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I have hopes of better conference play this year, a 3rd or 4th place finish is realistic if we have indeed gelled since Anaheim and Miami. I'm worried about how our half court offense will operate and what we'll get for post play on the offensive end. I think that if Sampson is better and if Hoffarber has regained his stroke, we're in business and that tough stretch was just an aberration. We're deep, our guards have improved, and we're well coached.
 

I'm with TJ 100% on this one. 11-7 Big 10 regular season, no matter what we do in Indy, will be enough. No questions asked.

Less than that and I certainly could accept an argument that the Gophers may not make it, but no way will they fall short at 11-7 heading into BTT.
 


Everytime I go over the schedule I change my mind on the win total. I go from 9 to 11. Say they can go 8-1 at Williams Arena (too much to ask for?), maybe they get 3 wins on the road somehow. That home 8-1 record includes, of course, a win over Purdue or Michigan State. Oh well, have a safe and happy holidays.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Everytime I go over the schedule I change my mind on the win total. I go from 9 to 11. Say they can go 8-1 at Williams Arena (too much to ask for?), maybe they get 3 wins on the road somehow. That home 8-1 record includes, of course, a win over Purdue or Michigan State. Oh well, have a safe and happy holidays.
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7 or 8 W at home, 4 or 5 W on the road = 11 to 13 W in B10.
 


SelectionSunday said:
I'm with TJ 100% on this one. 11-7 Big 10 regular season, no matter what we do in Indy, will be enough. No questions asked.

Less than that and I certainly could accept an argument that the Gophers may not make it, but no way will they fall short at 11-7 heading into BTT.
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Your understanding of the selection process is without reproach. I'm not sure what others aren't seeing, but obviously we're on the same page. 11-7 gets us in - locked. To me, that isn't even an issue, nothing to fret over. What is worrisome is whether we can stack up 11 Big Ten regular season wins. That's the thing to worry about.
 

tjgopher said:
Your understanding of the selection process is without reproach. I'm not sure what others aren't seeing, but obviously we're on the same page. 11-7 gets us in - locked. To me, that isn't even an issue, nothing to fret over. What is worrisome is whether we can stack up 11 Big Ten regular season wins. That's the thing to worry about.
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FWIW, I completely agree with you and SS. But I guess I'm pretty optimistic about 11 wins. I think we are a much differnt team at home than on the road. I wouldn't be surprised if we hold serve at home, but there's alwasy a bad game, so say 8-1. I think there are enough not great Big ten teams that we can win three on the road. (IA, Ind, PSU?) So that gives 11.
 

11 wins is an absolute lock for the NCAA, if the gophers can achieve that. Just look at what the other gopher teams of the last 30 years have done with 11 big ten wins, 2 big ten championship teams and an elite eight team. So if they can do that you have to put this team up their with the best.
 

Every Selection Sunday

NCAA committee members are quoted as saying that NCAA bids are given for "total body of work" not how many conference W or final W-L record or anything else.

11 W in regular B10 season is not enough by itself.
 



Friend Of Tubby said:
NCAA committee members are quoted as saying that NCAA bids are given for "total body of work" not how many conference W or final W-L record or anything else.

11 W in regular B10 season is not enough by itself.
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And goody for them. But history shows otherwise. 11 is enough.
 

There is a scenario in which 11 B10 wins would leave the Gophers would leave on the outside looking in, and that would be if they go ofer vs Purdue & Mich State. If 6 or 7 of the conference wins are against teams that are outside of the RPI top 100, it would get pretty dicey.
 

A couple of signature wins against any of the likes Purdue, Michigan State, or even Wisconsin would force the committee to take a closer look at our W's than our cumulative record tainted by a late November swoon.
 

Sticking with my guns. If the Gophers get to 11 Big 10 wins, I'll take my chances. But as others have said, I'm just hoping we get to that number. It's not going to be easy.
 



I don't know that anyone can really say that 11 wins is absolutley enough (with all respect to SS).

I say that because we only really have two years of data on this topic. Yes, 11 wins in a 16-game BT schedule was a lot, but 11-7 isn't quite the same.

Last season, both teams that got to 11 wins got in as did one of two teams that had 10 wins and two teams at 9-9. The year before that, Ohio State was in fifth at 10-8 and didn't get in.

What that means, to me, is that we don't know. Will 11-7 be enough? I porbably fall between maybe and probably. But as is the case every year, it makes people sleep easier if their team wins a couple of conference tournament games.

I have a very different take on why the Gophers should be anxious than most. My sense is that most of the angst is because of losses to Portland, A&M and Miami. I don't think that is really the problem. To me, it is the huge number of really poor quality wins. The Gophers are going to be burdened with a resume that features a huge number of 200+ RPI wins and too may 250+ RPI wins.

I will again bring up last season's resume from Wisconsin. They didn't have a great non-conference victory, but they had a number of solid 80-150 RPI wins and a small number of 250+ wins. That is why, at the end of the season, that their RPI was basically the same as the Gophers.
 

hope

Regarding good NC wins come next March, we have some hope per realtimerpi. Morgan State is now a top 100 win as their RPI is 98.

St Joe is at 107 so maybe they can drop into the top 100 also.

Butler is at 22 by the way.

It isn't Louisville of last season but it is all we have.

http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_190_Men.html

:clap: :clap: :clap:
 

anonymous said:
The Gophers are going to be burdened with a resume that features a huge number of 200+ RPI wins and too may 250+ RPI wins.
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Generally, the Gophers have fewer of those wins than any team in the Big Ten.

1) RPI #30 Purdue has: TWO RPI #250+ wins & FIVE RPI #200+ wins
2) RPI #26 Wisconsin has: FOUR RPI #250+ wins & FOUR RPI #200+ wins
3) RPI #46 Northwestern has: FOUR RPI #250+ wins & SIX RPI #200+ wins
4) RPI #54 Michigan State has: FIVE RPI #250+ wins & SIX RPI #200+ wins
5) RPI #65 Minnesota has: TWO RPI #250+ wins & FOUR RPI #200+ wins
6) RPI #92 Ohio State has: SIX RPI #250+ wins & SEVEN RPI #200+ wins
7) RPI #114 Illinois has: THREE RPI #250+ wins & THREE RPI #200+ wins & ONE RPI #250+ LOSS!
8) RPI #165 Iowa has: TWO RPI #250+ wins & FOUR RPI #200+ wins (80% of their wins!)
9) RPI #190 Michigan has: TWO RPI #250+ wins & TWO RPI #200+ wins
10) RPI #213 Penn State has: FIVE RPI #250+ wins & SEVEN RPI #200+ wins
11) RPI #250 Indiana has: FOUR RPI #250+ wins & THREE RPI #135+ LOSSES!

In fact, the Gophers right now sport the Big Ten's third toughest strength of schedule.
 

tjgopher said:
Generally, the Gophers have fewer of those wins than any team in the Big Ten.

In fact, the Gophers right now sport the Big Ten's third toughest strength of schedule.
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How dare you counter with actual numbers.
 



What if we go 14-4?
Will that be good enough, because thats what your going to get!
 



I don't know about 11 wins and don't even know about a "good" win against MSU or Purdue. What I know for a fact is that we almost absolutely need to beat Penn State on December 29. That's Tuesday, I believe. That's what we need to worry about!
 

Well Said

ncgo4 said:
I don't know about 11 wins and don't even know about a "good" win against MSU or Purdue. What I know for a fact is that we almost absolutely need to beat Penn State on December 29. That's Tuesday, I believe. That's what we need to worry about!
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+1
 

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