In typical Long Beach State fashion, the Dirtbags will take on a challenging nonconference schedule before entering yet another season of competitive Big West Conference play.
Head coach Troy Buckley has put the Dirtbags in a good position to earn a high Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ranking. Of the team’s 29 nonconference games, 14 are against teams that advanced to last year’s NCAA tournament.
“You try to play as many quality teams as you can,” Buckley said. “Last year, we played a great nonconference schedule. We did not have a great record, but it really benefitted us for what does really matter, which is our conference games.”
Two games at home against the defending national champion Arizona Wildcats on Feb. 19 and 20 are the highlight of a loaded nonconference schedule.
“Since [Arizona head coach Andy Lopez] is originally from Southern California, he doesn’t have any problem playing a Fullerton or a Long Beach,” Buckley said. “It was kind of a situation where they’re local enough and we compete against them in recruiting. Obviously, they are coming off of a tremendous year.”
LBSU will open its season on Feb. 15 with a three-game road series at Vanderbilt, which earned an NCAA tournament bid after advancing to the finals of the incredibly competitive Southeastern Conference tournament. Next up is Arizona, followed by a weekend series at Blair Field with defending Horizon League champion Valparaiso.
LBSU will also face powerhouses UCLA, Arizona State and Pepperdine.
The schedule, which was released last week, includes 33 of the 56 games at home.
“The RPI is set up so that you get more points for road wins than you get for home wins,” Buckley said. “But our park, our community and ticket sales are also factors, so there are some business factors that go into it. It just worked out to where we got one more home series than we were looking for, but we’re not going to complain.”
Buckley will be looking to lead the Dirtbags to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008.
“We have a little more experience this year,” he said. “It’ll be a good test for our guys because there are no cakewalks, that’s for sure. It’ll be fun.”