I've been reading a lot on message boards about Coppin State's killer two game schedule, playing tonight at 8:30 in Milwaukee against Marquette and then at noon tomorrow against IU.
To clear things up, IU had Coppin State on its schedule first according to Coach Kelvin Sampson. Once Coppin added the Marquette game, they tried to get the game against IU moved back in the day. However, the Big Ten Network would not allow that. It is unfortunate for Coppin State, that's for sure.
This game also is used as an argument that IU has a much easier schedule than normal. Some of this has to do with Sampson's philosophy, and some of that has to do with several teams (SIU, Kentucky, Ga. Tech) having down years.
While IU came into the season with high expectations, the roster was full of new players who need time to gell together. I think some of Sampson's thoughts in putting together this schedule was to have easier games to get confidence for a young team. Sampson also does not seem like he will schedule as hard as former coach Mike Davis, so this is a trend fans may have to accept.
It seems from the message boards and talking to fans that an ideal schedule would be like this (remembering that they have about nine non-conference games and a tournament, which counts as 1 game to the NCAA, but really is 3-4 games for the team's record): A preseason tournament such as the Maui Invitational, UK, another big-time program (like UCONN), the Big 10/ACC challenge, two regional schools like Louisville/Missouri/Notre Dame and then the rest cupcakes like the Western Carolinas of the world. That would be quite a challenging schedule year in and year out, but it seems a bit unrealistic.
What teams would you like to see IU schedule in the future? Is the team's schedule too easy? What does a reasonable schedule look like?
