Toughest Schedules
March 06, 2011 01:56 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – About 3 ½ minutes into his post-game press conference, following West Virginia’s come-from-behind, 72-70 victory over Louisville, Bob Huggins made an attention-getting comment.
No, it wasn’t a Charlie Sheen moment. He didn’t say he had tiger blood or Adonis DNA, but he did point out that the schedule his basketball team faced this year was like no other in the history of the school. In fact, he called it the best schedule in school history.
“There isn’t any question and it’s not even close,” Huggins said.
Having just written a book on the 101 seasons of West Virginia University basketball (You can order one here) and while digging through some of my research notes, I thought it would be interesting to put Huggins’ statement to the test.
I looked at schedules all the way back to 1940 before quickly realizing it was pointless evaluating schedules prior to 1950 because of the large number of non-Division I teams the Mountaineers were playing back then. That's why I chose 1950 as a starting point.
The reason I even began to look at schedules in the first place was because I wanted to get a better understanding of why coaches such as Sonny Moran and George King struggled during parts of their WVU coaching careers - Moran for much of it and King for his last two seasons - and while doing so I came across something not all that surprising.
In the case of King, the two toughest schedules his West Virginia teams faced were his last two in 1964 and 1965. Not coincidentally King’s teams had trouble, particularly the 1965 squad that posted the school’s first losing record in 21 seasons.
Moran’s five seasons at WVU were spent playing some of the most difficult slates in school history up to that time. West Virginia had just gotten out of the Southern Conference and replaced several of those teams with games against Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, St. John’s, Maryland, Ohio State and so forth.
Three of Moran’s five WVU teams had losing records against a slate of opponents with a combined winning percentage of .557.
“I was talking to Shorty Hardman from the (Charleston) Gazette one day and I said to him, ‘Shorty, I’m going to name you some of the teams and you tell me what you think about playing them,’” Moran once recalled. “He said, ‘Well, I don’t think those are good teams.’ I said, ‘No they’re not, but those are some of the teams West Virginia has played through the years.’”
Until John Beilein arrived in 2002, the toughest schedule any WVU basketball team faced was the Mountaineers’ 1983 slate that featured national champion NC State, as well as NCAA tournament participants Ohio State, Georgia Southern, VCU, Rutgers and UNLV; four additional foes went to the NIT that year. Ten teams on WVU’s ’83 schedule had 20 wins or more (20 victories had much more meaning with fewer regular season games back then) and West Virginia played 17 games against teams with winning records.
The combined record of West Virginia’s 26 regular season Division I opponents that year was 437-298 for a .595 winning percentage.
In 2006, John Beilein’s Mountaineers faced a then-record nine nationally ranked opponents and had 14 games against teams that went to the NCAA tournament, including Final Four participant LSU. However, games against 10-18 Louisiana-Monroe, 11-18 Wofford, 8-19 St. Bonaventure, 10-19 UMBC, 3-24 Duquesne and 9-22 Canisius watered down an otherwise brutal slate.
The combined record of West Virginia’s 28 regular season Division I foes in ’06 was 519-364 for a .588 overall winning percentage.
In 1974, Sonny Moran’s Mountaineers faced a 25-game regular season schedule that included 15 teams with winning records and three with 20-win seasons for a combined winning percentage of .581. Only two opponents – Villanova and Cal – failed to record double digit wins that season.
Until Bob Huggins’ arrival, those three years (1974, 1983 and 2006) could be considered the Gold Standard for West Virginia basketball schedules.
The last three West Virginia schedules in 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Huggins’ 2008 schedule was basically inherited from Beilein) are three of the four toughest schedules in school history.
In 2009, West Virginia played a school-record 11 games against nationally ranked teams with 10 of those coming against NCAA tournament participants, including a pair of Final Four teams in Connecticut and Villanova. The combined record of West Virginia’s 31 regular season opponents that season was 621-424 for a .594 winning percentage.
In 2010, for the first time in school history West Virginia played a basketball schedule featuring teams with a combined winning percentage greater than .600 (.605 to be precise). The Mountaineers played 22 games against teams with winning records, including 16 against programs that won 20 or more games. There were nine games against nationally ranked teams in ‘10.
