COLUMN: Why does SEMO schedule NAIA teams?

Southeast Missouri State guard Aquan Smart slams a dunk against Bethel on Saturday, Jan. 6, at the Show Me Center.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Southeast Missouri State entered Saturday’s game with Bethel having won 36 straight games against non-Division 1 teams.

The Redhawks were in danger of breaking that streak in the first half but went on to defeat the Wildcats 71-61 on Jan. 6, at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks are 6-10 this season. They're also 6-2 at home and 4-0 against NAIA teams this season.

At first, I thought the purpose of a mid-major program like SEMO scheduling NAIA opponents was the same as power conference teams like Iowa scheduling SEMO last year; schedule a home game against a team that you're virtually guaranteed to beat. Non-conference schedules across the nation are littered with these games. To get two top-tiered programs to play each other, they got to go to some neutral site and play in either a mid-season tournament or a completely made-up showcase event.

Scheduling these games for many major conference programs may make sense because it could be what gets a team to 20 wins and potential consideration for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. There's no way a team from the Ohio Valley Conference is going to enter March Madness as an at-large, so why schedule the Bethels the Missouri Baptists of the world in the first place? There are three basic reasons why and simply buffing up the record isn’t one of them.

Southeast Missouri State head coach Brad Korn looks on during a game against Bethel on Saturday, Jan. 6, at the Show Me Center.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

OVC scheduling

Since adding Western Illinois to the fold, the Ohio Valley Conference went from 10 teams to 11, thus turning scheduling into a weekly game of musical chairs.

Last season, there would be two teams per group going on the road together to take on the same teams or hosting them on Thursdays and Saturdays. For example, SEMO and Lindenwood will host Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech on Feb. 8 and Feb. 10 and go to Eastern Illinois and SIU-Edwardsville on Feb. 15 and Feb. 17. With 11 teams, someone is always left without a dance partner.

This week would’ve been SEMO’s turn to take a break, which led to bringing in Bethel.

“You go a whole week without playing and after we play Lindenwood and Tennessee Tech it could be another week off,” Korn said. “So really we’re talking about playing two, three games in a 14-day window almost and I just didn’t like that for our group. I wanted some more continuity because that’s what our schedule is gonna go now for the next seven weeks.”

The conference has not been consistent during Korn’s tenure. Next year might not be any different. With the NAIA games serving the similar purpose of a “buy game” for a Power 5 program, Korn has some flexibility going into future home-and-home arrangements.

“Honestly with the uncertainty of what the OVC schedule is going to be in 2024-25, to take the four games this year was to give us scheduling flexibility for the following years,” Korn said.

Southeast Missouri State guard TJ Biel prepares to put up a free throw against Bethel on Saturday, Jan. 6, at the Show Me Center.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Strained by success

SEMO has long been the whipping boy of the OVC prior to Korn’s arrival. Korn had the Redhawks in the conference tournament each year of his tenure and even became the first to win the tournament as a No. 5 seed last year.

As a result of that, teams similar to SEMO’s level were no longer interested in scheduling a road game with the Redhawks, now that victory may not be virtually guaranteed any more.

Southern Illinois wasn't on the schedule this year and that was supposed to be a road against a rival.

“We did hit that a couple games that we tried to get in the non-con and especially in home-and-home games,” Korn said. “Teams would use that against us if they didn’t want to play. ‘We’re not going to play a team that just went to the NCAA Tournament’ even though we lost our top four scores from last year’s team. So it did hurt in that regard because there were some regional opponents that we tried to get that just didn’t want to play.”

Economics

Like many mid-major schools, the only true way to generate revenue from athletics is through the gate. By scheduling four NAIA teams, the Show Me Center had four more home games this season, which means four more opportunities to generate revenue.

Last year, SEMO had 13 regular season home games including two from non-Division 1 opponents. SEMO had 14 home games in 2021-22, with one extra fellow mid-major matchup.

SEMO has 15 home games this year but that’s because of the four NAIA games sprinkled in. Playing Bethel on Saturday is better for SEMO than taking the unofficial bye.

And after observing the crowds during the last three games, they’re right. According to attendance numbers, there have been only two games this season that attracted 1,800 fans to the Show ME Center. One of them was to see the Redhawks beat Lindsey Wilson last month and it was the most attended game (1,869). Attendance has ranged between 1,242 to 1,869 since December so for fans who are waiting for the conference slate to arrive, there doesn't seem to be a difference between Missouri State and Missouri Baptist.