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Finally, A Schedule

10/10/03
by John C. Thomas
At long last, the Loyola University Chicago 2003-04 men's basketball schedule was finally released yesterday. Highlights of the men's slate include a match up with local rival DePaul and a trip to New England to play Providence College of the Big East. But was the long wait for this year's men's schedule worth it?

Almost every other Division I school released their men's basketball schedule weeks ago, and only the accident of Providence being left without a final non-conference playing partner resulted in a high-quality opponent to fill out Loyola's men's slate.

While the Ramblers don't play many "name" teams on the schedule, they face many schools that are coming off postseason play. DePaul, Western Michigan, Valparaiso, UIC, and Providence all participated in the NIT last season. Butler, UW-Milwaukee, and Central Michigan played well in last year's NCAA Tournament. That's 11 games out of 27 against teams that participated in the postseason, plus the possibility of facing a quality team in a Bracket Buster game.

That's the good news. Now for the bad news:

For the second year in a row, Loyola will only have 11 home games (only 39% of regular season games). The season's home opener is more than three weeks into the season, just a few days after students have left campus for the winter break. Students will be on campus for only seven home games. The longest "homestand" of the season is two games. Only two out of seven games in February are at the Gentile Center. And by my calculations, DePaul now owes the Ramblers three home games.

Nevertheless, the schedule is out. Now we can look forward to Midnight Madness (this Friday, October 17!), and the Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon on October 23.