GW Hoops / 25-26 Schedule

**Posted by GWRising** 5/23/2025 11:52 am

FredD wrote:
GWRising wrote:
Joel Joseph wrote:
Rising, the majority of us 15 folks on this site aren't buying the same old excuses for mediocrity.
That same lame argument can be made by every team not ranked in the top 100 (which is 230+ teams), which isn't happening. We only have to look as far as GM and American to see your argument makes no sense. They are competitive and seem to schedule in a way that gets them ready for conference play and their coaches don't seem to be padding their schedule to keep their jobs. I don't want a coach who needs to do that for self preservation.
Joel, I get that you are stuck in 2016 but again that era is long gone. Absent winning the A-10 outright, we aren't going to the NCAA's based on any OOC schedule we could get in the best case scenario. Short of that, the NIT, Crown, etc. does it really matter which one now? How did A-10 do in NIT? Pretty much same as GW did in Crown. It's easy to say we should schedule this or that on your keyboard. Reality is much different now.

That said, nobody is saying that we should schedule only sub 300 teams. But expecting a schedule of more than one or two potential NCAA teams in the OOC (outside of any in an MTE) is just plain foolishness. Why would you cut your own throat for limited upside?

More importantly, neither of American or George Mason's schedules were at-large worthy. So again, if your point is that the NIT is some much better tournament now than the Crown then I guess the schedule made a difference. However, had we defeated George Mason in the A-10 tournament with our "terrible" schedule and all, we'd have been right in the NIT as well. So what are we really talking about other than re-arranging the deck chairs?

We basically have one path now ... win the A-10. I am not sure the OOC schedule will make us more or less able to do that.
Rising I agree, my hopes are less ambitious

1) Schedule 1 home-and-home with decent or top Mid-Major School.
2) For the 300 level schools, schedule a few more schools from the northest.
3) GW should play American every year.
4) Since an At Large is mirage, a top 4 finish and that double bye absolutely needs to be the no bull-shit goal! Why? Because I finishing 14-4 means real entertainment, must see TV and virtually no bad losses.
Because if GW is going to play the NIL game

Very reasonable.

**Posted by AT Hiker** 5/23/2025 10:09 pm

Getting to the Big Dance has to be our goal and the likely expansion of the tournament to 76 teams could really help the A-10

**Posted by Basketball Jones** 5/26/2025 6:39 pm

AT Hiker wrote:
Getting to the Big Dance has to be our goal and the likely expansion of the tournament to 76 teams could really help the A-10

Getting to the Big Dance has to be our goal - 100% agree, without that GWU should move to another/lower conference where they can dominate and get the sole conference autobid - Patriot or Coastal come to mind

the likely expansion of the tournament to 76 teams could really help the A-10 - Unsure about this one -
1) A-10 has one auto bid

2) where does A-10 #2 thru #6 rank relative to the other potential at large candidates?
For instance, GMU was #2 in the Conference and played in the NIT
What was the GMU ranking - KenPom, RPI, SoS etc., etc. - relative to the next set of P-4/Big East schools that didn't get NCAA Invites?

3) only 8 additional teams will get NCAA invites - that may mean the best 8 NIT teams make the NCAA Tourney and another 8 slots open up for the NIT.
I'd bet on another NIT slot for the A-10 before I'd bet on additional NCAA tourney slots.

BUT I HOPE THAT YOU ARE CORRECT.

**Posted by GWRising** 5/27/2025 9:54 am

AT Hiker wrote:
Getting to the Big Dance has to be our goal and the likely expansion of the tournament to 76 teams could really help the A-10

Doubt that is happening anytime soon (before 2027 or 2028) and if it does it will be to add 4 more play in games. The P4+ will likely dominate most of those bids. Unless you can win the A-10 tournament or A-10 regular season, the GW path to the Big Dance as an at-large is extremely difficult and unlikely even with a much stronger schedule. Unfortunately, that is the new reality.

