But schools such as Western Carolina, South Carolina State and St. Peter's no longer seem to be in Martelli's mindset. There was a time when scheduling a few 97.9 percent guaranteed victories was beneficial in the race to the Big Dance. But if the NCAA is committed to favoring the schools that play the toughest schedules, then Cupcake City is no longer the place for a midmajor with at-large aspirations to live. Of course, with everybody looking to do the same thing, scheduling will become even more like swimming in shark-infested waters. Sure, all the teams want to strengthen their schedule, but most also want to do it on their terms.
Mutual benefit is a dirty concept in scheduling.
Martelli knows he could probably get a series of games with a big-name school such as Duke or North Carolina tomorrow. Of course, St. Joe's would have to go to Durham or Chapel Hill. Obviously, scheduling guaranteed losses doesn't benefit St. Joe's. Particularly, when it wouldn't get a return game at Hawk Hill or the Palestra, where the odds would be more even. Coaches such as Martelli understand that they're going to get that kind of reaction from the power brokers.