Season Just Around The Corner

With the new season just around the corner, I'm excited to see how we will fare against our conference opponents this year. Looking at our non-conference schedule I think we will be fairly succesful. We open the season with two home Exhibition games against Lewis and UC Riverside. Both games should be a nice warm up for the team and allow the bench players to get some solid minutes. The next four games will consist of the Cancun Challenge. The first two games will be played at Allstate Arena against Gardner-Webb and  Austin Peay. I don't know much about these two teams, but based on their normal seasons, the Blue Demons should be able to pick two wins. The following two games are set in Cancun, Mexico. The first game will be tough as the Blue Demons take on the Shockers of Wichita State. Last year the Shockers made the NCAA tournament and were a popular pick to go far until they drew a bad matchup. The Shockers added first year guard Fred Van Vleet who is from Illinois, and he figures to only add to the offensive firepower of Wichita State. The final game will be played against either Iowa or Western Kentucky. Both would be a tough opponent and a good game to test DePaul. Following The Cancun Challenge is a home game against Fairfield and the SEC/Big East Challenge. Fairfield figures to be an easy win. This year DePaul drew the Tigers of Auburn for the SEC/Big East game. The game will be played on ESPNU. Picking up a win in this game would be a huge confidence builder for the Blue Demons. The game will be played at Auburn which will make the game even tougher. After the SEC/Big East Challenge it looks like Smooth sailing for the Blue Demons with five of the next six games coming at home to wrap up the non-conference schedule. Chicago State and Milwaukee will be the first two opponents, both home games, and neither figure to be to much of a challenge. Unless Milwaukee shoots 61% from the field again which they did last year in a game where they blew out DePaul at Allstate Arena. Arizona State, who the Demons beat last year,  is the next game in Tempe. The Blue Demons were able to pullout the victory last year and this year with leading scorer and best player Trent Lockett gone, things should only be easier for DePaul. Finally, DePaul ends non-conference play with three home games against Northern Illinois, UMBC, and Loyola-Chicago. All three games should end up with the Demons on top. I expect the Demons to come out of non-conference play with a record of 11-3.