This year, the schedule was even tougher with WVU’s 2011 foes posting a combined winning percentage of .635 heading into postseason play. West Virginia played 24 regular-season games against teams with winning records, including 17 against teams already owning 20-win seasons (three more still can reach the 20-win mark) as well as 10 games against nationally ranked teams.
All 12 of West Virginia’s non-conference opponents this year had winning records, including 23-9 Oakland, 21-9 Vanderbilt, 22-8 American, 26-8 Cleveland State, 25-6 Purdue and 21-10 Marshall.
“We’re going to have either the first or second-best schedule in the country this year,” Huggins said.
According to the latest Sagarin Ratings, West Virginia’s strength of schedule is presently second nationally behind Big East member Georgetown.
The Hoyas this year had non-conference games against Old Dominion, Tulane, Coastal Carolina, Wofford, NC State, UNC Asheville, Missouri, Utah State, Temple, Appalachian State, Loyola, Md., Memphis and repeat conference games against St. John’s, Syracuse and Cincinnati.
West Virginia’s repeat conference foes in 2011 included 7-23 DePaul, which represented two of WVU’s six games this year against teams with losing records.
Huggins was correct when he stated this year’s team has faced the most difficult schedule in school history. He also wasn’t exaggerating when he noted that it “isn’t even close.”
Top 10 Most Difficult WVU Schedules Since 1950
(Based on combined regular season winning percentage)
.635 (583-335), 2011
.605 (602-393), 2010
.595 (437-298), 1983 *
.594 (621-424), 2009
.588 (519-364), 2006 *
.581 (385-278), 1974
.579 (370-269), 1971
.574 (240-178), 1950 *
.570 (463-349), 1988 *
.568 (461-350), 2002
.568 (482-366), 2000
* Does not include games against non-Division I schools
Top 10 Softest WVU Schedules Since 1950
(Based on combined regular season winning percentage)
.452 (230-279), 1953 *
.453 (269-324), 1967
.455 (287-344), 1957 *
.457 (249-296), 1952 *
.464 (365-422), 1989
.472 (316-352), 1981
.485 (284-302), 1968
.491 (400-415), 1990
.500 (294-294), 1958
.501 (300-299), 1961
* Does not include games against non-Division I schools
No, it wasn’t a Charlie Sheen moment. He didn’t say he had tiger blood or Adonis DNA, but he did point out that the schedule his basketball team faced this year was like no other in the history of the school. In fact, he called it the best schedule in school history.
“There isn’t any question and it’s not even close,” Huggins said.
Having just written a book on the 101 seasons of West Virginia University basketball (You can order one here) and while digging through some of my research notes, I thought it would be interesting to put Huggins’ statement to the test.
I looked at schedules all the way back to 1940 before quickly realizing it was pointless evaluating schedules prior to 1950 because of the large number of non-Division I teams the Mountaineers were playing back then. That's why I chose 1950 as a starting point.
The reason I even began to look at schedules in the first place was because I wanted to get a better understanding of why coaches such as Sonny Moran and George King struggled during parts of their WVU coaching careers - Moran for much of it and King for his last two seasons - and while doing so I came across something not all that surprising.
In the case of King, the two toughest schedules his West Virginia teams faced were his last two in 1964 and 1965. Not coincidentally King’s teams had trouble, particularly the 1965 squad that posted the school’s first losing record in 21 seasons.
Moran’s five seasons at WVU were spent playing some of the most difficult slates in school history up to that time. West Virginia had just gotten out of the Southern Conference and replaced several of those teams with games against Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, St. John’s, Maryland, Ohio State and so forth.
Three of Moran’s five WVU teams had losing records against a slate of opponents with a combined winning percentage of .557.
“I was talking to Shorty Hardman from the (Charleston) Gazette one day and I said to him, ‘Shorty, I’m going to name you some of the teams and you tell me what you think about playing them,’” Moran once recalled. “He said, ‘Well, I don’t think those are good teams.’ I said, ‘No they’re not, but those are some of the teams West Virginia has played through the years.’”
Until John Beilein arrived in 2002, the toughest schedule any WVU basketball team faced was the Mountaineers’ 1983 slate that featured national champion NC State, as well as NCAA tournament participants Ohio State, Georgia Southern, VCU, Rutgers and UNLV; four additional foes went to the NIT that year. Ten teams on WVU’s ’83 schedule had 20 wins or more (20 victories had much more meaning with fewer regular season games back then) and West Virginia played 17 games against teams with winning records.
