Davidson can't avoid D-III opponent

Davidson’s schedule has almost everything a Wildcats fan could want, including games against North Carolina, Duke, N.C. State and UCLA. But there’s one thing fans were hoping to avoid: a game against a Division III opponent.

Fans at davidsoncats.com have been posting for weeks that they wanted the Wildcats to have every game against a Division I opponent. Yet, the Wildcats open the season against Division III Emory Nov. 9.

It wasn’t because Davidson didn’t try to find a Division I opponent. Davidson coaches spent the past month trying to schedule the last nonconference game, and athletics director Jim Murphy estimated the team spoke to 20 Division I schools. Davidson had some talks with UMass – a team Davidson played two years ago – but couldn’t get a deal done.

Then, last week, the Wildcats almost had a deal with a Patriot League team. Even though the two-year agreement would have started with Davidson on the road, nothing worked out. In fact, the other team decided to play a 28-game schedule this season – one below the maximum.

So, Davidson ended up with Emory, which has lots of Davidson connections. Head coach Jason Zimmerman is a former Davidson assistant, and assistant Matt McKillop is the son of Davidson coach Bob McKillop and played for the Wildcats.

That will make for a nice family reunion, but it won’t help the Wildcats’ RPI. But Davidson didn’t have many other options. Most other Division I teams had filled out their schedules. Emory almost had to be the choice, albeit not the ideal one.
-- Kevin Cary