The official 2025-2026 Schedule Thread

[Mason2006Patriot]

Listen to any interview with Skinn and you’ll hear him say he knew last year’s team was going to be good. He had returning players and Haynes, who was the best player in practice the year before.

In a recent interview with Curry Hicks Sage, Skinn said he’s nervous this year because he doesn’t have that same continuity.

He also wants a bigger job. He took the Maryland interview process seriously. He needs wins, so he’s not scheduling a tough slate this year. That’s just the reality.

How do you know Tony wants a bigger job? Why would he leave Mason?

 

[hoopsjunkie75]

Listen to any interview with Skinn and you’ll hear him say he knew last year’s team was going to be good. He had returning players and Haynes, who was the best player in practice the year before.

In a recent interview with Curry Hicks Sage, Skinn said he’s nervous this year because he doesn’t have that same continuity.

He also wants a bigger job. He took the Maryland interview process seriously. He needs wins, so he’s not scheduling a tough slate this year. That’s just the reality.

Please provide proof that "He also wants a bigger job" or state that this is your own conjecture.

Also, I'm sure if any "bigger job" bosses come sniffing around, that they know the difference between winning at home against a 390 opponent, versus an upset or 3 point loss to a blue chip team on the road. The reality is analytics, not cupcake victories.

Since we will be dealing with pretty much a "new" team every year, for the forseeable future, the time is always now to schedule bigger opponents whenever possible.

 

[GM Logo Guy]

How do you know Tony wants a bigger job? Why would he leave Mason?

He admitted on the Sage podcast that the UMD job search was real.

Curry Hicks Sage Productions

www.curryhickssage.com

Maybe he’s only seriously considering Maryland, but going through the process shows he’s at least open to the idea of leaving.

 

[GM Logo Guy]

Please provide proof that "He also wants a bigger job" or state that this is your own conjecture.

Also, I'm sure if any "bigger job" bosses come sniffing around, that they know the difference between winning at home against a 390 opponent, versus an upset or 3 point loss to a blue chip team on the road. The reality is analytics, not cupcake victories.

Since we will be dealing with pretty much a "new" team every year, for the forseeable future, the time is always now to schedule bigger opponents whenever possible.

When asked about job searches,
(at the 1 hour and 3-minute mark),
he said he wasn’t allowed to share much per his SID. “Obviously, when you win, there are going to be options. Maryland was definitely a thing.” He followed up by saying, “It’s going to take a great situation for me to leave my alma mater.”

Curry Hicks Sage Productions

www.curryhickssage.com

 

[FlPatriot]

When asked about job searches,
(at the 1 hour and 3-minute mark),
he said he wasn’t allowed to share much per his SID. “Obviously, when you win, there are going to be options. Maryland was definitely a thing.” He followed up by saying, “It’s going to take a great situation for me to leave my alma mater.”

Curry Hicks Sage Productions

www.curryhickssage.com

Definitely have to win but not against a bunch of cupcakes…

 

[tblack33]

The Maryland situation was real, and apparently started playing out shortly after our exit from the NIT once Willard departed. He interviewed for the job. Not sure what else there is to say, other than it totally happened. If you don’t think Tony is going to jump at a P5 job then there’s disappointment in your future.

Whether or not he’s scheduling easy with a next job in mind I have no idea. But as a season ticket holder it’s disappointing. I’m personally only going to really make the OOC next season and the occasional Saturday game and the games on the docket are all pretty a**.

 

[jessej]

The Maryland situation was real, and apparently started playing out shortly after our exit from the NIT once Willard departed. He interviewed for the job. Not sure what else there is to say, other than it totally happened. If you don’t think Tony is going to jump at a P5 job then there’s disappointment in your future.

Whether or not he’s scheduling easy with a next job in mind I have no idea. But as a season ticket holder it’s disappointing. I’m personally only going to really make the OOC next season and the occasional Saturday game and the games on the docket are all pretty a**.

