Lunardi just bumped us out

[Marat]

Prediction:

Lose Friday and it is hello NIT.
Win Friday, confidence increases and we end up winning the AAC tournament and erasing any doubt. There is no other team in the league (besides SMU) that even worries me from a talent standpoint. Odds are we will play Temple in the second round then we just need to beat Tulsa or Houston. It's not exactly the march of death in the Big East of 2011.

Yes, its a must win Friday and there is no other way around it.

Its not exactly a march of death thru the AAC, but it just feels that way based on how we have played. Need to focus on winning Friday like its game 7.

 

[1999.2004.2011]

The bracket matrix also has us as the first team out of the field as of this morning. Win, and we are in.

 

[Chuck]

In my opinion:
Lose Friday = Out
Win one = Bubble and I think we're out. Too many bubble teams and the NCAA has disrespected the AAC the last two years. Why would a team get the benefit of the doubt now?
Win two = Bubble and we're in.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Having Pitt beating Cuse' today will help!

 

[Jerry1714]

Lunardi is average, here are the two highest ranked bracketologists, both have us in, 1 not as a last 4

http://assemblycall.com/bracketology/

http://131sports.com/

 

[pepband99]

Having Pitt beating Cuse' today will help!

You could argue the other way - this is really splitting hairs.

 

[Jaker]

We are not safe until we win the American tourney.

 

[Milo65]

 

[Marty Jackson]

Winning takes care of any bubble talk. Just win baby.

curious. how has this team done in those 'just win games' against similar caliber programs the past couple years? Feel like games against top programs have become 'pick-em' type games. No idea what team shows up. What I can say is that I seriously doubt Uconn will win in a rout. It will either be a Cincy rout, a close loss by uconn, or a close win by uconn.

still believe the players have to play the game and to that point they've failed miserably. but if we see the same crap we've seen the past couple games (please don't mention games like UCF or USF, I'm talking Cincy, SMU, Houston), i really think Ollie enters next year on a somewhat warm seat. right or wrong, 2 seasons in a row of not making the tourney is unacceptable. If he struggles next year all the reasoning is gone about not having the right players, chemistry, APR impact, but it's only been x seasons, etc. The answer to all that becomes "Ollie had his chance and hasn't gotten the program to where it needs to be over 4 seasons. Can someone else come in and do better because other coaches have done more with a lot less?"

this team is flawed. it doesn't have a leader or 'rudder'. but it hasn't gotten better either as they make the same mistakes over and over and over. And they've shown no heart at times which is a huge red flag. Ollie hasn't shown the willingness to play to this team's strength (whatever that is) or the ability to simply coach up this team to hide the deficits and make smarter decisions. In fact this team has regressed as he continues to fit the square peg in a round hole (see FHCPP on the football side for a tutorial on how effective that is). I like Ollie. I like his positive story, the uconn brotherhood, everything about him. but if he can't win, nothing else matters. And, if you aren't winning AND not getting better it only gets worse.

For Ollie's sake, I hope he gets this team into the tourney at least ( I think that's a fair expectation right now). this board will be very unkind to him should they miss the tourney a second time, and deservedly so.

 

[johnhuskies95]

That's if these kids are wired that way. There have been other major tests that they have failed which is why they aren't getting the benefit of the doubt from pretty much everyone right now.

I'm not talking about the kids, I'm talking about the committee.

 

[gtcam]

Had a complete knee replacement operation last Friday so I have watched a TON of CBB
Monmouth, St Mary's North Dakota St, Iona, you name the team and there is no way that they are better than UConn
Lunardi is doing this to ring up pings and to keep those mid majors to feel like he cares for them
Does UConn need to win Friday? Hell yeah but if the pick came between UConn and those others for an at large I can't see how he can discount UConn

My personal view - if UConn loses to Cinci for the 3rd time Friday they do not deserve to dance with nobody's sister!

 

[QDOG5]

Four upsets in the conf. tourney finals of mid majors gave me heartburn. Gonzaga win may actually help a little bit. It most likely won't matter to UConn anyway. I believe that the Uconn-Cincy is an elimination game. The team that wins the game is in the Dance regardless of how they do in the rest of the AAC tourney. The only way UConn or Cincy could be out is if a low seed won the conf. tourney in one of the major conferences (AAC included) which is a longshot. Anyone trolling the Cincy board to see how they see it playing out?

 

[Connecticut34]

So...let me re-phrase this so I understand it correctly: "Teams who have played no one and were fringe bubble teams continue to lose, but I'm going to jump them over these other teams that haven't played"...got it Joe, you're a rock star keep up the good work pal

I subscribe to the theory that ESPN just wants to hype up their schedule at any cost "this game for uconn/cincy is a play in!!"

 

[beakumhawks]

This is the year that any team left out of the tourney has no right to complain. There is no dominant team in college hoops this year, and if you don't make the field it's on you, not the committee. On a completely unrelated note, how sad is Tejas Tech that they finish 7th in a 10 team league and their coach gets national Coach of the Year honors?

 

[Point6]

We need 2 wins.

I agree we need at least 2 wins. I don't see a close call going our way.

 

[Inyatkin]

I don't get this "If you can't do xx you don't deserve to be in the tournament." They have 68 spots to fill. Every one of the bottom teams is flawed.

 

[Jaker]

Hoping for a Cuse loss, not because it really helps us much, but because seeing Cuse miss the tourney is always a win win situation.

 

[pepband99]

LOL - not only are we now the "2nd" one out, but Cuse is the 1st! Ridiculous.

Last Four In

• Pittsburgh
• St. Bonaventure
• Monmouth
• Saint Mary's

First Four Out

• Syracuse
• Connecticut
• Tulsa
• Valparaiso

There is **no way** all 4 of those teams make it in.

 

[Slasher]

Saint Mary's is going to get in, the committee typically invites teams with their profile. Wichita State, I have no idea. Their advanced metrics + injury has me thinking they're the biggest question mark in the room. There is no way in hell Monmouth, Valparaiso or any of the other mid-majors should get in (even Little-Rock). Personally I think UConn could still get in with a loss, but that would be really tempting fate. On my board I have them as one of the last byes. But an 11th loss would hurt, that's the point at which the committee seems to start punishing teams for "too many losses" even if they're against top 100 teams.

 

[Slasher]

A team that should be a lot more worried that people rarely mention is Texas Tech. Their RPI plummeted to 35 with a 43 KenPom. They have a collection of good wins, but they also have 12 losses, including two bad ones. In addition they're just 5-9 away from home, including just 3-7 in true road games. They'll get in, but they're not going to be a top 8 seed. They're going to be in the 9-10 range.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Lunardi is like Trump just keep saying to keep the attention on them

That's a little harsh.

 

[Jerry1714]

Lunardi is lower on us then the people who actually rank at the top of this kinda thing

http://131sports.com/

http://assemblycall.com/bracketology/

http://bracketmatrix.com/

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Is us against the world.

That's the way it is and that's the way we like it.

 

[tjc1888]

Lunardi is lower on us then the people who actually rank at the top of this kinda thing

http://131sports.com/

http://assemblycall.com/bracketology/

http://bracketmatrix.com/

It's because he needs to sneak in all his A-10 buddies. No way should St. Joes or St. bonnies be in the field.

 

[Jerry1714]

It's because he needs to sneak in all his A-10 buddies. No way should St. Joes or St. bonnies be in the field.

I honestly believe it is also so ESPN can hype these conference tournament as "playin" games. The bracket he has today is not what he is judged by, it is what he has on Sunday afternoon