Shockwaves

Wichita State’s men’s basketball schedule is close enough to complete to make a judgment. This is going to be one tough haul. The Old Spice Classic field, recently completed with the addition of Georgetown, is loaded (Gonzaga, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Siena, Maryland and Michigan State). WSU also goes on the road to Texas Tech and plays UMKC, Northern Arizona and a Bracket Buster game at home.

Still up in the air are three games. Two will be guarantee games at Koch Arena. WSU is also in the market for a home-and-home series starting on the road this season, senior associate athletic director Brian Pracht said. He has a pool of around five schools that are in the picture for that series. The only hint he would give out is that the schools are similar to WSU in success and reputation. You can pass the time trying to fill in the blanks, as I will.

• The LSU game is pushed back to the 2010-11 season. The schools couldn’t work out a date this season, a process complicated by LSU’s coaching change. In 2009-10, WSU must play a road Bracket Buster game and a road return game, so a neutral game against LSU didn’t fit. The site, originally scheduled to be Shreveport, is also a question at this point.
• There was talk of a pre-Christmas MVC game. Pracht said the Valley did not ask WSU to reserve a date before Christmas.

Everybody has a list of schools they want to see on the WSU schedule. Here’s mine (let’s skip the obvious KU and K-State wishing):

• George Mason. I think both schools are missing the boat by not keeping this alive. There is some name recognition here but it’s fading.
• SMU, TCU, Houston, Rice - Lump these four into one category. WSU would love to play in Texas. These games, apparently, make sense to everybody but the coaches at those schools.
• Tulsa.
• North Texas, Oral Roberts - Lump them into the category of RPI risks. North Texas and ORU are good enough teams to win and they play in conferences that can drag down their RPI. It’s a shame, because in many ways these games make sense. I’m sure a home-and-home isn’t attractive to WSU because of the RPI. North Texas won 20 games in 2007 and its RPI was 137. ORU is less of a risk, but in 2006 it won 20 games with an RPI of 131. Those schools strike me as the kind of games coaches avoid in many cases. The upside to ORU is the location. Fans can drive, a rare opportunity for WSU.
• LaSalle, Penn or St. Joseph’s in the Palestra. I would love to cover a game there just to see the arena.
• Butler in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Same reason.