**Posted by GW0509** 5/27/2025 1:30 pm

Basketball Jones wrote:
without that GWU should move to another/lower conference where they can dominate and get the sole conference autobid - Patriot or Coastal come to mind

Luckily, we have a pretty good test case for that with UMass moving down to the MAC. Not sure UMass will automatically be the favorite to win the autobid.

**Posted by Basketball Jones** 5/27/2025 4:42 pm

GW0509 wrote:
Basketball Jones wrote:
without that GWU should move to another/lower conference where they can dominate and get the sole conference autobid - Patriot or Coastal come to mind
Luckily, we have a pretty good test case for that with UMass moving down to the MAC. Not sure UMass will automatically be the favorite to win the autobid.

I thought the UMASS move was for the sake of the football program???

**Posted by GW0509** 5/27/2025 6:05 pm

Basketball Jones wrote:
GW0509 wrote:
Basketball Jones wrote:
without that GWU should move to another/lower conference where they can dominate and get the sole conference autobid - Patriot or Coastal come to mind
Luckily, we have a pretty good test case for that with UMass moving down to the MAC. Not sure UMass will automatically be the favorite to win the autobid.
I thought the UMASS move was for the sake of the football program???

It was, but the MAC is notably worse than the A10. The A10 was the 8th best conference last year while the MAC was 23rd. FWIW, the Coastal was 20 and the Patriot was 27th.

If the theory holds that moving down a level will appreciably increase the odds of a tourney bid, UMass should dominate the MAC with its formerly A10 budget.

**Posted by DC Native** 5/28/2025 4:47 pm

I suppose I'll weigh in on the annual schedule thread. As much as I would love to see GW schedule more mid-majors and less bottom feeders in the OOC, I think it is pretty clear by now what Caputo's scheduling philosophy is and I doubt it will change. I was thinking about how Hobbs had the same philosophy, and it only hurt the team once that I can think of, in 2006, when we could've gotten a better seed, avoided the #1 seed in the second round, and potentially made it to our second Sweet 16. I doubt the team would have advanced further than that regardless. The other two Hobbs teams that made the NCAA Tourney won the A10 Tourney, so I guess the weak OOC didn't hurt us down the stretch those years.

On the flip side, Lonergan scheduled tougher OOC schedules, which didn't really help the team in 2015, when we won the NIT but should have been in the NCAA. If I remember right, we were actually ranked in late December/early January, but underachieved in the A10. So the stronger OOC didn't help us that year. It probably did help the year before, however, when we got our last at large bid.

I could provide more examples from other coaches, although the game has changed a lot recently as many of your have pointed out, so I'm not sure how relevant they are. The point is that as much as I wish GW would schedule a tougher OOC schedule, it's not happening any time soon, is unlikely to make much of a difference in how the team plays in the A10, and will only very rarely impact if and where the team plays in post season tournaments. I do agree with many of you, however, that a better OOC would certainly enhance my interest in (and sell more tickets to) the OOC games.

Last edited by DC Native (5/28/2025 4:47 pm)

**Posted by Basketball Jones** 5/29/2025 7:04 am

I understand everyone's points about the effect of the OCC on competition, recruiting and tourney bids.

But no one has mentioned the effects on ticket sales and attendance.

i have no idea about
1) season ticket sales and partial season ticket sales over the last 5 years
2) advanced ticket sales by team, conference, promotion, day of the week
3) walk up ticket sales by team, conference, promotion, day of the week
4) sales generated by fans of the opposing teams
5) sales generated by fans wanting to see top 50/top 30/top 25/top 10 teams

a thought experiment
a) OCC schedule consists of KenPom #351 thru #363
GWU goes 13-0
what do the ticket sales look like?
does this schedule help prepare for the A-10 schedule?
does this schedule place the team in a NCAA Tourney at large position?
does this schedule help in recruiting and current player retention?

b) then ask the same question if the OOC schedule consists of KenPom #1 thru #13
and GWU goes 0-13

**Posted by GWRising** 5/29/2025 8:28 am

There should be some good news coming shortly about a matchup on a neutral court in 2025-26 against a very prominent SEC team. Stay tuned!

