Field of 68 Projection (Feb. 23)

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SelectionSunday

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This time without RPI data.

Gophers fall out of the field, but a split this week (Iowa/Michigan) most assuredly gets them back in the field. Take a look at some of the teams I have in instead of the Gophers (for example, Oklahoma State), and that should give Gopher fans reason for hope. Of course, that's assuming the Gophers can win another freakin' ballgame vs. a truly quality opponent.

Big XII leads the way with 7 bids, including two teams (Baylor and Oklahoma State) a combined 6 games under .500 in league play.

FIELD OF 68
America East (1): Vermont

American (5): Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Memphis, SMU

ACC (5): Duke, North Carolina, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia

Atlantic Sun (1): Mercer

Atlantic 10 (6): Dayton, George Washington, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis, VCU

Big East (4): Creighton, Georgetown, Villanova, Xavier

Big Sky (1): Weber State

Big South (1): High Point

Big Ten (6): Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin

Big XII (7): Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas

Big West (1): UCSB

Colonial (1): Delaware

Conference USA (1): Middle Tennessee

Horizon (1): Green Bay

Ivy (1): Harvard

MAAC (1): Iona

MAC (1): Toledo

MEAC (1): North Carolina Central

Missouri Valley (1): Wichita State

Mountain West (2): New Mexico, San Diego State

Northeast (1): Robert Morris

Ohio Valley (1): Belmont

Pac 12 (6): Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Stanford, UCLA

Patriot (1): Boston U

SEC (3): Florida, Kentucky, Missouri

Southern (1): Davidson

Southland (1): Stephen F. Austin

SWAC (1): Southern U

Summit (1): North Dakota State

Sun Belt (1): Georgia State

West Coast (2): BYU, Gonzaga

WAC (1): New Mexico State
__________________________________

Last 4 In: Arizona State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Xavier

First 4 Out: GOPHERS, Oregon, Richmond, Tennessee

Others Under Consideration (10): Arkansas, Boise State, Clemson, Florida State, LSU, NC State, Providence, Saint John's, Saint Mary's, Southern Miss
 

I find it odd that the Big 12 could possibly get 7 teams in the tourney this year. Lately they have not been known for their depth as a conference (surely the fact that KU wins the league every year is somewhat of a sign of a lack of quality depth at the top of the league). Outside of KU, Baylor is the only other program to have made the Sweet 16 out of the Big 12 in 2012 or 2013. Contrast with the Big Ten, having four Sweet 16 entries in each season.
 

Alright SS you are going to have to explain how BYU is in the field. 3 top 50 wins, but 4 losses to teams with a RPI worse than 100 (2 are to teams with RPI lower than 150). How is this better than the Gophers who have 3 top 50 wins and only 2 losses to teams with lower than 100 RPI?

I know it is about the whole body of work and that BYU has a better RPI, but the Gophers have a stronger SOS.

I personally think that the WCC is a one bid league regardless. Gonzaga only has one top 50 win, a poor SOS and 2 sub 100 RPI losses including a sub 150.
 

Winona Gopher said:
Alright SS you are going to have to explain how BYU is in the field. 3 top 50 wins, but 4 losses to teams with a RPI worse than 100 (2 are to teams with RPI lower than 150). How is this better than the Gophers who have 3 top 50 wins and only 2 losses to teams with lower than 100 RPI?

I know it is about the whole body of work and that BYU has a better RPI, but the Gophers have a stronger SOS.

I personally think that the WCC is a one bid league regardless. Gonzaga only has one top 50 win, a poor SOS and 2 sub 100 RPI losses including a sub 150.
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All good points, but some of what goes into it are my gut feelings. I've pretty much had BYU on the outside looking in all year, but I finally put them in this week. I certainly consider bad losses, but I usually don't put a lot of stock in 'em, especially if the team has several quality wins to help offset those losses.

I agree with you about Gonzaga. I don't think they're safe if they fail to earn the WCC auto bid. I like BYU better as an at-large than Gonzaga.
 

BYU is 3-5 against the top 50 and 7-6 against the top 100.....we are 3-7 against the top 50 and 5-9 against the top 100. Our top 100 wins were at home against Indiana, Florida State, Wisconsin and Ohio State and on the road against Richmond. We have one top 100 road win.....after the last 4 weeks we should hardly be complaining......we need to beat Iowa, Penn State and win one more in the BTT.
 


No sense worrying about the status as of today. Beat Iowa and we're inside the bubble. Lose both both this week and we're too far off it to matter. Time to step up and win a game.
 


