In the middle of the week, Robert Morris officially released their 2015-16 schedule and look to make another run in March.
Coming off of a 20-win season and their first NCAA Tournament win since 1983, the Colonials are matching up against some tough competition.
Robert Morris’ season opener will be played away at head coach Andy Toole’s alma mater Penn in Philadelphia. Toole and his players have been working hard and hope to come out of the gates swinging.
The Colonials will then swing over to Cincinnati and visit the Bearcats, a team that finished fourth in The American Conference with a 23-11 (13-5) record. Cincinnati ranked sixth in the nation in points allowed per game (55.8) and will challenge the Colonials in this early season meeting.
Robert Morris will finally travel back to Moon Township to play their home opener against the Bucknell Bison. Following this game, the Colonials then take part in a four-game early season event, the Air Force Classic.
All four games are being played away and will feature games against Air Force, New Mexico State, Tennessee Tech and Mississippi Valley State. The final six games of the Colonials’ non-conference portion of the schedule is as follows:
| Date | Team | Location | Time |
| 12/2/2015 | at Youngstown State | Youngstown, OH | TBA |
| 12/5/2015 | Oakland | Moon Township, PA | 4:00 PM |
| 12/14/2015 | at Columbia | New York, NY | 2:00 PM |
| 12/17/2015 | Lehigh | Moon Township, PA | 7:00 PM |
| 12/19/2015 | at Duquesne | Pittsburgh, PA | 2:00 PM |
| 12/29/2015 | at Georgia | Athens, GA | TBA |
Two interesting matchups to keep an eye out for are the road games at Duquesne and Georgia.
The Colonials have beaten the Dukes in their last five meetings. During that time, Robert Morris has averaged 73.2 points per game and has held its Pittsburgh rival to 62.8 points per game.
Athens, Ga. will host the Colonials in their final non-conference game against the Georgia Bulldogs. The SEC team ranked in the top 25 in rebounds per game (38.0) and the Colonials biggest weakness is lack of size.
Regardless of the outcome in the first half of the season, Robert Morris has done a fine job in scheduling solid mid-major teams in Cincinnati, Bucknell and Georgia.
Robert Morris will begin conference play at the turn of the new year hosting Sacred Heart at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
It will be fun to watch the games against St. Francis, who the Colonials beat out to become NEC Champions. Another matchup to watch is Mount St. Mary’s, a team that has given Robert Morris issues during recent NEC Tournament runs.
The rest of the schedule can be seen below:
| Date | Team | Location | Time |
| 1/2/2016 | Sacred Heart | Moon Township, PA | 4:00 PM |
| 1/4/2016 | Wagner | Moon Township, PA | 7:30 PM |
| 1/7/2016 | LIU Brooklyn | Brooklyn, NY | TBA |
| 1/9/2016 | St. Francis Brooklyn | Brooklyn Heights, NY | TBA |
| 1/14/2016 | Mount St. Mary’s | Moon Township, PA | 7:00 PM |
| 1/16/2016 | Fairleigh Dickinson | Moon Township, PA | 4:00 PM |
| 1/21/2016 | Central Connecticut | New Britain, CT | TBA |
| 1/23/2016 | Bryant | Smithfield, RI | TBA |
| 1/28/2016 | Mount St. Mary’s | Emmitsburg, MD | TBA |
| 1/30/2016 | Saint Francis U. | Loretto, PA | TBA |
| 2/4/2016 | Central Connecticut | Moon Township, PA | 7:00 PM |
| 2/6/2016 | Bryant | Moon Township, PA | 4:00 PM |
| 2/11/2016 | Saint Francis U. | Moon Township, PA | 7:00 PM |
| 2/13/2016 | Fairleigh Dickinson | Teaneck, NJ | TBA |
| 2/18/2016 | LIU Brooklyn | Moon Township, PA | 7:00 PM |
| 2/20/2016 | St. Francis Brooklyn | Moon Township, PA | 4:00 PM |
| 2/25/2016 | Sacred Heart | Fairfield, CT | TBA |
| 2/27/2016 | Wagner | Staten Island, NY | TBA |
Robert Morris has added some young talent in freshmen Matty McConnell, Isaiah Still and Joe Hugley. With the sudden departure of Marcquise Reed (committed to Clemson this past May) it is still unknown how the minutes will be distributed among the team.
Elijah Minnie more than likely will see added minutes as he helped spark the Colonials to a masterful late season run last season. Earlier in the offseason Minnie juggled the idea of transferring as well, but ultimately deiced to stay at Robert Morris.
The Colonials have some holes to patch, but Coach Toole has done an excellent job in his tenure as head coach and will look to make even bigger strides this year.
