Wichita State Basketball: 3 thoughts on non-conference schedule

Wichita State Basketball: 3 thoughts on 2018-19 non-conference schedule

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 5: Head coach Gregg Marshall of the Wichita State Shockers directs his players against the Illinois State Redbirds during the Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament Championship game at the Scottrade Center on March 5, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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OMAHA, NEBRASKA-DECEMBER 17: Aaron Anderson /

Not many softies

There’s a good balance of solid and weak mid-majors on Wichita State’s non-conference slate.

They’ll open the regular season against Louisiana Tech in November. The Bulldogs are coming off a season where they struggled in Conference USA play, yet still finished with a winning overall record.

After the Charleston Classic, they’ll host the Rice Owls, who were not particularly good last year, either in Conference USA or overall play. They’ll be embarking on their second with Scott Pera in charge, so improvement will be expected.

In December, Wichita State will host Jacksonville State, which played to the CBI semifinals last year. That will be followed by a visit from yet another C-USA team, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Days later, the rebuilding Oral Roberts Golden Eagles will come to town (too many Golden Eagles in college basketball, it seems).

The final game of the non-conference slate sends Wichita State on the road to face the VCU Rams. After Will Wade left for the LSU job, Virginia Commonwealth missed out on the postseason for the first time since 2006. Don’t expect the Rams to stay down fir long, though.

Many of Wichita State’s games in this stretch take place at Charles Koch Arena, giving the Shockers a distinct home advantage.