I like our schedule but seeing it laid out like this does make me realizeā¦ we have like one exciting non-con home game (Kentucky)? Next closest to interesting is what, ODU?
I like the difficult games weāve lined up - itās a good schedule - but more broadly I kind of loathe the trend toward neutral site OOC premier games instead of agreeing to home and homes. Although I do see the legitimate value in playing in DC and NYC to be fair. Canāt complain too much.
There should be one more regular season OOC. You can play 32 now. It would be foolish not to take advantage of it for money purposes so my guess is thatās what they are trying to figure out.
You think theyāll do a staggered release? Right now pre-sale is just lower bowl and second level. If they are only opening those two levels imagine the tickets will sell out. But probably not if whole arena is open.
I think the big non con home games are just sort of dead nowadays.
NY and DC against those opponents are a pretty good offering for our alumni base though and Kentucky at home is as good a non con schedule as anyone else is getting I assume?
Even before the rise of the neutral site game, these didnāt always happen every year for us. Last big non-challenge non-con home game was the 2nd leg of the Houston home-and-home in 2022-23? 2017-18 and 2018-19 didnāt have any.
Presale could have just been what they gave to this gazelle company. I really have no idea, I just got an Instagram ad for it and pulled the trigger without doing much research.
I think youād be hard pressed to find more than a handful of team with multiple big home non-con games. Just too much money in the neutrals now.
I thought it was about NET gaming as much as the money?
The other factor here is timing. Noncon home atmospheres from like early December through mid-January are pretty meh anyway.
Other folks have added factors above. Iāll also add that teams seem to prefer one-off scheduling over scheduling home and homes. Maryland was at JPj last year; Comcast this year. (Which, rereading your post, you noted already!)
Another opinion on scheduling: the ACC got it right in 2019-20 (I think?) when most teams started with a conference game or two. If schools did that, thereād be more room for fun noncon games in that mid-January to early March stretch when home environments are at their best.
Was it really only tried for that one season when we got the legendary rock fight with Cuse?
That (19-20) was the only year it was an opener. Skip a year for Covid weirdness (20-21). Then there was an early December game from 21-22 through 24-25. Last year, our first ACC game was VPI on Dec 31.
The number of ACC games has fluctuated, too.
I feel live UVA/Bennett has always typically been a home-and-home arrangement though for non-cons, right?
Cal, South Carolina, WVU, Villanova, Memphis, Houston, and Maryland to name a few.
(Also hated the Syracuse opener. Fine-ish with the early December conference games but find them awkward. Big 10 does this as well,)
Bennett played both one-offs at neutral sites and home and homes. Not sure if he had a preference.
Why donāt you like a conference opener?
Playing a cupcake in week one is gonna be the last vestige of old college sports. There will be total free agency, players will no longer attend classes, and they will paid more than their pro peers, but they will all play cupcakes in week 1. Even Heitner canāt break that monopoly
Love Eli. Rooting hard for him
Looking at the existing games, itās clear that we need several in December. I assume 2 conference games in late Dec (after UConn) and one non-con donkey. Only 4 are listed in Dec while we have 9 in November
Most importantly, Odom needs to get those iCal calendar holds out, or Iām gonna wind up accidentally agreeing to chaperone some godforsaken PTA event in November because I didnāt know there was a hoops game.
School starts next Thursday (after Labor Day, like the good Lord intended), so get movingā¦
Some of the basketball games for uva are out on gcal already, but not all
Kentuckyās are in for the season already though
