Greetings, folks! With football season finally in full swing, you know what that means…time for a look at the basketball schedule!

Yeah, I know what most of you are probably thinking, and believe me when I say that I don’t want to distract us from football for too long, either. It’s just that the basketball schedule was finally released a couple of weeks ago and I thought it deserved at least a cursory glance.

I focused on the non-conference portion of the schedule and looked at which statistical areas took the biggest hits from last year to this year. Or rather, I did this for the teams whose 2010-11 stats were actually available on their athletics web sites (I’m looking at you, Montana — get your act together, ya bums!). I then made these lists of the teams who lost the most off of last year’s squads and the teams who return the most heading into this year.

The categories you’ll see for each team are as follows: points per game lost (PPG Lost), rebounds per game lost (RPG Lost), three point shots lost (3’s Lost), free throws lost (FT’s Lost), blocks lost (BLK’s Lost), steals lost (STL’s Lost), the number of players with starting experience who return (SR) and their final RPI at the end of last season. Finally, I just looked at D-1 non-conference opponents, so you’ll have to go elsewhere if you’re just dying to know what Cedarville will look like this year.

The Five Teams Who Lost the Most

#5 Portland
~PPG Lost: 51.4% ~RPG Lost: 56.5% ~3’s Lost: 39.1% ~FT’s Lost: 54.8% ~BLK’s Lost: 81.8% ~STL’s Lost: 52% ~SR: 4 of 8 ~2011 RPI: 103

Seemingly just like the last time they came here, the Pilots will be without the services of some big role-players from the previous year’s team who beat Nevada in a close game in Portland. Their losses include Jared Stohl, Luke Sikma and Kramer Knutson.

#4 Washington
~PPG Lost: 59.1% ~RPG Lost: 49.9% ~3’s Lost: 38.7% ~FT’s Lost: 73.5% ~BLK’s Lost: 51.4% ~STL’s Lost: 68.8% ~SR: 5 of 10 ~2011 RPI: 32

In addition to the graduations of seniors Justin Holiday, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Venoy Overton, point guard Isaiah Thomas left early for the NBA. This will be a very different-looking Husky team than the one that beat down the Pack last year.

#3 Missouri State
~PPG Lost: 60.7% ~RPG Lost: 56.6% ~3’s Lost: 57.9% ~FT’s Lost: 66.4% ~BLK’s Lost: 44.7% ~STL’s Lost: 59.6% ~SR: 1 of 5 ~2011 RPI: 43

The good news for the Bears is that all-conference forward Kyle Weems is back for one more year. The bad news is that everyone else of note — including former coach Cuonzo Martin — has left the building.

#2 BYU
~PPG Lost: 62% ~RPG Lost: 41% ~3’s Lost: 74% ~FT’s Lost: 57.9% ~BLK’s Lost: 28.7% ~STL’s Lost: 67.4% ~SR: 4 of 8 ~2011 RPI: 5

As far as singular, star player losses in this group, it doesn’t get much bigger than losing Jimmer Fredette. Getting Brandon Davies and a good chunk of the front court back will soften the departure…a little bit.

#1 Pacific
~PPG Lost: 98.6% ~RPG Lost: 94% ~3’s Lost: 100% ~FT’s Lost: 96.2% ~BLK’s Lost: 90.8% ~STL’s Lost: 97.9% ~SR: 2 of 9 ~2011 RPI: 190

This one’s not even close. First, five players moved on from good old fashioned graduation. Next, Allen Huddleston, Jose Rivera and two other players transferred. The Tiger roster you’ll see this year is comprised almost entirely of JuCo players signed very late in the recruiting process. Let the revenge healing begin.

The Five Teams Who Return the Most

#5 Cal State Bakersfield
~PPG Lost: 24.4% ~RPG Lost: 14.2% ~3’s Lost: 25.4% ~FT’s Lost: 31.1% ~BLK’s Lost: 28.1% ~STL’s Lost: 14.7% ~SR: 8 of 10 ~2011 RPI: 310

The Roadrunners are one of two independent teams on this list who have quite a bit in the way of returning players. The downside, of course, is that their independent schedules will still drag down their RPI’s and hurt Nevada’s strength of schedule in turn.

#4 Longwood
~PPG Lost: 19.5% ~RPG Lost: 18.4% ~3’s Lost: 4.7% ~FT’s Lost: 26.5% ~BLK’s Lost: 15.6% ~STL’s Lost: 19.7% ~SR: 5 of 7 ~2011 RPI: 318

The second of the two independents I alluded to. They shot the three surprisingly well last year and look to continue that trend.

#3 UC Riverside
~PPG Lost: 19.7% ~RPG Lost: 7.4% ~3’s Lost: 43.5% ~FT’s Lost: 19.1% ~BLK’s Lost: 2.5% ~STL’s Lost: 19.1% ~SR: 10 of 11 ~2011 RPI: 259

If they can rebuild their three-point shooting presence, the Highlanders have a very good shot at finishing at or near the top of the Big West this year. As far as guarantee games go, this wasn’t a bad addition to the schedule.

#2 Montana
~PPG Lost: 26.7% ~RPG Lost: 29.1% ~3’s Lost: 10.1% ~FT’s Lost: 23.1% ~BLK’s Lost: 62.7% ~STL’s Lost: 13.2% ~SR: 6 of 7 ~2011 RPI: 106

The one starter gone from this team is a big one, literally and figuratively, in center Brian Qvale. But if he’s successfully replaced in some capacity, this will be a very experienced and talented team with real NCAA Tournament potential.

#1 UNLV
~PPG Lost: 25.6% ~RPG Lost: 22.1% ~3’s Lost: 27.2% ~FT’s Lost: 23.8% ~BLK’s Lost: 11.6% ~STL’s Lost: 26.9% ~SR: 5 of 7 ~2011 RPI: 25

Statistically, the Rebels should be a little lower on this list, and there’s always a little uncertainty when a new head coach takes over. But when your biggest losses are two inconsistent guards like Tre’Von Willis and Derrick Jasper and other quality transfers are waiting in the wings, the potential is there to be at least as good as — and possibly better than — the previous year’s team.

As the title for this entry implies, I’ll try to do a more in-depth look at the WAC portion of the schedule at a later date.