The Providence Friars have released their non-conference schedule ahead of the 2023-2024 season. I must say that I believe it sets them up quite nicely to be a nationally ranked team ahead of conference play. I may be tipping my hand there on how I foresee the non-conference playing out, but so be it.
There were too many times in the Cooley era where the Friars would stumble out of the gates in non-conference play and have to rely on a Herculean effort in conference play to make the NCAA tournament. Do you know how many Thanksgiving weekends were ruined in the BOC household due to Providence seemingly forgetting how to play basketball in a holiday tournament?
The rub is that Coach Cooley would miraculously find a way to dig them out of their grave and get them into the NCAA tournament with superb conference results. The “cold water in the face” reality, however, is that those late season runs masked the fact that the blemishes of the non-conference put a cap on how high they would be ranked in the NCAA tournament. Too often, Providence would rely on being one of the “hottest” teams heading into March only to realize that a first round win as a 8-11 seed often meant they were facing off against a 1, 2, 3, or 4 seed in the Round of 32. That’s not a recipe for sustained success in the NCAA tournament, exemplified by Cooley’s below average March record at Providence.
I make mention of all of this because I’ll go on record stating that anything less than a Sweet 16 with this year’s roster is falling short of what this team should achieve. Coach Cooley, for all the negative things said about him, had this team and roster primed to make a serious run in 2023-2024. While English is in his first year coaching in arguably the toughest version of the Big East since its realignment, I do think Providence has a chance to be a second weekend type tournament team. Thus, it is imperative that PC comes out of the gates hot in non-conference play and doesn’t have to rely on playing catch-up in conference play.
Without further ado, my predictions below:
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