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The non-confernce schedule has officially been released.

Nov. 1- Fort Hayes St. (Exhibition)

Nov. 6- North Carolina Central

Nov. 10- Manhattan

Nov. 14- Kentucky (Champions Classic)

Nov. 20- Chaminade

Nov. 21- UCLA/Marquette

Nov. 22- Gonzaga/Purdue/Syracuse/Tennessee

Nov. 28- Eastern Illinois

Dec. 1- UConn

Dec. 5- Kansas City

Dec. 9- Missouri

Dec. 16- @Indiana

Dec. 22- Yale

Dec. 30- Wichita St. (@ T-Mobile Center in KC)

KU could potentially play up to 7 ranked opponents in the non-confernce this year. 5-6 is more likely which is still ridiculously tough and will test these guys early. Also, that Maui field is just insane, potentially 5 top 10 teams could be in that tournament.

Salty lineup, especially the Maui field. The marquee names though are in rebuild mode (UK, Indiana, UConn) so perhaps fortunate.

Kentucky- Down from last year, 7 scholarship players right now.

Indiana- Replaces 4/5 starting lineup including both stars Jackson-Davis & Hood-Schifino. Road games are never easy though in non-conference.

UConn- Star big Sonago gone, Jackson gone, Hawkins gone, some bench pieces moved on. Still have talented pieces but not nearly the juggernaut they became in March.

Looks like one more game will be added to it, and announced separately.

Since it's leaking everywhere now. Playing Wichita in KC.

@BShark said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

Since it's leaking everywhere now. Playing Wichita in KC.
-
just heard that on the local sports. Have NO problem what so ever

@BShark said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

Since it's leaking everywhere now. Playing Wichita in KC.

Who gets to wear the sunflower unis?

Reporting that this COULD be the 1st of a three game series, but contract has not been worked out yet.

@BeddieKU23 said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

Salty lineup, especially the Maui field. The marquee names though are in rebuild mode (UK, Indiana, UConn) so perhaps fortunate.

Kentucky- Down from last year, 7 scholarship players right now.

Indiana- Replaces 4/5 starting lineup including both stars Jackson-Davis & Hood-Schifino. Road games are never easy though in non-conference.

UConn- Star big Sonago gone, Jackson gone, Hawkins gone, some bench pieces moved on. Still have talented pieces but not nearly the juggernaut they became in March.

UConn is still projected as a top 10ish team by most places now with most teams generally knowing who they're going to have for next season.

Obviously there's a grain of salt with rankings at this point, but ESPN has KU 1, Purdue 3, Tennessee 5, Gonzaga 7, UConn 9, and Marquette 10. Most likely, we won't play two of those teams because of the Maui bracket, but who knows what that final bracket will look like and there's a possibility of a 1st round game featuring a top 10 match up and at least one top ten team going 1-2 at best out there by losing the semifinal and 3rd place games.

I like it.

Just an aside, last years final four was so anticlimactic to me. I really couldn't have named one player from any of the teams except Beddie mentioned above. It's really what's great about College Basketball I guess some would say and the parity that NIL and easy transfers have brought on. Doesn't happen in college football which is the absolute opposite and so boring now that a four team playoff has resulted in only a handful of champions in recent years. The last 6 NCAA tournaments has resulted in 6 different champions. No repeats since Florida.

@Texas-Hawk-10

Yeah looks like UConn still has Clingan, Newton & Karaban from the title team so 3 important pieces. The freshman Castle will play a lot and is highly touted not only for College but the NBA as well. They need more pieces and perhaps they are still recruiting the portal. Still don't look like a team on paper that could beat KU at this time..

@BeddieKU23 said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

@Texas-Hawk-10

Yeah looks like UConn still has Clingan, Newton & Karaban from the title team so 3 important pieces. The freshman Castle will play a lot and is highly touted not only for College but the NBA as well. They need more pieces and perhaps they are still recruiting the portal. Still don't look like a team on paper that could beat KU at this time..

I'm not saying or implying that UConn will be better than KU next season, just that most places currently have them pegged as a team that shod be ranked around 10th next season with everyone's rosters mostly in place for next season.

It sounds like Kansas and Houston will be playing in Mexico City next season. Not super thrilled about that because I didn't get to see KU last season because of the schedule and now that they were going to play in Houston where I would've gone regardless of when the game was, now it won't happen because the game will be in Mexico City.

