Bayno defends UNLV's soft schedule

Before you ask Bill Bayno about the 1999-2000 UNLV basketball schedule, offer the coach a shot of Novocaine because you're bound to hit a nerve.

The Rebels are coming off a 16-13 season and have just five players returning from that squad. Wholesale changes are in effect.

That said, Bayno insists this year's slate is the toughest in his five years at UNLV. And he claims the Rebels will play the toughest non-league schedule in the inaugural year of the Mountain West Conference.

"It's not even close," he said Tuesday in confirming the ledger is set with the addition of Florida Atlantic, which is coached by former Rebel great Sidney Green. "We're playing Cincinnati at Cincinnati. We're playing Princeton. We're either playing (North) Carolina or (College of) Charleston.

"We've got Oklahoma State and Georgetown at home. And we've got a tough league schedule. Tell me one other team in our league that's playing that kind of schedule."

But Bayno was just getting warmed up.

"I'm sick and tired of having to defend our schedule," he said. "There isn't a team in the country that doesn't play easy games. We play less patsies than 90 percent of the teams in the country."

But there are enough cupcakes on the upcoming schedule to warrant title sponsorship by Hostess.

Mississippi Valley State, which tips off the 1999-2000 season at the Thomas & Mack Center Nov. 19, went 13-12 in the SWAC, one of the lowest-rated Division I conferences in the nation. Fairfield, which comes to town Nov. 21, went 12-15 in the Metro Atlantic, another low-level D-1 league.

The other potential easy marks at home include Dec. 15 against Austin Peay, which went 11-15 last year; Dec. 21 against Cal Poly, which was 11-16; Dec. 28 against Eastern Kentucky, which went 3-23; Jan. 4 against High Point, which was 10-16; and Feb. 22 against Florida Atlantic, which hired Green after going 6-20.

Games that are somewhat tougher but no less winnable include Nevada-Reno on Nov. 24 in what will be UNR coach Trent Johnson's debut in the Silver State Showdown. The Wolf Pack is coming off an 8-18 season.

Georgetown officially is on the schedule as the Hoyas, who went 14-14 last year, are at the T&M Nov. 28.

The big home game will be nationally televised on ESPN with Oklahoma State, which finished with a rush and went to the NCAA Tournament's second round. The Cowboys finished 22-11 and have virtually everyone back from last year's team which came to town and beat the Rebels soundly, 81-69.

OSU replaces Texas on the schedule as part of the Dec. 18 Las Vegas Shootout which will include an Arizona-Nebraska matchup.

Travel-wise, there are just two non-conference trips. The first is Dec. 3-4 for the Food Lion MVP Classic at Charlotte. UNLV will meet Princeton in the opening round and play either North Carolina or College of Charleston the following day.

The other road game is a nationally televised matchup on ESPN with Cincinnati Jan. 2 at the Shoemaker Center.

Despite an 11-day layoff for finals and the National Finals Rodeo in early to mid-December, UNLV will play nine of its first 12 games at the T&M.

The opportunity is there to get off to a quick start.

In terms of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), only two teams on the non-conference schedule had a power rating in the top 90 -- Cincinnati (9) and Oklahoma State (51). That number becomes three when UNLV meets either North Carolina (6) or College of Charleston (35) Dec. 4.

To look at the 1999-2000 schedule go to: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sports/ unlv/basketball/scores.html

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