As the non-conference schedule winds down, let’s talk about DePaul’s NC schedule. (All Stats below are from Kenpom.com, mainly because the RPIRatings are garbage and generally do not pass the eye test.)
The Good
I’ve been getting hit with some messages related to the Mighty Blue Demons non-conference schedule. Comparing it to prior years’ schedules, it has been a schedule of extremes. We’ve played 5 good to great teams, and we have played 5 teams from the ‘If you pay us, we’ll let you play us’ conferences plus UIC.
The Demons have played 4 top 50 teams (#2 Michigan St, #21 Notre Dame, #46 Northwestern, and #47 Oregon) and when you add Illinois (#97) into the mix, 5 top 100 teams. That is a challenging schedule, and if that is all of the teams that we played, we would have a top 40 non-conference strength of schedule.
Of those 5 teams, the only one that clearly outclassed the Demons was Michigan St. Every other game DePaul was in the game well into the 2nd half, and in the case of Oregon and Northwestern, with any sort of luck in the final few minutes, the Demons win.
Also good
We competed really well with Northwestern and Oregon, who carry similar ratings as St. John’s #50, Butler #53, Marquette #54, and Providence #58, which potentially bodes well for our conference schedule.
The Good-Bad
If you schedule 5 top 100 teams, you need to beat a couple of them, or you are going nowhere. Most fans would have been ecstatic with a 2-3 record in those games, and most likely would be posting lovely tweets, like: 
Instead, since they went 0-5 we are all feeling:
The Bad-Good
We won all the games that we are supposed to win. Unfortunately, they have come from 5 sub 300 teams (Delaware St. (Worst Team in D1 at #351), Alabama A&M (3rd worst team in D1 at #349), Youngstown St. #324, Portland #311, and Central Connecticut #306), and 1 sub 200 team (UIC #223).
Consequences of losing the Oregon game in OT was that DePaul missed out on another top 50 game against Oklahoma (#20) and replaced it with a game against sub 300 Portland.
What good can come from that? The Demons beat them all, badly, as they should.
DePaul has one more game with current #289, Miami of Ohio, before we meet up with the best 2 teams in the Big East.
So what is our Current Strength of Schedule? Better than Last Year!
DePaul’s SOS comes in at 238, and it will most likely go down with the RedHawks coming to town. Shocking as it may sound, the SOS is better than last year, and should be the 3rd strongest of the past 5 years.
2016-17: 336. Lost to 5 teams ranked 100 or lower. Abomination of a schedule and lost to bad teams.
2015-16: 140
The Year when DePaul crushed ranked George Washington (Post Season NIT Champs) on a nice December evening.
2014-15: 261
2013-14: 184
Georgetown’s SOS sucks worse
Georgetown has spent the last month pounding the little guys, an awesome SOS of 350 (out of 351) so go yell at them!