Like they said on our Local daily sports broadcast. - - - I do not like taking Home games away from KU - -well we know KU would never agree to losing a Home game for this, But do not like taking Home game away from Houston either -for something like this.

Like they said too how much interest is that gonna pull in Mexico -- just think playing a Conference game there should be a no go

I don't like the Mexico City game. I don't really understand it if I'm being honest. What is the commercial benefit? Is Mexico City really going to watch amateur basketball?

Obviously I could be very wrong. Perhaps Houston has a very loyal alumni base in Mexico City that I'm unaware of.

Moving the game to Mexico City is straight bullcrap

Well found out that the KU/Houston game will not be a Conference game. - -Houston in 2024 will be in the Non Con - -still don't like it

guys guys it’s fine this is just yormark being 87 steps ahead of everyone and not just trying to get attention

@Kcmatt7 said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

I don't like the Mexico City game. I don't really understand it if I'm being honest. What is the commercial benefit? Is Mexico City really going to watch amateur basketball?

Obviously I could be very wrong. Perhaps Houston has a very loyal alumni base in Mexico City that I'm unaware of.

Basketball doesn't make a ton of sense because it's not that popular of a sport in Mexico. They have a pro league as that's where ex-Jayhawk Lagerald Vick is playing, but based on IG posts, the crowds for games are pretty small. There's also only ever been 4 Mexican born players in the NBA so it's not like Mexico is a hotbed of foreign talent. Argentina and Spain are the two Spanish speaking countries where basketball has thrived the most

Baseball and soccer games do make more sense because those sports are much more popular in Mexico and would be exhibitions played against local club teams. There's also talk of a bowl game in Monterrey in 2026 that would make sense as well because American football is also pretty popular in Mexico.

If the Big 12 wants a rebrand, the Too Clever By Half Conference makes a lot of sense

@Kcmatt7 BB is very popular in Mexico

There is a large following of NBA in Mexico.

Finally get to watch KU right here in Houston and they move the damn game to Mexico City.

@Jethro said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

Finally get to watch KU right here in Houston and they move the damn game to Mexico City.

I feel ya my friend- - -Sucks, Mexico has no interest in Basketball, especially College ball think it's a bad move for sure

https://www.zenger.news/2021/02/19/scoring-points-with-fans-the-history-of-mexican-basketball/ ↗ Here is an article I came across to gauge the interest of basketball in Mexico. I think Yormark may be onto something here.

@patoh3 this article doesn't make me think Mexican basketball is on the rise. It sounds like it is failing to build momentum and has had stops and starts. Anything about the here and now gets vague, nothing quantifiable. :man_shrugging:

@approxinfinity https://www.statista.com/statistics/1016307/interest-sports-mexico/ ↗

@approxinfinity https://www.statista.com/statistics/1016213/interest-basketball-mexico/ ↗
Yes, it is several years old, but it shows more interest than football and baseball.

@approxinfinity
Mexico City has a NBA G League team since 2016.

@patoh3 all good points. Thanks for the addditional info. Im still skeptical that they can achieve a sustainable critical mass of interest, but there does appear to be a recent concerted effort to do so. Guess we will see!

@Texas-Hawk-10 Mexico is right next door to Houston, just drive down there for the game!

@wissox said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Mexico is right next door to Houston, just drive down there for the game!

I know that's not a serious response, but got me curious about how far that drive actually is. Houston to Mexico City is about the same distance as Houston to Chicago which is about 16 hours.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Hmm, I'm amazed. Would have guessed it was further. Don't know what the drug cartels are doing right now and how safe it'd be to make a drive like that. Of course driving here then you have to deal with the Chicago cartels! Just kidding on that.

@wissox said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Hmm, I'm amazed. Would have guessed it was further. Don't know what the drug cartels are doing right now and how safe it'd be to make a drive like that. Of course driving here then you have to deal with the Chicago cartels! Just kidding on that.

Houston to the Mexican border (several crossings) is about 5-6 hours depending on the part of Houston you start from.

@Texas-Hawk-10 What is quicker...the valley or El Paso?

@Jethro said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

@Texas-Hawk-10 What is quicker...the valley or El Paso?

From where I'm at, it's about 5.5 hours to Brownsville and the Valley, Laredo, Eagle Pass, and Del Rio. El Paso is about 10 hours from Houston.

