Weak Out of Conference Schedule

This schedule was retrieved from An Article by Dan Wolken of the Commercial Appeal.

Nov. 3 – LeMoyne-Owen (exhibition)

Nov. 9 – Christian Brothers (exhibition)

Nov. 13 – Jackson State

Nov. 17 – vs. Kansas (St. Louis, Mo.; Hall of Fame Showcase)

Nov. 20 – Tennessee Tech (Hall of Fame Showcase)

Nov. 24 – Central Arkansas (Hall of Fame Showcase)

Nov. 30 – Oakland (Hall of Fame Showcase)

Dec. 5 – Arkansas State

Dec. 9 – Montana State

Dec. 12 – vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (North Little Rock, Ark.)

Dec. 19 – vs. UMass (Boston, Mass.)

Dec. 22 – Southeast Missouri State

Dec. 28 – IUPUI

Dec. 31 – Tennessee

Jan. 3 – Houston Baptist

Jan. 6 – at Syracuse

Feb. 6 – Gonzaga

11 lines have never spelled disappointment so concisely. Aside from 5 games; Tennessee, UMass, Syracus, Gonzaga, and Kansas, this schedule is all fluff. Me might not have had many more tough games last season. A few teams reappear as our major competition; Syracuse, Gonzaga, and Tennessee.The problem is that there are so many no-name teams.

The Tigers will have to win almost every game. With such a weak out of conference schedule, and such a weak conference, no one will believe that we are a talented team unless we win our five non-fluff games. I find it hard to believe that we wont lose at least two of those games, and other losses will be sprinkled through out the rest of the schedule.

I will be absolutely necessary to win the coneference tournament to get into the NCAA tournament. Getting a high seed will be next to impossible.

Don't get me wrong, I understand Coach Pastner's position. He had to focus on staff and players. They were an absolute necessity. He had only one recruit stay, returning players were iffy, and there was no coaching staff to speak of.

I also understand wanting to play it safe. He has just recently been able to look at his complete roster. Even now, two players are waiting to be cleared by the NCAA (Martin Ngaloro and Elliot Williams). Pastner was not sure what kind of talent he would be working with. This is not the ideal time to make a stacked schedule. Not to mention, after four years of 30 plus win seasons, Tiger's fans will not be happy with a lot of losses.

While this is the type of schedule we should expect to see from our first time head coach, most of us don't want to settle for meeting our expectations this season.