2002-03 Schedule Balanced
September 12, 2002 02:12 PM | General
Monday, September 16, 2002
I believe this year’s basketball schedule is very balanced and I like the way it has been strategically spaced.
Including two preseason games, West Virginia plays eight of its first 10 games at the WVU Coliseum and that is important because you have to start by building your house and defending your home.
Teams are not that afraid of coming into the Coliseum anymore and I think that is one thing Coach John Beilein will try to change right away. I think he will make an effort to reach the students and try to make opposing teams realize that it is not going to be easy playing in the Coliseum.
I think coaches have talked about the Coliseum being a tough place to play for the last several years and gave it to the press, but I don’t think they were really concerned as much as they may have been in the 1980s.
West Virginia starts out the season playing some solid basketball teams, too. You’ve got Tennessee visiting on Dec. 21 and the trip to Charleston to play Florida on Dec. 3.
There are also some teams West Virginia plays in the opening stretch before it goes to Las Vegas that are winnable games. To have these games sitting like this in the beginning of the year is important, especially for a new coach.
The Las Vegas trip will give Beilein an opportunity to get his club out on the road and get them familiar with his routine, as compared to what it might have been like with Gale Catlett. This is an opportunity for him to have his team bond and grow together before they get into the Big East schedule against Miami on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
At one point the intention was to go from Las Vegas to St. Louis for a long road trip from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4, but because there is one less game out in Las Vegas it may change their travel plans somewhat.
One contest that is always difficult because of its placement within the Big East schedule is the game in Charleston against Marshall. Fortunately this year’s game is spaced pretty well this year – West Virginia plays at Boston College on Sunday and that gives Beilein and his staff two days to prepare for the Herd. Following the Marshall game, West Virginia has three days to prepare for Rutgers at the Coliseum on Sunday.
Incidentally, I think the game against Rutgers on Sunday, Jan. 26 could wind up being one of the most important games of the season. Although Rutgers is a solid team, it is a game at home that West Virginia is going to have to win if it has any hopes of making the Big East tournament.
I believe the toughest stretch of the season for West Virginia begins on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at Notre Dame and lasts until the Mountaineers face the Irish again at home on Tuesday, Feb. 18. Four of those six games are on the road. After playing Notre Dame, West Virginia plays at Villanova on Saturday, Feb. 1. Villanova had the second-best recruiting class in the league last year and they are a very, very solid team with players coming back.
Following a home game against Syracuse on Feb. 8, West Virginia plays two more road games at Pitt and Rutgers before the return date against the Irish on Feb. 18. Any postseason aspirations will probably be determined during that stretch of games.
One game I wish was placed in a different spot is the Virginia Tech game to finish the season on March 8. Usually we had Pitt at the end of the season but that doesn’t happen this year. Played earlier in the year, the Virginia Tech game at home is one that could be very winnable. But with the lack of depth West Virginia has this year and the grind of a long season, the finale against the Hokies will be a difficult one.
That game against Virginia Tech could also very well determine whether or not West Virginia makes the Big East tournament in New York.
I wrote this in an earlier column and I will repeat it in this one: I think teams are putting down two wins against West Virginia this year and I really believe some of them will be in for a surprise.
Let's hope that is the case when March rolls around.
