COLUMN: Basketball non-conference schedule strenghthened amid depleted CAA

The men's basketball gets pumped up before a home game at the Patriot Center. (Photo by Dakota Cunningham)

The official release of the men's basketball schedule marks the moment when basketball fans pin down which games are the best competition, home games and any major conference foes. This season, more than any other in the past decade, will ride heavily on the non-conference opponents that Mason will play at the early onset.

The offseason saw conference rivals Virginia Commonwealth University leave for the Atlantic 10 this past July along with Old Dominion and Georgia State's decision to leave the conference at the end of the season for the Conference USA and the Sun Belt respectively. Their departures will be a swift blow to the Colonial Athletic Association, due to the schools' importance to the conference as consistently successful basketball programs. The CAA has also placed Towson University and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington on academic probation and they will not be able to compete for a CAA tournament title. Even though Towson and UNC-W haven't been a threat to --- well, anyone in the conference of late, the loss weakens the overall competition, giving schools like Mason and Drexel a leg up and a clearer path to a CAA tournament title and NCAA tournament berth . 

There have been talks by CAA commissioner Tom Yeager about inviting schools like College of Charleston, Davidson and Appalachain State to the conference but they are still in the works. Unlike the Big East, which is facing a mass exodus of schools to the ACC in order boost their football prestige and have a shot at a BCS National Championship, the CAA is attempting to find programs that have respectable athletic programs from top to bottom to join.

I can talk for hours about conference realignment and the what-ifs that come with the territory, but what matters most to us in the here and now is how this realignment effects Mason ---- especially in the strength of the non-conference schedule.

Compared to last season, Mason has a much improved non-conference schedule. Athletic director Tom O'Connor has organized a slate of competition that gives the team the opportunity to bolster their RPI throughout the first two months of the season. As a former member of the NCAA Selection Committee, O'Connor understands the importance of strength of schedule and RPI to receive an NCAA Tournament bid.

Last season, however, didn't pan out according to plan. According to rpiforecast.com, the average non-conference RPI of last season's opponents was 196.3 and seven of the 14 non-conference opponents the Patriots faced in 2011-2012 had an RPI of 200 or more --- including Brown (313) and Radford (339). This season, the average RPI is at 141.6 and depending on the outcome of the Paradise Jam preseason tournament, Mason could lower that number by facing higher ranked opponents.

The Patriots face a host of elite opponents in 2012-2013 including two from the ACC (UVA and Maryland), one from the Big East (South Florida) and two from the recently renovated Atlantic 10 (Rhode Island and Richmond).

Kicking off the season at home, Mason gets an in-state test against Virginia who handled the Patriots in Charlottesville last season 68-48. This year, the Cavaliers will make the trip to Fairfax in a highly anticipated home opener on Friday, Nov. 9 that should draw a capacity crowd. Also in the ACC, Mason and Maryland will meet at the Verizon Center for the BB&T Classic, hosted on Dec. 2. The teams played at the same tournament in 2004 with the Terrapins taking a 78-54 victory .

Mason will have a great opportunity to face high RPI opponents in November's Paradise Jam tournament, where they will open with Mercer (101). With success in that tournament, they have the potential to face New Mexico (28), Connecticut (33) and Wake Forest (178) which would be just another addition to an already respectable non-conference schedule.

Due to the CAA's move from ESPN to NBC Sports Network, Mason will no longer be competing in ESPN's BracketBuster game in February. With this in mind, O'Connor scheduled the University of Northern Iowa, who played the Patriots in the first round of the 2006 NCAA tournament and in the BracketBuster game in 2011, with the Patriots winning in both meetings.

Adding Northern Iowa to the schedule is one of the most underrated opponents on the calendar. The Panthers have been a consistent presence in mid-major basketball over the past decade with five NCAA tournament appearances, including a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010. If nothing else, they will provide the team with a test to build towards conference play.

In the month of December, aside from Maryland and Northern Iowa, Mason faces UMBC, Richmond and USF, with the two latter coming over winter break on the road. The game against Richmond is part of the first annual Governor's Holiday Hoops Classic, made up of college basketball schools in Virginia.

Overall, Mason has a smatthering of opportunities to show the NCAA Selection Committee that they are worthy of a NCAA tournament appearance. However, with a litany of uncertainty and a young team, the early tests the Patriots will face may be problematic but with the level of skill this team possesses, it would not be surprising for them to finish the non-conference schedule with a winning record .