Back to 17 wins to be “completely safe” heading to BTT

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Otis said:
Ok, SS, What if this happens:

@ Indiana L

Illinois W (by double digits)

NW L
@PSU L
Rutgers L

Gophers end up with 14 wins but have beaten Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois. Add in their other Quad 1 wins.

Is that enough to get a way under .500 B1G team into the tournament? (which isn't played at the barn.)
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It depends on what other bubble teams do, as TJ said, and how their resume looks vs. other teams directly on the bubble. Important to note, the Selection Committee does look at more than just quality wins.

But I won't dodge your question, Otis. I would say 14-12 doesn't get it done. Would need at least one quality win in Indy to get in. That would finally mean a win or two away from home, too, which is important.
 

I think it is absolutely IMPERATIVE they win the PSU game. From there they will need one of Illinois, Rutgers, NW and Indiana IMO.

Win both at PSU and at Indiana even if they lose the rest and I think are in LOCK status?

Yes? No? Maybe so??????
 

SelectionSunday said:
It depends on what other bubble teams do, as TJ said, and how their resume looks vs. other teams directly on the bubble. Important to note, the Selection Committee does look at more than just quality wins.

But I won't dodge your question, Otis. I would say 14-12 doesn't get it done. Would need at least one quality win in Indy to get in. That would finally mean a win or two away from home, too, which is important.
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Looking for the most unusual "best performance in a season mixed with horrible".
 

Go Gophs said:
I think it is absolutely IMPERATIVE they win the PSU game. From there they will need one of Illinois, Rutgers, NW and Indiana IMO.

Win both at PSU and at Indiana even if they lose the rest and I think are in LOCK status?

Yes? No? Maybe so??????
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Maybe.
Beating one or both of them probably clinched being in before one or both of them. But I’m not sure they can pass us anyways
 

Look for the Gophers to do what they do best...….. the unexpected!

Hammer Illinois by double digits in a hail of three pointers.

And lose all the other games while shooting less than 25% from 3 in all of them yet keeping the average attempts nice and high.

Secretly in the part of your mind you try to ignore, you know this is the most likely scenario!
 


The Gophers slide down the bracket via Lunardi:

January 22: #5 seed

January 26: #6 seed

February 2: #8 seed

February 5: #9 seed

February 16: #10 Seed. Last 4 Byes.
 


howeda7 said:
The Gophers slide down the bracket via Lunardi:

January 22: #5 seed

January 26: #6 seed

February 2: #8 seed

February 5: #9 seed

February 16: #10 Seed. Last 4 Byes.
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If they keep losing they’ll fall out. No one debates that
 





GopherGangsta said:
Say they lose to Penn state, has a team ever made the NCAA tournament since it expanded to 64, going winless on the road?
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Never.

It’s now becoming a national talking point. Both BTN and CBS Sports Network mentioned that tonight.
 





Have we played a neutral site game this year? I don't think so.

One step closer to my prediction of beating Illinois (handily) and losing the rest.

Unfortunately, now there is no Gabe to get hot and have his yearly 8 for 9 from three effort. So, who's it going to be?

Mashburn! The kid will channel his dad and bury a Gopher record number of 3s to propel the Gophers to victory over Illinois! He will even break out his dad's shimmy after the final one which seals the victory!
 

Sorry if this is old news -- has there been an official decision about rescheduling the @Neb game?
 

MplsGopher said:
Sorry if this is old news -- has there been an official decision about rescheduling the @Neb game?
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I don't think anything official has been announced, but Dave Revsine said specifically, "They only have 1 more road game left" when it was being discussed with Andy Katz.

Katz actually downplayed the lack of road wins this season, indicating it was practically irrelevant due to the absence of fans.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Never.

It’s now becoming a national talking point. Both BTN and CBS Sports Network mentioned that tonight.
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Which is why I think if they don't win at Penn State, they have no shot. That will not be an easy game. Penn State has done well against most of the league even if they haven't won.
 

Go Gophs said:
Which is why I think if they don't win at Penn State, they have no shot. That will not be an easy game. Penn State has done well against most of the league even if they haven't won.
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Playing Osseo high school would not be an easy game for the Gophers, if it was on the road.
 

Otis said:
Have we played a neutral site game this year? I don't think so.

One step closer to my prediction of beating Illinois (handily) and losing the rest.

Unfortunately, now there is no Gabe to get hot and have his yearly 8 for 9 from three effort. So, who's it going to be?

Mashburn! The kid will channel his dad and bury a Gopher record number of 3s to propel the Gophers to victory over Illinois! He will even break out his dad's shimmy after the final one which seals the victory!
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Good luck. Minnesota can beat Illinois at home but no team has “rained down threes” on them this year. Frazier, Ayo, Miller, Williams are tough defenders on the perimeter and they can extend defense to three point line with Kofi backstopping around the hoop.

