Scheduling Rumors

So far the word on the street is the beginning of our schedule will look something like this:

Friday, Nov 9 - Vermont (home opener)
Tues, Nov 13 - Cleveland State
Sat, Nov 17 - Dayton
Weds, Dec 5 - Hampton
Sun, Dec 30 - Liberty

I know what your thinking, wow we will never have an at-large chance with these guys on our schedule, but Dayton and Vermont could end up being solid RPI-opponents. Don't forget that we do play a stacked Kansas St. team in the Old Spice classic with the possibility of also playing Villanova. Also, the possibility of four consecutive home games in the beginning of the season is a luxury mid-major teams never see. Usually mids are on the road in the beginning of the season collecting game checks and getting hammered by powerhouses so they can pad the win column. Some people think its win-win, I think it totally sucks. Then again, why can't we pad the win column early in the year? Having consecutive home games this early helps Mason get into a rhythm and have confidence going into the conference schedule. Yes, it was cool to watch Mason last year on ESPN play Duke at Cameron, but that game did nothing but destroy confidence and rattle our young squad that was trying to find an identity from the previous years team. The big conferences schedule "cupcakes" teams early in the year to give their squads a tune-up, so why don't more mid-majors do it?