**Posted by Hoopsfan23** 5/29/2025 9:04 am

Great news!!

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 5/29/2025 9:07 am

My facetious take on the possibilities:

Vanderbilt. Our revenge game for what happened in the NCAA's, only 18 years later.

LSU: Their payback game for taking James Bishop. Or does Bishop for Hunter Dean and Bernard Woodside make this a wash?

Florida: Playing the national champs on a neutral court? The game must be in Orlando.

Oklahoma: Joe Bamisile serves as the honorary captain for both teams.

Texas: After our last loss to them, Texas coach Rick Barnes: :"P.J. Tucker definitely had an impressive night." GW coach Karl Hobs: "Tucker is without a doubt the surprise player in the country." God, I loved Hobbs.

Georgia or South Carolina: We've beaten both at home this century. We've lost to both on the road this century. Neutral court decides it.

Tennessee: GW will only play the game at Barclay Center where it defeated the Vols ten years ago. Rick Barnes wants the rematch in Honolulu where the immediate postgame festivities/fisticuffs eclipsed an 11 point win 25 years ago.

**Posted by GW0509** 5/29/2025 10:15 am

Gwmayhem wrote:
LSU: Their payback game for taking James Bishop. Or does Bishop for Hunter Dean and Bernard Woodside make this a wash?

I think Regis Koundjia was the compensation for Woodside.

**Posted by gwstudent2024** 5/29/2025 12:00 pm

I'll take a stab at it: Tennessee, who has Mannassas native and #4 national recruit Nate Ament coming in as a freshman recruit. Maybe a game at Capital One Arena against the Vols?

**Posted by GW73** 5/29/2025 12:14 pm

And then there could be payback for Marcus Ford coming from Auburn. (But not sure whether Auburn or GW deserves the payback.)

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 5/29/2025 2:35 pm

GW0509 wrote:
Gwmayhem wrote:
LSU: Their payback game for taking James Bishop. Or does Bishop for Hunter Dean and Bernard Woodside make this a wash?

I think Regis Koundjia was the compensation for Woodside.

Regis; great call GW0509. Wow, that's a lot of LSU connections.

**Posted by Long Suffering Fan** 5/30/2025 8:37 pm

Regis got down the court on the dribble as fast as I remember anyone.

**Posted by Free Quebec** 5/31/2025 1:13 pm

Gwmayhem wrote:
My facetious take on the possibilities:

Vanderbilt. Our revenge game for what happened in the NCAA's, only 18 years later.

LSU: Their payback game for taking James Bishop. Or does Bishop for Hunter Dean and Bernard Woodside make this a wash?

Florida: Playing the national champs on a neutral court? The game must be in Orlando.

Oklahoma: Joe Bamisile serves as the honorary captain for both teams.

Texas: After our last loss to them, Texas coach Rick Barnes: :"P.J. Tucker definitely had an impressive night." GW coach Karl Hobs: "Tucker is without a doubt the surprise player in the country." God, I loved Hobbs.

Georgia or South Carolina: We've beaten both at home this century. We've lost to both on the road this century. Neutral court decides it.

Tennessee: GW will only play the game at Barclay Center where it defeated the Vols ten years ago. Rick Barnes wants the rematch in Honolulu where the immediate postgame festivities/fisticuffs eclipsed an 11 point win 25 years ago.

Florida: payback for us knocking their Dorian Finney-Smith team out of the NIT.

Kentucky: The Bob Tallent bowl?

**Posted by GW0509** 6/02/2025 2:47 pm

George Mason just announced their MTE. Their opponents are:

KP 195 Ohio
KP 155 LMU
KP 116 FAU

Seems pretty comparable to ours and frankly ours may be a bit better all things considered.

**Posted by The Ross-Man!** 6/03/2025 9:27 am

GWRising wrote:
There should be some good news coming shortly about a matchup on a neutral court in 2025-26 against a very prominent SEC team. Stay tuned!

Been checking back in for this since you posted it, Rising. Is this still on, or did it fall through?