The main story of the non-conference schedule for the Cleveland State men’s basketball team is travel. Of the 11 games the Vikings play, seven of them are not at home. Five are actual away games and then two are part of an MTE in Huntsville, Alabama. Although not the toughest schedule put together, the Vikes will have to play good basketball while navigating the stresses of traveling the country.
The year starts off with a visit to previous Vikings head coach Dennis Gates and the Missouri Tigers on November 3rd. With head coach Rob Summers and Gates being friends and having history on the same staffs, it is possible this becomes a game every season (as it is 2-for-2 in the Summers era). Led by freshman NBA prospect Jason Crowe, Jr., Mizzou is not just looking to make the tournament this season. They’re looking to go deep and compete for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen or farther. The best roster Gates has put together will not be a fun first task for CSU.
The Vikings come home three days later to take on NAIA Michigan-Dearborn to hopefully get their first win of the year before going back on the road for a while. They head to Bowling Green State November 9th where the Falcons have a fairly new roster. This game will test CSU’s revamped defensive look with Josiah Shackelford (11.3 points per game/PPG), Jayden Johnson (13.4 PPG), Juan Cranford Jr. (12.1 PPG), and two D-II transfers who averaged over 40 PPG combined. Add in 6-11 Leek Ateny and 6-9, 280-pound Aiden Goins and the Vikes have a lot to handle.
The 13th and 15th of November sees the Vikings in an MTE in Huntsville, Alabama taking on West Florida and host Alabama A&M. This season is West Florida’s first in D-I after joining the ASUN a few months ago. A roster filled with junior college and other divisional players shouldn’t put up much of a fight with the Vikings.
Alabama A&M should be a little tougher task, but being ineligible for postseason play due to academic progress issues means the roster isn’t as good as last season. One notable player is Nate Johnson who previously was on the Horizon League All-Freshmen Team while at Detroit Mercy. It is possible the Vikings win both games of this “Bulldog Bash” MTE.
CSU rounds out this long road trip with a visit to southern Ohio at Xavier. Coming off a dismal 6-14 conference record last year, head coach Richard Pitino will be looking to gain some momentum in the Big East again. The big story of the game will be how Robert Morris transfer Nikos Chitikoudis plays against an old Horizon League foe.
The Vikings finally head home for their second game at the Wolstein Center November 21st as they take on Kent State in their yearly matchup. CSU hasn’t been able to get by the Golden Flashes in previous years, and this year looks to be just as difficult. Although many of the pieces that cruised by the Vikings last year are gone, new transfers including Cleveland native Dorian Jones (a redshirt freshman from Rutgers) are going to give the Vikings defense plenty of headaches.
The next two non-conference games feature D3 opponents in Case Western Reserve University November 25th and Penn State-Altoona December 13th. The thing to note about both games is they take place in Woodling Gymnasium. This choice means the Vikings only play two home non-conference games at the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings head back on the road to round out their non-conference play with Oregon State December 17th and Pittsburgh December 21st. Both feature new rosters with only one returnee each but they have recruits that could be difficult against the Vikings team.
In all, the non-conference schedule isn’t overly scary for the Vikes, but it should be enough to test out where they are as a team and program. If they can survive against teams like Xavier and Kent, things will be looking up.
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