No Pushovers for Loyola in Basketball : Colleges: Lions’ nonconference schedule includes road games against UCLA, USC and Nevada Las Vegas.

Coach John Olive already knows how some Loyola Marymount basketball fans have reacted to the Lions’ 1993-94 schedule.

“A lot of people think I’m nuts,” he said.

No one is going to accuse Olive of loading up Loyola’s schedule with cupcakes.

The Lions will open next season with nonconference games against, in order, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin, San Jose State, Nevada Las Vegas, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State and Texas A&M.; All but three of those teams--San Jose State, San Diego State and Texas A&M--had; winning records last season. UCLA, USC, Wisconsin, Las Vegas and Santa Barbara all competed in postseason tournaments.

Loyola ended last season with 10 consecutive defeats, so it’s likely that streak will be extended, perhaps considerably. Four of the Lions’ first five games are on the road.

But wins and losses seem to be the last thing on Olive’s mind. His logic is that if Loyola aspires to be the best, it has to play the best.

“We might be in over our heads a little bit, but that’s the kind of program we want here,” he said. “You’ve got to play this caliber of schedule if you are ever going to be regarded on a national level. Somewhere along the line, we’re going to win some of these games. That’s when you’re going to get the kind of national reputation and notoriety you need.”

Olive’s approach might not go over with alumni wincing from last season’s 7-20 record, but he said the players are looking forward to the challenge of playing tough competition.

“I wouldn’t have scheduled this way if I was afraid of struggling out of the gate,” Olive said. “It’s going to be a major task to win some of these games, but the kids want to play them. They’re looking forward to it.”

Loyola opens the season Nov. 27 against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. The last time the teams met, in 1991, the Bruins rolled to a 106-80 victory. Olive said he tried to arrange a home-and-home series with UCLA, but the Bruins refused to play Loyola at Gersten Pavilion.

USC had no such reservations. The Trojans and Lions will meet four times in the next five seasons in a home-and-home series. The Nov. 30 game at the Sports Arena will be the first meeting between the schools since 1983. Because of a scheduling conflict, USC is unable to play Loyola in 1994, but the series will resume in each of the three seasons after that.

The 1995 game at Gersten Pavilion will be Loyola’s first home game against USC since 1971. The Trojans lead the series, 37-6.

“I think it’s important to play UCLA and USC every year,” Olive said. “I think it’s great for basketball here. We need to establish rivalries in the city. It will not only enhance our schedule, I think it will create excitement for college basketball fans in the city, which we need.”

Loyola plays its home opener Dec. 4 against Wisconsin, coached by former New York Knick Coach Stu Jackson and featuring 7-foot-1 Rashard Griffiths, considered one of the nation’s top incoming freshmen.

Wisconsin was scheduled to play at Loyola in the L.A. Classic, but the four-team tournament was discontinued after two seasons because the sponsor, the L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce, pulled out for financial reasons. Translation: The tournament lost money.

Loyola has two-year, home-and-home series arranged with Wisconsin, San Jose State, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State and Texas A&M.; The Lions have never played Wisconsin and Texas A&M.;

After playing Las Vegas at Gersten Pavilion last season, Loyola will meet the Runnin’ Rebels at the 18,500-seat Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Dec. 18. The home-and-home series presumably will last as long as Olive and Rollie Massimino, close friends from their years together at Villanova, are the respective coaches at Loyola and Las Vegas.

It adds up to a challenging schedule for Loyola, which will have a mix of returning and new players. All-West Coast Conference forward Zan Mason, a 6-foot-6 senior, leads a returning group that includes 6-7 junior forward Wyking Jones, 6-5 junior swingman Robin Kirksey, 6-4 senior swingman Rahim Harris and 6-3 senior guard Bill Mazurie. Mason, Kirksey, Harris and Mazurie were starters last season.

The list of newcomers is made up of four high school recruits, two transfers and a redshirt freshman. The recruits are 6-10 center Ken Hotopp from Sandwich High near Chicago, 6-4 shooting guard Michael O’Quinn from Muir High in Pasadena, and two players who are expected to contend for starting point guard--5-10 Jimmy Williamson of South Torrance and 6-0 Jim Harris of Ocean View in Huntington Beach. Williamson, whose father, Duane, played at Loyola, was The Times’ South Bay player of the year.

The transfers are 6-9 Ime Odouk, a Nigerian who has limited basketball experience, and 6-3 guard Jonah Naulls, a former Beverly Hills High standout who was a walk-on at UCLA. Also, 6-7 forward John Anthony, a former Peninsula High standout, will become eligible after redshirting last season.