Future Schedules will have an air of respectability
August 25, 2010 Tom Blackburn 
Where would you rather be than Dayton, Ohio in late November? If you said anywhere in the world (besides countries that encourage female genital mutilation) you would hear no arguments from me. Or from Timmy Wabler apparently. Mr. Wabler has come up with some very attractive travel options for the coming years. The Dooger explains in today's DDN:
They’ll play in the 2013 Maui Invitational, which is hosted by Division II Chaminade University and has an eight-team field that includes schools from each of the six power conferences. The Flyers also have committed to play in the 2012 Charleston (S.C.) Classic and the 2011 Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. All three events are held in late November and are either run by ESPN or receive expansive coverage on the network.
All three tournaments are top-notch, and will certainly give the Flyers an opportunity to rack up some substantive victories before conference play. Master Harris continues:
The fields in those events have yet to be announced, but Maui reserves room for just one team outside the Bowl Championship Series conferences. This year’s field includes Kentucky, Michigan State and UConn. “That’s a very coveted spot,” Gregory said. “And these other tournaments, while they may not have the history of Maui, are getting to be very close to the same level of play.” The Charleston Classic generally has four BCS schools in its eight-team field, drawing Georgetown this year, while the Old Spice Classic historically has six, including Wisconsin this year.
I am nodding my head enthusiastically.
UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler said three straight postseason trips, including an NIT title run, has helped the Flyers raise their profile as a program. “We’re a very attractive team right now,” he said.
I wouldn't say that the NIT title necessarily makes Dayton a "very attractive" program. Fuckable? Certainly, but let's not get carried away with ourselves.
Is anyone else starting to think UD's attempt at revisionist history (you know, where we all pretend that UD wasn't a runaway favorite to win the conference last year and make its second straight tournament appearance) might take root? Five years from now the narrative will be that the 2009-10 squad was a team full of inexperienced upstarts, doing the impossible, capturing the heart of the Gem City forever. As opposed to what it really was--an underachieving team that went on a five game run against mostly disinterested teams in half-full arenas.
But hey, Hawaii, Charleston and Orlando. Not bad, right? Tip of the cap to Mr. Wabler and company for a job well done.
Reader Comments (70)
BG's resume is a gem.
"Attractive" NIT championship - 2010
Winning the worst Maui Classic ever - 2003
Shitting down his own leg - 2003 - 2010
Personally, I find this paragraph the best part of the article: "Hanging in the University of Dayton basketball coaches office is a laminated tournament bracket from the 2003 Maui Invitational, autographed by the players and staff."
@Charles...I was going to post something today about the Maui Invitational but Blackburn beat me to it. The guy never sleeps!!!
But seriously, I love when they pan over the banner of Maui champions and it shows Dayton on the same piece of cloth as Duke, UNC, Indiana, and UCLA. I am sure people are like, "Wait, Dayton? How the fuck did that happen???" Then they casually click out of youporn.com and type in "2003 Maui Invitational" into google and find this:
http://www.mauiinvitational.com/teams/fieldspast.asp
GOOD GOD! I am so embarrassed when I see that "field." Look, a tournament championship is a tournament championship, but how embarrassing. Now the 2000 Maui when UD upset Blackburn's Maryland Terps and UConn was a great tournament, but 2003 is one of those "maybe we should not have the tournament" years.
Blackburn Review field trip to charleston in 2012? Go ahead and mark your calenders kids.
@Donoher: "I was going to post something today".......liar
My dad, some friends and I have been planning on going to Orlando since we found out about the Old Spice event a while back.
Wabby is doing a good job. Counting PR last year, UD will hit the three "preseason" events with the strongest fields over the course of 5 years. Maui, PR, Old Spice.
Fuckable is the perfect description of the UD program. Lots of teams with hit it, but the ones with the better reputations would wait for a group vacation so they can claim beer goggles.
*Would hit it, not with*
@ Adam
I'm glad daddy is taking you out of the house.
Basement air can get to one after a little while.
