As Ross Hodge settles in as the next West Virginia head men’s basketball coach, one of the many things on his to-do list, is finalizing a non-conference schedule.
This past season, North Texas had the 71st non-conference strength of schedule rating, according to Team Rankings, while the year prior, they had the 61st non-con SOS rating. Contrast this with WVU who was 50th this past season and 93rd the year prior.
“I certainly want it to be a collaborative effort and I’m involved in it,” Hodge said.
Over the past two seasons, Hodge’s North Texas teams have played a combined four power five opponents during their non-conference slate.
“I do think it’s an art form. I don’t necessarily know if there’s a direct science to it. You have to be willing to have some patience and try to get the games you want to get that make the most sense for your university,” Hodge said.
Hodge also knows the importance of stacking wins against teams that are higher in the NET, but also sees those opportunities available to him during Big 12 play.
“Obviously you have an incredible opportunity in Big 12 play for Quad 1 wins and you get so many of those organically built in. But you want to be smart in your non-league, you want to challenge yourself in your non-league, and that’s one thing we’ve really done historically in the past even at a place like North Texas,” Hodge said.
Hodge said by not challenging yourself during non-conference play, that sets your team back because they are unable to find out their full potential.
“We want to challenge ourselves, we want to prepare ourselves for the rigors of the Big 12. You can get a little bit of a false sense of security if you’re not challenging yourself and you don’t get to find out about yourself. And even if that means you have an early setback or two, as long as it’s the right game and the right team, it doesn’t hurt you as much as it provides an opportunity to help you,” Hodge said.
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