If Illinois doesn’t play well for 40 minutes, Minnesota will win. If Illinois plays well for 40 minutes, they will make it tough for Minnesota. If it’s close, Ayo is the best closer in the country.

Should be fun.
 
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Ope3 said:
indicating it was practically irrelevant due to the absence of fans.
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Then why do we always lose on the road? There has to be more to it than the lack of fans.

I thought I read somewhere (maybe a Pitino interview?) that the road trips this year are incredible taxing, in the sense of you're extremely limited in what you can physically do. Basically locked in your hotel room, unless you're going to the arena. I wonder if they even gather together physically to do meetings and food, or just have it catered into their rooms and do zoom meetings? Sounds terrible.
 

MplsGopher said:
Then why do we always lose on the road? There has to be more to it than the lack of fans.

I thought I read somewhere (maybe a Pitino interview?) that the road trips this year are incredible taxing, in the sense of you're extremely limited in what you can physically do. Basically locked in your hotel room, unless you're going to the arena. I wonder if they even gather together physically to do meetings and food, or just have it catered into their rooms and do zoom meetings? Sounds terrible.
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Yet other teams have figured out how to win on the road. It really is baffling.

That said, what games were they supposed to win? They have been an underdog in every road game so far this year. And the first six road games came against the six best teams in the league.
 

tjgopher said:
That said, what games were they supposed to win? They have been an underdog in every road game so far this year. And the first six road games came against the six best teams in the league.
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How can they beat Michigan, Ohio State, and Purdue at home, but then lose on the road to: Purdue by 19, Rutgers, Maryland, and Indiana? (Not to mention a home loss to Maryland by 14)

And all of those except at Indiana, they had every top player available.
 

MplsGopher said:
How can they beat Michigan, Ohio State, and Purdue at home, but then lose on the road to: Purdue by 19, Rutgers, Maryland, and Indiana? (Not to mention a home loss to Maryland by 14)

And all of those except at Indiana, they had every top player available.
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Because that is what middle of the pack, poor-shooting, inconsistent teams do. You win some and you lose some.
 

tjgopher said:
Because that is what middle of the pack, poor-shooting, inconsistent teams do. You win some and you lose some.
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You win some, like the #3 and #4 teams in the country. Just roll of the dice! :cool:
 

I did catch a little bit of Penn State playing Ohio State fairly tight (at the time) at home.

No chance we get a road win this year, unless they figure out a way to get that game in Lincoln.
 

MplsGopher said:
You win some, like the #3 and #4 teams in the country. Just roll of the dice! :cool:
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Exactly. It is the same thing Indiana and Maryland are doing. Winning some good ones and losing some not so good ones. All three teams are middle of the pack, poor shooting, inconsistent teams with some nice wins. Hopefully we can win a few more to pull in front of them, but going 0-3 against them didn't help.
 

You can develop a great defense a lot quicker than offensive skills. Anyone can play defense. It takes effort and communications. It takes a connected team effort.

Also, one of the best ways to score easy baskets is to get out in transition. What leads to fast breaks? Defensive rebounds and turnovers. So it doesn't matter if you're a pressing team that forces more turnovers or a pack-line style defense that forces contested outside shots that lead to rebounds. Playing great defense leads to better offensive opportunities.

When on the road, your offense is more likely to struggle at times. Slow start. Good start, but rough patch in the 2nd half. If you can't rely on your defense, the game can easily get away from you.

It can also snowball on you If your defense doesn't lead to better offensive opportunities ... the other team is scoring on high percentage shots (bad defense) and you're taking bad shots because you're not getting transition opportunities and you're easier to guard.

That is the common theme for almost all of our road games. At some point, either at the beginning of the game or during the 2nd half, we don't have a defense to rely on. Our offense becomes easy to guard and the game slips away. Sometimes in a matter of a few quick possessions.
 

In the league, Maryland is ranked 3rd in defense.

Indiana held Iowa to 69 when they won at Carver. That was Iowa's lowest point total for the year until Indiana held them to 65 at home.

We've had some good defensive games, but I don't recall any of them being on the road.
 

MplsGopher said:
I did catch a little bit of Penn State playing Ohio State fairly tight (at the time) at home.

No chance we get a road win this year, unless they figure out a way to get that game in Lincoln.
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The conference or the U would NEVER admit this, but I wonder if both are trying to make this happen to simply make the optics of a 0 win road schedule less of an issue for the tournament committee. The conference benefits from more teams in the tourney, they are absolutely aware we have 0 road wins and that's an issue. If we had say beaten Mich on the road and lost at home I really do think the odds we play in Lincoln are next to 0%, since we are totally inept on the road, I think they push it more to get a game scheduled.
 

Doogie said on Skor North that the U expects to play Nebraska next Thursday, but the B1G is dragging their feet on confirming it and are "rudderless" in this re-scheduling.
 

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