Does he also wipe your ass for you?
But thats another topic.
Quote:
UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler said three straight postseason trips, including an NIT title run, has helped the Flyers raise their profile as a program.
End Quote.
Hey Tim, if thats the case why is it UD fans have to travel half way around the world to see a decent game.
I'm starting to beleive that timmy is the mini me of Ted Kissel.
How about you getting off your azz timmy and start earning some of that six figures by finding someone interesting to play @ UD Arena.
@Adam
I didn't write the above post.
signed
tman
@Donoher: I always wonder what happened in 2003, why was the Maui field so weak that year? There's gotta be an explanation. The 2003 Maui Invitational is where Keith Waleskowski went from local hero to regional oddity.
I cannot believe we have an imposter posing as TMan.
@ blackburn - hands down the worst field maui has ever seen. Also the scene of BG's one and only in game adjustment, which caused Swampy to commission the lawn jockey statue he now owns of BG.
You people act like meeting Central Michigan, SDSU, and Hawaii was less than daunting. Pshaw! Ohio State couldn't even succeed against that field.
/ Average UDPride response
@Adam - You are leaving out the preseason NIT. You know, the NIT that teams actually care about winning.
@Blackburn - I believe 2003 Maui was down because the NCAA was experimenting with making those tourneys non-exempt. The top teams bailed when they realized it made more sense to stay home win 3 games and make bank. Instead of going to Maui and basically wasting 3 of there non conference games.
@Mo - The preseason NIT has become essentially a 4 team event. If Dayton could get one of the prime 4 spots and be all but guaranteed a trip to MSG, I'd be all over it. But that's not going to happen. From a depth standpoint, the other fields are better.
@Adam: absolutely. The preseason NIT folks want BCS teams coming to the Garden, not teams like UD.
Logic would suggest that the people who run these tournaments (and certainly the plethora of ESPN's that broadcast them) want to see the BCS teams win. Which could also imply that Dayton wasn't invited out of respect for our "program" or as a sign that we're climbing the mid-major to major stripper's pole. Instead they were probably invited because they have just enough name recognition for the BCS fans not to turn off the game...while at the same time not be a real threat to knock off one of the more ratings friendly schools.
Either way, this will adequately distract people from the rest of our OOC schedule for the next couple of years so...yea...good job Wabs!
Dayton gets invited because they bring big crowds, have a decent TV following, and are competitive. They get invited to Maui because Chaminade is a sister Marianist school.
Pretty sure we don't bring big crowds or have much of a TV influence.
@Cjnt: "big" is rather relative. We brought a decent amount of fans to Puerto Rico last year, but it certainly pales in comparison to the Kentuckys and Carolinas of the world. For a mid-major with only one NCAA win in the last 20 years, UD has a pretty decent following.
The amount of eyeballs that look for UD basketball is quite large in comparison to most other programs, especially when you're talking about early season events. It really has nothing to do with success or an overall Q rating. Basketball isn't much of a ratings draw anyway, so a team that brings the entire fan base to every game is very attractive. Dayton fans will travel to see UD play against a youth team in Dubai, and those at home would be scrambling to find the game in the TV listings.
It's very similar to the high school sports mentality. You have the bigger town Centerville and Wayne teams that people know play each other at UD arena and get a decent crowd. But take Anna vs Fort Recovery and you'd have double the crowd because the entire town comes out. It's what they do.
Oh Anna Local. Once I saw that school listed for snow days, I knew it was not meant to be for good old Alter High. I remember thinking Anna had like 50 snow days/delays and I thought that was awesome. I actually met someone from there in college and told them that. They then informed me that they had to go to school well into June. Crazy farm country.
My cock is at half mast...
@Human Fly-By: as it should be.
More smoke and mirrors from the UD AD. This is his offensive to everybody that bitches about a piss poor schedule? Sorry, but getting into pre-season tourneys isn't scheduling.
