And who can blame them when there’s essentially only one path to the NCAA tournament — winning their conference tourney.
But Nagy has said repeatedly how he wants to make his program strong enough to contend for an at-large NCAA bid, and, while that might generate snickers from his peers, he’s not backing down from his objective.
“Some people will say it’s crazy to think that way. But you play how you view yourself. And if it’s just going to be, ‘We’ll just hang on until the conference tournament and see how we do,’ I’m not built that way,” he said.
He’s got more proven players than he’s had in his previous seven years at Wright State. And he’s putting them to the test right way.
They play at Colorado State on Friday, then Toledo at home and Indiana on the road next week, followed by the Gulf Coast Showcase that includes three teams that finished in the top-100 in the NET rankings last season: Iona (60), Hofstra (85) and Louisiana (86).
The Raiders were only 197 in the NET but have climbed as high as 75 under Nagy.
“It’s a big bite for us to take for sure,” he said of the early schedule.
Colorado State was 115 in the NET, Toledo 82 and Indiana 31.
The Raiders’ first game in the Estero, Fla., tourney is against Louisiana.
“We’re going to find out pretty soon where we stand,” Nagy said.
Working against the Raiders and other like-minded teams is that the high-major conferences have a near-monopoly on at-large bids.
Of the 36 distributed last year (in the 68-team field), a whopping 32 went to the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, SEC and Big East.
Houston, Saint Mary’s, Utah State and Nevada grabbed the other four.
“In order for us to (be considered), you’ve got to win every non-conference game or close to it. Once you get into your league, some of the teams you play will hurt your NET. You almost have to be, at this level, close to perfect,” Nagy said.
“It’s hard to play this schedule. But if we don’t schedule this way, then we really have no chance. That’s why it’s important for us to play good teams.”
The NCAA tourney is, first and foremost, a TV show. And non-majors aren’t the schools drawing the ratings — even though they tend to deliver on the court.
Two made the Final Four last season, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic, proving the gap between the top conferences and one-bid leagues is narrowing.
“I think it’s been that way for quite a while,” Nagy said. “The talent is a little more spread out with transferring and the NIL. Any team can jump up and come out of nowhere,” Nagy said.
San Diego State and FAU made the field by winning their league tourneys, and SDSU reached the finals before losing to UConn.
“All these kids in the summers are on the same (AAU) teams and play against each other. There just isn’t the overwhelming intimidation to play anyone — because they’ve been playing against each other their whole lives,” Nagy said.
The Raiders didn’t flinch last year in upsetting Louisville on the road. The Cardinals had one of their worst seasons ever, but they still had a roster full of highly recruited players.
“It’s the old saying: ‘Everyone puts their pants on the same way,’” Nagy said.
And while he’s careful not to put unneeded pressure on his players, he’d like to think the Raiders have what it takes to end up in the at-large discussion.
“We’ve got a lot of older kids who have been with us a long time. That’s what we’re building for — just like Colorado State is and Toledo is and Indiana is. These non-conference games are pretty important.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Colorado State, 9 p.m., 1410, 101.5
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