Keenan Henderson Posted July 12, 2022 Author Share Posted July 12, 2022 Coach's non-conference schedule: Power 5's on the road within a bus ride, a few mid major home and away games (also within a bus ride) and 3 or 4 non-Division 1 home games. So basically, every game that is no more than 5 hours from campus. Besides his first year, when he had to go by what Coach Sutton had scheduled, Mills has stuck to that formula. Unless there is a tournament that is only a bus ride away from Tulsa, then I would not expect the Eagles to play in one. As he has said numerous times, Coach does not want to wear the players out with a lot of travel. Most of those non-conference tournaments are in Florida or even farther away from campus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 1 hour ago, Keenan Henderson said: Coach's non-conference schedule: Power 5's on the road within a bus ride, a few mid major home and away games (also within a bus ride) and 3 or 4 non-Division 1 home games. So basically, every game that is no more than 5 hours from campus. Besides his first year, when he had to go by what Coach Sutton had scheduled, Mills has stuck to that formula. Unless there is a tournament that is only a bus ride away from Tulsa, then I would not expect the Eagles to play in one. As he has said numerous times, Coach does not want to wear the players out with a lot of travel. Most of those non-conference tournaments are in Florida or even farther away from campus. The tournaments are normally an "experience" of being a student-athlete. Maybe if the team won't get to go to Hawaii, Cancun, or the Bahamas, we should resurrect the "Missions Trip Model" of doing something in the summer in the Dominican Republic, Mexico or Central America and let the team bond together while seeing how fortunate we are to be in America. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 20 minutes ago, Bogus Smith said: The tournaments are normally an "experience" of being a student-athlete. Maybe if the team won't get to go to Hawaii, Cancun, or the Bahamas, we should resurrect the "Missions Trip Model" of doing something in the summer in the Dominican Republic, Mexico or Central America and let the team bond together while seeing how fortunate we are to be in America. These games can be quite the “experience” for ORU fans as well. Do I recall correctly a trip to Puerto Rico where you and Mrs. Smith were among several hardy fans who watched an entire game while rats scurried in and out of the support beams underneath the portable floor? Seriously, traveling to these exotic spots as a fan can be a lot of fun; you get lots of opportunities to hang with the team in some casual and relaxing situations around the hotel, the pool, local marketplaces and attractions, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsSmith Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 25 minutes ago, Old Titan said: These games can be quite the “experience” for ORU fans as well. Do I recall correctly a trip to Puerto Rico where you and Mrs. Smith were among several hardy fans who watched an entire game while rats scurried in and out of the support beams underneath the portable floor? Seriously, traveling to these exotic spots as a fan can be a lot of fun; you get lots of opportunities to hang with the team in some casual and relaxing situations around the hotel, the pool, local marketplaces and attractions, etc. We didn't go to Puerto Rico, but we did go to Cancun in 2009 for a tournament. It was a lot of fun and a very nice resort! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Just now, MrsSmith said: We didn't go to Puerto Rico, but we did go to Cancun in 2009 for a tournament. It was a lot of fun and a very nice resort! I remember a story about rats, or a rat, under the floor and/or stands in Puerto Rico. Anyone recall the details? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 This Twitter post re: New Mexico State trying to schedule big names would seem to dovetail with what ORU AD Tim Johnson has said the past couple of months. Never heard of P5’s not paying for buy games at home. Budget struggles from reduced ticket sales, donations and sponsorships in a COVID world, I suppose… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 54 minutes ago, Old Titan said: These games can be quite the “experience” for ORU fans as well. Do I recall correctly a trip to Puerto Rico where you and Mrs. Smith were among several hardy fans who watched an entire game while rats scurried in and out of the support beams underneath the portable floor? Seriously, traveling to these exotic spots as a fan can be a lot of fun; you get lots of opportunities to hang with the team in some casual and relaxing situations around the hotel, the pool, local marketplaces and attractions, etc. Yeah, glad I missed the experience with the rats! But you are correct...there were several of us that made the trip down to enjoy watching basketball in the confines of the resort's ballrooms. We watched them put the floor together on the carpet, get the cameras setup for the CBS Sports Network (cable) telecasts and watched some pretty good basketball (everyone came to play). Great experience and well worth the time and money for those of us that are stalwart ORU fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 I got carried away with the "Submit" button. Hopefully the admins can help with delete this and the three extra posts I have inadvertently made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Wonder why the Summit League slate for '22-'23 has not been relaeased yet? Last year's conference schedule was released in mid-June... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 No doubt Summit League powers that be are going over the schedule with a fine tooth comb making sure it contains maximum shaftability for ORU.... