Basketball Nonconference Schedule Set, Challenging

Your basketball nonconference schedule:

The TBDs are opening round opponents for Michigan's fake tournament (unlike the preseason NIT, the small schools in this tourney cannot advance). You'll note that it makes no sense to have the "OR" game first; I imagine Michigan is just throwing those names out there until such time as the tournament is set

There's good and bad here: two of VCU/Oregon/Villanova plus Syracuse, Arizona, and SMU is a five-game stretch that should put to bed any schedule concerns. They've got enough firepower to expect to win at least a couple of those, too—which should put them in better position than they were last year entering conference play.

Unfortunately, Michigan continues buying the cheapest games they possibly can to fill out the rest of the schedule, to their detriment. Kenpom rankings of the filler here: 293, 139 (EMU), 312, 290 plus nonexistent (Hillsdale) and probably real bad (the two home games for the tourney). NJIT in particular is a team that should be avoided at all costs, a joke program that's not even in a conference. I get scheduling Eastern, as they're 1) local and 2) half-decent under Rob Murphy.

Various MEAC teams and SWAC teams may be standard practice, but they're games that are horrible to watch. It may not move the needle for people watching on TV; for ticketholders a team like Bradley is much more appealing. Nobody likes a snuff film.