Saint Louis Competitive Non-Conference Schedule is Exactly what College Basketball Needs

The Billikens are doing right by the sport to schedule some of the top midmajor games

Mar 19, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA; Saint Louis Billikens head coach Josh Schertz instructs his team against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Keybank Center. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Over the last handful of years there has been no issue with college basketball coaches wanting to schedule the toughest competition around the country.

In fact, powerhouses like Duke, Michigan, and UConn have embraced the idea as it serves as a preparation for the NCAA Tournament.

However, the one thing that is rarely seen around the sport is high major teams scheduling the elite mid major because it could negatively impact their metrics for the NCAA Tournament, especially if they lose.

There are very little positives that could come scheduling that type of game and it leaves things up to the mid-majors to try and elevate their schedules by playing each other.

One team that’s taking things into its own hands is Saint Louis under head coach Josh Schertz as he tries to build and capitalize on his team’s run to the Round of 32 in his first season with the Billikens.

After a thrashing of Georgia in the Round of 64, before facing the harsh reality of battling the eventual National Champion Michigan, Saint Louis proved to be one of the best mid major teams in the country and will be testing themselves with games against St. Mary’s and High Point this season.

It’s series with High Point, another mid major program who won an NCAA Tournament game last season, was first reported by CBS Sports.

Scheduling news: Saint Louis and High Point have signed a home-and-home starting next season, sources told CBS Sports. SLU will host Nov. 15, HPU hosts in ’27-28. Really good mid-major matchup for two teams that’ll be preseason league favs/expected to make it back to the NCAAT.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) May 12, 2026

The Billikens only managed to get one power conference team on its schedule last season, Stanford, in the championship game of the Acrisure Invitational but did land games against proud WCC opponents in Santa Clara and San Francisco.

Now, it’s trying to create must see television for mid major games next season as it should be in the NCAA Tournament mix as one of the best teams in the Atlantic 10.