A Peek at Sacramento State's Schedule

We'll slowly start to take a look at the Big Sky schedules, and next up is Sacramento State, who released theirs last month. They will have 20 conference games obviously, and then four non-conference home games, and five non-conference road games.

If you are a fan of the Big Sky, what I am about to tell you will come as no surprise - there is nothing inspiring about their home games against non-conference opponents. Like many other programs in the conference, they have trouble drawing quality opponents there. Here is the slate:

11/9 - UC Merced
11/14 - CSU Bakersfield
11/20 - UC Davis
11/27 - Dominican

That is not exactly going to draw big crowds. UC Davis is a rivalry game, but they finished last in the Big West last season. Cal State Bakersfield is an independent that finished 16-15 last year. Cal-Merced finished 5-7 (6-15 overall) in something called the Cal Pac Conference. Dominican University finished 11-18 overall in whatever division they are in.

I know it's tough to draw good teams to your house, but that is pretty bad.

On the road, things look better. They go to Utah, in a game they are certainly capable of winning against a Pac-12 team. Arizona State will be a good test, but they are a low-level BCS team. San Jose State struggled in the WAC last year, but it would still be a nice win over them. Central Arkansas is a DI team as well. Then there is the Bracket Busters game. It is a pretty good balance between being super difficult, and playing more cupcakes.

The Hornets could have their best team in a long time, and they will be gunning for the .500 or better mark. They should get some help from their home games out of conference, where they could certainly run the table. If they can win 3 of the road games as well, then we will be in business.

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An Early Look at Sacramento State's Schedule

It could be a long season in Sac-Town, as the Hornets are coming off of a miserable season and fan interest and expectations seems to be at a low. But alas, hope springs eternal in college basketball, and so let us look if the schedule provides a glimmer of hope for the Hornets.

The good news is that they have a lot of winnable games in the non-conference. Home dates against teams such as Menlo, Central Arkansas, McNeese State, Cal Maritime, and SE Missouri should be easy wins. If not, it is safe to say that the program is in even worse shape than we could have guessed.

Even though I have railed on some teams in the conference for their embarrassingly easy non-conference games (presumably due to not being able to get anyone better scheduled at home), I actually like it for Sacramento St. After a 7-21 season that features one of the worst offenses and defenses in America, it makes sense to schedule some winnable games that can get some confidence going early on in the year. They will also get a home game against future Big Sky opponent North Dakota, which should be an interesting matchup.

On the road, they didn't challenge themselves too much, but again, I think that's the right move. Their two major games are against Washington St. and Oklahoma, neither of which look like they will be Tourney teams. They will also take on UC Davis, Cal Poly, and Cal State Bakersfield. Again, three games that could be won by them.

With 11 non-conference games (not counting their Bracket Buster game), Sacramento State should be over .500. Even if all of the wins are against bad opponents, that would be a nice little spark for the program that has finished in the single digits in the win column for the past 5 seasons.