dmvpiranha wrote:

I've come to accept the fact that a non-D1 will be on the schedule every year now, but I question scheduling the game in the middle of November. Ending the OOC slate with this kind of game makes sense to me because that's the time of the year where a letdown is most likely to happen. The players are coming off exams and looking forward to winter break. You can use it to work on some things as conference play approaches without the contest really counting. Doing it on 11/16 a couple weeks into the season though feels a bit random.

 
100% agree on this. It was a lot easier to stomach last year when we played St. Mary’s right after Florida and three days before Christmas when no one was around.  That made sense. November doesn’t.

Basketball Jones wrote:

GWRising wrote:

My sources tell me the non conference schedule currently looks something like this ...

Frisco - 3 games (one won't be Loyola)
Greenbriar (around Thanksgiving) - 2 games (might be Liberty and UAB)
Boston College (A) (they return next year)
UMBC (H)
American (H)
Army (H)
Navy (H)
Longwood (A)
William & Mary (A)
______________ (H)

Not 100% locked but close. Still could change on a couple.

12 OOC games listed above
+ Harvard
+ 18 A-10 games
31 games total

but has the game limit been raised from 31 to 32?

if so 1 more OOC game left to schedule?

and potentially 1 more exhibition or scrimmage?
 

Some things have changed since then ...
 Harvard , SE Louisiana, Elon, and Ferrum were added and Longwood, Army and William & Mary were dropped. It's still 31 games. Frisco is also 2 games not 3. So we have 30 games scheduled right now. Room for 1 more OOC:

OOC (12) - Navy, Elon, Harvard, Ferrum, UAB, Western Kentucky, UMBC, SE Louisiana, American, Boston College, San Francisco, Utah State 
Conference (18)
 

GWRising wrote:

Basketball Jones wrote:

GWRising wrote:

My sources tell me the non conference schedule currently looks something like this ...

Frisco - 3 games (one won't be Loyola)
Greenbriar (around Thanksgiving) - 2 games (might be Liberty and UAB)
Boston College (A) (they return next year)
UMBC (H)
American (H)
Army (H)
Navy (H)
Longwood (A)
William & Mary (A)
______________ (H)

Not 100% locked but close. Still could change on a couple.

12 OOC games listed above
+ Harvard
+ 18 A-10 games
31 games total

but has the game limit been raised from 31 to 32?

if so 1 more OOC game left to schedule?

and potentially 1 more exhibition or scrimmage?
 

Some things have changed since then ...
 Harvard , SE Louisiana, Elon, and Ferrum were added and Longwood, Army and William & Mary were dropped. It's still 31 games. Frisco is also 2 games not 3. So we have 30 games scheduled right now. Room for 1 more OOC:

OOC (12) - Navy, Elon, Harvard, Ferrum, UAB, Western Kentucky, UMBC, SE Louisiana, American, Boston College, San Francisco, Utah State 
Conference (18)
 

 Starting in the 2026–27 season, the regular-season game limit has been updated to 32 games, allowing schools more flexibility in scheduling [url=https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=94ea62dea2972f455d36fc8d50a4fdc857702d3a4ec88b4fa0b06545eba84e5cJmltdHM9MTc4NzUyOTYwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=0ff0b666-4923-6389-135f-a158488e62cb&psq=what+are+the+number+of+games+for+ncaa+basketball+teams&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvMjAyNiVFMiU4MCU5MzI3X05DQUFfRGl2aXNpb25fSV9tZW4lMjdzX2Jhc2tldGJhbGxfc2Vhc29u&ntb=1]Wikipedia[/url].

Two new games added to OOC schedule ...

Hampton
Long Island U.

We now have 32 games.

Last edited by GWRising (8/26/2026 11:10 am)

My how scheduling has changed.  We used to play as many as four OOC games annually against P5 opponents.  Those four has shrunk to three, two, and now one.  And Boston College isn't exactly a "hold the phone" opportunity.

The positive is that we have smartly found our way into events where we can compete against quality mid-majors.  No, beating UAB wouldn't have the same cache as knocking off Alabama or Auburn, but it still wouldn't be too bad.

What was always a problem to some extent (landing games with top programs) has only gotten worse thanks to conference expansion (more conference games amongst most conferences), made for tv conference challenges (resulting in another big game for the top programs), and certain rivalries that continue to uphold tradition.  Others have fallen by the wayside as evidenced by St. Joe's failing to play Villanova this season.

Whether by design or not, this dearth of quality mid-major vs. P5 opponents will be in the news again in March when P5 teams with subpar records complain that they deserve a bid over a 25-9 mid-major because said mid-major only played 3 Q1 games all year.  And so it goes. 

DC Native wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

My how scheduling has changed.  We used to play as many as four OOC games annually against P5 opponents.  Those four has shrunk to three, two, and now one.  And Boston College isn't exactly a "hold the phone" opportunity.

The positive is that we have smartly found our way into events where we can compete against quality mid-majors.  No, beating UAB wouldn't have the same cache as knocking off Alabama or Auburn, but it still wouldn't be too bad.

