What makes sports exciting every year is the unknown factor, and this season is no different for Ohio, which has a remarkably different roster than it did in years past.
The Bobcats — which feature eight new players — don’t have the luxury of easing into the new season with an easy schedule, being that they begin the year with consecutive games against Northern Iowa, Ohio State and Valparaiso. Each team qualified for a postseason tournament last season.
Ohio will also have stark tests in Oakland, UMass and Richmond during the month of December. The Bobcats were victorious against Oakland and Richmond last season, but fell on the road against UMass.
Ohio coach Jim Christian said the Bobcats are looking forward to the task at hand.
“Anytime you play as many good teams as we’re playing, it’s a challenge,” Christian said. “So we’re going to learn a lot about our team early in the year, and they’re going to learn about themselves, individually, and what they need to get better.”
Compared to past non-conference schedules, this year’s slate is certainly one of the most challenging.
In years past, Ohio had scheduled individual games against top-flight teams such as Kansas or Louisville, but this schedule features a wide range of potent opponents. Eight of Ohio’s non-conference foes qualified for postseason tournaments last season.
Ohio redshirt senior forward Jon Smith said this year’s non-conference schedule is tough from start to finish, which should prepare the Bobcats well for Mid-American Conference play.
“I think it’s the most challenging I’ve ever had as far as being a Bobcat goes,” Smith said. “(It’s) got a lot of good teams. It’s going to help us prepare for the MAC.”
Although Ohio’s upcoming matchup against Ohio State — its first since 1994 — will be an obvious fan favorite, the Bobcats’ full schedule is what should stick out to fans.
Christian said this year’s schedule will give the team a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.
“I think you want to build confidence, but at the same time you’ve got to earn confidence,” he said. “I think that we’re playing great enough teams … where if we can have some success, it will be true success and understand what we do well and what we need to do to get better moving forward.”
Nick Kellogg, a senior guard, said the Bobcats’ non-conference schedule will give them an early look at different styles of play, which will benefit them down the line.
“It will test us early,” Kellogg said. “Obviously our strength of schedule is pretty good this year so we’re up to the challenge. We’ve got a lot of older guys. I think that’s going to help with our schedule being as difficult as it is, so we’re just looking forward to the challenge and trying to rise up to it.”
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