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Non-conference scheduling studs and duds: The SEC
Since most of this coming season's non-conference schedules have finally been released, it's a good time to assess whose slates are the most daunting and who didn't challenge themselves enough. Yahoo Sports will go league-by-league the next two weeks. Up next: The SEC.
Toughest non-league schedule: Kentucky
Kentucky doesn't merely have the SEC's most challenging non-conference schedule next season. It also may have the nation's toughest.
The two most anticipated games the Wildcats will play are a Champion's Classic clash with Duke during the opening week of the season and a Jan. 30 visit to Kansas more than two months later. In between, the Wildcats will also visit UCLA, host Louisville and Arizona State and play Ohio State on a neutral court.
Despite losing seven key players from last year's Final Four team, Kentucky once again boasts a formidable enough roster to endure such a challenging schedule. The Wildcats will reload behind returners Tyler Ulis, Marcus Lee and Alex Poythress and another vaunted freshman class featuring forward Skal Labissiere and guards Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray.
Easiest non-league schedule: Mississippi State
Even though Mississippi State returns last year's three top scorers and adds consensus top-10 recruit Malik Newman to the fold, the Bulldogs took a conservative approach to building their non-conference schedule. New coach Ben Howland assembled a cupcake-heavy slate with only a few challenging matchups.
Mississippi State's toughest game could be a December visit to Florida State, which has the talent to finish in the upper half of the ACC and reach the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs will also participate in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, where they will open against Miami and face either Utah or Texas Tech on day two.
Aside from that, there just isn't much compelling. Mississippi State's home games are all against minnows like Tennessee Martin and Eastern Washington and its lone remaining neutral-court game comes in Jackson against Northern Colorado.
Team that took the biggest risk with its schedule: Georgia or Missouri
Georgia should be quite good again next season. Missouri is probably headed for another rebuilding year. But oddly you might think it was the opposite if you only glanced at both their non-conference schedules.
The Bulldogs' non-league slate is a mix of games against small-conference lightweights and struggling power-conference opponents. Seton Hall, Kansas State, Georgia Tech and Clemson all are unlikely to finish in the upper half of their respective leagues. Only a Jan. 30 Big 12-SEC clash with Baylor provides Georgia with an opportunity for a resume-boosting win.
Chances for quality wins abound on Missouri's schedule, but the Tigers lack the talent to take advantage after going 9-23 in Kim Anderson's debut last season and losing two of their top three scorers to transfers this past spring. Among the challenging games Missouri will play next season: Visits to Arizona and Xavier, a home game against NC State, a neutral-court clash against Illinois and a tournament featuring North Carolina, Kansas State and Northwestern.
Three SEC non-conference games to watch:
1. Kentucky vs. Duke, Nov. 17: The heavyweight matchup many expected in last year's national title game never materialized because Wisconsin upset the Wildcats. Now Kentucky and Duke will meet a year later at the Champion's Classic in Chicago, however, many of the key players from last season are gone. Both the Wildcats and Blue Devils will still boast plenty of potential future first-round draft picks though, from Labissiere, Briscoe and Murray to Brandon Ingram and Chase Jeter.
2. Vanderbilt at the Maui Invitational, Nov. 23-25: Can Vanderbilt build on its strong finish to last season and emerge as Kentucky's top challenger in the SEC this year? The Maui Invitational should provide an early litmus test. The Commodores open with St. John's and would likely meet Indiana in the semifinals if they can avoid an upset loss to the Red Storm. Looming on the other side of the bracket are Kansas, UCLA and UNLV.
3. Texas A&M vs. Texas, Nov. 25: Thanks to some deft scheduling by the organizers of the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Aggies and Longhorns will renew their rivalry in the quarterfinals of that tournament. There will be more than in-state bragging rights on the line though. The winner likely gets a crack at Gonzaga the following day. The loser misses an opportunity for a marquee victory and heads to the consolation bracket.
Game that should have been scheduled but wasn't: LSU vs. any marquee opponent in November or December
Thanks to the arrival of potential No. 1 overall draft pick Ben Simmons and fellow elite freshman Antonio Blakeney, LSU enters the new season with as much excitement and hype as it has since at least its 2006 Final Four season and perhaps the days of Shaquille O'Neal. The trouble is the Tigers won't generate much interest nationally early in the season because they don't play any marquee opponents until January.
LSU's games at the Legend's Classic against Marquette and either NC State or Arizona State might entice hardcore fans to watch, but that's the closest Simmons will get to an early-season showcase. Beyond that, there's a Dec. 29 home game against rebuilding Wake Forest and a whole lot of home games against the McNeese State's and Kennesaw State's of the world.
The saving grace is that Simmons will get plenty of chances to impress in January when LSU will face Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Nonetheless, it feels like a missed opportunity for college basketball that the Tigers don't have a November clash with a top 15 opponent to provide Simmons a big stage to introduce himself.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
