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Belmont Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Bruins

By Adam Childs

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: The cheerleaders of the Belmont Bruins watch on against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: The cheerleaders of the Belmont Bruins watch on against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Bob Leverone/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 09: UCLA Bruins mascot Joe Bruin poses on the court before the team’s semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 78-67 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 09: UCLA Bruins mascot Joe Bruin poses on the court before the team’s semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 78-67 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Key Non-Conference Games

Nov. 12 – vs Middle Tennessee State
Nov. 15 – @ Lipscomb
Dec. 4 – vs Lipscomb
Dec. 15 – @ UCLA
Dec 29  – @ Purdue

Belmont’s non-conference schedule is not high on the difficulty scale, but the games against these four teams will give them a picture of they are at this year. MTSU lost a lot last year and are not as good of a game as originally thought when it was scheduled, but with being the second game of the year it will be a good test for the Bruins.

The home and home with Lipscomb will be a true measure of how the Bruins stack up in the mid-major picture. Lipscomb made the NCAA tournament last year and look to be good again this year. If Belmont can win both of these games it will give them an edge when it comes to tournament selection time.

The big games for the Bruins though are when they head out west to UCLA and up north to Purdue. If they can pick up a win in one of those two games or somehow sweep them, it could be what puts them over the top this year. They do not have to win these games, but any time you can win a game against a major conference school on the road it is great for the resume.

Overall the Bruins should be able to get through their non-conference of 11 games with at least 7 wins. If they can escape with more than that then they should be in good shape going into their conference schedule.