Ridge to the LHAC?

[Erskine1]

You are missing the point! Absolutely correct in playing tougher teams to get better. It is just not an even playing field when you have the ability to acquire top talent from teams you will compete against. A public HS coach trains and plays with what kids show up and they do not have the luxury of stacking their team. New Jersey has it right. Teams like BG and McCort compete against Private and Charter schools. I will say this, however, working your tails off and preparing as best as you can to win and beating these teams puts it all to rest. In closing,  BG and McCort are great teams and schools....and we live in America where folks have the right to send their kids where they want to. 

[abpk2903]

I mean look at Gonzaga every year. They have NBA talent, four-five star recruits all throughout their starting lineup. They lose to teams in the NCAA Tournament with less or equal talent to them every year. If you throw them in the ACC, they'd be 25-6 instead of 30-1. They'd probably be better for it.

Tom Izzo at Michigan State could play Cleveland State and Robert Morris for 13 times in the non-conference and start out 13-0. But he always plays a ton of high-profile non-conference games early, because he knows it'll help down the line, and that's generally why his teams advance to Elite 8's and Final 4's regularly.  Michigan State gets good players, but often his teams don't have the 5 star one and done freshmen like Kentucky and Kansas. So they are less talented than the other elite teams, but he's a good coach and knows throwing his teams different scenarios throughout the season helps come in postseason.

Tom Izzo is a better coach and a smarter man than you and I. So if he's using a formula that generally works, who am I to argue??

Pitt also plays in the ACC but rarely ever makes much noise in the Tournament.  Same can be said for Indiana, Iowa, NC State, Tennessee, Texas, and many other teams that would fall into a middle of the pack major conference team.  Winning more than 2 games in the NCAA tournament is a super successful run.  Once you are out of the 1st round, even the top seeds are playing teams that have probably beaten multiple top 25 teams to that point.
Tom Izzo plays the non-conference schedule he does for a couple of reasons, IMO.  
1) it attracts recruits.  Telling a 17 year old boy he will play in Chapel Hill, Madison Square Garden, Hawaii, an airplane hanger in the middle of the sea, the Palestra, and probably somewhere in the Caribbean over the next few years is probably pretty enticing. 
2) the playoffs (or tournament in this case) are set by people with opinions not a PIAA formula.  Izzo knows that a win over Kansas in November could be the difference 3 seed and a 6 seed.  A win over Alcorn State probably doesn't do a thing for him.
3) I think Izzo is a guy that likes to challenge himself.  He volunteered to play a conference in the Palstra.  He would be bored playing 10 of 13 OOC games against lessor opponents.

[Crimson's Ghost]

He definitely likes to challenge himself. There are certain years when MSU is rebuilding, and he still has them playing Duke, Kentucky, UCLA ect.