The Wichita St. game is official now, Sat. Dec. 30 in KC.

The Big 12 sort of announced the conference schedule today. They announced who everyone would play home and away, only at home, and only away.

KU will play Baylor, Houston, KSU, OU, and OSU twice, BYU, Cincy, TCU, and Texas in AFH, and ISU, Tech, UCF, and West Virginia on the road for their 18 game conference schedule. Exact dates coming later on.

@Texas-Hawk-10 was kind of hoping for Texas in austin so I could go one more time.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

The Big 12 sort of announced the conference schedule today. They announced who everyone would play home and away, only at home, and only away.

KU will play Baylor, Houston, KSU, OU, and OSU twice, BYU, Cincy, TCU, and Texas in AFH, and ISU, Tech, UCF, and West Virginia on the road for their 18 game conference schedule. Exact dates coming later on.

BYU was saddened by the fact they weren't getting to play KU at home this yr

Maui bracket was released today. KU gets Chaminade to start and then plays UCLA/Marquette in the 2nd round.

Full first round games are:

• Tennessee/Syracuse

• Purdue/Gonzaga

• UCLA/Marquette

• Kansas/Chaminade

Pretty sure Maui will have to be cancelled. Lahaina looks like Dresden in WW2.

Man, sure does look bad. Downtown restaurant/entertainment district is toast. Gonna have to start from scratch. How awful!

Maybe they'll move it to another island.

@mayjay said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

Pretty sure Maui will have to be cancelled. Lahaina looks like Dresden in WW2.

Doubt it'll be cancelled. They'll likely move it over to Honolulu to the UH arena where they play the Diamondhead over Christmas.

Those pics look bad though.

I suspect that tourney means a lot to the local economy so they will likely do whatever they can to have things ready. I haven’t heard whether the campus and the arena were burned.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Quite possible.

@bskeet Not sure you have been reading what I have. The tourist area up north is dependent on Lahaina, which is, literally, almost 100% gone. How ya gonna get there? Govt has already been discussing how they expect to need the resorts for housing the displaced. If rebuilding even begins, they will need housing for workers and the roads will need to be free for supplies and resources. Who would want to suggest, "Hey, let's disrupt everything to play 3-4 days of basketball!" I hope to God the schools have better sense than that.

I've heard some suggestions like having it on the big island mainly because of the money it brings in. This would all go to Maui.

@mayjay agreed. It looks like the civic center where the games are played was extensively damaged.

Sounds pretty grim and I would also expect them to move this tournament to Honolulu rather than take resources away from critical infrastructure and shelter, etc.

@bskeet said in 2023-24 Non-confernce Schedule:

@mayjay agreed. It looks like the civic center where the games are played was extensively damaged.

Sounds pretty grim and I would also expect them to move this tournament to Honolulu rather than take resources away from critical infrastructure and shelter, etc.

I think the Civic Center is intact. No college campus there. Chaminade flies over from another island (weird).

But I don’t see how they can play the tourney there this year. The life support for tourism on that side of the island evaporated when downtown Lahaina burned to the ground. Just shocking. It’s possible, but unlikely.

I can imagine the logistics of finding lodging for all these teams will be difficult that time of year on the islands. Fans, too.

I have a tear in my eye for that area, having been there multiple times (twice for the tourney). It’s just leveled.

Even if the Civic Center can be used, I suspect it will be being used for more important things, like supplies and (if access is possible) food distribution.

Hawaii governor Green said the island will “probably” use hotels to house those who lost their homes. Ergo, reservations may be cancelled?

Locals (especially native Hawaiians) have been asking folks NOT to come to Hawaii for a while, like sense the start of the pandemic. The tourism industry while good for certain sections of the economy, has wreaked havoc on the natural resources of the islands.

10/29 at Illinois for charity. This is gonna be awesome.

@FarmerJayhawk what charity?

@FarmerJayhawk https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/38216865/self-returning-champaign-ku-iu-charity-game-maui-aid ↗
Answered my question

Love they were able to alter this from a scrimmage to a exhibition game and help out Maui. Also still hoping Maui isn't canceled this year, but that they move it to Honolulu at the UH arena and donate all proceeds to help out Maui.

Maui is going to be moved to Honolulu and played at the UH campus this year.