Does a win at MSU get us in the Rankings?

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mnsportsgeek

mnsportsgeek

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Question is simple... Does a win on Wednesday crack the top 25? I myself haven't decided yet. I think it gets us very close.
 


IMO, it should. Or at least should get us real consideration

Seth Davis tweeted that he was considering Wisconsin for this weeks polls. Minnesota and WI have fairly similar resumes. A win over MSU, at MSU, would make ours better IMO.
 

As the Gophers haven't received a vote in either poll it would seem pretty unlikely we'd be ranked with a win at Michigan State. We would definately garner some votes though.
 

SelectionSunday said:
If it's followed by a win vs. Illinois on Saturday, perhaps.
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That would help as well. Going 1-1 on the week would be a tougher sell. Going 2-0 and being 5-4 in the Big10 would be much better. However, beating the then #8 Indiana team on the road and another top 10 team in MSU on the road would be pretty impressive.
 


We'll have two games before the next poll, I'm guessing if we win both, we will get some votes and crack the top 25. If we split I don't think we're in the conversation.
 

scher215 said:
However, beating the then #8 Indiana team on the road and another top 10 team in MSU on the road would be pretty impressive.
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True, but a loss vs. Illinois (at home) would be the voters' last impression before they vote again for Monday's poll.
 

Gold Vision said:
We'll have two games before the next poll, I'm guessing if we win both, we will get some votes and crack the top 25. If we split I don't think we're in the conversation.
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I think it is very interesting that we are having this conversation.

For all of the knocking and critisizing that Tubby has gotten, to be even being discussed as a top 25 team is a pretty impressive statement to his coaching. Now the season has a long way to go so there is plenty of time for things to go very south, but a 2-0 stretch here would be pretty nice. Even 1-1 would be good. Many were saying 6-2 over the 8 game stretch starting with Indiana would be a miracle, even 5-3 would be incredible. Even Moses87 saying 1-7 was a lock. Art Vandalay put the line at 2.5 wins. Here we are 3-0. Will be interesting to see how this ends up.

Consider that this team was picked to be a somewhat 8th-11th in the Big10 by the national media, or worse by posters here, WITH TREVOR MBAKWE. They are currently being put into the tournament by many. We are discussing being ranked. Did what UK and OSU couldn't and beat Indiana on the road. Beat PSU on the road when others couldn't. Dismantled Northwestern and made the conference's leading scorer pretty much a non factor. All WITHOUT Trevor Mbkwe is pretty impressive. You can debate how we got into this position and how much blame Tubby takes for that, but these kids are playing great together and are a hard working TEAM. You have to say some of that is due to coaching.

As I said, plenty of time for the Gophers to finish 3-15, but things are looking a lot better now than many had them looking even before the season started with a healthy Mbakwe.
 

scher215 said:
to be even being discussed as a top 25 team is a pretty impressive statement to his coaching.
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Calm down.

Having a few posters on a fan board question if you might be ranked if you beat two top-25 teams is not all that impressive.

My 2 cents....I think exactly one team has gone from no votes to ranked this season: Indiana.
 



scher215 said:
As I said, plenty of time for the Gophers to finish 3-15, but things are looking a lot better now than many had them looking even before the season started with a healthy Mbakwe.
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There's a ton of time left, as you say, but I think the Gophers have been a fascinating team this season. With all the junk that has happened to them on/off the court in the past few years, they had every excuse to lie down and fall into another tailspin. The craziest thing in all of this is the fact that Mbakwe's injury may have been some sort of sick, twisted blessing in disguise for the team's chemistry. I can't reiterate enough how much I wish he was healthy...but the shift in the lineup has allowed for the emergence of Rodney and Coleman as key cogs.

It's really interesting to note that no one on here has been talking about Cobbs, Devoe, Royce, etc. much in the past week or so.

Back on topic, though. I think 2-0 gets us into the top 25. To be honest, going 1-1 is going to be a feat in itself. We can't underestimate Illinois.
 

brucekaupa said:
Calm down.

Having a few posters on a fan board question if you might be ranked if you beat two top-25 teams is not all that impressive.

My 2 cents....I think exactly one team has gone from no votes to ranked this season: Indiana.
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An Indiana had 2 home wins against top 2 teams. Minnesota could have 2 road wins against top 10 teams. Question is, do they win at MSU and does top 10 on the road equal top 2 at home?
 

I'd take 1-1 this week in a New York minute.

