Here are the records of our D1 non conference opponents
Youngstown; 13-6
Toledo; 11-6 (5-0 in MAC)
Wright State; 9-9
Buffalo; 2-15
Long Beach; 11-7
Samford; 16-2 (5-0 in SOCON)
La Tech; 12-6
Eastern Kentucky; 8-9 (4-0 in ASUN)
McNeese; 15-2 (4-0 in SLC)
Rice;6-11
Interesting that only 3 have losing records. That will likely be only 2 at season end as EKU's start in the ASUN indicates they are likely to finish strong. 4 teams are undefeated in league play at this stage. As far as NET goes, the top 2 are Samford at 74 and McNeese at 65. Those numbers indicate how hard it is to garner an at large bid for a mid major as you usually have to be above 50 to be considered.
Still, this schedule is better than some of those we have played in the past and likely helped prepare us for conference play. Perhaps all the road games we have played is causing us to finally become accustomed to what goes along in performing away from home. After Saturday, we will have played 13 of 17 D1 games away from home.