In the past I’ve used language that is pretty esoteric when writing about basketball — language that is best understood by the junkies. But here is something every college student can understand: as a high school senior, you applied to your safety schools and your reach schools. The safeties were the schools that you were supposed to get into. The reaches were the schools that you would look at their stats online and see that you are the outlier. If history is any indication, you won’t be getting in. These are also the schools you really want to get into because they are more prestigious and elite.
This logic applies to sports as well. If you are the Binghamton University men’s basketball team, there are teams that you should beat and there are teams that you shouldn’t beat. But the teams that you shouldn’t beat are the ones that you need to play to have any chance at boosting the program’s reputation. The Bearcats’ non-conference basketball schedule, which was released last Tuesday, is made up of a decent mix of safety games and reach games.
In general, the schedule is a bit conservative. The Bearcats have a tune-up game unlike any tune-up game I have seen before. For their home opener on Saturday, Nov. 14, the team will make it rain, muddy the ground and then wipe their feet all over the doormat that the Division II Bloomsburg Huskies will prove to be. Last year, the Division II Huskies trudged through a 4-23 season.
No sooner than three days after beating up on Bloomsburg will the Bearcats travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. The Pittsburgh Panthers, who will host the Bearcats, spent multiple weeks last season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country. Before you start thinking that Binghamton will be to Pittsburgh what Bloomsburg will be to Binghamton, get this: Pitt’s top-five leaders in minutes played from last season have either graduated or left school early for the NBA. Furthermore, swingman Gilbert Brown, who would have been one of Pitt’s leading scorers this season, has been suspended for academics. In other words, Pitt is much more beatable than anyone in their right mind would think at first glance. Maybe Clark Francis from Hoop Scoop was right …
Binghamton’s two other “reach games” are Monday, Nov. 23, against Duquesne and Saturday, Jan. 2, at home versus La Salle, both of the Atlantic-10 Conference. In terms of competition, the A-10 is just a notch below the best conferences in the country.
The La Salle Explorers could very well be the best team the Bearcats face during the regular season. They went 9-7 last season in a very competitive conference. However, unlike either of the two other “reach teams” the Bearcats play this season, the Explorers return all of their top players, and all but one of their contributing players from last season. Six-foot-five star guard Rodney Green from Philly will lead the very balanced La Salle squad that is filled with players from the New York City metro area, making the game even more interesting to all of the SUNY B Downstaters. Unfortunately, this game will be played over Binghamton’s winter break. The America East Conference schedule has yet to be released, but it is likely that within a few days of the game against La Salle there will be a home conference game at the Events Center, for those of you interested in staying in Binghamton for a few days to attend what would be a couple of important games.
Duquesne fared well last season, going 9-7 in conference and 21-13 overall. The team will be without its do-it-all star guard from last season, Aaron Jackson, who graduated. That being said, it returns nearly all of its other contributing players, including 6-foot-4-inch super-athlete Melquan Bolding from Mt. Vernon. Bolding averaged 9.9 points and 4.4 rebounds last season as a freshman. Here’s a fun fact and anecdote proving Bolding’s freak athleticism: when we were in sixth grade and he was 5 feet 10 inches I saw him play at an AAU tournament. He is still the only sixth grader I have ever seen dunk a basketball.
As for the rest of the teams Binghamton will face this season, they mostly fall into one of the following two categories: a good team from a conference on-par with the America East or a mediocre team from a conference somewhat more competitive than the America East.
Some teams that should be familiar to Bearcats fans are Rider, Bucknell and St. Bonaventure. The Bearcats played the Bonnies twice in 2007-08, splitting the series 1-1. Last season, Binghamton beat Rider by 10 points in what was one of their better wins of the season, and lost to Bucknell by three in what was one of their worst losses of the season. All three teams return the majority of their contributing players from last season.
Notably absent from the schedule is Syracuse. Ever since guard David Fine, son of Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine, came to Binghamton, I have heard every offseason that we will book the Orange for the upcoming season. For some reason, this time around it felt real. ‘Cuse’s absence leads me to my next point.
Some other teams that I would have liked to see pop up on Binghamton’s schedule are Siena, St. John’s, Temple, Rutgers, Providence, Georgetown and Seton Hall. These are all local schools that would be “reach teams” for the Bearcats, but teams that Binghamton should be able to compete with. Had any of these teams made the cut and if the Bearcats ran the table in non-conference play, the team would have likely been ranked in The Associated Press’s top-25 for the first time in school history. And although the team still has a lot to prove, it may be approaching that level.
All in all I like, but don’t love, the schedule. I would like one or two more reach teams (any of the aforementioned schools would do). But the Bearcats have themselves a winnable schedule that, at the same time, grants them the opportunity to boost their status by beating a few talented and big-name teams.