MU PRESS RELEASE Marshall Men’s Basketball Releases 2020-21 Schedule

[Chris McLaughlin]

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. –Marshall's men’s basketball head coach Dan D’Antoni released the team’s 2020-21 schedule on Tuesday. The schedule is highlighted by 16 home games and road contests at Xavier, Virginia Tech and Kentucky.

Marshall’s 2020-21 season is scheduled to begin at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 10. The Herd’s home opener is slated for Nov. 16 against Coppin State as part of two a game homestand closing with William & Mary on Nov. 18.

MU heads back on the road as it goes to Cincinnati to take on Xavier (Nov. 21) before returning home for a matchup against Tennessee State (Nov. 25).

Marshall heads back on the road for a three-game roadtrip beginning at ACC foe Virginia Tech on Black Friday (Nov. 27) with the second in Charleston, S.C. at the College of Charleston (Dec. 2). The final game of the road swing is scheduled to take place on Dec. 5 at Akron.

MU returns to the Henderson Center for four games starting with Bluefield College (Va.) on Dec. 9. Marshall then renews its rivalry with Ohio on Dec. 13. Toledo travels to Huntington for a contest on Dec. 16 and the longest home stretch of the season finishes with Northern Iowa on Dec. 19 for the final home game of non-conference play.

The Herd concludes non-conference action at SEC powerhouse Kentucky. The matchup with the Wildcats is scheduled to take place on Dec. 29 in Lexington at Rupp Arena. This will be the 13th all-time meeting between the two schools and the first since 2012.

“This is an outstanding opportunity to play one of the top teams in the country,” D’Antoni said. “It’s a great trip for our fan base and I’m looking forward to the game.”

2020-21 CONFERENCE USA SCHEDULE

Conference USA is going away from ‘Bonus Play’ after a two-year experiment with the scheduling system. This year Marshall will face its five closest C-USA foes in a home-and-home series and will then take on the other eight teams in the conference either at the Henderson Center or on the road for an 18-game schedule.

The Herd starts C-USA action with three games on the road. The swing begins at Charlotte on New Year’s Ever (Dec. 31), followed by its first contest of 2021 at Old Dominion on Jan. 2 and while ending the road swing at Western Kentucky on Jan. 9.

MU then hosts Middle Tennessee (Jan. 14) and UAB (Jan. 16) for its first conference-home games of the season, before going back on the road to North Texas and Rice on Jan. 21 and Jan. 23, respectively.

Marshall returns home for three contests against WKU (Jan. 30), UTEP (Feb. 4) and UTSA (Feb. 6).

The Herd then closes its final eight games alternating home-and-away weekends with games on the road at Louisiana Tech on Feb. 11, at Southern Miss on Feb. 13, at UAB on Feb. 25 and at MTSU on Feb. 27.

While MU’s final four home contests at the Henderson Center will take place against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 18, FIU on Feb. 20, against Old Dominion on Mar. 4 and concluding the regular season with Senior Day on Mar. 6 Charlotte.

All game times and television schedules are TBD. Ticket information will be available at a later date.

 

[RhinoD]

This is a really good non-conference schedule.

Kentucky, Xavier and Virginia Tech all make sense regionally and are in premier conferences.

Then you have Northern Iowa, Akron, Ohio, Toledo, College of Charleston... Similar mid-majors to us.

And a few "should be" cupcakes... Bluefield College, Coppin State, EKU, Tennessee State, William and Mary

 

[herdalicious]

The one thing I'll give D'Antoni is that his scheduling philosophy targets tough OOC matchups to toughen the team. It recognizes the reality that win-loss records are a moot point for mid-majors, since the only way to get to the Tournament is to win your conference tournament.

 

[Herdmeister]

It looks like the Duquesne game has been pushed back a year. Bluefield College is filling that spot

 

[Josh Stowers]

It recognizes the reality that win-loss records are a moot point for mid-majors

As right as you are......I think this is a terrible mentality.

 

[herdalicious]

As right as you are......I think this is a terrible mentality.

I just think people are too hung-up on W/L records anyway. In any sport, when true quality manifests in a mid-major, it shows in their ability to hang with and beat top competition. An attractive record without marquee wins only impresses the fanbase, and doesn't engender the national respect that gets teams over the hump when being considered for a postseason tournament or marquee bowl.

 

[ohio herd]

As right as you are......I think this is a terrible mentality.

I tend to agree with you josh. It seems to me that balance is the key. On the one hand going 12-1 and beating all cupcakes gets you nowhere. Then I think going 7-8 may toughen you up but can also get a young team down when you are trying to build a program. I like playing two tough teams like UK and Xavier. Then 3-4 similar schools. Round it out with 6-7 schools we can beat. That should place us with a winning record most years entering into conference play. Just my view for what it is worth.

 

[RhinoD]

I tend to agree with you josh. It seems to me that balance is the key. On the one hand going 12-1 and beating all cupcakes gets you nowhere. Then I think going 7-8 may toughen you up but can also get a young team down when you are trying to build a program. I like playing two tough teams like UK and Xavier. Then 3-4 similar schools. Round it out with 6-7 schools we can beat. That should place us with a winning record most years entering into conference play. Just my view for what it is worth.

I agree... No reason to schedule yourself 6-7 losses in the non-conference by playing multiple blue bloods. But on the flip side, going 12-1 means absolutely zero if you are a mid-major beating up on lesser mid-majors and DII opponents.

In order for a CUSA team to get an at-large bid to the dance they would have to be at least 25-5 in the regular season and win a couple tournament games before maybe losing in the CUSA finals – and that just isn't realistic most years.

The way we have it this season is just right... 1 top 10 traditional power, 1 top 25 team from a premier league, 1 ACC mid-level team that is a close regional game, 5 comparable mid majors and 5 games we should win against smaller schools.

 

[herdalicious]

You could go 32-2, and if your biggest win is Old Dominion, and you didn't win the title game, you're headed to the NIT.

 

[Herdmeister]

I agree... No reason to schedule yourself 6-7 losses in the non-conference by playing multiple blue bloods. But on the flip side, going 12-1 means absolutely zero if you are a mid-major beating up on lesser mid-majors and DII opponents.

In order for a CUSA team to get an at-large bid to the dance they would have to be at least 25-5 in the regular season and win a couple tournament games before maybe losing in the CUSA finals – and that just isn't realistic most years.

The way we have it this season is just right... 1 top 10 traditional power, 1 top 25 team from a premier league, 1 ACC mid-level team that is a close regional game, 5 comparable mid majors and 5 games we should win against smaller schools.

If you recall, the last time MTSU won the regular season title, they had 3 regular season losses, were ranked in the top 5 until we beat them on the regular season finale and then lost in the tournament quarter final and did NOT get an NCAA invite

 

[Sean Hammond]

You could go 32-2, and if your biggest win is Old Dominion, and you didn't win the title game, you're headed to the NIT.

Exactly. And it’s designed that way. You see .500 power schools get in with at-large bids all the time because they have more wins vs Top 50/Top 100 teams. The wins are all that’s looked at.

A power school can have 16 Top 100 games; where 7 are at home, 6 on the road, and 3 on a neutral site. Go 4-12 in those games and they have more Top 100 wins than most small schools can get. CUSA can play 5 Top 100 teams; 3 OOC on road, 1/1 split vs an in-conference Top 100 team. You have to sweep those to have more Top 100 wins than the power school who had 7 on their home court. This gives the power schools a built-in advantage.