For all of the posts in this series, visit the 2017-18 Non-Conference Scheduling Hub.

Ranking The Teams

The competition at the top of the SoCon over the past few seasons is paying off, as three squads sit among the top 150 of the four-year rankings with newcomer Mercer just outside and rising Furman edging into the top 200. On the other end of the scale, three teams find themselves among the ranks of the bottom 100, with the two military institutions in the bottom 50.

Ranking The Schedules

On average, the SoCon cracks the top 10 in three of the four scheduling categories, thanks to a pair of top 40 slates and five in the upper half of Division I. Of the remaining five, only Chattanooga owns a slate that ranks among D1’s absolute worst. However, the Mocs avoided the bottom 50 in the Known Schedule table.

*Denotes team will participate in a bracketed tournament. Reminder: Known Score = known matchups only; Average Score = known games+average of potential bracketed matchups; Maximum Score = known games+games against best potential bracketed matchups; Minimum Score = known games+games against worst potential bracketed matchups

Who Over- And Under-Scheduled?

Just three SoCon squads under-scheduled for 2017-18, with Chattanooga the biggest offender with a 193-place gap. Everyone else over-scheduled to some degree, with Western Carolina building itself the most difficult early season slate relative to its recent performances by a whopping 237 places. Samford, at the other end of the scale, only overdid things by a respectable 44 spots.

Wofford opens a new arena this season and the Terriers will welcome a pair of Power 7 foes as part of the celebrations. But they’ll also visit a trio of top teams, a figure that’s more typical for a SoCon member. Each squad will play an average of six home games, which is almost ideal (10th out of the 25 mid-major leagues), but a third of those will come against non-D1 foes (good for ninth), which is not.

And indeed, those 23 games lead the way when compared to the contests SoCon teams have scheduled against the other 31 D1 conferences. There appears to be more room for regional contests with just 14 total matchups between the Southern Conference and a pair of regional mid-major conferences—the CAA and Sun Belt.

If you take out the non-D1 games, which account for nearly 40 percent of SoCon home contests, there’s a surprisingly reasonable distribution in this breakdown, at least for a mid-major conference. These 10 teams will play 50 games against top 150 opponents, 32 against the next 150, and just 17 against the bottom 51. While the league ranks 28th of the 32 D1 conferences in terms of neutral-site games, it’s at near parity of home and road contests. However, that wouldn’t be the case if all of the non-D1 games were eliminated.

Team-By-Team Breakdown

Teams are listed in order of their Average Schedule Strength National Ranking. Numbers in parentheses are opponent’s Team Score Ranking. Logos via SportsLogos.net, except for The Citadel (Wikipedia).

31. Western Carolina Catamounts

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 3 wins (Hiwassee, @Appalachian State, High Point) and 2 losses (@UNC Asheville, College of Charleston)

The Catamounts tumbled from 16 wins to nine last season, thanks in no small part to injuries and a brutal non-league schedule. While Larry Hunter’s squad could get back in the title hunt in 2018, they’ll have to survive a highly challenging November and December first. A quartet of truly brutal Power 7 road games and drawing UT Arlington in the semifinals of the Barclays Center Classic subregional sure won’t help pad the win total. WCU fans have to hope the payoff comes in March.

38. Wofford Terriers

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 1 win (@Coastal Carolina) and 1 loss (@Georgia Tech)

With two Power 7 foes, Harvard, and a trio of non-Division I foes heading to Richardson Indoor Stadium for its inaugural season, Wofford certainly has one of the more, uh, varied home slates in the country. (Yes, ‘varied.’ That’s the word I’m looking for.) Curiously, Mount St. Mary’s will head to Spartanburg to play North Florida in the Maui on the Mainland event, but the Mountaineers won’t play Wofford while they’re in Spartanburg. Instead, Mike Young’s squad will play a pair of non-D1 teams as part of their participation. But when you consider the three power league road games the Terriers are playing, maybe scheduling a couple more wins isn’t a bad idea for a team that finished just below .500 a season ago.

