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TCU Men’s Basketball released it’s complete non-conference schedule for the upcoming season on Tuesday afternoon, and it includes 14 games in all. Here’s the list:
- Nov. 7 - vs. Cal State Bakersfield
- Nov. 11 - vs. Oral Roberts
- Nov. 15 - vs. Fresno State
- Nov. 20 - vs. Lipscomb
- Nov. 26 - vs. Eastern Michigan
- Nov. 30 - vs. Central Michigan
- Dec. 5 - @ SMU
- Dec. 7 - USC (Los Angeles, CA)
- Dec. 16 - vs. Indiana State
- Dec. 22 - Charlotte (Honolulu, HI)
- Dec. 23 - Bucknell/Rhode Island (Honolulu, HI)
- Dec. 25 - TBA (Honolulu, HI)
- Dec. 28 - Hawai’i Pacific (Honolulu, HI)
- Jan. 26 - vs. Florida
The Florida and USC will obviously stand out as bigger matchups, simply because of the brand-name opponents, and TCU’s continued rivalry with SMU gets renewed for another season, as TCU looks to build on their 94-83 win over the Mustangs last season.
There are a few other games of note on the schedule, as well. Cal State Bakersfield was an NCAA Tournament team in 2016, and went 25-9 the following season reaching the semifinals of the NIT Tournament that TCU would eventually win. The Roadrunners suffered a bit of a down year last season, going 12-18, but the coaching and talent is there for a bounceback season.
Meanwhile, Fresno State finished with a 21-11 record last year, and both Bucknell and Rhode Island would be a quality opponent for the Frogs.
It looks, ultimately, like TCU is once again playing the RPI game, and doing it well. Florida, USC, and Rhode Island all finished as Top-50 RPI teams last season, while Bucknell, SMU, and Fresno State are quality opponents who will likely be Top-100 RPI teams this year, if not better.
Of course, the further TCU advances in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawai’i, the more teams they could encounter. Colorado, UNLV, Hawai’i, and Indiana State are on the other side of the bracket, but Colorado really looks like the only team on that side of the bracket that could contribute to TCU’s resume (and Indiana State would just be a redundant game).
Yes, there are some drags on the ticket, like Oral Roberts, Lipscomb, and Hawai’i Pacific (a D2 school), and the field for the tournament in Hawai’i is a little lackluster, but overall this is a decent non-conference schedule for a TCU team looking to build a good resume, and return to the NCAA Tournament for the second-consecutive season.