non-conference schedule....pretty pathetic. Strongest team on the schedule is probably North Texas. They're generally competitive so it's a good game. It's just about the only non-conference game of any merit. I can't figure out why the Lady Bears don't play Rice, University of Houston, Louisiana Tech, LSU, SMU, Tulsa, SFA, or other stronger schools in our region of the U.S.

Regretably both the Baylor men's and women's programs schedule less than stellar non-conference games. Yeah, the Big XII is tough. Teams should still go ahead and sprinkle in a few games that are "easy wins." Just don't make the entire non-conference schedule pure fluff. Non-conference crowds in the Ferrell Center generally reflect fan interest.....there might be 2,000 to 3,000. Only when conference games start to Baylor fans show up.

I love Baylor athletics and have great admiration for the success of the Lady Bears in past seasons. From my standpoint, it's not particularly fair to the conference or Baylor fans to rely on OU, Tech, Texas, and others to face non-conference powerhouses while we load up with easier opponents
(no disrespect intended to other schools not listed here....I just know these 3 schools tee it up against UConn, Tennessee, Vandy, plus others almost every year in order to test their mettle).

I'm preaching to the choir with this post. Main point is to point out Baylor fans also voice frustration with non-conference schedules of both basketball programs.

[schooner2]

And I find it interesting why some programs decide to play the very best. Coach Coale plainly spells it out to everyone why she will always go up against the UCONNs, Tennessees, Dukes, Stanfords, and Purdues of the world. It's not just for preparation for the Big 12 conference schedule or for postseason. It's for EXPOSURE which ultimately helps her to fight the big-time recruiting battles.

And that seems to be so true. When KMR decides to schedule teams like she has for this season, it sends a message also to future potential recruits. They can't get very excited about the teams BU plays. And in a way it sends a message that BU is just not "big-time" enough to consider scheduling the Vols or Huskies, etc. That's a shame. Cuz BU is good enough and should consider themselves good enough to schedule the very best.

[BigUtFan]

This is a repeat of last year's non conference schedule, or maybe worse. I can't understand why she would schedule Southeastern La. who has not had a winning record since Linda Puckett left in the late eighties. Unless of course she wants to return to her hometown, which there is nothing wrong with that, but I have to wonder what it does to the players psyche. I am not taking up for Conradt, but in her down years she continued to schedule the best and most of the elite schools do the same. I think KMR is a great coach and motivator, but get up off the RELAXED schedule and show us what you've got.

[JK]

I agree. As much as I admire the way KMR has turned the Baylor program around, I think the scheduling is very chicken-crap! There should AT LEAST be two top teams on her non-conference schedule. Even if you got beat, what would two early losses hurt? I would think that after last year's shocking loss in the NCAA's that one would learn to play better teams outside the conference, in order to get the team exposed to different styles of play, etc. Hopefully their schedule will get better in years to come.

[dem]

I would sure be interested to know the reasoning behind KMR's creampuff-laden scheduling. Last year I thought they were shooting themselves in the foot with their incredibly soft pre-conference schedule. Instead, KMR proved she knew what she was doing by finishing second in the conference in the all-time toughest Big XII season ever. Baylor's RPI just kept climbing all season long, and by the end they had a fine RPI, a second place in the conference, and the runner-up position in the conference tournament, getting rewarded with a two-seed in the NCAA's.

If I had been a Baylor fan, I would have been VERY disappointed with the unexciting preconference schedule (actually, just as a Big XII fan, I WAS disappointed with their scheduling), but I would have to have said that if KMR can use that technique to end up with second in the Big XII and an NCAA two-seed, you just can NOT in all fairness criticize her. Even with the second-round loss, it would be stretching it to blame that on their early-season schedule, I think.

And if they scheduled soft in the preconference LAST year, when they started two WNBA first-rounders, you couldn't very well expect them to schedule tough THIS year when their strength is way down.

So, I just don't know. Obviously, some coaches schedule very strong preconference games and are successfull with that method, others go the very weak route, and some (such as ISU) go pretty much in between. I suppose it's part of a coach's personal style. You can like it or not like it (I personally wish ISU would schedule somewhat stronger so we would get more exciting games that have a lot on the line). But in the end the coach is measured by the final results, and I think you can't really criticize them if their scheduling method works for them. So far, Coach M-R's method works for her.

[schooner2]

Originally posted by dem:
So, I just don't know. Obviously, some coaches schedule very strong preconference games and are successfull with that method, others go the very weak route, and some (such as ISU) go pretty much in between. I suppose it's part of a coach's personal style. You can like it or not like it (I personally wish ISU would schedule somewhat stronger so we would get more exciting games that have a lot on the line). But in the end the coach is measured by the final results, and I think you can't really criticize them if their scheduling method works for them. So far, Coach M-R's method works for her.

Agreed. It's hard to debate that a cream-puff non-conference is really hurting them in conference and postseason. But, what we can't see is how it may be hurting her in recruiting wars.

[DblT81]

I know, I know. RPI means little. But I just couldn't resist.

Somewhere, someone mentioned the avg RPI of Baylor's non-conference schedule so I thought I'd see what it looks like.

Here is Baylor's '01-'02 non-conf sched with EOY RPI of opponent
39 North Texas
183 Nevada
191 TX-Arlington
106 Denver
308 Sam Houston
189 Oral Roberts
107 Boston U
45 Hawaii
199 Illinois-Chi
178 UCLA
254 Ark-Little Rock
263 Air Force
Avg RPI 172

Baylor's '02-'03 non-conf sched with '02 EOY RPI
257 Princeton
224 Alcorn State OR 255 Southwest Texas
277 Texas Southern
122 San Jose State
134 Montana State
251 Southeastern Louisiana
294 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
163 Grambling
321 Texas-Pan American
178 UCLA
205 Mercer University
39 North Texas
Avg 205 (that stinks!)

