Schedule Analysis: Seton Hall

Seton Hall (15-18, 5-13)

Postseason: None

This is the seventh installment of a 10-part series evaluating the schedules of the 10 Big East teams for the 2013-14 season. Above record, tournament finishes are from last season.

Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence analyses are available by clicking the links.

The Pirates actually played decent basketball for the first half of last season, beginning the campaign 12-2 (with its only losses coming in overtime to Washington on a neutral floor and at LSU) and even won a road game at Wake Forest.

Things went downhill from there, however, as the Hall lost 16 of its final 19 games to finish below .500 again.

It probably won’t get much better this year, either. Fuquan Edwin returns, but second-leading scorer Aaron Cosby transferred to Illinois in April and a weak non-conference schedule isn’t going to help this team come tournament time.

Fuquan Edwin will likely have to do the majority of scoring for Seton Hall again this year. (Photo via zimbio.com)

Schedule (all times Central)

Nov. 2 – vs. Caldwell 5:00 (exhibition)

Nov. 9 – vs. Niagara 5:00 Fox Sports 2 (Coaches vs. Cancer opening round)

Nov. 13 – vs. Kent State 6:00 Fox Sports 2 (Coaches vs. Cancer opening round)

Nov. 16 – at Mercer 2:00

Nov. 18 – vs. Monmouth 7:00 Fox Sports 2

Nov. 22 – vs. Oklahoma 6:00 truTV (Coaches vs. Cancer, Brooklyn)

Nov. 23 – Michigan State/Virginia Tech 6:00/8:30 truTV (Coaches vs. Cancer, Brooklyn)

Dec. 1 – vs. Fairleigh Dickinson 1:00 Fox Sports 1

Dec. 4 – vs. Long Island 6:00 Fox Sports 2

Dec. 8 – at Rutgers 7:00 ESPNU

Dec. 10 – vs. NJIT 8:00 Fox Sports 1

Dec. 14 – vs. St. Peter’s 3:00 FSN

Dec. 22 – vs. Eastern Washington 4:00 Fox Sports 1

Dec. 27 – vs. Lafayette 7:00 Fox Sports 1

Dec. 31 – at Providence 1:30 Fox Sports 1

Jan. 4 – vs. Creighton 2:00 Fox Sports 1

Jan. 8 – vs. Villanova 6:00 CBS Sports

Jan. 11 – at Marquette 1:00 FSN

Jan. 18 – at Georgetown 11:00 Fox Sports 1

Jan. 23 – at St. John’s 6:00 CBS Sports

Jan. 25 – vs. DePaul 5:00 CBS Sports

Jan. 29 – vs. Butler 8:00 Fox Sports 1

Feb. 1 – at Xavier 11:00 CBS Sports

Feb. 7 – at Villanova 6:00 Fox Sports 1

Feb. 11 – vs. Marquette 6:00 Fox Sports 1

Feb. 13 – vs. St. John’s 8:00 Fox Sports 1

Feb. 20 – vs. Georgetown 8:00 CBS Sports

Feb. 23 – at Creighton 4:00 FSN

Feb. 25 – at DePaul 8:00 Fox Sports 1

Feb. 28 – vs. Providence 6:00 CBS Sports

March 3 – vs. Xavier 6:00 Fox Sports 1

March 8 – at Butler 3:30 Fox Sports 1

Analysis

Give the Pirates credit with the first three games. They play two teams (Niagara, Mercer) who won their conferences last season and another (Kent State) who won 21 games a year ago. However, a slip up will likely do them more harm than a win would.

A home date with Monmouth remains before the Pirates travel to Brooklyn to take on Oklahoma in the first game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The Sooners also won 20 games last year and went to the NCAA Tournament but lost its two leading scorers (Romero Osby, Steven Pledger) to graduation.

Seton Hall will likely have to beat OU to get a shot at Michigan State, which would no doubt be its biggest win in the non-conference. Tough to see that happening.

Following home games with Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island, the Pirates travel to Rutgers for an old Big East battle in what could be the Hall’s best chance at a marquee non-conference win. Four straight cupcakes home games round out the slate.

In an absolutely brutal start to the conference season, I’m picking Seton Hall to start 0-5 before picking up a win against DePaul at home. Another losing streak will pick up after that, however, with home games against Butler and Marquette as well as trips to Xavier and Villanova unlikely to bear many wins.

I like the Pirates in an upset over St. John’s on Feb. 13, because, why not? Four more losses in a row before Seton Hall avoids a 2-win Big East campaign by beating Xavier on March 3.

Wins: Niagara, Kent State, at Mercer, Monmouth, Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, NJIT, St. Peter’s, Eastern Washington, Lafayette, DePaul, St. John’s, Xavier

Losses: Oklahoma (Brooklyn), Virginia Tech (Brooklyn), at Rutgers, Providence (twice), Creighton (twice), Villanova (twice), Marquette (twice), Georgetown (twice), at St. John’s, at DePaul, Butler (twice), at Xavier

Prediction: 13-18, 3-15 (tied for 9th)