What was always a problem to some extent (landing games with top programs) has only gotten worse thanks to conference expansion (more conference games amongst most conferences), made for tv conference challenges (resulting in another big game for the top programs), and certain rivalries that continue to uphold tradition.  Others have fallen by the wayside as evidenced by St. Joe's failing to play Villanova this season.

Whether by design or not, this dearth of quality mid-major vs. P5 opponents will be in the news again in March when P5 teams with subpar records complain that they deserve a bid over a 25-9 mid-major because said mid-major only played 3 Q1 games all year.  And so it goes. 

In order to get in the NCAA Tournament, GW’s goal should be to win A10 championships. If we win the A10 Tournament, we are in. And if we win a regular season championship, we are in MOST years. Simple as that.

 Yes, correct. OOC is largely for seeding but you have to take care of business in the A-10 or the rest doesn't matter.

Gwmayhem wrote:

So if you're CC, is this the OOC schedule you ideally want?  If everything is now decided by A10 play, then is the OOC completely meaningless?

Seems to me that generating a big upset in the OOC might be a factor to a selection committee (not THE factor, but a factor) but what I'm hearing from DC Native and Rising is that this wouldn't even matter anymore.  Am I misinterpreting?

Just my opinion

NCAA Bid will require
1) Winning A-10 tourney;

OR

1) top 3 A-10 regular season ranking
2) make it to the A-10 Tourney finals
3) 12-2 - or better OOC schedule
( i suspect the Greenbriar and Texas Tournaments will be brutal)

GWRising wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

So if you're CC, is this the OOC schedule you ideally want?  If everything is now decided by A10 play, then is the OOC completely meaningless?

Seems to me that generating a big upset in the OOC might be a factor to a selection committee (not THE factor, but a factor) but what I'm hearing from DC Native and Rising is that this wouldn't even matter anymore.  Am I misinterpreting?

 You are not misinterpreting based on what I have seen over the last few years. The A-10 is a one or two bid league and you had better do well as in win the regular season or the tournament. Had we beat Florida last year but had the record we had in the A-10, we were not going to the NCAA tournament. To be fair, we would have been closer but still not in. Bottom line is win your league in this era. Years ago in the old A-10 I might have had a different opinion.

The OOC is really important, as far as I'm concerned, but its importance is to prepare us for the A10 season, not to bolster our at large bid resume. For this reason, what I would like to see in the OOC schedule is as many mid-majors as possible (i.e., teams comparable to A10 teams), with 1 or 2 high majors (for fans and players, and to use as a measuring stick) and the rest LOCAL low majors (which although they don't help us much at least bring local interest to the fans and support smaller local programs).

I'll disagree with Rising, however, in that I hate it when people say the A10 is a 1 bid league. It is sometimes, but is much more often a 2 bid league, with the bids going to the best team (usually the regular season champion) and the winner of the A10 Tourney, which is rarely the same team. I would note that Joe Lunardi's way too early Bracketology includes 2 A10 teams in the field. The days of the A10 getting 4, 5, or even 6 bids are long gone, but we are still a 2 bid league and I hope we can keep in that way.

Last edited by DC Native (Yesterday 11:56 am)

DC Native wrote:

The OOC is really important, as far as I'm concerned, but its importance is to prepare us for the A10 season, not to bolster our at large bid resume. For this reason, what I would like to see in the OOC schedule is as many mid-majors as possible (i.e., teams comparable to A10 teams), with 1 or 2 high majors (for fans and players, and to use as a measuring stick) and the rest LOCAL low majors (which although they don't help us much at least bring local interest to the fans and support smaller local programs).

This. The thing that sticks out the most with this year's schedule is the two MTEs. Why can't we get more home-and-homes with schools from other conferences comparable to the A10? I'm not liking the trend of only getting these games on neutral sites now. Part of the appeal of the MTEs was getting a high-major game but even that seems to be gone now. This is not a problem unique to GW but it makes the home slate a bit uninteresting. We have the Boston College home-and-home which is a good start, but I don't see why we can't have multiple ones going at the same time. Finding the right day and time can be tough but it should be doable with GW's metrics nowadays.

Also agree with playing the local programs. American and Howard should be on the docket every year. Then cycle through other decent regional foes. I personally enjoy playing programs that GW has never faced before or in a long time, although that's probably not a popular take and won't get big crowds. Over half of Southeastern Louisiana's roster is from the DC area which is definitely why the game is being played but it's cool to see a new team at the Smith Center. 
 

You're not wrong. There's definitely a problem with the system. I was just thinking about specifically improving the home slate annually by having multiple home-and-homes going against comparable competition (one starting away, one at home), not necessarily prioritizing the metrics in that scenario.

I think there's value in an MTE setting where you're playing multiple games against good competition on a short turnaround. It sucks though that most years the neutral site games are the highlight of the OOC schedule. To CC's credit, Harvard is a pretty solid get even if not to the average fan. No doubt the schedule is better than in previous years.