The combined record of West Virginia’s 26 regular season Division I opponents that year was 437-298 for a .595 winning percentage.
In 2006, John Beilein’s Mountaineers faced a then-record nine nationally ranked opponents and had 14 games against teams that went to the NCAA tournament, including Final Four participant LSU. However, games against 10-18 Louisiana-Monroe, 11-18 Wofford, 8-19 St. Bonaventure, 10-19 UMBC, 3-24 Duquesne and 9-22 Canisius watered down an otherwise brutal slate.
The combined record of West Virginia’s 28 regular season Division I foes in ’06 was 519-364 for a .588 overall winning percentage.
In 1974, Sonny Moran’s Mountaineers faced a 25-game regular season schedule that included 15 teams with winning records and three with 20-win seasons for a combined winning percentage of .581. Only two opponents – Villanova and Cal – failed to record double digit wins that season.
Until Bob Huggins’ arrival, those three years (1974, 1983 and 2006) could be considered the Gold Standard for West Virginia basketball schedules.
The last three West Virginia schedules in 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Huggins’ 2008 schedule was basically inherited from Beilein) are three of the four toughest schedules in school history.
In 2009, West Virginia played a school-record 11 games against nationally ranked teams with 10 of those coming against NCAA tournament participants, including a pair of Final Four teams in Connecticut and Villanova. The combined record of West Virginia’s 31 regular season opponents that season was 621-424 for a .594 winning percentage.
In 2010, for the first time in school history West Virginia played a basketball schedule featuring teams with a combined winning percentage greater than .600 (.605 to be precise). The Mountaineers played 22 games against teams with winning records, including 16 against programs that won 20 or more games. There were nine games against nationally ranked teams in ‘10.
This year, the schedule was even tougher with WVU’s 2011 foes posting a combined winning percentage of .635 heading into postseason play. West Virginia played 24 regular-season games against teams with winning records, including 17 against teams already owning 20-win seasons (three more still can reach the 20-win mark) as well as 10 games against nationally ranked teams.
All 12 of West Virginia’s non-conference opponents this year had winning records, including 23-9 Oakland, 21-9 Vanderbilt, 22-8 American, 26-8 Cleveland State, 25-6 Purdue and 21-10 Marshall.
“We’re going to have either the first or second-best schedule in the country this year,” Huggins said.
According to the latest Sagarin Ratings, West Virginia’s strength of schedule is presently second nationally behind Big East member Georgetown.
The Hoyas this year had non-conference games against Old Dominion, Tulane, Coastal Carolina, Wofford, NC State, UNC Asheville, Missouri, Utah State, Temple, Appalachian State, Loyola, Md., Memphis and repeat conference games against St. John’s, Syracuse and Cincinnati.
West Virginia’s repeat conference foes in 2011 included 7-23 DePaul, which represented two of WVU’s six games this year against teams with losing records.
Huggins was correct when he stated this year’s team has faced the most difficult schedule in school history. He also wasn’t exaggerating when he noted that it “isn’t even close.”
Top 10 Most Difficult WVU Schedules Since 1950
(Based on combined regular season winning percentage)
.635 (583-335), 2011
.605 (602-393), 2010
.595 (437-298), 1983 *
.594 (621-424), 2009
.588 (519-364), 2006 *
.581 (385-278), 1974
.579 (370-269), 1971
.574 (240-178), 1950 *
.570 (463-349), 1988 *
.568 (461-350), 2002
.568 (482-366), 2000
* Does not include games against non-Division I schools
Top 10 Softest WVU Schedules Since 1950
(Based on combined regular season winning percentage)
.452 (230-279), 1953 *
.453 (269-324), 1967
.455 (287-344), 1957 *
.457 (249-296), 1952 *
.464 (365-422), 1989
.472 (316-352), 1981
.485 (284-302), 1968
.491 (400-415), 1990
.500 (294-294), 1958
.501 (300-299), 1961
* Does not include games against non-Division I schools
Scotty Fox Jr. | Nov. 1
Saturday, November 01
Diore Hubbard | Nov. 1
Saturday, November 01
Jordan Scruggs | Nov. 1
Saturday, November 01
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 1
Saturday, November 01