A few comments have been made about Tech's sched which was #2 in SOS last season
http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/ttu.gif '01-'02 non-conf sched with '02 EOY RPI
4 Duke
81 Oregon St
103 Oregon
36 New Mexico
39 North Texas
47 Rice
181 Southern Miss
38 St. Peter's
119 Rutgers
5 Vanderbilt
31 Wisconsin
Avg 62

Tech's '02-'03 non-conf sched with '02 EOY RPI
18 Louisiana Tech
84 Washington
76 Valparaiso
46 Creighton
142 Wyoming
81 Oregon St
61 Tennessee-Chatanooga
45 Hawaii OR 98 Loyola Marymount
181 Southern Miss
47 Rice
119 Rutgers
150 Pacific
Avg 88

IMO, Tech is trying to sched teams with an RPI below 100, sometimes opponents disappoint (Oregon, Rutgers). Rutgers and Washington should be much improved this season. Rice is supposed to be better. Tech schedule La Tech and Creighton before their coaching changes (Tech did their non conf sched early in May or June before Sharp went to the USA Basketball event)

BTW, UT always has a tough schedule with Tennessee, plus others. It is interesting though how much their in between cream puff games bring their RPI avg down (or in this case up). Still, I would say they have one of the toughest preconf scheds.

Tentative Longhorn '02-'03 non-conf sched with '02 EOY RPI
34 BYU
297 McNeese State
255 SW Texas St
36 New Mexico
26 TCU
251 SE Louisana
191 TX Arlington
1 Tenn
25 LSU
212 Texas A&M Corpus Christi
88 Ohio ST
Avg 129


So Tech doesn't have any top ten teams but they don't have any big nights off either, with no teams above 200 and only a couple at 150-200. UT has 3 potential top 25s but 1 at 150-200 and 4 above 200. It will be interesting to see how those two contrasting approaches will factor out in the SOS as Jan approaches. UT's appears more risky, but will they be rewarded? Its the hare vs the tortoise approach to scheduling. LOL. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by DblT81 (edited 08-31-2002).]

[Bob_Ballew]

I certainly wish there were tougher teams on the pre-season schedule, but I respect Coach KMR and her decisions. One question I would ask, aren't some schedules planned way out in advance. It is possible that Baylor can't schedule UCONN, TENN, DUKE... because everyone else wants them? How far out are some games scheduled? Baylor will have a very young team this season and it will be fun for me to see all of the new players perform in the pre-season. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/bu.gif

[Press]

Still no love on the schedule, per womenscollegehoops.com:

"Over the years, we have taken more than a few shots at teams that schedule cupcakes as their out of conference games and generally speaking Baylor has been a big participant in this practice. However, the Bears may have truly outdone themselves this season. We recognize that Baylor plays in the Big 12 and thus has a tough schedule overall, but this year's out of conference bill is in our judgment, ridiculous. We won't name the teams because you may no have heard of them, but the RPI's (based on 2002 season ending) read as follows: 257, 224, 277, 122, 134, 251, 163, 294, 321, 178, 205 and 39 (North Texas at Waco) for a 12 game average of 205 (including North Texas' 39!). It must be nice to know entering the season that you have 11 sure wins, but we have to feel the NCAA selection committee will take note and the season ticket holders will sleep through the first two months of the season. Coach Mulkey-Robertson has done a great job resurrecting the Baylor program, but to us, this type of scheduling is not appropriate when you are trying to be a top 25 type team."
http://www.womenscollegehoops.com/AWB20020831.htm

[Bob_Ballew]

Coach Kim finds it amusing that so many folks are concerned about the non-conference schedule of her team. She indicated that she appreciates the fact that Baylor is on the radar screen and that what they do or don't do, bothers folks. Since WCH does not have them listed in the their top 50, and has Baylor as a program on the way down, why should WCH care or worry about BU's schedule if Baylor is so bad. She says scheduling will get better when they are winning on a consistent basis. She will have the team prepared for Big XII play. At this point, that is all that matters really. I can hardly wait to see the young players take to the court.

Go Lady http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/bu.gif

[Guns Up!]

Originally posted by Zo3157:
She indicated that she appreciates the fact that Baylor is on the radar screen and that what they do or don't do, bothers folks.
Go Lady http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/bu.gif

I think they just fell off it, and it doesn't bother anyone!

[BigUtFan]

Originally posted by Guns Up!:
I think they just fell off it, and it doesn't bother anyone! Ditto, albeit a typical comment from KMR.

[schooner2]

Originally posted by Zo3157:
Coach Kim finds it amusing that so many folks are concerned about the non-conference schedule of her team. She indicated that she appreciates the fact that Baylor is on the radar screen and that what they do or don't do, bothers folks. Since WCH does not have them listed in the their top 50, and has Baylor as a program on the way down, why should WCH care or worry about BU's schedule if Baylor is so bad. She says scheduling will get better when they are winning on a consistent basis. She will have the team prepared for Big XII play. At this point, that is all that matters really. I can hardly wait to see the young players take to the court.

Go Lady http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/bu.gif

If this is how she really feels, KMR sure isn't setting the bar too high for this season. Hope the players didn't hear this. It sure wouldn't motivate them.

[dem]

Originally posted by Zo3157:
She says scheduling will get better when they are winning on a consistent basis.



?? Just what have they been doing the past two years, if not winning on a consistent basis? Well, I guess she means for five years or more, or something like that.