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

Ranking The Teams

Considering the amount of national attention Monmouth has drawn over the past two seasons and Iona’s consistent excellence, it’s flat out surprising to see the Gaels barely in the four-year rankings’ top 100 and the Hawks outside of it. Of course, the fact that no other MAAC squads rank in the top 150—with seven league members falling in the bottom half of Division I—eventually works it way to weighing down the rankings of the top two.

Ranking The Schedules

With Monmouth ranking in the top five or 10 nationally (depending on the category) and three teams appearing at least twice in the bottom 50, the MAAC’s spread of non-conference schedules more resembles the SWAC’s or MEAC’s than another mid-ranked league. Just four of the conference’s 11 teams rank in the top 150 consistently, with those teams all landing among the top 100 when it comes to known matchups.

*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?

The average MAAC schedule is only 6.7 places weaker than the average MAAC Team Score, which leads Division I. But that doesn’t mean all 11 teams did a great job at building schedules that correlate to their recent performances. Fairfield and Marist did the best, keeping their schedules within 15 or fewer places of their four-year ranking. Monmouth highlights the group of teams that didn’t—as the Hawks are one of three squads that missed their target by 100 or more places. However, King Rice’s team was, as you’d expect, the only one of the trio to over-schedule.

The closest a MAAC squad gets to hosting a Power 7 squad is Monmouth’s contest against Kentucky at MSG—roughly 55 miles from West Long Branch. As you’ll see below, the 11 teams in this league will spend large portions of November and December on the road, as they average a mere four home games each this fall. That ranks 21st among the 25 mid-major leagues. However, the conference as a whole must be commended for avoiding games against non-Division I opposition.

While MAAC schedules heavily feature matchups against fellow Eastern mid-majors from the NEC, Patriot League, Ivy League, and America East, don’t underestimate their national scope. The only Division I league that won’t take the floor against a Metro Atlantic squad this season is the Summit League.

The fact so many MAAC teams participate in bracketed tournaments this season keeps the split of home and away non-conference games relatively respectable. And that’s even true when you realize that only the NEC, MEAC, and SWAC will play fewer non-conference home games than the MAAC. Looking at the breakdown of games against teams from outside of the top 100, conference members did well in splitting home and away games against teams ranked between 101st and 105th, but MAAC teams will still play their share of road games against lower-tier D1 squads.

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.

4. Monmouth Hawks

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

Three seniors, including MAAC Player of the Year Justin Robinson, left campus without experiencing the NCAA Tournament. Now King Rice’s squad must climb the hill again while seeking to replace a substantial amount of production. Participation in the NIT Season Tip-Off will give Monmouth opportunities to upset Seton Hall and Virginia on the road, but not a single home game. On the other hand, the Hawks will get a shot at SEC favorite Kentucky in New York, though the presence of a ton of Wildcat fans will likely outweigh geographic convenience in that matchup. Once again, this is a schedule designed to get Monmouth ready for the MAAC grind, which is now two games shorter. However, given the Hawks’ postseason issues, maybe a bracketed tournament would have been a wiser addition.

100. Siena Saints

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 1 win (Bucknell (N)) and 5 losses (@Albany, @St. Bonaventure, @FGCU, @Hofstra, Vermont)

Last season, Jimmy Patsos’s Saints burst Monmouth’s NCAA bubble in the MAAC semifinals before falling to Iona in the conference title game to finish right at .500. However, in picking up just three non-league wins, Siena really pulled things together in conference play. Last fall’s biggest win came over Bucknell in Glens Falls, but the Saints will have to play the Patriot League champs in Pennsylvania this time around. And that’s just one of five potentially scary road games on Siena’s slate—highlighted by road trips to Louisville and Memphis in the Gotham Classic. But at least four of the five teams the Saints lost to on the road visit the Times-Union Center in 2017.

131. Iona Gaels

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

Yes, the Gaels have just two home games, but that shouldn’t keep them from putting up a respectable November and December record, considering they went 8-5 last fall with only three contests scheduled for the Hynes Center. In 2016, Iona won the Great Alaska Shootout, avenging a non-bracketed loss at Nevada to do so. This year, they’ll be favored to reach the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase final, where America East power Vermont should await. Otherwise, a home date with Yale and road trips to Syracuse, St. John’s, and Rhode Island are the highlights. And if Tim Cluess’s squad can pull some upsets in those games, perhaps 2017-18 Iona can emulate the 2012 squad and steal an at-large.

