Men’s Basketball Releases Schedule, Season begins in November

Gone are the days when college basketball teams can ease into their conference schedules. “In the old days you could play 10 or 12 non-conference games in November and December, use those games to develop your young players and experiment with some different lineups and prepare your guys for league games in January and February,” says NSU head coach Gary Tuell. “But those days have gone the way of landline phones and snail mail. Expansion is the name of the game in college athletics today, and expansion means larger leagues and expanded conference schedules, including league games in November and December.”

The Sunshine State Conference, keeping pace with the national trend, is expanding to 11 members with the addition of Palm Beach Atlantic and Embry-Riddle universities. The addition of PBA and Embry-Riddle means SSC basketball teams will now play 20 conference games in 2015-16 instead of 16 as in past years.

“It’s exciting for our league,” says Tuell. “We’re bringing in two outstanding basketball programs with terrific coaches in Dave Balza (PBA) and Steve Ridder (Embry-Riddle). I’ve always said we have the best top-to-bottom DII league in the NCAA and adding PBA and Embry-Riddle only enhances that argument. But it also means playing fewer nonconference opponents and having less time to prepare for the league race. When you’re playing two conference games the first week of the season the paradigm for how to prepare guys for your league race changes dramatically.”
The Sharks open the 2015-16 season against nonconference foe St. Thomas University. The Sharks host St. Thomas at 7:30 p.m. on November 16. But two days later, NSU hosts Lynn in the opening SSC game for both teams. The Sharks then travel to Saint Leo for a second conference game on Saturday, Nov. 21.

“We play two league opponents the first week of the season and four league games in our first three weeks,” Tuell notes. “That’s not ideal but if it means expanding our league, strengthening our league and bringing two more quality opponents into the conference, then I’m all for it. Heck, there are some leagues out there with 14, 16 or 18 members. You’re going to see more and more college basketball teams on every level playing conference games early in the season. As coaches, we have to adjust. In the past we played 16 league games. Now we’re playing 20. I like it because we have four more meaningful games on our schedule than we had in the past. It’s good for our players and it’s good for our fans. It’s challenging, but it’s a lot more fun for everybody.”
PBA and Embry-Riddle are provisional members and their games against SSC opponents will not count toward the regular season championship this year. “Don’t tell the players on the 11 league teams that those games don’t count this year,” says Tuell. “Believe me, they matter to everyone, especially the kids playing at PBA and Embry-Riddle.”

In addition to the 20 games against SSC opponents, the ’15-16 NSU schedule includes nonconference single games against St. Thomas and Eastern (Pa.) University as well as two-game tournaments at West Texas A&M (West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico) and Florida Tech (Arkansas Tech and Lane).

“There are some terrific teams in that group and we’ll be challenged every night out,” says Tuell.  “We’re excited about the schedule and looking forward to the expanded league and the opportunities to test ourselves against some quality non-league games.”