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Schedule 22-23


Keenan Henderson

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I’m hearing rumors (that I’ve been asked not to elaborate on) about a regional D1 foe visiting the Mabee Center after all this season, and it’s not a one-off buy game either.

If it works out, it will serve as a prime example that lots of schools, big or small, good or mediocre, are having trouble scheduling games.

 

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4 hours ago, ORUalum said:

 

Good news:  MSU is not the mystery opponent I was referencing.

So that would mean THREE D1 non-conference home opponents this season:  Missouri State, Central Arkansas, and the rumored opponent I’m referencing (which is a bigger name both regionally and nationally). 

Schedule is shaping up nicely!

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Scheduling can sometimes be difficult for schools like ORU but those road games against quality D1 is what pays for the budget. I know of many of times the coaches would call a bigger school like Texas and they would start laughing and say no thank you we will schedule a North TX or someone local that we will pay less and less risk. This is from the Caleb Green years. 

For example the coaches would all sit down and go over the budget and the head coach would say ok we need 3 to 4 games on the road to get to this number. The assistant coach in charge of scheduling will start getting on the phone with contacts and see what games he can get on his own. Maybe the head coach will have to make a call to ask for a favor and get one scheduled. They always got to the number needed but wasn't easy for sure. 

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TheEagleman is hoping that "mystery opponent" is Wichita State or perhaps North Texas.......:circle-logoi:

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For those of you who know how these things work. What is the motivation for a non-conference mid level or bigger D1 school to come to ORU and play? Is it money? Certainly, we can't pay them what they (the P5 type schools) pay us to come to their place. Glad the schedule is seeming to look better than last year. Just interested to know how we lure higher level competition to come to Mabee Center. Thanks for the input.

 

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I'm gonna guess Kansas State, with new head coach Jerome Tang. It would be a nice match up with the two former Baylor assistants.

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1 hour ago, theeagleman5 said:

TheEagleman is hoping that "mystery opponent" is Wichita State or perhaps North Texas.......:circle-logoi:

Wichita State would be a huge get for us. I don't know how realistic that is, though - why would they come here with all that Koch money floating around up there? North Texas is a good bet, though I don't know that they're a bigger name "regionally and nationally" than MSU. What a confusing riddle Old Titan is laying out for us to solve.

Any chance TU is going to come see us in addition to the game at their place? When was the last time we played them twice in one season? 

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21 minutes ago, ORUIllini said:

I'm gonna guess Kansas State, with new head coach Jerome Tang. It would be a nice match up with the two former Baylor assistants.

pretty sure i saw Scott Drew say in an interview that he and his former assistants don't schedule one another

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Come on, Scott....show some stones!!!...schedule ORU....your buddy Paul Mills will even give you 2 for 1.....:hc_mills:

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I can’t blame Scott Drew.  I wouldn’t want to either.  When Scott Sutton beat Sean Sutton on ESPN around Christmas break many years ago, it was the beginning of the end for Sean.  I am sure that was a bittersweet moment for Scott and his parents.

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I’m sorry guys, I never intended to tease this thing; I was just trying to assure everyone the home non-conference slate wasn’t going to be as bad as it appeared a few weeks back. 

So in the interest of not letting the speculation run rampant, I feel obligated to say it’s not a P5 team, so don’t get your hopes up!

Because Dave is right:  there’s hardly any motivation for a P5 team to play ORU in the Mabee Center except the following:  

  • Providing local alumni a chance to see their alma mater (i.e. OU, OSU, and Arkansas).
  • Providing their fans a road opponent within driving distance (in recent seasons Missouri is the only one I can think of)
  • Making good on promises made to blue chip recruits from the Tulsa area (such as Dean Smith and North Carolina coming to Tulsa on behalf of Jenks product Steve Hale).
  • As a favor between coaches (Texas Tech and New Mexico came to the Mabee Center due to Scott Sutton’s relationship with members of their coaching staffs).

Aside from that, there’s no way to get ‘em here:  nothing to gain in their eyes, and plenty to lose.

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The only way to get better teams to come to the Mabee Center is to become dominant. By dominant I mean to rule the Summit League for a number of years and win away from home on a semi-consistent basis at big name schools, the same way Gonzaga and Creighton have done it. That is how they built their reputation. It looks like that is what Coach Mills is trying to do. More power to him. If we can do that, other teams will pick up the phone when we call them because there will be more value in playing us. If they win in Tulsa it is a great win. And if they lose, it isn't a bad loss. Plus, we will be the bigger draw in town and should have higher attendance numbers. But first, we have to put our big boy pants on and crush the SL and win more than 1 or 2 money games away from home. Who knows, if that happens we may even be able to rid ourselves of the Dakota league and join the MVC or one similar that would bring outstanding competition in on a more regular basis. That would benefit all of our programs, especially baseball. Baseball, even more than basketyball, simply have to get out of the Summit League if they are ever going to be a great program.

