East Tennessee State Basketball: 2023-24 season preview for the Bucs
By Jay George
2023-24 schedule outlook
ETSU has a good mix of tune-up style and competitive non-conference games lined up this season. They start out the season with what should be two winnable home games against UVA-Wise and King University. Should Savage and the Buccaneers start off hot, they can use that momentum in the next few games which will certainly be tougher as they go away against Elon, Butler, and Cleveland State with a home game against Davidson in between.
This portion of the season will be their toughest stretch of non-conference games. They continue away for Alabama A&M, Appalachian State, and Jacksonville State. While all these games are manageable with Appalachian State coming off of a slow season among others, it will be a great time for the new team to realize where they’re at before conference play.
Following that stretch, ETSU has a nice stretch of games back at home in Freedom Hall facing Tennessee Tech, Tusculum, and Kansas City. This will allow them to really clean up anything they’ve seen early on in the season before heading back out for a final set of road games against Utah State and East Carolina. This build of a schedule with easier home games following by tougher road opponents, back home, and then on the road again will allow the Bucs to progress in real time.
In conference, it would feel like the top teams to would be Furman coming off a historic upset against Virginia, Chattanooga as a well-built roster and in-state rival, and UNC-Greensboro who have built a decent opponent over the last handful of seasons. The Southern Conference has certainly produced some great basketball over time, so once ETSU enters conference play, they should really try to be as sound and smooth as possible.