2 games in, this team is fun to watch

[TwistingMyMelon]

100% the American is not a terrible conference. But, UTSA has been perennial bottom feeder in it.
A team so messed up that 12 guys departed the team from last year. The new UTSA did look like they will be improved and they were likely the best team we have played but nobody we have played compares to anybody we will play in Big Ten competition.

I believe this is the first year that UTSA has been in the American. Three American teams (Cincinatti, Houston, and Central Florida) left and joined the Big 12 starting this year. Since those were among the most successful basketball teams in the conference, that diluted the conference's power somewhat.

 

[stocker08]

So the football season turned out all wrong.....good thing we have an undefeated basketball team. Whoop whoop!

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

The easiest schedule ever known to mankind and we have to wait until Thursday for another game. Perhaps it’s best for Payne, although Mizzou does get a third one in before the Herculean matchup with the Gophers.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

The easiest schedule ever known to mankind and we have to wait until Thursday for another game. Perhaps it’s best for Payne, although Mizzou does get a third one in before the Herculean matchup with the Gophers.

Much has been written here about the weakness of our nonconference schedule and it certainly appears that way to the eye test, but, according to this morning's ESPN BPI rating of the nonconference schedules, we are not alone in the conference.

You can see that ESPN doesn't rate our nonconference schedule as the worst in the conference. Although ours features only one P6 team, maybe our mix of nonmajors isn't rated quite as badly as some others at this point.

You can see that our Strength of Record (SOR) measure after two games is ranked 6th in the conference (albeit a distant 6th). We've read that our performance so far means nothing because of the lousy teams we've played but most of the rest of the conference is doing the same at this point and we're doing better with our competition to date than some others.

	SOR RK	NC SOS
Wisconsin Badgers	139​	96​
Ohio State Buckeyes	147​	119​
Northwestern Wildcats	25​	185​
Rutgers Scarlet Knights	196​	186​
Indiana Hoosiers	51​	192​
Michigan State Spartans	214​	219​
Michigan Wolverines	44​	228​
Maryland Terrapins	201​	229​
Purdue Boilermakers	50​	247​
Illinois Fighting Illini	53​	254​
Minnesota Golden Gophers	102​	306​
Penn State Nittany Lions	109​	315​
Iowa Hawkeyes	125​	332​
Nebraska Cornhuskers	143​	345​

 

[short ornery norwegian]

look, I think this year's team is going to be better than last year. (barring injuries which can always change expectations).

But - at this point, I cannot say how much better they might be. I agree that we need to see how the Gophers match up against a stronger opponent.

So what does "better" mean for this team? last year finished 9-22 overall and 2-17 in the conference. so technically, 10 wins overall would be better. 3 wins in the conference would be better. but I certainly think this year's team is capable of more.

let's say they go 14-17 overall and 7-13 in the conference? is that enough improvement? Not playing on the 1st day of the Conference Tournament? it all depends on who is answering the question.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

let's say they go 14-17 overall and 7-13 in the conference? is that enough improvement? Not playing on the 1st day of the Conference Tournament? it all depends on who is answering the question.

If we go 7-13 in the conference and 14-17 overall, that means that our nonconference record would be 7-4. We certainly should do better than that in nonconference. Are you sure that you didn't mean 17-14?

17-14 I believe should be good enough but not 14-17

 

[Roland Brooks]

Looking forward to Thursday night

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

look, I think this year's team is going to be better than last year. (barring injuries which can always change expectations).

But - at this point, I cannot say how much better they might be. I agree that we need to see how the Gophers match up against a stronger opponent.

Correct, but hope is a good thing. It’s okay to be optimistic.

So what does "better" mean for this team? last year finished 9-22 overall and 2-17 in the conference. so technically, 10 wins overall would be better. 3 wins in the conference would be better. but I certainly think this year's team is capable of more.

Relax and enjoy the process

let's say they go 14-17 overall and 7-13 in the conference? is that enough improvement? Not playing on the 1st day of the Conference Tournament? it all depends on who is answering the question.

 

[Gopher Teeth]

and - we still haven't seen the entire team on the floor healthy.

Payne was limited in the 1st game and Christie didn't play.

2nd game - Christie is back but Payne sits out.

don't get me wrong - I don't want Payne back until he's healthy. just saying that we really haven't seen what the rotations look like when everyone is available.

One thing to keep an eye on, is the ball movement looked a lot better in the game in which Payne did not play, the offense had a much better flow. 2 games is not a great sample, but something to keep an eye on.