Why Wichita State basketball scheduled non-D1 opponent, and why Shockers should continue

Taylor Eldridge
·3 min read
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Friends’ Steele Chapman has his shot blocked by Wichita State’s Quincy Ballard during the first half of their game on Sunday at Koch Arena.

Some Wichita State fans might have been befuddled why the Shockers were playing an NAIA opponent in a regular-season game on Sunday at Koch Arena.

For the first time since 1943, the men’s basketball teams from Wichita State and Friends University met on the court with the Shockers prevailing with a 95-65 win over the Falcons on Sunday afternoon.

So how did the first matchup between the two Wichita college basketball programs in 80 years happen?

“When you want three games under your belt before you go to Myrtle Beach, it’s kind of who’s available. And who’s available at 1 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon?” WSU head coach Paul Mills said. “There aren’t a lot of options out there.”

Even though Friends played a game in Oklahoma City less than 24 hours before Sunday’s 1 p.m. tip time, the Falcons were more than happy to accommodate the Shockers’ wishes for a chance to play at Koch Arena. Sunday’s game counted as an exhibition for the NAIA program.

Outside of the bizarre COVID-19 season, WSU hasn’t scheduled a non-Division I opponent in the regular season since playing Southern Nazarene on Nov. 29, 2016. From 2008 to 2016, WSU played a non-Division I opponent in a regular-season game eight times in a nine-year span.

It’s a trend that very well could come back in the Mills era.

“If we can support people in Wichita, whether that be Friends or Newman, you want to do it,” Mills said. “But there’s also a huge NET component and at the same time a huge budget component.”

Scheduling a non-Division I opponent is something of a scheduling hack for teams in WSU’s position.

Consider the alternative: WSU brings in a low-major opponent, sends them $75,000 as guaranteed compensation (the going rate for WSU’s buy games), beats up on the overmatched competition and then watches its NET ranking take a hit — regardless of its winning margin — by playing a team ranked somewhere in the 300s.

By instead playing a non-Division I opponent, WSU only has to cut a check a fraction of the cost — it paid Friends $6,000 for Sunday’s game — and its NET ranking is unaffected because the NET rankings do not count games against non-Division I opponents.

Essentially, WSU gets to play the same kind of tune-up game, saves significant money and protects its NET ranking.

“This is not disrespectful to Friends, but you want (a game) to be able to play everybody,” Mills said. “Make sure everybody has a chance to play. I’ve talked to the Baylor coaches, the Gonzaga coaches and everybody plays a non-D1 in their first three games. I know a lot of coaches try to get these games early to get an idea of what some of their guys are like when it matters. That’s what this opportunity allowed us to do.”