SDSU women's non-conference schedule inclues BYU, Creighton
The average ranking is up. That's how South Dakota State women's basketball coach Aaron Johnston differentiated the 2014-15 schedule – revealed Monday – from others in the recent past.
Unlike last year, there aren't any surefire top-10 teams. But the non-conference part of the docket also is slightly lighter on probable mismatches.
The Jackrabbits will play at least nine games against squads that finished in the top 145 in terms of RPI last season – six of those were in the top 75. It's the kind of stout slate that will give SDSU the opportunity to earn a ninth consecutive NCAA Division I postseason bid.
Things get going with a pair of high-profile home dates against BYU and Creighton on Nov. 14 and 18, respectively. Both are return games; SDSU visited the Cougars and Bluejays last season, going 0-2.
That's another theme: The Jacks continue to work primarily in home-and-home scenarios. They landed 14 regular-season home dates plus two exhibitions this time.
"We really had one game to fill for about two and a half months," said Johnston, whose team reached the WNIT semifinals in 2013-14. "It's finding that last open team that's willing to do it and willing to come back and play."
DePaul on Nov. 22 was that final addition. The Blue Demons have been to the Division I tournament 11 years in a row. They'll visit Frost Arena in 2015-16 in exchange for getting to host the Jacks this season.
Similar terms were struck in new deals with Arkansas, Marist and Northern Colorado. All three will come to Brookings in 2015-16 along with Notre Dame.
There are a few exceptions to the home-and-home tenet. SDSU is paying Sam Houston State an undisclosed amount of money for a one-game deal at Frost Arena, where the Jacks have won 21 in a row. Plus, they're playing two games in the UNLV Tournament against Northern Illinois, Delaware State or the host Rebels on Nov. 29-30. Johnston said that event lineup changed after SDSU agreed to participate.
Nonetheless, the tourney allows for multiple games in a single trip. Johnston is high on the relatively easy logistics of this schedule – no road trips of more than three games and bunch of contests during school breaks.
Summit League play begins Jan. 2 against Denver in Brookings, the first of 16 conference dates. The Summit is taking a largely unformatted approach this time around – no more mirror scheduling or Saturday-Monday rhythms.
Johnston is fine with that.
"Giving teams chances to make it work well for their situation is important," he said. "I think this schedule does that better than what we've used the past couple years. I think every team in this league could benefit from more exposure."