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Seton Hall Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Pirates

By Thomas Giustino

Jan 27, 2021; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Seton Hall Pirates head coach Kevin Willard coaches during the first half against the Creighton Bluejays at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 27, 2021; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Seton Hall Pirates head coach Kevin Willard coaches during the first half against the Creighton Bluejays at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kevin Willard Seton Hall Basketball (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Kevin Willard Seton Hall Basketball (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Pirates schedule for 2021-22

Kevin Willard didn’t do himself any favors with this non-conference schedule. After a few tune-up games, the Pirates play at Michigan (ranked 6th in the AP Preseason Top 25) in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Juwan Howard has done everything right since taking over at Michigan and this will be quite a step up in competition after their first 3 games.

Seton Hall then heads down to Florida to take on Ohio State (ranked 17th in the AP Preseason Top 25) followed by either Cal or Florida in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off (Beach Division). Two top 25 teams in their first five games of the season? Tough.

The Pirates will then get a chance to regroup with a few games against lesser opponents at home before diving back into the Big East-Big 12 matchup with Texas (ranked 5th in the AP Preseason Top 25). At least this matchup against Texas is at home though, but Chris Beard has Texas looking like title contenders before he has even coached a game there yet.

Next up is the Garden State Hardwood Classic to settle a heated Twitter debate amongst Seton Hall and Rutgers fans for New Jersey bragging rights. Seton Hall will be looking for revenge in this game. In their last matchup, in 2019, Rutgers dismantled Seton Hall 68-48. This was a game to forget for Seton Hall.

If Pirate fans haven’t repressed this from their memory, you’ll recall that Rutgers jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never really looked back. Since when is Rutgers decent at basketball? Must be their UConn-centric coaching staff. Seton Hall still holds the edge historically in this matchup though, with an overall record of 23-16 against Rutgers.

Seton Hall caps off their non-conference schedule against Rick Pitino and Iona at Madison Square Garden in the Gotham Classic. Originally, this was headlined by a potential Champagnie showdown, with St. John’s taking on Pittsburgh. However, Justin Champagnie of Pitt opted to go pro, dimming the intrigue of that matchup a bit. I think Seton Hall vs Iona will be an intriguing matchup. It is a tough, but winnable game as the Pirates get ready for conference play.

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