1) hopefully the salary increase and buyout provisions serves to mitigate CTS leaving in the next 1-2 years
2) waiting to see the rest of the schedule, game dates, and mini-plan pricing before making a ticketing decision

 

[GMUgemini]

Honestly one of the worst OOCs I can remember. 0 top 100 opponents in the A10 is bad.

The one thing we’ve learned about the NET is that in the OOC, destroying a bad team by 30 is better than beating a decent to good team by 3. You run into a problem when you schedule bad teams and play them too close or lose.

Now we run into a problem in the A10 in that there aren’t enough Q1 games in conference to make up for an utter cupcake schedule out so you can’t schedule like a P5 team.

The OOC isn’t done yet. Hopefully the take a road game with a more blue blood program and find at least one more top 100 game. I’m sure there will be a D2 game in there somewhere because that seems to be where mid-major scheduling has to go at this point.

We’ve got to hope that the top of the A10 doesn’t collapse like it has the last few seasons and there are more Q1 and Q2 opportunities.

 

[Jack Strop]

The Maryland situation was real, and apparently started playing out shortly after our exit from the NIT once Willard departed. He interviewed for the job. Not sure what else there is to say, other than it totally happened. If you don’t think Tony is going to jump at a P5 job then there’s disappointment in your future.

In a podcast or something, talking about player transfers, I heard Coach Skinn once say, "I believe in upward mobility."

 

[GSII]

This OOC schedule is decent for nostalgia if nothing else....sucks on quality. Maybe Tony had to schedule this way b/c of who was brought in. I see a dynamic offense, but not so strong on defense, which is TS's bread and butter. Jared Billups aint walking thru that door so yea, ODU and JMU make it nostalgic. I think both will be in 150 net range this season. Probably slightly below us.

 

[tblack33]

The one thing we’ve learned about the NET is that in the OOC, destroying a bad team by 30 is better than beating a decent to good team by 3. You run into a problem when you schedule bad teams and play them too close or lose.

Now we run into a problem in the A10 in that there aren’t enough Q1 games in conference to make up for an utter cupcake schedule out so you can’t schedule like a P5 team.

The OOC isn’t done yet. Hopefully the take a road game with a more blue blood program and find at least one more top 100 game. I’m sure there will be a D2 game in there somewhere because that seems to be where mid-major scheduling has to go at this point.

We’ve got to hope that the top of the A10 doesn’t collapse like it has the last few seasons and there are more Q1 and Q2 opportunities.

We’ve also seen that dropping a single of these Q4 home games is a poison pill for the entire season. Are you absolutely convinced that we are going to go 10/10 against the blind and deaf sisters of the Chesapeake for 2 straight months? All teams lose eventually, I’d rather us take our lumps against teams we are supposed to lose against to give the team a chance to learn and grow. We were first in the A10, great in conference wins, but not in the discussion at all in early March because we dropped a Q4 buzzer beater at home to CMU on a Tuesday night in November, and a triple OT loss at ECU. I don’t like having to bet on being perfect, competing against higher tier opponents is better for team growth, and will shake out better in the long run for rankings.

 

[tblack33]

In a podcast or something, talking about player transfers, I heard Coach Skinn once say, "I believe in upward mobility."

Don’t get me wrong I don’t blame him one bit and I agree with the sentiment. I just think our fan base should mentally prepare for this to come to fruition at some point. He was legitimately in the mix in the Maryland job this season to the point where he got an interview, and that is without us even dancing. If we dance just be ready for someone to come in with a bag that we in no way can match.

 

[GM Logo Guy]

Don’t get me wrong I don’t blame him one bit and I agree with the sentiment. I just think our fan base should mentally prepare for this to come to fruition at some point. He was legitimately in the mix in the Maryland job this season to the point where he got an interview, and that is without us even dancing. If we dance just be ready for someone to come in with a bag that we in no way can match.

If Skinn has Mason dancing, he’ll forever be my hero. At that point, he could do no wrong in my eyes.

