WBB: Pac-12 Schedule windows

[Viking_Guy]

They've put out the Pac-12 scheduling windows for the upcoming women's basketball season.

We only play the LAs at home, and the Arizonas away.  Cal is back-to-back the second weekend in January, after opening at home against the Washingtons.  Difficult end of season - LAs at home -> Mountain roadtrip -> Oregons at home -> Arizona road trip.

https://gostanford.com/news/2019/8/6/wom...unced.aspx

VG

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The more I think about it, the more worrisome that end of season is, especially the middle two weekends - after playing against the speed of the Bruins and the physicality of the Toejams, go on the road and get the crap beaten out of you physically in the thin air at Utah and Colorado, then come home to play the two biggest home games of the season, then go on the road to face CTT and a rapidly improving UofA team that might need a big win at the end of the season.

I'd stack the difficulty of that schedule up against any other stretch by any other non-Pac-12 team this season.

VG

[M T]

Given the hope that our new players can learn the offense, I'm glad that stretch is late in the season.

In other years, I've disliked having Cal back-to-back as even minor injuries can impact that pair of games.
But, as Cal appears on paper weaker than usual, and weaker than many of the other PAC-12 teams,
it is good they are scheduled earlier in the season.

[Spiny_Norman]

As an LA area Stanford fan, I am really not happy that I will not have a chance to see the team play locally this coming season.

[BobK]

Looking forward to seeing you at Stanford then. :)

[Viking_Guy]

MT--

Not so much the learning and growing aspect that worries me - just the physical toll.  Playing the Toejams and their brand of physicality at home, followed by the brutal game plans of the Mountain schools at altitude, I'm concerned that the starters are just going to be beaten up coming into the Oregon weekend.  The Utes are beginning to remind me of the old Chris Gobrecht Washington Huskies teams - good enough to beat you if they first beat you up.

VG

[81alum]

It is difficult for me to imagine us having a Stanford-level successful season without major contributions from our freshmen.  On the other hand, even the best freshmen take time to adjust to college ball.  We saw it with Nneka and Chiney, etc., who improved markedly over their frosh years.

So I generally support the idea that end-loading our schedule could be to our advantage.  But it all will come to naught unless we generally stay healthy, and VG has a good point that we could get beaten up in all those physical games.

This league is hard to predict.  Losing to Utah last year, and watching Arizona improve by leaps and bounds, seeing Oregon and Oregon State reload--the competition comes from every direction.  I'm happy playing the Washington schools twice since it seems (?) that they are not yet as difficult as the mountain schools or the Arizona schools.  I'm not unhappy about playing the LA schools once since USC seems to always play maul-ball and since UCLA with Onyenwere and Dean are an elite threat--and we have them at home.

The schedule could be a lot worse, in my opinion.  But ultimately, we now have the talent to beat everyone on the schedule, at home or away, and so the schedule matters less than the speed and success of player development.

[2006alum]

I agree with 81 - I'll take this schedule. I realize it's very back-ended in terms of difficulty, but Tara's teams have always been "March" teams more than "November" ones, so good that we face our stiffest tests when we'll have had the most time for her to work her magic. I agree that the high altitude games are never easy, but both Utah and Colorado lost much more last year to graduation and transfers than they're adding, so I'd be very surprised if either has a legitimate shot at winning unless we're down personnel or the team doesn't gel as expected.

The other reason I like this schedule? Our frosh class is, person for person, stronger than our senior class, so to the degree they have more time to settle into the college game before we need them to step up, the better. My assumption is that we'll likely split the Oregon/OSU games 2 and 2 in some permutation of home and away wins (my guess is we get one win against each the teams), so then the only trap games on the schedule are the Arizona/ASU away games, because we won't have played them earlier in the season. That being said, I also think ASU lost more than they gained, so it'll be a question of how much magic Adia Barnes can work to see if there's a really serious threat lurking in the desert.

But all in all, I'll take it, and I'd much rather have our Oregon away games sandwiched against our easiest opponents than our Oregon home games.

[BobK]

So far in Vancouver we know of two other teams. Not that we play them, we don’t know yet. That’s Green Bay and Mississippi State

Last year it’s was a strong field so will be interesting

Darn I can’t go, I’ll be in Hawaii lol