A Look at the Road Ahead

TOWSON, Md. - We're a month away from the start of college basketball practice and the Tigers' first-year coach, Pat Skerry, has a little less than a month to prepare his team for a pretty good opener against Kansas.

That's right, Skerry, the former assistant at Pittsburgh, Providence and Rhode Island just to name a few of his stops, will have to prepare a team with one returning starter to face one of the most difficult schedules in team history.

There have been seasons over the last couple of decades where the men's basketball team might have faced a power conference program like Syracuse, Georgetown, North Carolina, Michigan, West Virginia, Maryland, St. John's or Louisville once or maybe twice in a season. Towson was even able to steal a win against St. John's, West Virginia and Louisville in the 90s when the program had no fear about playing and competing against the top programs.

So, instead of playing just one top program, Towson has three on the schedule in Kansas, Michigan and Virginia on the road. They also face a PAC-12 team at home for the first time in Oregon State (I'll get to them later) and must take a trip to Amherst to face former President Robert Caret's team - the University of Massachusetts Minutemen.

The gap between the majors and mid-majors has closed over the years. One of the major reasons has been the early departures to the NBA for so many players who have finished just three years or less of college. The "one-and-done" rule may be changed in the next collective bargaining agreement in the NBA, but right now, it's had a negative impact on the majors and a positive impact on the mid-majors. Last season, VCU became the second team from the CAA to advance to the Final Four as the Rams defeated top-seeded Kansas, 71-61.

Kansas Coach Bill Self may have had some nightmares about the CAA, but that didn't stop him from scheduling Towson, a team that finished winless in the league last year. But, the Jayhawks have their own issues after a 38-3 season. They lost four starters, including the Morris twins (Markieff and Marcus) and Baltimore product Josh Selby to the NBA early. As usual, the Jayhawks have size (sophomore Jeff Whitey is 7-feet) and athletic ability. If you are going to catch them, November is the best time.

The Tigers play Kansas as part of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. After facing the Jayhawks, the Tigers head to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan. The Wolverines, led by Coach John Beilein, continue to improve. They made two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, but were hurt by sophomore point guard Darius Morris leaving early for the NBA. But, they do have four returning starters, including sophomore Tim Hardaway, Jr., who led Michigan in scoring in conference games.

Just when it should get easier on November 19, the Tigers travel to Mufreesboro, Tenn. to take on Belmont out of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Bruins won 30 games last year and lost just one starter. The winner of that game takes on the winner of the UNC Greensboro/Middle Tennessee State contest on November 20.

On November 26, Oregon State arrives at the Towson Center for the Tigers' first home game of the season. The Beavers, who finished 11-20 last year, will be making their only East Coast appearance this season. Coach Craig Robinson is the brother of a woman who lives in a large house in Washington D.C. and happens to be married to the most powerful figure on the planet. Hint. Hint.

The Tigers go back on the road to face UMass on November 30, a team that went 15-15 last season and loses its top scorer in guard Anthony Gurley (18.7 ppg), but returns everybody else.

The Tigers also face local rivals UMBC at home and Coppin State on the road. The last time the Tigers won a game was on December 29 at La Salle and the Explorers come to the Towson Center on December 7.

Manhattan College, which defeated the Tigers two seasons ago at the ESPNU BracketBusters, are at the Towson Center on December 20 for a return game. That will be followed by Vermont, another quality mid-major that is coming off a 23-9 season in 2010-11.

Finally, the Tigers face Tony Bennett's Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville on December 30. The Cavs return three starters, including one of the conference's best post players in redshirt senior Mike Scott, who averaged nearly 16 points per game and 10.2 rebounds before suffering an ankle injury after playing just 10 games.

There is some very good news for the Tigers and that comes with the return of senior center Robert Nwankwo, who sat out last season. The former walk-on from Parkdale High School was one of the great success stories in the CAA in 2009-10 when he led the league in rebounds (8.9 rpg), blocks (3.2 bpg) and field goal percentage (56.5%).

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A Look at the Road Ahead