70. Furman Paladins

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 1 win (Tennessee Tech) and 3 losses (UNC Asheville, @Winthrop, South Carolina State)

Niko Medved built the Paladins into a SoCon contender, but he’s moved on to the Missouri Valley and Drake. So it’s up to Bob Richey to try to get Furman into March Madness. And since he only has to replace one senior, another 20-plus win campaign is possible in Greenville. However, given the lineup of road and neutral games—especially the four PK80 contests—Furman might head into league play with a similar mark to the 7-6 one it owned in late December last year.

148. UNC Greensboro Spartans

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 3 wins (Presbyterian, Liberty, @UNC Asheville) and 2 losses (Virginia, Wake Forest)

Last season, the Spartans won 25 games and reached the NIT. They also lost home games to Virginia and Wake Forest—two teams they’ll face away from the Coliseum this time around. Wes Miller saw two of his key performers from last season graduate, so UNCG will hope the eight-game home schedule, featuring a trio of non-D1 foes and a round-robin exempt event, helps push the returnees back toward contention.

170. ETSU Buccaneers

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 3 wins (Fordham, Detroit Mercy, Savannah State) and 0 losses

Steve Forbes’s Bucs won 27 games a season ago and reached the NCAA Tournament, but like so many of last season’s SoCon contenders, many of their top performers have moved on. Forbes wisely scheduled seven home games to help his remodeled squad adjust, but unlike the Mocs, ETSU faces a pair of daunting Power 7 road trips early on—at Kentucky as part of the Wildcats’ multi-team event and at Xavier.

181. Samford Bulldogs

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 1 win (Jacksonville State) and 0 losses

The Bulldogs won 20 games in Scott Padgett’s third year in charge and should be poised to challenge for the SoCon crown in his fourth. Samford is banking on road tests—particularly trips to Arkansas, Valparaiso, and Clemson—to prepare a roster full of holdovers for a title run.

202. The Citadel Bulldogs

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 0 wins and 2 losses (Campbell, @UMBC)

Seven of the Citadel’s 12 wins in Duggar Baucom’s second season came during the non-conference. However, none of those opponents appear on this schedule. Three Power 7 road games, highlighted by a Jamaica Classic Mainland game at Florida State, and a home tournament featuring Marist, UMBC, and Army West Point are the standout contests on the 2017 version of the Bulldogs’ non-league slate.

239. Mercer Bears

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 0 wins and 1 loss (La Salle)

The Bears will be loaded with seniors ready to finish their careers with an NCAA berth—and that’s a possibility even when you consider that Bob Hoffman’s team won just 15 times a season ago and finished at .500 in league play. But six challenging road games, including the late addition of one at Liberty thanks to the Paradise Jam’s unfortunate relocation, should more than prepare Mercer for the SoCon grind.

262. VMI Keydets

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 1 win (Charleston Southern) and 2 losses (@Presbyterian, @Radford)

The Keydets defeated just one Division I non-conference foe en route to a six-win season—a drop of three victories from Dan Earl’s first season in charge. Charleston Southern is back on this schedule, so there’s hope for a repeat, though the rematch takes place in South Carolina. There’s also the chance to avenge a road loss to Presbyterian—one of just five games the Blue Hose won last season.

That’s all I’ve got.

Wait. Longwood’s visit is another potential win.

That’s really it this time.

317. Chattanooga Mocs

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 4 wins (Hiwassee, Tennessee Wesleyan, Marshall, Jacksonville State) and 0 losses

Despite the facts that the Mocs lost their final five games and didn’t appear in any postseason tournament, Matt McCall was still able to jump up the mid-major ladder by leaving for UMass. That leaves Lamont Paris to pick up the pieces and rebuild—and that verb is accurate since Chattanooga’s top five performers all graduated. But with seven home games, including a pair of Cayman Islands Classic Mainland bracket contests, and no power conference opposition lined up, the Mocs newcomers should be able to use November and December to adjust, learn, and win.

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