Gas up the recreational vehicle.
Check to see which credit card is giving out free airline miles and sign up.
If you already have one of those credit cards, get ready to accumulate some frequent flier miles into free tickets.
You better be ready because those are some of the things you’re going to have to do in November and December if you want to see the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
On Wednesday, MSU announced a 14-game non-conference schedule that includes only three home games and features 17,190 miles of travel before the team kicks off Southeastern Conference play in January 2017.
Don’t be worried, though, because this is a positive step for a program that is ranked No. 7 and No. 12 in preseason polls by two national publications. With eight juniors and seniors on the 13-player roster, MSU is poised to build on a 2015-16 season that saw it win a program-record 28 games and advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history.
The schedule features games against 19 teams that advanced to the postseason, including 12 that played in the NCAA tournament. In the non-conference games, the schedule features 10 teams that advanced to the postseason last year, including four that played in the NCAA tournament.
Those gaudy numbers contribute to what might be the best non-conference schedule MSU has played in program history.
It’s perfect timing.
In 2015, MSU’s non-conference schedule played a role in it earning a No. 5 seed to the NCAA tournament. As a result, MSU had to travel to Durham, North Carolina, to play No. 4 seed Duke on its home court. The Blue Devils capitalized on the advantage by winning 64-56.
Last season, MSU again had to overcome a non-conference schedule that was lacking, so it wasn’t surprising MSU again was given a No. 5 seed. The only difference was MSU received a break because Michigan State, which earned the No. 4 seed, wasn’t able to play host to the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament due to a scheduling conflict with its home arena. The NCAA settled the situation by sending Michigan State to Starkville. MSU used the home-court edge to fuel a second-half comeback that helped it beat Michigan State 74-72 and advance to the Sweet 16.
MSU won’t receive any breaks like that this season. It will earn everything it gets. A matchup against Texas, which should be a preseason top-10 team, on Sunday, Nov. 20, in Starkville is the highlight of a non-conference schedule that features eight teams that won 20 or more games last season, and three more that won 19.
MSU also will participate in tournaments in Maine, Hawaii, and California. MSU’s opponents for its second games at the events in Maine and California aren’t known, but it’s important to note that only two of MSU’s possible 16 opponents have Ratings Percentage Indexes (RPI) of 200 or higher, according to the 2015-16 tabulations by RealTimeRPI.com. Those ratings from last season don’t include postseason play.
It’s gratifying to see MSU will open the season with six games against teams that won 20 or more games last season. In fact, it’s a long time coming. Now that MSU has beefed up its schedule, coach Vic Schaefer should try to duplicate a lineup like this one every season.
In four seasons, Schaefer has turned MSU into a contender in the SEC and has it as one of the up-and-coming national programs. It hasn’t been easy. Schaefer and his coaches have worked hard to find players who embrace a gritty, in-your-face defensive style. They have used grass roots efforts to cultivate a growing following that has resulted in packed houses at Humphrey Coliseum.
Give Schaefer credit. His scheduling has bolstered the efforts to build a program and given his players plenty of confidence. They have rewarded him with strong showings in the SEC.
But Schaefer has to learn a valuable lesson. He has tried in the past two seasons to defend the strength of his non-conference lineup only to see it hurt his program when the NCAA tournament selection committee takes a closer look. Schaefer has a point when he says it is increasingly difficult to convince teams from Power 5 conferences to come to Starkville. Instead of a few hundred or a few thousand fans, games against marquee opponents likely will pack the Hump, like the crowds of 7,128 10,626, 5,710, and 7,094 that watched MSU play host to Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Michigan State.
But there are enough programs like Tulane and Arkansas-Little Rock in the region that typically have RPIs in the top 150 for MSU to schedule every year. MSU has matured to a point it can withstand a non-conference loss at home or on the road and retain its national ranking. The ability of Schaefer and his staff to build a deep and talented roster and to reinforce that work with strong recruiting classes means the Bulldogs should be primed to continue their success, so there is no reason to revert to non-conference schedule strengths of the past (see chart).
This season, MSU should be able to challenge reigning SEC champion South Carolina. Two games against Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss likely will make that task a little harder, but MSU needs to play more games against teams in the upper third of the league. Those games will ensure MSU is as battle tested as it can be for postseason play.
All of those things will come into play for what could be the best season yet. That’s why MSU needs this schedule. It needs to be tested early and often because expectations won’t allow the Bulldogs to take a night off. Schaefer won’t allow his players to do that, either, but there have been too many times in the past few years when the Bulldogs have played down to the level of their competition. That’s why MSU needs schedules like these this season and in the future.
A year ago, Schaefer wasn’t sure how his team would react against top-ranked Connecticut in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A 60-point loss showed work still needed to be done.
The Bulldogs have addressed one part of the issue with their schedule. It remains to be seen if there is a team as dominant as UConn was in 2015-16 this season. Baylor, Notre Dame, South Carolina, and Texas are some of the top-tier programs that will fight to take the crown from UConn. The Huskies will be there, too, even after losing All-Americans Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck.
MSU also should be in that pack. Games at Hawaii, Iowa State, Southern Mississippi, Arkansas-Little Rock, and (possibly) Southern California will be great ways for MSU to test itself in hostile environments. They will help remind the Bulldogs they will have to play at a high level every night and they won’t be able to rest on the accomplishments of prior teams.
Schaefer hopes he will have plenty of fans at each venue to support his team. The last few years have seen sizable groups follow the Bulldogs to the SEC tournament and to non-conference and regular-season league games. This year should be no different, especially with travel destinations like Hawaii and California on the docket.
MSU will kick off the 2016-17 season at 6 p.m. Nov. 3 with an exhibition game against Arkansas-Fort Smith. Former MSU assistant coach Elena Lovato is in her first season as head coach at Arkansas-Fort Smith.
MSU will open the regular season Friday, Nov. 11, against Purdue in the Maine Tipoff Tournament in Orono, Maine. A time hasn’t been set for the game.
Adam Minichino is sports editor at The Dispatch. You can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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