But, If he gets us to the tournament, imagine what Mason would pay to keep him. He’s already making close to 2 million without a berth. Get us dancing, and the school might just hand him the keys to the city.

I know he’s a competitor and believes he can win anywhere. And he probably can. But there has to be something special about being in a place that genuinely loves you. Not just a fling. A place that sees you as the guy.

 

[GMUYoda]

Sure wish we could have this

Dayton basketball: Flyers again rank in top 20 in attendance

The Dayton Flyers men’s basketball ranked 20th in average attendance (13,407) and 15th in cumulative attendance (241,328) in the 2024-25 season, UD announced Wednesday.

www.daytondailynews.com

The Dayton Flyers men’s basketball ranked 20th in average attendance (13,407) and 15th in cumulative attendance (241,328) in the 2024-25 season, UD announced Wednesday.

Dayton sold out every game for the fourth consecutive season. UD also ranked 20th in average attendance in the 2023-24 season. It was 21st in the 2022-23 season after ranking 19th with the same attendance in the 2021-22 season.

...

Consistent numbers: Dayton has ranked in the top 25 in attendance 10 seasons in a row, not counting the 2020-21 pandemic season when national attendance figures were not kept, and in the top 30 for 27 straight years. It has ranked in the top 35 every season since UD Arena opened in 1969.

Dayton has sold out 77 straight games overall heading into the 2025-26 season opener on Nov. 3 against Canisius. That includes the last 11 home games of the 2019-20 season, 17 home games in the 2021-22 season, 16 home games in the 2022-23 season, 15 home games in the 2023-24 season and 18 home games in the 2024-25 season. It does not include home games played during the 2020-21 season, when attendance was limited during the pandemic.

Dayton hit the 11 millionth fan milestone in the 2024-25 season opener. The total number of fans who have attended Dayton men’s basketball games at UD Arena since 1969 is 11,228,479.

National leaders: North Carolina led the nation in attendance (20,521) last season. Kentucky (20,334), Tennessee (20,026), Arkansas (18,996) and Syracuse (18,888) rounded out the top five.

Dayton was one of 11 schools to have 100% capacity at home games.

By comparison: Dayton led Ohio in attendance. Ohio State (11,578) ranked 32nd in the nation. Cincinnati was 34th (11,054). Xavier (10,177) was 39th.

Dayton was the highest-ranked program in attendance outside the top five conferences. No. 24 New Mexico (13,051), from the Mountain West, was the next highest-ranked team from outside the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and SEC.

 

[jessej]

Sure wish we could have this

Dayton basketball: Flyers again rank in top 20 in attendance

The Dayton Flyers men’s basketball ranked 20th in average attendance (13,407) and 15th in cumulative attendance (241,328) in the 2024-25 season, UD announced Wednesday.

www.daytondailynews.com

The Dayton Flyers men’s basketball ranked 20th in average attendance (13,407) and 15th in cumulative attendance (241,328) in the 2024-25 season, UD announced Wednesday.

Dayton sold out every game for the fourth consecutive season. UD also ranked 20th in average attendance in the 2023-24 season. It was 21st in the 2022-23 season after ranking 19th with the same attendance in the 2021-22 season.

...

Consistent numbers: Dayton has ranked in the top 25 in attendance 10 seasons in a row, not counting the 2020-21 pandemic season when national attendance figures were not kept, and in the top 30 for 27 straight years. It has ranked in the top 35 every season since UD Arena opened in 1969.

Dayton has sold out 77 straight games overall heading into the 2025-26 season opener on Nov. 3 against Canisius. That includes the last 11 home games of the 2019-20 season, 17 home games in the 2021-22 season, 16 home games in the 2022-23 season, 15 home games in the 2023-24 season and 18 home games in the 2024-25 season. It does not include home games played during the 2020-21 season, when attendance was limited during the pandemic.

Dayton hit the 11 millionth fan milestone in the 2024-25 season opener. The total number of fans who have attended Dayton men’s basketball games at UD Arena since 1969 is 11,228,479.