Sparty gets sloppy with turnovers quite a bit, but we have to find a way to compete with them on the boards. Their big guys, especially Nix, have improved a ton, and the Thornton kid is playing with (and shooting it) a confidence he's never had.
 

I'm gonna say no, it doesn't, but we get votes. Even with an Illinois win, I think we're sitting on the outside, in that 26-30 range. Honestly, I wouldn't even care, if we come back from that 0-4 hole to square things away at 4-4, and have a shot at 5-4 at home against Illinois, then they can rank us whatever they want lol.

Ralph HAS to show up for this game though. Might even see some Ralph/Eliason combo ball if we're getting too pounded down there. Rodney's played rather tough in the paint though, he'll have to definitely use his quickness in this one.
 



If we win both, guarantee Andy Katz votes for us.
 


I must say... it feels good to be telling my brother today (with a little bit of confidence)... that I think we're winning in E. Lansing on Wednesday. I'm really feeling it from these guys right now. The chemistry seems better now than at any point in Tubby's run here. I know it's just a 3-game win streak, but for anyone that would say that Tubby doesn't deserve a ton of credit for how they're rolling... you're cracked. He also deserved the heat for the 0-4 start.

If we go 2-0 this week, there is no doubt in my mind that we're in the top 25.
 

Madman said:
I'm really feeling it from these guys right now. The chemistry seems better now than at any point in Tubby's run here. I know it's just a 3-game win streak, but for anyone that would say that Tubby doesn't deserve a ton of credit for how they're rolling... you're cracked.
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Better than their run through Puerto Rico? How about through the Big Ten Tourney 2 years ago?

I'm happy with the team now, just putting the three game run into perspective.
 

Gold Vision said:
Better than their run through Puerto Rico? How about through the Big Ten Tourney 2 years ago?

I'm happy with the team now, just putting the three game run into perspective.
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Valid.... Valid.... just to put another one in there that would rival the confidence that I'm feeling right now. Right after our home win last year against Purdue..... I was flying high with optimism.
 

"Dismantled Northwestern and made the conference's leading scorer pretty much a non factor." Pretty much? Shurna scored above his season average and was the game's leading scorer. As poorly as NW played, there is much we could learn from their crisp passing and cutting. The Gophers showed occasional passing but rarely more than one feed pass and usually just one-on-one moves after their usual pass, catch, pause, look, pause-some-more, dribble offense. Shurna shot badly, but look at how many opportunities he had because of NW's passing culture. Imagine if we could have gotten the ball to an open Hoffarber like that the last couple of years.
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
"Dismantled Northwestern and made the conference's leading scorer pretty much a non factor." Pretty much? Shurna scored above his season average and was the game's leading scorer. As poorly as NW played, there is much we could learn from their crisp passing and cutting. The Gophers showed occasional passing but rarely more than one feed pass and usually just one-on-one moves after their usual pass, catch, pause, look, pause-some-more, dribble offense. Shurna shot badly, but look at how many opportunities he had because of NW's passing culture. Imagine if we could have gotten the ball to an open Hoffarber like that the last couple of years.
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Shurna had to work his butt off for every single one of those points, he was exhausted by the end of the game, and could barely get his free throws to the rim. I do think you have a point though about Northwestern's passing as a team, there is certainly something the Gopher's could learn from that. I think this team has a ton of talent on it, but unfortunately no one on this team is good enough to beat his man off the dribble and take it to the rim on any given possession. That is why we need to get players open through the pass, and yes, the fact that they hold the ball, pause, and let the defense reset boggles my mind.

Also, for the first three years of his career, Blake was super lazy on offense and incredibly easy to guard because he would just sit in a corner waiting for a drive and kick for an open three. But to start last season off, Blake was actually running off screens and being active on offense, which made the Al Nolen injury that much more frustrating. You could see the potential that offense had, but it all crumbled once we put Blake at the Point.

Bottom line, more passing is good for everyone, and once we finally develop that chemistry, this offense could be potent.
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
"Dismantled Northwestern and made the conference's leading scorer pretty much a non factor." Pretty much? Shurna scored above his season average and was the game's leading scorer.
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This is the second time you've commented about this and it makes me believe you didn't really pay attention to or watch the game. Like others pointed out in the other thread, most of his points came late in the game when there was very little chance they could come back. For the first 30 minutes, he most definitely was a non-factor. Overall points don't determine if someone played well. He shot poorly, and just looked flustered pretty much all game long.
 

