We've officially made it to the first week of college basketball! Beyond excited for another year of Aggie Hoops.

Thought people would appreciate seeing a list of all the 'key' non-conference games for the conference. The reason we got 6 bids last season can largely be traced back to how well the conference performed in the noncon, so it’ll fun to watch and see if we do as well this year. It will also be super helpful if the 'bottom dwellers' do good enough so they can fall more in the Q3/Q2 range rather than Q4. I was bored and curious so perused the various non-con schedules today.

Here’s a list of the biggest non-con games for the consensus top 7 preseason MW teams. Biggest meaning games against High-majors and top mid-major programs. Win a fair share of these like we did last year and the conference will be in good shape. Don't do as well and we will be a 2-3 bid league. Here ya go:

San Diego State
H Gonzaga (Nov 18)
N Creighton (Nov 26)
N Oregon (Nov 27)
N TBA (Nov 29) (Opponent will be another team in their tourney in Vegas, High Major)
N California (Dec 21)

Boise State
@ San Fransisco (Nov 9)
H Clemson (Nov 17)
N Wazzu (Dec 7, game in Boise)
N St. Mary’s (Dec 14, game in Idaho Falls)

New Mexico
N UCLA (Nov 8)
@ St. John’s (Nov 17)
N Arizona St. (Nov 28)
H VCU (Dec 18)

Nevada
H Washington (Nov 9)
H Santa Clara (Nov 16)
N Vanderbilt (Nov 21)
H Washington St. (Dec 2)

UNLV
H Memphis (Nov 9)
N Mississippi St. (Nov 28)
@ Creighton (Dec 7)
@ Dayton (Dec 17)

Colorado State
N Ole Miss (Nov 16)
N Washington (Nov 28)
@ Colorado (Dec 7)
N VCU (Dec 14)

Utah State
N Iowa (Nov 22)
N St. Bonaventure (Nov 28)
H South Florida (Dec 14)
@ St. Mary’s (Dec 22)

Several teams will tack on another quality neutral game in their MTE’s.

We should never overlook opponents, and we also have Montana, Charlotte, the second round of the MTE, and UC San Diego.
Charlotte, Montana, and UC San Diego could win their respected conferences.

It's nice to see the top programs in MWC playing good non-con schedules. Let's hope we all do damage to increase conference profile.