It's more like a guy who's into internet dating. Most of your friends are pretty sure you're gay, because they never see you out hanging with good looking women.You tell all your buddies you have a hot date, next year (pre-season tourney)- but you dont even know her name. You're meeting her at a place that a lot of hot women frequent (Maui), so theres a chance she may be hot(Duke).She has an equal chance of being nasty(Towson).You have a picture, that is probably 5 years old, and at that time her tits were still above her knees (Louisville).. You show up and you're pretty sure its a dude(UC). Now if you get a hand job out of the dude, you sell it to your friends as a good score. If she's hot, you have little chance of scoring, but nothing ventured, nothing gained(Villanova). She may be in a slump and figure, what the fuck (Georgia Tech). Either way, she isnt coming back to your place anytime soon, unless she gets fucking desperate.
Who buys this crap about the attractiveness of UD? Oh right, Chris Rieman, King of Internet Dating.
http://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15001
Does this guy actually think people give a fuck? If this guy's back was double-jointed, he'd be sucking his own dick all night long. What a poor bastard.
timmy,
liked your thorough use of metaphoricism. i can tell u've put a lot of thought into this
I slay pussy throughout the Miami Valley.
I dont know what to make of Schwade RT'ing a "@tman2332" on twitter. apparently he is some recruit. whether he enjoys rimming ass or not could not be deciphered in 140characters
I can't believe UD scheduled that field in 2003 and then convinced the two name team, OSU and Villanova, to throw their opening round games against San Diego St. and Chaminade. If BG was a real coach he would have lost to get into the losers bracket so they could have played 2 teams from the big 6 conferences, rather than winning a second hand early season tournament.
If it consoles anyone's conscience, our OOC this year looks better than Ohio State's (for what that's worth).
@jason smith: Nova and OSU were absolutely dreadful that season. The Cats went 18-17 that season, and the Buckeyes ended up 14-16 on the year. In actuality, San Diego State and Hawaii were the toughest teams UD could have faced during the competition. Nova and OSU's inclusion did nothing to strengthen the field. It merely made an already weak field that much weaker. Beating Nova and/or Ohio State wouldn't have added anything to UD's performance in Maui.
Don't you just hate it when facts get in the way?
Facts rim ass.
blackburn - since when does anyone here care about facts over opinion/perception? don't you hate when reality rains on your parade?
To add to my point on perception vs. fact: look at last years Maui - Since it's a bunch of "name" teams everyone views it as a strong field, but the best anyone in the field did in the post-season was 1 and done in the NCAA.
@Jason: Now I'm actually intrigued. Are you making the case that the 2003 Maui field wasn't the weakest in its history?
@ Jason Since you are using NCAA success as a marker of respectability, how did that epic field of 2003 do in the tournament? Pretty sure I still used the Maui and NIT tourney wins as a reason to black out, but I didn't like it.
There are dicks .... everywhere!
@John: And they are disproportionately represented on this here interwebs site. I pray someday there's a discussion forum for UD Basketball that is somewhere in between that giant circle jerk(udpride) and self flogging(blackburn review).
@Brother Tim: good luck with that, let me know how the search and prayers go. Unfortunately, most sites dedicated to sports will skew heavily in either direction. Just the way it is.
I hear the ole :Dayton's OCC schedule is better that Ohio St or so and so--Really?
At least later the home crowd gets to enjoy the Mich States of the world.
If your Kentucky you realy don't have to worry about giving your fans decent games. You're in SEC obviously.
If you're Dayton, it would be nice to give your fans a decent schedule to watch. Instead this AD brags about playing four times zones away, three years from now.
This is painfull shit.
Mount Saint Mary's Home
Akron Home
Savannah State Home
Florida A&M Home
East Tennessee State Home
Miami Home
Central Connecticut State Home
Western Carolina Home
Winthrop Home
George Mason Home
New Mexico Home
RU Kidding me.
What a joke.
This is why Dayton is the laughing stock of the a-10 as it pertains to scheduling.