National leaders: North Carolina led the nation in attendance (20,521) last season. Kentucky (20,334), Tennessee (20,026), Arkansas (18,996) and Syracuse (18,888) rounded out the top five.

Dayton was one of 11 schools to have 100% capacity at home games.

By comparison: Dayton led Ohio in attendance. Ohio State (11,578) ranked 32nd in the nation. Cincinnati was 34th (11,054). Xavier (10,177) was 39th.

Dayton was the highest-ranked program in attendance outside the top five conferences. No. 24 New Mexico (13,051), from the Mountain West, was the next highest-ranked team from outside the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and SEC.

ever been to Dayton? it sucks.
as a Senior in college i went to a job interview there.
At lunch when i was away from management 2 people walked up to me and told me not to come work there as both the company and the city sucked.

 

[gmujim92]

We’ve also seen that dropping a single of these Q4 home games is a poison pill for the entire season. Are you absolutely convinced that we are going to go 10/10 against the blind and deaf sisters of the Chesapeake for 2 straight months? All teams lose eventually, I’d rather us take our lumps against teams we are supposed to lose against to give the team a chance to learn and grow. We were first in the A10, great in conference wins, but not in the discussion at all in early March because we dropped a Q4 buzzer beater at home to CMU on a Tuesday night in November, and a triple OT loss at ECU. I don’t like having to bet on being perfect, competing against higher tier opponents is better for team growth, and will shake out better in the long run for rankings.

Unfortunately going on the road for too many low-percentage buy games is one easy way to get crushed by the NET.

Would’ve been far more beneficial for our metrics to beat a Q2/3 team away from home than losing by 19 at Marquette.

Also, if you’re not good enough to wax Q4 teams at home, you don’t deserve a bid plain and simple.

 

[tblack33]

Unfortunately going on the road for too many low-percentage buy games is one easy way to get crushed by the NET.

Would’ve been far more beneficial for our metrics to beat a Q2/3 team away from home than losing by 19 at Marquette.

Also, if you’re not good enough to wax Q4 teams at home, you don’t deserve a bid plain and simple.

I’ll disagree, we lost to CMU at home on a fluke last year and think that we deserved a bid. I hear your point though and would just say there’s a balance to be struck somewhere in the middle, and the schedule this year ain’t it.

 

[Verdad]

Regardless of difference between winning big at home against a Q3/4 vs losing on rd vs Q1, I don't believe it is possible to build an at large resume without Q1 games.

Maybe beating a MEAC school by 20 is technically better for the metrics vs a Q1 road loss, but we cant get Q1 wins without Q1 opportunities, and we cant get an at large without Q1 wins.

If we are an at large worthy team, those Q1 games some of you are so afraid of, are actually winnable

 

[gmujim92]

Regardless of difference between winning big at home against a Q3/4 vs losing on rd vs Q1, I don't believe it is possible to build an at large resume without Q1 games.

Maybe beating a MEAC school by 20 is technically better for the metrics vs a Q1 road loss, but we cant get Q1 wins without Q1 opportunities, and we cant get an at large without Q1 wins.

If we are an at large worthy team, those Q1 games some of you are so afraid of, are actually winnable

Not according to oddsmakers … we were less than 10% to win at Marquette last year, that’s not “winnable.” Most P4 teams win at home 80% of the time or more.

I’m not saying don’t take any Q1 road games, but you have to be smart and strategic about it — an A-10 team is never gonna get the benefit of the doubt for loading up the schedule and losing.

The math rewards you far more for beating Q2/3 teams, particularly on the road.

 

[GMUgemini]

We wound up only losing 1 Q4 game last year, but we did lose 4 Q3 games (one of those was because URI collapsed—see my point above about collapsing teams the last two years—another was the 2OT loss to ECU).

But ultimately we played way too many games close. So many single possession games, OT games, last second games, against middling teams. Our offense just was not good at all and that’s why we weren’t an at-large team. Not really the schedule, but how that schedule played out.