Yale basketball: 2017-18 preview for the Bulldogs

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 12: Handsome Dan, the Yale mascot, a 5-month-old English Bulldog, waits on the court before the Princeton Tigers take on the Yale Bulldogs of the Ivy League tournament final at The Palestra on March 12, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When not the mascot, the dog goes by Walter. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

Key Non-Conference games

11/10 – at Creighton

11/12 – at Wisconsin

11/25 – Vermont

12/2 – at TCU

12/9 – at Saint Bonaventure

12/22 – Monmouth

1/6 – at Georgia Tech

This is one the most difficult schedules possible for a program not looking for the money from the games. Right out of the gate are road games against the Badgers and Blue Jays. It will be a fun matchup on opening night to see Mason face off against Marcus Foster of Creighton.

Crazy thing is, none of these teams will overwhelm the Bulldogs in terms of talent — just ask Baylor from the NCAA Tournament a couple of years ago. Each game is somewhat winnable, and a few of these victories could put Yale on the bubble watch.

Key Conference games

1/26 – Harvard

2/2 – at Princeton

2/3 – at Penn

2/16 – at Dartmouth

2/17 – at Harvard

3/3 – Princeton

While the Ivy League has balanced schedules, Yale’s may be more difficult than the others. That’s because of the placement of the games for the Bulldogs, which is filled with traps.

The first trap is the road game at Penn, which is the day after playing at Princeton. The Tigers went undefeated and will have the target clear on their backs. If Yale becomes the first team to beat them, playing a team the next day after an emotional win could be too much to do.

The other one is the road game at Dartmouth, which is the night before going to Harvard. If they look ahead to the Crimson, a loss could sneak up on them. This is where Mason’s return could really help Yale when it comes to navigating a conference that overall should be better than last year.