138. Rider Broncs

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 4 wins (@Hampton, @Hartford, @Wagner, Drexel) and 0 losses

Rider’s 18 wins of a season ago were a five-win jump from 2015-16’s total—and seven non-league wins got the Broncs off to a decent start. But this slate is a little more difficult, thanks to road games against Xavier and Providence replacing ones with USF and N.C. State—and those two games were already losses. While the home matchups are winnable, the Las Vegas Invitational organizers really should have separated the Broncs from UC Irvine until that event’s visitors’ final, as those two are the strongest teams among the four in that bracket. But with Kevin Baggett’s team already opening with Hampton, that wasn’t really possible.

223. Fairfield Stags

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 1 win (@Wagner) and 2 losses (@Loyola (Md.), @Penn)

Sydney Johnson’s Stags are the hot pick to challenge Iona and Monmouth at the top of the league this season, but this non-conference slate isn’t quite on the level of their rivals’. Road games at Purdue and Houston along with a round-robin tournament at Wright State look to be the most serious tests for Fairfield before MAAC play begins.

251. Niagara Purple Eagles

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 1 win (Norfolk State) and 2 losses (Buffalo, St. Bonaventure (N))

The Purple Eagles’ 10 2016-17 wins rank as their highest total in Chris Casey’s four seasons in charge. And with twice as many home games on this season’s non-conference slate (six compared to three last fall), an improvement upon 2016’s non-league win total of three is quite possible. Just don’t expect much success against the road opposition, which includes Minnesota, BYU, and St. Bonaventure. A win over Alabama A&M in the Barclays Center subregional semifinal would likely set up a day two meeting with UT Arlington and with it a chance to make slight ripples nationally.

266. Manhattan Jaspers

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 3 wins (Hofstra, Fordham, @St. Francis-Brooklyn) and 1 loss (@Morgan State)

Steve Masiello’s Jaspers have won just 23 games in the two seasons that followed their back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. And even though Ivy favorite Harvard visits the Bronx this season, the bulk of Manhattan’s road to redemption will unfold away from home. Other than road games at Tulsa and Seton Hall, the Jaspers biggest tests will come in the form of tournaments in Southwest Florida and Northern Ireland. Curiously enough, they could meet CAA contender Towson on the final day of both of those events.

297. Marist Red Foxes

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 2 wins (Brown (N), UMass Lowell) and 0 losses

The MAAC’s lone bottom 50 program won just eight games a season ago and last posted a double-digit victory total in 2012-13. Like Manhattan, the Red Foxes will appear in a pair of tournaments this seasn, though Marist has a better chance of winning a two-round affair at The Citadel than it does of replicating its previous decent performances at the MAAC-hosted AdvoCare Invitational in Florida. Still, there are enough similarly-situated squads on the Foxes’ schedule to make surpassing 2016’s non-conference win total of three a real possibility.

311. Quinnipiac Bobcats

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 2 wins (Hartford, @Maine) and 4 loss (Vermont, Columbia, Drexel, @Brown)

Baker Dunleavy’s first Quinnipiac schedule isn’t all that different than Tom Moore’s final one. However, the exempt tournament should be a bit more forgiving, as the Paradise Jam doesn’t include any team on the level of the Gonzaga and Seton Hall squads the Bobcats lost to in Florida last November. However, QU drew Colorado in the quarterfinals, meaning a trip to the consolation bracket is likely on the cards. Still, the goal here will be to exceed last season’s non-conference win total of three, which turned into 10 victories overall. Looking at the names and ranks on this slate, that’s doable for a very young team that only showed flashes of its potential last season.

312. Canisius Golden Griffins

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 4 wins (@Youngstown State, Albany, Buffalo (N), @St. Bonaventure) and 1 loss (Tennessee State)

Reggie Witherspoon got the Golden Griffins back above .500 after they slipped below the break-even point in Jim Baron’s final season in Buffalo. Triumphs over local rivals Buffalo and St. Bonaventure were the highlights of last season’s 6-5 non-league mark. However, with seven road games and two neutral-site games in California as part of the Griffs’ exempt event, it’s going to be difficult for Canisius to pick up that many victories in the fall of 2017.

315. Saint Peter’s Peacocks

Record against returning opponents from 2016-17: 2 wins (Fairleigh Dickinson, @St. Francis-Brooklyn) and 3 losses (Lafayette, @Houston Baptist, Elon)

John Dunne’s Peacocks enter this season as the defending CollegeInsider.com Tournament champions, though you can bet Saint Peter’s wants to play in a slightly different postseason event this march. Even with only three true home games on the schedule, SPC should exceed last season’s non-conference win total of four games. Only road trips to La Salle, Northwestern, and Seton Hall (with the first two part of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off) should seriously worry the Peacocks this autumn, even with last season’s mixed record against teams returning to 2017’s slate.

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