@ tman ... a lame attempt at bending over and taking one in the ass in order for people on this website to agree with you and you get the perception of "being liked and accepted." Everyone that is on this site understands what you already stated as a pre-requisite to commenting.
Go rim a new asshole.
Tman is the master of finding the slightest shortcoming and blowing it up to ridiculous proportions. Wants better home games, which is something we all want, but he completely misses the point when it comes to how a basketball schedule comes together. It's all about him. Lame, and it rings very hollow.
We all know the deal, UD is years of consistent success away from garnering serious home-and-home consideration from BCS teams. It's going to take consecutive NCAA appearances before higher caliber programs consider UD worth the risk. Until then, the Flyers have to worry about dominating conference play. You have to learn to crawl before you walk.
I think that this is the best schedule the AD and Gregory can accomplish. When the AD calls a school in a power conference and says "Wanna play UD?" "Fuck You" is the answer. The schedule blows but what are you going to do about it?
I understand TMan's consternation over the schedule, it's really shitty. And it's crazy to think that hard-working people want to plunk down their money to watch the Flyers take on Savannah State, Akron, FAMU, etc.
However, let's not undersell the importance of the early season tournaments UD will participate in over the next few years. These are ample opportunities, likely the most exposure UD will receive those respective seasons, to build the Flyer brand. Success in those tournaments can dictate the types of schools UD can at the very least approach in the coming years.
LASTLY, let's not forget that sports are about money. The more games UD can schedule at home, the more money they can collect from the red-vested lemmings that show up hell or high water. UD's basketball program is its money maker, there's no incentive to go on the road -- it's unfortunately not part of the business model at this time.
It all comes down to convincing the coaches and ADs of bigger name schools that they can sell a potential loss at Dayton to their fans as something other than a total failure. The minute their ball hairs stop getting singed from the added heat to the chair from a loss at UD, the bigger programs will show up. Most of them are looking for legit road tests OOC, but they have to protect their own ass when it comes to those games.
Look no further than Cincy and Marquette. They get into the Big East and suddenly are staring several more losses in the face in conference play. What game was the first to get cut to protect the W/L record? Dayton.
@Adam: exactly, until UD becomes respected across the board, the Flyers aren't worth the risk.
Let's put it this way ... the timing of the schedule is very good.
If UD can inflate their Non-Conference record before playing New Mexico on January 1 it will work out perfect. Playing New Mexico (and beating them hopefully) that late in the season will let people remember the win.
If UD can only have one or two losses in the non-conf with a win over Cincy or Seton Hall and New Mex, they will look very promising entering conference play.
But as we know, none of this matters unless they win 10-12 games in conference play.
I love how tman tries to go all apeshit and make a point... And fails epically. Good try, but I hear that there are several assholes that need some lovin'. Best to spend your time on something you know how to do.
Its the mid-major curse. Unless the team is a consistent contender year in and year out (i.e., X and Butler), you won't get the big-name schools unless they are willing to take the risk of a loss at the Arena (and not many are). so until we can play at a high level for several years straight and prove that we are a strong contender, we have to live with the bottom-feeder BCS teams and a bunch of shitty no-name teams. That's just the way it is.
But john makes a good point - playing NM that late in the season will definitely make an impression going into conference play (provided we actually win). Even with the other crummy teams on the schedule, the Cinci, Seton Hall, and NM games will be the biggest and most important wins we can get OOC. Win those and continue playing well in conference will do us good.
@disab
What does tman do? ...
RIMS ASS!!
remember that UNM did indeed lose their two top scorers and the 37th pick in the NBA draft....not as formidable of an opponent as "we" faced last year. Also, everyone is dogging this schedule because it doesn't have the glamor schools. This schedule has several tourney teams from last year which has an indication that those teams will fair well in their respective OOC and conference schedule's this season. The more those teams win, the better UD's RPI and SOS is, which will factor in come March.
If we can beat these teams and they put together good runs through their unheard of conferences, that puts us in a good position come decision time. With that being said, that looks like a good schedule to me.