I don't think the Gophers should go to the NCAA tournament even if they beat IA and PSU and win their first game in the Big 10 tourney against the 10th conference seed. There are more deserving teams and I don't think going to the tournament is in their best interests. They got lucky getting selected last year and meeting a team with significant injuries and turmoil in the first round, but the second round matchup showed they couldn't compete there for very long. This team is an even poorer bet than last year's so I hope they go to the NIT instead where they might have a chance of winning a couple of games.

Nebraska has a good chance of finishing 10-8 in the conference and they feature one of the best (if not the best) pure scorer in the conference. The Huskers should go and leave Minnesota and Indiana to the NIT.
 

If their resume is one of the best 68 in the country, they should go. If not, they shouldn't. Last year it was one of the best 68. This year if they beat Iowa, Penn State and win a game in the BTT they will probably have one of the best 68 resumes, so yes they should go.
 



cjbfbp said:
I don't think the Gophers should go to the NCAA tournament even if they beat IA and PSU and win their first game in the Big 10 tourney against the 10th conference seed. There are more deserving teams and I don't think going to the tournament is in their best interests. They got lucky getting selected last year and meeting a team with significant injuries and turmoil in the first round, but the second round matchup showed they couldn't compete there for very long. This team is an even poorer bet than last year's so I hope they go to the NIT instead where they might have a chance of winning a couple of games.
Nebraska has a good chance of finishing 10-8 in the conference and they feature one of the best (if not the best) pure scorer in the conference. The Huskers should go and leave Minnesota and Indiana to the NIT.
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If they win 3 more games, there will not be 68 teams with more deserving resume's. And it's never in the team's best interest not to make it. Period.
 

I will never understand a fan of a team saying the NIT would be better than making the big dance. Nobody cares about the NIT. Making the tourney and losing the first game is still better than making a run in the NIT and making it to New York.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 

howeda7 said:
If they win 3 more games, there will not be 68 teams with more deserving resume's. And it's never in the team's best interest not to make it. Period.
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In your opinion but not in mine. This isn't something you can call right or wrong any more than you can say that Chinese food is always better than Italian food. It's simply a matter of values. I would rather see a very marginal team win at least two or three in the NIT than lose its first game in the NCAA tournament because the former would extend the team's season.
 

jaymil said:
I will never understand a fan of a team saying the NIT would be better than making the big dance. Nobody cares about the NIT. Making the tourney and losing the first game is still better than making a run in the NIT and making it to New York.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
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Nobody cares about a team that loses its first game in the NCAA tournament either, particularly an 11th or 12th seed.
 



cjbfbp said:
In your opinion but not in mine. This isn't something you can call right or wrong any more than you can say that Chinese food is always better than Italian food. It's simply a matter of values. I would rather see a very marginal team win at least two or three in the NIT than lose its first game in the NCAA tournament because the former would extend the team's season.
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Certainly, you're entitled to youropinion. But I'd say it's rather like saying Sabarro at the airport is better italian than a 5-star Italian restaurant. You can have that opinion, but most folks are going think you're wrong. If nothing else, there's zero assurance that any NIT run will last longer than one game.
 

howeda7 said:
But I'd say it's rather like saying Sabarro at the airport is better italian than a 5-star Italian restaurant.
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Well, the Sabarro could be better if that fills you and stays down while you puke up and get food poisoning from the 5 star restaurant's food.

There is no assurance of anything but there are relative probabilities.

And anyone who would call me "wrong" from preferring a possible run in the NIT to a probable low NCAA tournament seed and a first round exit doesn't know the meanings of the words "right" and "wrong." This isn't a math problem. And why should I care if most sports fans would disagree with me?
 

cjbfbp said:
I don't think the Gophers should go to the NCAA tournament even if they beat IA and PSU and win their first game in the Big 10 tourney against the 10th conference seed. There are more deserving teams and I don't think going to the tournament is in their best interests. They got lucky getting selected last year and meeting a team with significant injuries and turmoil in the first round, but the second round matchup showed they couldn't compete there for very long. This team is an even poorer bet than last year's so I hope they go to the NIT instead where they might have a chance of winning a couple of games.


Nebraska has a good chance of finishing 10-8 in the conference and they feature one of the best (if not the best) pure scorer in the conference. The Huskers should go and leave Minnesota and Indiana to the NIT.
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cjbfbp, here's a 3 page thread about NCAA vs NIT http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/showthread.php?52737-NIT-or-NCAA
 


SOS the Gophers' calling card, but they have to "do enough" with it

The #1 thing the Gophers have working in their favor with regards to other bubble teams is their overall SOS. Among the 23 bubble teams I was looking at last night (for the roughly 9 available at-large spots), only the Gophers (currently #7) and Baylor (#9) had overall SOS' ranked in the top 10 in the country (Tennessee was next at #16). Most all the other bubble teams' SOS were quite a ways behind.