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 On 6/17/2022 at 6:41 PM, Old Titan said: So, as of June 17th, here's how the 2022-23 non-conference D1 opponents are already shaping up: Dec. 3 (Sat) -- at Tulsa Dec. 16 (Fri) -- MISSOURI STATE TBD -- CENTRAL ARKANSAS TBD -- at Oklahoma State TBD -- at Texas-Arlington ...PLUS the rumor of a possible additional home game featuring a regional, non-P5 name. Bottom Line: this is a LOT further along on the non-conference schedule by this date than the past two COVID-affected off-seasons. Almost a month removed from this post and absolutely NOTHING has changed, at least publicly. I just had to go and jinx the scheduling momentum, didn't I? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 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. 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. Now I'm hearing that this potential opponent is waffling about playing here this season, instead wanting ORU to play at their place this season with no assurances for next year. The P5's are driving some hard bargains; they're not willing to pay much if anything for the low-to-mid-majors to visit. Something's gotta give in the next few weeks; even those P5's have to fill a schedule. What remains to be seen is whether the little guys like ORU are going to have to pay their own expenses to go play in places where they used to receive a hefty check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Eventually these power conference schools are going have to schedule SOMEBODY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 Most Power 5 schols play around 20 conference games, go to a tournament, and then play a few Big Ten/ACC or SEC/Big 12 yearly matchups. So by then they have 25 games scheduled and hardly need any mid majors (maybe 4 or 5) to fill out their schedule. It just goes to show what you said OT in the topic about mid majors being left out of the NCAA tournament in a few years. Power 5's want to avoid scheduling them and playing mid majors in the tourament. The big schools get nothing out of it and if they lose any of those games that they get a lot of bad press or the coach is on the hot seat. Another way of saying it: they lose money! I hope I am wrong but it seems that mid majors are just going to be the odd man out in college basketball. It should not be that way and it makes college basketball less interesting but in the end it is all about the money. The major programs get all the tv contracts, all the tournament money, etc. It kind of ruins the game but what can you do? No answers here. Let me know if you have any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 47 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said: Most Power 5 schols play around 20 conference games, go to a tournament, and then play a few Big Ten/ACC or SEC/Big 12 yearly matchups. So by then they have 25 games scheduled and hardly need any mid majors (maybe 4 or 5) to fill out their schedule. It just goes to show what you said OT in the topic about mid majors being left out of the NCAA tournament in a few years. Power 5's want to avoid scheduling them and playing mid majors in the tourament. The big schools get nothing out of it and if they lose any of those games that they get a lot of bad press or the coach is on the hot seat. Another way of saying it: they lose money! I hope I am wrong but it seems that mid majors are just going to be the odd man out in college basketball. It should not be that way and it makes college basketball less interesting but in the end it is all about the money. The major programs get all the tv contracts, all the tournament money, etc. It kind of ruins the game but what can you do? No answers here. Let me know if you have any? To me, the answer is so simple that there must be some catch to it that I can't appreciate: just go back to signing more home-and-home deals with other mid-majors. I mean, if there's no money anymore in playing P5's, why should mid-majors provide them with fodder? Just sign two-here-two-there four-year deals with every mid-jor that you can within 300-400 miles: Missouri State, Wichita State, Arkansas State, Little Rock, Louisana Tech and all those other Louisiana schools, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, etc, etc, etc. I could think of worse schedules, for dang sure... 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Amen, Old Titan....Amen..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Old Titan said: To me, the answer is so simple that there must be some catch to it that I can't appreciate: just go back to signing more home-and-home deals with other mid-majors. I mean, if there's no money anymore in playing P5's, why should mid-majors provide them with fodder? Just sign two-here-two-there four-year deals with every mid-jor that you can within 300-400 miles: Missouri State, Wichita State, Arkansas State, Little Rock, Louisana Tech and all those other Louisiana schools, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, etc, etc, etc. I could think of worse schedules, for dang sure... Good answer! That is spot on. Hopefully, the AD and Coach Mills are listening. The Eagles have played Missiouri State and Wichita State quite a few times over the last 5-6 years. So, basically signing a lot of the old Southland teams that the Eagles use to play back in the day. Of course their are also quite a few mid majors in Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Maybe this was already address. Forgive me if it has. But how long do you think it will be until we have a two tiered national championship. One for P5 schools and one for "mid-major" institutions. I have to believe it won't be long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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