From Graham on scheduling: Not according to schedule: Time for BCS schools to schedule tough nonconference road games vs. mid-majors

The Big East has some models of admirable scheduling -- Walz went to Hartford and Dayton this season. Georgetown played at Missouri State and James Madison. DePaul played at Green Bay and at Illinois State. But the conference is also home to examples of what's wrong. To earn its 14-1 record and its place in the Top 25, Syracuse played one road nonconference game, two at a neutral site over Thanksgiving and 10 at home. Give Cuse some latitude for catching Old Dominion in a down season, but as of Jan. 12, only one of those 13 opponents -- Butler -- had a winning record.

And if the Orange are an extreme example, within the conference and nationally, they aren't out there on their own. Too many programs in the "big six" -- the so-called BCS conferences -- aren't willing to go on the road and both challenge themselves and give the sport a chance to grow. Maybe that's an easy thing to say in talking about someone else's job, and a new contract that might depend on having wins to show off. But I have yet to meet anyone who cares about women's basketball -- coaching it or covering it -- who lists job security as one of the sport's primary perks.

While I totally understand Graham's wishes, I'd suggest that the people he's met may say that job security is one of the sport's primary perks, but it is a nice (though not universal) goal. There are several coaches who say other teams won't play them because they fear a loss (though, if the number of upsets in the past couple of years is any indication, a "guaranteed" win is no longer a guarantee.)

Things have changed, for instance, at San Diego State University. Noted Beth Burns in The Scheduling Puzzle: Juggling Square Pegs, Round Holes and Dollars Signs

When she returned to SDSU and the Mountain West in 2005, “I could have filled my schedule in 15 minutes because we stunk,” said Burns with a laugh.

Their success (and location) has thrown a bit of spanner into the works. Add program economics and logistics into the mix and the up and down years of programs (mid and major) and it all gets to be a very interesting dance.