Lennie Acuff knows what he’s getting into. After all, it’s mostly his own fault.

The Lipscomb coach needs to schedule guarantee games every season, helping the athletic department bottom line. Those are road games against bigger schools that come with a paycheck and, most often, a loss.

“This is my fifth season and I can honestly say this is our most difficult schedule,’’ said Acuff.

That’s why Lipscomb’s schedule is rated the toughest in the Nashville area by nashvillehoops.blog. The ratings are based not on overall difficulty (Vanderbilt’s SEC schedule would tilt the balance), but how the overall schedule will affect a team’s record. Lipscomb is on top.

1. Lipscomb

The Bisons open the season Nov. 6 at Wichita State in what Acuff says is an already sold out Round House (also known as the Koch Arena). Then they bus to Des Moines, Iowa for a game against Drake two days later. In December, there are road games against Central Florida, Arkansas (actually in Little Rock) and Florida State.

There’s a Thanksgiving weekend tournament in Montreal with games against Bowling Green, UNC Asheville and Wofford.

No one can overlook the Battle of the Boulevard against Belmont Dec. 6.

“It’s very challenging, we’re going to have to take it on the chin and keep moving forward,’’ said Acuff. “It’s a real obstacle for us early in the season.’’

The Bisons have actually won guarantee games the last two seasons, beating Dayton and Louisville. Despite that, any victories would be a surprise.

“Our kids want to play these games,’’ said Acuff. “They’d rather play this game than a game against a non-division 1 school. We’re trying to give them a good experience, trying to make some memories.

“You’re going to be better after you play games like this if you approach it the right way. Nothing better than top competition.’’

Arranging the games is a process.

“(The games) kind of pick you,’’ said Acuff. “You know how much money you need to bring in and then you match that with teams looking for games. 

“Our NET (rating) is 148 and anything below 150 makes you more attractive to teams looking to have better guarantee games. It makes you unattractive to teams looking for games against schools above 250. You have to find that sweet spot.

“You also want to be somewhat geographically friendly so you don’t spend a ton of money to get there.’’

So, you tie together the guarantee, the NET ratings, travel distance and date and you’ve got some games.

In the ASUN, Lipscomb will open conference play and close the season against Eastern Kentucky, the most likely preseason favorite.

“You sure hope you don’t see something so difficult (as our early-season schedule) when you get to January and February, but

I can make the case that all 12 teams will be improved.’’

2. Middle Tennessee

The Blue Raiders’ non-conference schedule is filled with games that could go either way. It’s like there should be a blinking, neon sign with the word, “DANGER UP AHEAD.’’ The good thing is Middle doesn’t have a true road game until Dec. 19 and that’s a doozy: Saint Mary’s in California.

The home schedule is an interesting one, but any one of the games could go the wrong way, especially with a team that doesn’t have a set lineup yet. There are three difficult home games in November against Northern Kentucky, Stephen F. Austin and UAB.

The games in the Nassau Classic are also debatable. The Raiders start with Illinois Chicago, and the other possible opponents are George Washington, Ohio, UNC Greensboro, Kansas City, Brown and Delaware.

Then it’s back home for games against Wofford, Missouri State and Belmont.  The Raiders should be toughened up for a three-game road trip to Saint Mary’s, Southern Utah and Murray State.

In the revised CUSA, it’s tough to say where the biggest challenges will be, but the rival games against Western Kentucky are Sat., Feb. 3 in Bowling Green and Sat., Feb. 24 in the Glass House. 

3. Vanderbilt

Vandy’s situation is the opposite of Lipscomb’s.   The Commodores pay guarantees. The overall success of the season could be determined by those eight games. It’s hard not to forget last season’s home losses to Southern Mississippi and Grambling.

The buy games which should all be victories are Presbyterian, USC Upstate, UNC Greensboro, Central Arkansas, Alabama A&M, Dartmouth and Western Carolina.

There are two other intriguing home games against Boston College (part of the SEC-ACC challenge) and San Francisco where Vandy will be favored but will need to be paying attention. San Francisco is getting a guarantee but a Vandy victory will not be guaranteed.

The most demanding parts of the non-conference schedule are games at Memphis, a tournament in Las Vegas with NC State, BYU and Arizona State and Texas Tech in Fort Worth.  

The key SEC games will be Alabama coming to Nashville Jan. 6, then the four marquee games against Tennessee (Jan. 27 home and Feb. 17 away); and Kentucky (Feb. 6 home and March 6 away).

4. Belmont

The big one to mark down is a trip to Tucson, Ariz. on Nov. 17 when the Bruins will take on Arizona, which should be highly ranked.

Belmont has some solid returnees but this will be an obvious challenge but one worth taking. A victory would be a landmark one.

The Bruins also will play in a fascinating Thanksgiving weekend tournament, the Cathedral Classic, at the Palestra in Philadelphia. The Palestra, Penn’s home area, is one of the top venues for college basketball in the country, a must stop for true fans. I would rated it No. 2 behnd Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas. Plus, there are three winnable games against Monmouth, Lafayette and Penn.

5. Tennessee State

The most interesting part of the Tigers’ non-conference schedule is a trip to the West Coast for games against Portland and Oregon.

The Oregon game is technically part of the Emerald Coast Classic. The rest of those games will be played in Niceville, Fla. against Mercer and either Southeastern Louisiana or Western Michigan. Can Tigers’ fans dream about going 3-1 in those games? Maybe.

Local games against Lipscomb and Austin Peay will be appealing with victories in either providing a big lift. There are also two difficult road games at Liberty and Indiana State.