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100% correct Dave! I wish it wern't  so but until we get close to the top 25 we are too much of a liability for top tier teams to contend with. I have been told first hand that the good teams don't want to play a team especially at home that can stay within 15 points. In talking with Kareem Thompson the other day I asked him thus far what is the main difference between this year's team and last. He quickly said that this year we don't have a weak player! This could present a challenge we have not had in many years which is keeping players happy with the amount of minutes they play. I am so grateful ORU is not choosing to stay status quo but go through the growing pains and become a powerhouse! Growing up in Spokane I witnessed first hand the trying transition Gonzaga made from NAIA to D1 and then becoming a powerhouse. It takes time but can be done!

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15 hours ago, Old Titan said:

I’m sorry guys, I never intended to tease this thing; I was just trying to assure everyone the home non-conference slate wasn’t going to be as bad as it appeared a few weeks back. 

So in the interest of not letting the speculation run rampant, I feel obligated to say it’s not a P5 team, so don’t get your hopes up!

Because Dave is right:  there’s hardly any motivation for a P5 team to play ORU in the Mabee Center except the following:  

  • Providing local alumni a chance to see their alma mater (i.e. OU, OSU, and Arkansas).
  • Providing their fans a road opponent within driving distance (in recent seasons Missouri is the only one I can think of)
  • Making good on promises made to blue chip recruits from the Tulsa area (such as Dean Smith and North Carolina coming to Tulsa on behalf of Jenks product Steve Hale).
  • As a favor between coaches (Texas Tech and New Mexico came to the Mabee Center due to Scott Sutton’s relationship with members of their coaching staffs).

Aside from that, there’s no way to get ‘em here:  nothing to gain in their eyes, and plenty to lose.

Under the guise of Steve Hale, wouldn't it be great to get a home game with Texas Tech to allow KO to play one last time in the Mabee Center?

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On 6/12/2022 at 9:19 AM, Old Titan said:

I’m hearing rumors (that I’ve been asked not to elaborate on) about a regional D1 foe visiting the Mabee Center after all this season, and it’s not a one-off buy game either.

 

16 hours ago, Old Titan said:

So in the interest of not letting the speculation run rampant, I feel obligated to say it’s not a P5 team, so don’t get your hopes up!

So this mystery possible opponent is “regional” and “not a P5 team”.
That doesn’t leave too many options…


State of Oklahoma = (Tulsa)
State of Kansas = Wichita State
State of Arkansas = Ark State, UAPB, UALR, (UCA)
State of Missouri = Saint Louis, SEMO, (Missouri St)
Northern State of Texas = UNT, SMU, (UT-Arlington)

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5 hours ago, dave said:

The only way to get better teams to come to the Mabee Center is to become dominant. By dominant I mean to rule the Summit League for a number of years and win away from home on a semi-consistent basis at big name schools, the same way Gonzaga and Creighton have done it. That is how they built their reputation. It looks like that is what Coach Mills is trying to do. More power to him. If we can do that, other teams will pick up the phone when we call them because there will be more value in playing us. If they win in Tulsa it is a great win. And if they lose, it isn't a bad loss. Plus, we will be the bigger draw in town and should have higher attendance numbers. But first, we have to put our big boy pants on and crush the SL and win more than 1 or 2 money games away from home. Who knows, if that happens we may even be able to rid ourselves of the Dakota league and join the MVC or one similar that would bring outstanding competition in on a more regular basis. That would benefit all of our programs, especially baseball. Baseball, even more than basketyball, simply have to get out of the Summit League if they are ever going to be a great program.

There is one other way to get into a better conference. Just as some background, in the 70's and early 80's usually only 1 team from a conference went to the NCAA's and that was the conf. champ, even the P5's only sent 1 team, not many at large bids at that time at all, the tourny was much smaller then. This is why even with many really good teams ORU only went to the big dance once in the 70's, the great 74' elite 8 team.

Because ORU had an innovative, experienced AD in Bob Brooks who wanted to build on the programs success and not just wait around for something good to happen, and because of the relationships he had at the university and in the college athletics community, he personally formed the best conference ORU has ever been a member of, the Midwestern City Conference (MCC) in 1980, a couple years later it changed its name to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. The teams included ORU, Xavier, Loyola of Chicago, Butler, St Louis, Evansville, Detroit and a few others came and went, I think Marquette was in for a while also. Look at how several of those other programs have grown into some of the best mid major basketball programs in the country, and ironically after Mr. Brooks and ORU formed and built the conference we set our program back 10 years when we left in the late 80's to go backwards to the NAIA. 

There are always more than one way to skin a cat. I agree that the Summit league is not going to get us where we want to be as a program. I just hope that our AD and President are at least looking at all the options that are available to us and possibly even considering some that might seem "out of the box" or unrealistic, you never know what's possible until you try!!!

 

 

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5 hours ago, GoldenEagleFan said:

 

So this mystery possible opponent is “regional” and “not a P5 team”.
That doesn’t leave too many options…


State of Oklahoma = (Tulsa)
State of Kansas = Wichita State
State of Arkansas = Ark State, UAPB, UALR, (UCA)
State of Missouri = Saint Louis, SEMO, (Missouri St)
Northern State of Texas = UNT, SMU, (UT-Arlington)

Southern, eastern, and western Texas aren't regional?

Colorado?

Louisiana?

Just askin'... 😉

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