NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
Tired of hearing about all of WSU football’s blues? Good news: Washington State Basketball is here!
I know you might be saying, “Oh yeah? WSU Hoops? That’s always a safe bet to cure my Cougar sports depression: men’s basketball.” And to that, I would have no argument; however, I think you might be a little surprised by this year’s team.
Advertisement
This schedule and roster are going to either be a David Riley masterclass or his final undoing.
Coach Riley took an entirely different approach with his recruiting strategy compared to last season and doubled down with an aggressive schedule.
WSU plays a lot of winnable matchups in this non-conference schedule; outside of Duke, there are no scheduled losses. High Point and LSU profile as probable road losses, but Southern Illinois and Weber State are expected to be wins. Even games like Duquesne (didn’t think I would ever have to spell that again), Murray State, and UNLV project as one-possession games.
While these games might sound winnable (or at the very least not blowouts) and they very well might be, we need to see it in action first to believe it. WSU was 1-11 on the road last season, including losses to San Diego (226) and Pepperdine (263). So while it is certainly possible for the Cougs to outshine their 9-6 non-conference projection (not including D2 Northwest), they are going to have to quadruple their road wins from last season to do so. However, to be fair, this is almost an entirely different group from the one that struggled on the road last season.
Advertisement
Non-Conference Schedule Projections
Davidson Wildcats (H) – Projected Close Win
High Point Panthers (A) – Projected Loss
Duquesne Dukes (A) – Projected Close Win
Northwest University Eagles (H) – Projected Win
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors – Projected Close Win [Everett, WA (Angel of the Winds Arena)]Duke Blue Devils – Do I even have to tell you? (Palm Springs)
Sam Houston Bearkats (H) – Projected Win
Idaho Vandals (H) – Projected Win
Murray State Racers…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/charting-path-success-wsu-basketball-065628202.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-11-02 06:56:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
