Official Basketball schedule released

Aside from the coaching change the biggest difference between last year's basketball season and this one will be the schedule. Although the previous staff's commitments to the Coaches vs Cancer games and the Puerto Rico Tip-off could not be changed, the rest of the non-conference schedule is easier. BC plays Harvard and Providence as usual, but also takes it easier with Marist, Maine and UMass-Lowell. The new ACC's rotations kick in too. We get Louisville for the first time as a conference foe and Pitt comes back to Conte.

Brian noted the abundance of 9 PM starts, but to me that is a non-issue. Attendance is going to be terrible this year regardless of when the games are played. Christian understands this but he's not going to go out and shake every student's hand to get them to games. His marketing plan is about winning basketball. TV dictates so much, we are going to see 9 PM starts from here to eternity. It is up to BC to provide winning basketball and rethink the capacity and configuration of Conte so that it is right-sized for the demand. We play Notre Dame, Syracuse and UNC in heart of the season at home. If we are playing good basketball and near .500, I think crowds will be decent.

Scheduling undid last year. That won't be the case this year. Confidence means a lot in basketball. I hope fattening up on the non-conference teams makes us more competitive come ACC play.