A few things to note:
- With Southern Utah leaving the Big Sky to join the WAC, the number of conference games will now drop from 20 to 18 games. This means that we will now have to schedule 2 additional non-conference games every year for a total of 13 non-conference games. So if you're looking for maybe the one and only downside to SUU leaving the conference, it's this as we now have to schedule 2 additional non-conference games which will not be easy. This will also mean that UNC and NAU will become travel partners, and we will be back to an even number of teams, and we can get rid of this lone wolf bullshit.
- The Big Sky and the Summit League have agreed to play the Big Sky-Summit League challenge games this season that were lost from the 2020 pandemic season. This means that in the 22-23 season we will host South Dakota State and we will go to North Dakota State. These 2 games alone will already set us up for a very difficult non-conference schedule next season.
- As part of a home and home agreement with Air Force that brought the Falcons to Missoula this season, we will travel to Colorado Springs next season to take on Air Force to finish out the agreement.
As of August 8, 2022 here's what we know:
TBD: vs. South Dakota State
TBD @ Air Force
November??? @ Duquesne (via Rocco Miller)
November 11 @ Xavier (via Jon Rothstein)
November 17 Zootown Classic (Montana, Merrimack, St.Thomas, Troy)(Via Rocco Miller, confirmed by Lance Hartzler)
November 18 Zootown Classic (Montana, Merrimack, St.Thomas, Troy)(Via Rocco Miller, confirmed by Lance Hartzler)
November 19 Zootown Classic (Montana, Merrimack, St.Thomas, Troy)(Via Rocco Miller, confirmed by Lance Hartzler)
November 29 @ Southern Mississippi (via D1 Docket)
December 10 @ North Dakota State
December 20 @ Gonzaga (via Rocco Miller)
December 29 vs. Eastern Washington
December 31 vs. Idaho
January 5 @ Northern Arizona
January 7 @ Northern Coloado
January 12 vs. Weber State
January 14 vs. Idaho State
January 16 @ Eastern Washington
January 21 vs. Montana State
January 26 @ Sacramento State
January 28 @ Portland State
February 2 vs. Northern Colorado
February 4 vs. Northern Arizona
February 9 @ Idaho State
February 11 @ Weber State
February 18 @ Montana State
February 23 vs. Portland State
February 25 vs. Sacramento State
February 27 @ Idaho
Some other things to watch for:
- Money games. Of course we will schedule money games next season. With the Griz already having 2 games on the books in the Rocky Mountain/Midwest area, watch for a potential money game against a Big 12 or Big 10 foe (Iowa, Nebraska, etc.). Another possibility is Colorado. I know that's not one of the PAC 12 teams that we have historically been able to get games against in the past, but considering we will be right down the road in Colorado Springs next season I think it's a possibility. Would Decuire be willing to schedule 2 Mountain West road games next season and play either a Colorado State or Wyoming since we will already be in the neighborhood? I don't really see that happening, but you never know. I could also see a scenario where we schedule Air Force and NDSU back-to-back and just turn those 2 games into one road trip and skip out on a money game in that region of the country.
As far as other money games, I would say at the absolute minimum we will have 2 money games but likely more in the 3-4 range. I don't see us scheduling Oregon in back-to back seasons, but I do think next season we could see games against Arizona, USC, or Stanford as those are typically the other 3 PAC 12 teams we've been able to get games against in the past. I think we've probably burnt our bridge with Washington by now after just owning them in Basketball and Football last season, but I still hold out hope that they will open their arms and welcome us back again. If UW is not holding a grudge against us, then I think they are also a possibility for next season. Now I don't think we will play only PAC 12 teams as we've also become regulars in the SEC after playing Arkansas in 2019, Georgia in 2020, and Mississippi State in 2021. So I think there is a possibility that we will play the SEC again. Two teams that I would like to see us play are Mizzou or South Carolina. Either one of those would give us a better chance to win than against a team like Kentucky or Auburn. We'll see what happens though with the money games.
-Home games. I wanna see us get a game against a Big West team in Missoula next season as I believe the Big West is about on par with the Big Sky. We did face UC San Diego this past season, but that came in the Zootown Classic. Maybe we could also get a certain WAC opponent (you know who I'm talking about) to come to Missoula next season. Hell, I could even see Southern Utah being invited to play in the Zootown Classic next year. Then of course we will likely play 1-2 home games against non-D1 teams, and it seems our 2 favorite opponents in recent years have been Dickinson State and Yellowstone Christian. I'd like to kind of avoid Yellowstone Christian next season and see if we can get a little bit better opponent next season.
-People to follow. Typically the best people to follow on Twitter when it comes to Basketball Scheduling are the D1 Docket who keeps a master spreadsheet of every teams schedules, Rocco Miller, and Jon Rothstein. Those are the 3 that I typically go to when I'm looking at our games.
If you see anything on Twitter or hear any rumors on opponents or dates, please feel free to post them here as I will update this thread regularly. First things first.
Go Griz!
zero sh**ts" about sports", some schools in the MIAC (St. John's and Concordia at least) DO care a little about sports.