But the strong SOS only goes so far. The Gophers still have to "do enough" with that dificult schedule. So far they haven't done enough with that schedule, with the only wins I'd truly define as "quality" being Ohio State, Wisconsin, Richmond, and Florida State. It's amazing what just one more quality win (close-call losses to Michigan, @ Sparty, @ Nebraska) would've done for the Gophers' resume. They'd pretty much be a lock right now.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
cjbfbp, here's a 3 page thread about NCAA vs NIT http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/showthread.php?52737-NIT-or-NCAA
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Thanks for the link but I won't read it because I'm sure I've read it all before. I am also a Hawkeye fan and alumnus and I felt the same way about Iowa last year and read the same close minded attitudes toward us who preferred the NIT berth. I enjoyed Iowa's NIT run last year (as I enjoyed the Gopher's NIT run the year before). If this team shows over the remainder of the Big Ten season (and tournament) that it has improved significantly over what it has been for the last month, then I'll probably change my mind about my preference.
 


SelectionSunday said:
That explains everything.

This thread is about potential prospects for the NCAA field, not the virtues of the NIT over the NCAA.

Go away.
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Don't tell me to go away, loser. It's possible to like more than one Big Ten team. I grew up in another region, graduated from Iowa, went to graduate school in IL, worked in the East, and have lived here for most of this century and I enjoy our lone D1 team as much as any of you. Maybe you've just led too limited of a life to understand.
 

cjbfbp said:
Don't tell me to go away, loser. It's possible to like more than one Big Ten team. I grew up in another region, graduated from Iowa, went to graduate school in IL, worked in the East, and have lived here for most of this century and I enjoy our lone D1 team as much as any of you. Maybe you've just led too limited of a life to understand.
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SelectionSunday a loser? That is one MAJOR fail on your part Iowa grad.

I do like the part about living here most of THIS century. :D
 

Looking at St. Johns, Lavin deserves some props. Started out with 5 straight conference losses, now has them at 8-7, with the 2 losses being very close, at Creighton and at Villanova. Both losses by a scant 3 points.

SMU with a big win on the road at UConn. Brown's club has won 11 of their last 13 games.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
SMU with a big win on the road at UConn. Brown's club has won 11 of their last 13 games.
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SMU looking more and more like a lock. Not quite there, but it's hard to envision Brown's club not making the tournament at this point. The Ponies look like they're a year ahead of schedule, not surprising considering Brown's coaching acumen everywhere he goes.
 

Section201 said:
SelectionSunday a loser? That is one MAJOR fail on your part Iowa grad.

I do like the part about living here most of THIS century. :D
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I called him a loser because he initiated uncalled for rudeness. It's not like I'm here "trolling."

And as far as graduating from Iowa, I have four degrees from multiple schools, liked all of them, and haven't lived in Iowa for 25 years.
 

cjbfbp said:
I called him a loser because he initiated uncalled for rudeness. It's not like I'm here "trolling."

And as far as graduating from Iowa, I have four degrees from multiple schools, liked all of them, and haven't lived in Iowa for 25 years.
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My apologies for the snide remark. Peace?
 

cjbfbp said:
Don't tell me to go away, loser. It's possible to like more than one Big Ten team. I grew up in another region, graduated from Iowa, went to graduate school in IL, worked in the East, and have lived here for most of this century and I enjoy our lone D1 team as much as any of you. Maybe you've just led too limited of a life to understand.
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Enjoy your limited remaining time before the banhammer swings down.
 

SelectionSunday said:
My apologies for the snide remark. Peace?
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Of course. Thank you. And I think I didn't get quite the drift of the point you were really trying to make originally (don't open this can of worms on this thread) because of the way it was posed.
 

howeda7 said:
If they win 3 more games, there will not be 68 teams with more deserving resume's. And it's never in the team's best interest not to make it. Period.
Click to expand...
Agreed, I will never understand people who would rather go to the NIT than the NCAA tournament. So many more people pay attention to the NCAA tournament and I would rather get there no matter what even if it was a 20 point first round loss in the NCAA or a championship in the NIT I would take the NCAA every time.
 

cjbfbp said:
I don't think the Gophers should go to the NCAA tournament even if they beat IA and PSU and win their first game in the Big 10 tourney against the 10th conference seed. There are more deserving teams and I don't think going to the tournament is in their best interests. They got lucky getting selected last year and meeting a team with significant injuries and turmoil in the first round, but the second round matchup showed they couldn't compete there for very long. This team is an even poorer bet than last year's so I hope they go to the NIT instead where they might have a chance of winning a couple of games.

Nebraska has a good chance of finishing 10-8 in the conference and they feature one of the best (if not the best) pure scorer in the conference. The Huskers should go and leave Minnesota and Indiana to the NIT.
Click to expand...

Epic face palm.
 

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