Ohio State Added to the Slate

Let me start this by inviting Mike Broeker and everyone involved in scheduling at Marquette to take a bow. Landing the Ohio State University in a neutral site game on an aircraft carrier is nothing less than a massive coup. Last year, the North Carolina/Michigan State game that kicked off the season was one of the most talked about sporting events at the time. I imagine that this will likely garner similar publicity, and is a fantastic way to promote Marquette while also giving the team a great early-season test.

With the kudos portion of the article out of the way, I decided to take another brief look at the schedule as it stands. According to Value-Add, Marquette currently is ranked #12 in the country for the 2012-13 season with a rating of 32.96. Here's a look at the opponents:

The Sure Things

(N) Ohio State (9th -- 33.80) The Buckeyes are a top-ten team according to Value-Add, and will be a formidable foe. While Jared Sullinger is headed to the NBA and William Buford graduated, they return a ton of talent including DeShaun Thomas and Aaron Craft.

(H) Wisconsin (23rd -- 29.17) The Badgers are always tough, thankfully they come to the BC this year. There may not be much star-power, but Bo Ryan gets the most out of players like Ben Brust, Ryan Evans, and Josh Gasser, and much is expected out of freshman Sam Dekker.

(A) UW-Green Bay (109th -- 15.38) Surprised to see the Phoenix this high? Brian Wardle has them headed in the right direction, and Alec Brown may be the best big man in the Horizon. This will be a tough road game against a team that returns their top-four scorers.

(H) LSU (129th -- 13.29) Marquette will be looking for revenge on a Tiger team in transition. They have a new coach in Johnny Jones and lost four of their top seven scorers. Much will be expected of sophomore McDonald's All-American Johnny O'Bryant.

(H) Milwaukee (206th -- 5.54) Just saw this one confirmed on IWB's website. Looks like the series will continue, and with a road game at Green Bay, there's no way we're playing the Panthers away this year.

The Question Marks

(A) Florida (15th -- 32.16) or Missouri (18th -- 31.30) With Georgetown/UK already set, it seems Marquette will likely play one of these two on the road. It could be a number of other teams, but these two have been the most frequently mentioned.

(N) Texas (10th -- 33.70), North Carolina (29th -- 28.12), Butler (81st -- 18.23), Illinois (104th -- 15.54), USC (111th -- 15.11), Mississippi State (125th -- 13.69), Chaminade (Division II) Marquette will play three of these seven in Maui, my hopes are to see anyone but Chaminade in the opener with a path that includes Texas and UNC if the Warriors keep winning.

The Unknowns

This slate gives us two high-major home games, two true road games (including a SEC team), and four neutral site games, of which at least two should be against top-level teams. There will be one mainland game coming back from the Maui. Last year, two of the four mainland teams won their conferences (Belmont and Middle Tennessee), so it's possible to get another decent mid-major there. That leaves three more buy games. Hopefully the scheduling crew can at least get teams inside the top-300 to avoid the major RPI drains. Can't wait to see the rest of the schedule as it's unveiled.