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I endorse many of the comments above--this schedule is fine.  As a fan, I am happy that I will be able to attend 7 games plus the exhibition during the pre season.  Last year it was only 5 home games plus the exhibition, and I thought the home schedule was very light.  Glad that the fans get a more reasonable batch of games to watch in-person this year.

As for the "we don't have enough quality teams before South Carolina" argument--that may be true.  But we have had seasons in which our FIRST game was Connecticut.  What is true for us is equally true for the opponent--both teams will be less than optimal at that early date.  South Carolina has only two games before they play us while we have 4 games before we play them.  They play Maryland and Clemson, and while Maryland is a good team that is certainly better than the four we play, Clemson had a 10-21 record last year.  We need the space to try out combinations and to settle our lineup, so more games is probably better than fewer to do that. 

Furthermore, Tara is not afraid to lose early in the season.  In some ways, losing to a good team early on can be turned into an advantage longer term--by getting the attention of the players to make necessary changes and upping their commitment to the game.  For example, the last time we played Tennessee for a national championship we lost badly, even though we had beaten them in an exciting game during our preseason.  I thought at the time that we would have been better off losing to them early so we would have had months to work on improving our performance specifically for them.  So if South Carolina gives us a bloody nose in November, so be it.  We will probably play them again at a time when it counts a lot more.

I agree with many of your points.  I just believe that it's much better to make a statement early in the season and knock off the defending national champions than lose to them.  If we lose and face them again in the NCAA's, they will have that psychological advantage.

By the way, I would love to be proven wrong regarding the 5 teams we play before SC (with a combined 54-84, 39%) winning percentage last season.  I'd be ecstatic with a win on Nov. 20th.

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I endorse many of the comments above--this schedule is fine.  As a fan, I am happy that I will be able to attend 7 games plus the exhibition during the pre season.  Last year it was only 5 home games plus the exhibition, and I thought the home schedule was very light.  Glad that the fans get a more reasonable batch of games to watch in-person this year.

As for the "we don't have enough quality teams before South Carolina" argument--that may be true.  But we have had seasons in which our FIRST game was Connecticut.  What is true for us is equally true for the opponent--both teams will be less than optimal at that early date.  South Carolina has only two games before they play us while we have 4 games before we play them.  They play Maryland and Clemson, and while Maryland is a good team that is certainly better than the four we play, Clemson had a 10-21 record last year.  We need the space to try out combinations and to settle our lineup, so more games is probably better than fewer to do that. 

Furthermore, Tara is not afraid to lose early in the season.  In some ways, losing to a good team early on can be turned into an advantage longer term--by getting the attention of the players to make necessary changes and upping their commitment to the game.  For example, the last time we played Tennessee for a national championship we lost badly, even though we had beaten them in an exciting game during our preseason.  I thought at the time that we would have been better off losing to them early so we would have had months to work on improving our performance specifically for them.  So if South Carolina gives us a bloody nose in November, so be it.  We will probably play them again at a time when it counts a lot more.

I agree with many of your points.  I just believe that it's much better to make a statement early in the season and knock off the defending national champions than lose to them.  If we lose and face them again in the NCAA's, they will have that psychological advantage.

By the way, I would love to be proven wrong regarding the 5 teams we play before SC (with a combined 54-84, 39%) winning percentage last season.  I'd be ecstatic with a win on Nov. 20th.