As long as we are in it... How about Sweet 16?

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Sota1

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Based on how the season went, I wasn't sure which team was going to show up in Indy. The performance in the b10 tourney was the type of team we all hoped for throughout the year. Now that we are in, is it possible for this team to have a mini run in the NCAA's? It depends. If our bigs are active and productive, Hell yes! We can play with anyone in the country when the guys stick to the plan. Unfortunately, we all know, that we can be beaten by anyone (bad) if we fall back into the one on one, throw it around the perimeter, wait for the shot clock to wind down offense. I am very cautiosly optimistic about the teams chances in Milwaukee. We have the chance to realistically, be the surprise in that grouping if we play like all of us know we can. I hope that the motivation that took over the team in Indy shows up. Otherwise it's one and done with a thud. That being said, the performance in the b10 tourney and making the dance is a great accomplishment. I am going into this weekend even keel and hoping the Gophers have the stripes to make some noise. Go Gophs!
 

Considering our seeding, we couldn't have scripted a better 4-team pod and tournament venue (close to home). The minute I saw "who and where", my first thought was the Sweet 16 is doable. Xavier and Pitt (if it gets by Oakland) are good clubs but probably not as strong as they've been in recent years. No reason the Gophers can't pull it off.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Considering our seeding, we couldn't have scripted a better 4-team pod and tournament venue (close to home). The minute I saw "who and where", my first thought was the Sweet 16 is doable. Xavier and Pitt (if it gets by Oakland) are good clubs but probably not as strong as they've been in recent years. No reason the Gophers can't pull it off.
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Yeah, I agree, a much more favorable match-up for us than last year(Texas).

If we involve our bigs like we did in the tourney(that RSIII-colton high-low was lethal), get good guard play, and play as a team, I believe the sweet sixteen is really doable.
 

Gophers in the NCAA

I smell upset(s) baby!!

Dick Vitale said that today!!

Go Gophers:clap:
 

It all depends on

whether the good gophers or the bad gophers show up.
 


This will be a good test of how good a 'tournament' coach Tubby is. So far, his showing in the BTT have been positive.

Clem was an excellent tournament coach. He met or beat his seed expectation in 4 of his 6 appearances.

1989: Made the Sweet 16 as an 11 seed, beating expectations by 2 games
1990: Made the Elite 8 as a 6 seed, beating expecations by 2
1994: Made the second round as a 6 seed, meeting expectations
1995: Lost in the first round as an 8 seed. This is technically falling short, but really losing in OT in an 8/9 game is about par for the course.
1997: Made the Final Four as a 1 seed. Technically that is 'meeting expectations' for a 1 seed, but obviously, it's really much better then that.
1999: Lost in the first round as a 7 seed. We don't need to go into why. As good as Gonzaga was that year, I think we would have won with anything close to a full roster.

So far, Tubby has recieved two seeds where a win is not expected, so he can't come up short. But let's go out and beat the expectation. Without research, I'm not sure how he faired vs his seed at Kentucky, but my guess is he came up short a lot. But it's a lot tougher to meet/exceed it when you're always a 1, 2 or 3 seed. His success at Tulsa and Georgia was excellent however. Here's hoping he still has the double-digit seed magic touch.
 

I think it's more important to look at the point spread than what the seedings are. We're currently favored (-1) to beat Xavier. If we beat Xavier and the pundits declare it an upset, I'm not buying it. To me this game clearly has more of an 8-9 feel to it; it could go etiher way.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I think it's more important to look at the point spread than what the seedings are. We're currently favored (-1) to beat Xavier. If we beat Xavier and the pundits declare it an upset, I'm not buying it. To me this game clearly has more of an 8-9 feel to it; it could go etiher way.
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Sometimes, not always. Vegas lines are to get the money even. In NCAA tournament games, things like national perception and popularity skew where the money goes at a given spread. The seeding theoretically represents where sharp basketball minds have placed us relative to our opponent.
 

The "West" is going to be the craziest of the four regions if media picks are any indication. I have seen so may different teams being picked to come out of our region. I've seen Syracuse, Kansas St, Vandy, and even BYU picked to make it out of our region. All this unpredictability leaves me with one thought: "Why not us?"
 



Unlike last year when I was pretty pessimistic about our chances, I really like where the team is at right now. The ugly loss to Ohio State aside, I think the guys are pretty confident and excited and I expect the team to come out really hard on Friday. Whether that will be enough against a quality Xavier team, I don't know. But I am definitely more confident heading in this year than I was last year.
 

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