Shurna might have had 8? at the half? But it was a "it doesn't seem like he scored even that much" kind of 8. All I really remember about Shurna from the 1st half was sounds: Doink! Clang! Swat!
 

mryan1125 said:
Shurna had to work his butt off for every single one of those points, he was exhausted by the end of the game, and could barely get his free throws to the rim. I do think you have a point though about Northwestern's passing as a team, there is certainly something the Gopher's could learn from that. I think this team has a ton of talent on it, but unfortunately no one on this team is good enough to beat his man off the dribble and take it to the rim on any given possession. That is why we need to get players open through the pass, and yes, the fact that they hold the ball, pause, and let the defense reset boggles my mind.

Also, for the first three years of his career, Blake was super lazy on offense and incredibly easy to guard because he would just sit in a corner waiting for a drive and kick for an open three. But to start last season off, Blake was actually running off screens and being active on offense, which made the Al Nolen injury that much more frustrating. You could see the potential that offense had, but it all crumbled once we put Blake at the Point.

Bottom line, more passing is good for everyone, and once we finally develop that chemistry, this offense could be potent.
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i don't know what game you watched but the gophers absolutely ripped northwestern with great passing. They are 24th in the country in assists. Northwestern is 26th in the country though. However, gophers had 19 assists on 30 made baskets, 10 steals and 12 turnovers. They didn't pass as well against the 1-3-1 at times but i think their passing is fine unless every team from here on out plays a 1-3-1.

No one on the team is good enough to beat his man off the dribble and take it to the rim? LOL!!! in the last 2 games joe coleman has 24 free throw attempts. We know he's not a perimeter shooter so how is he getting to the line so much? Austin could be the same but his mindset isn't as agressive but Rodney, joe and Austin could live at the free throw if they wanted to. Those 3 are great athletes.
 


Tweet from Dan Dakich. I think many posters would disagree with this. *sigh* such is Minnesota hating our team more than the media does. Go figure.

“@dandakich: #3..Minnesota..might be playing better than anyone cept OSU..destroyed a good Northwestern team that had played all tuff..3 in row..ROLLIN!”
 

GophersInIowa said:
This is the second time you've commented about this and it makes me believe you didn't really pay attention to or watch the game. Like others pointed out in the other thread, most of his points came late in the game when there was very little chance they could come back. For the first 30 minutes, he most definitely was a non-factor. Overall points don't determine if someone played well. He shot poorly, and just looked flustered pretty much all game long.
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This. 8-21 from the floor. 3-9 from 3. 2-8 from the free throw line. The only reason Shurna was a factor on Sunday is because he shot...and missed...so many times.
 

Whathavewedone said:
Top 25 what? Minnesota girls h.s basketball?
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I don't even think UCONN girls basketball could beat two top 10 mens teams on the road (were the gophers to beat MSU), let alone a top 25 Minnesota HS girls team doing it.

If the gophers do that, I don't think there are any other mens schools who have done that this year (haven't done the leg work on that, there could be one) I'd say that deserves ranking consideration above top 25 high school girls.
 

Whathavewedone said:
Top 25 what? Minnesota girls h.s basketball?
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If they beat MSU AND Illinois I'd be pretty surprised if they aren't ranked. Take a look at the teams in the bottom of the top 25 and compare their resume to what ours would be with those two wins. They're closer than you think. Of course all of this is irrelevant if they don't win both games, so might as well just focus on getting the wins first.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
If they beat MSU AND Illinois I'd be pretty surprised if they aren't ranked. Take a look at the teams in the bottom of thetop 25 and compare their resume to what ours would be with those two wins. They're closer than you think. Of course all of this is irrelevant if they don't win both games, so might as well just focus on getting the wins first.
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Exactly.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
If they beat MSU AND Illinois I'd be pretty surprised if they aren't ranked. Take a look at the teams in the bottom of the top 25 and compare their resume to what ours would be with those two wins. They're closer than you think. Of course all of this is irrelevant if they don't win both games, so might as well just focus on getting the wins first.
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I don't know if it gets us in the rankings, but that doesn't concern me too much because I feel like the rankings are heavily biased by preseason predictions about how good teams are "supposed" to be. What a win against MSU does is gets us back to .500 in conference. I think that is huge because I feel like 8 or 9 wins puts us on the bubble (8 probably on the wrong side and 9 probably on the ride side of the bubble) while 10-8 should put us squarely in. If we can get back to 4-4 with the road games against MSU and Indiana (arguably our two toughest games) in the rear view mirror, then we give ourselves a great opportunity to finish with 9 or 10 wins and hopefully a return to Xanadu.
 

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