Big Bubble Night Discussion | Page 13 | The Boneyard

Big Bubble Night Discussion

The same Fanta calling the Red Storm ladies tonight? He might not be totally dialed in.
 
All in all a solid night for the Huskies benefit with UNC, St. Bonaventure, Richmond all losing plus Rutgers getting smacked back to likely the 8 v. 9 game to boot.

Tuesday brings a really good slate of the following games for Bubble Watch:

Boise State (NET 35) v. Fresno State at 7 on CBSSN
  • Fresno is bad. Win does nothing, a loss this time of year would be impactful to say the least
Xavier (NET 48) v. Georgetown at 7 on FS1
  • Xavier must replicate the effort the Huskies gave last week (no not the 1st half) to keep their NCAA hopes in play
Indiana (NET 57) v. Michigan State (NET 77) at 8 on BTN
  • Bubble game of the night? Two teams desperately looking for wins. Winner gets a really good win to possibly push them into Last Four In. Loser is running out of chances to make that case.
Duke (NET 59) v. Georgia Tech (NET 40) at 8 on ACCN
  • Everything for Indiana/MSU is applicable here.
Memphis (NET 60) v. USF at 9 on ESPNU
  • The Tigers aren't exactly on the bubble, but if a lot of things went their way and made a deep run in the AAC there could be an opening. It's an outside shot and for those that miss AAC basketball have at it.

That window from 8-10 is going to have a March Madness feel between the Xavier, IU, MSU, Duke, and GT tourney hopes all hanging in the balance and going on concurrently.
 
tzznandrew said:
I'm genuinely interested as to why Rutgers is a lock in most people's eyes. A home win against Illinois and a few wins against bubble teams?
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They were top 30 in KenPom for most of the season (as high as 18th). After their 5 loss streak people were putting them out, but they righted the ship with the easier part of their schedule. A 20 point loss to a bad team has once again pushed them back to shakier ground.
 
Ricker said:
Last night John Fanta opined that we wouldn't be higher than an 8 even if we we won the BE tournament. I think that's crazy, but that is even coming from a knowledgeable UConn advocate. I heard that elsewhere channel flipping, so I wouldn't be so fast to say that just reaching the final 'definitely' makes us a better seed than 8. Keep in mind my own opinion is that we should be a 6 winning this week and being a finalist, and maybe even a 5 if we win and other 5's and 6's struggle.
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Keep in mind though that right now UConn only has two wins against tournament caliber teams. The neutral site against USC and at Xavier. Even with the handicap of not having Bouknight, the resume is light on signature wins. Do they pass the eye test when he's playing? Yes. But at the end of the day it's the results on paper that matter most. Just keep winning, things will work themselves out.
 
If UHart wins their conference tourney (currently in the semifinals) does that count as a win against a tourney caliber team? lol....kinda serious kinda joking here...
 
MU in MKE said:
Keep in mind though that right now UConn only has two wins against tournament caliber teams. The neutral site against USC and at Xavier. Even with the handicap of not having Bouknight, the resume is light on signature wins. Do they pass the eye test when he's playing? Yes. But at the end of the day it's the results on paper that matter most. Just keep winning, things will work themselves out.
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That's true of every team on the bubble. You can only play who's on the schedule. All the A10 & MWC schools sitting in the same spot have the same number of quality wins if not less. Any of the ACC / B10 schools in the area either have the same number of quality wins or 1-2 more plus a bad loss.

In UConn's case they have only played a total of 6 games against NCAA Tournament teams this season (Nova, Creighton x2, Seton Hall, Xavier, USC). They've gone 2-4 in those games and Bouknight didn't play in half those games. Probably win at least one more with him.

If they keep winning it will work itself out, but they are better than the Colorado States, St. Bonaventures, and Drakes of the world on the bubble with them.
 
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Storrs South said:
That's true of every team on the bubble. You can only play who's on the schedule. All the A10 & MWC schools sitting in the same spot have the same number of quality wins if not less. Any of the ACC / B10 schools in the area either have the same number of quality wins or 1-2 more plus a bad loss.

In UConn's case they have only played a total of 6 games against NCAA Tournament teams this season (Nova, Creighton x2, Seton Hall, Xavier, USC). They've gone 2-4 in those games and Bouknight didn't play in half those games. Probably win at least one more with him.

If they keep winning it will work itself out, but they are better than the Colorado States, St. Bonaventures, and Drakes of the world on the bubble with them.
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Right, that's the thing. People are looking at UConn's resume relative to maybe one team at a time, and maybe you can nitpick here or there. But when you compare it to the bubble as a whole, it's one of the better bubble resumes. Especially since you have to consider the effect of not having Bouknight.
 
some ghastly stuff at the end of this georgetown-xavier game... x is gonna lose
 
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Xavier really self-destructed at the end. Xavier's last 3 possessions ended with a player stepping out of bounds, a missed layup, and getting rejected by the bottom of the backboard.
 
auror said:
Good thing they beat Creighton so they stay Q1 for us.
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Great point. The Selection Committee only cares about numbers, the fact that UConn only has 1 win over a Tournament team won't hurt our seedings at all.

BTW, if UConn loses to Seton Hall, you will have been proven catastrophically wrong about UConn's NCAA strategy. I can't remember the last time a poster's credibility was as all in on one game as yours is.
 
Anybody watching the Duke GT game? Neither of these teams passing any eye test tonight. Sloppy, weak defense. ACC assuming the winner of this hot mess makes the tourney?
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Great point. The Selection Committee only cares about numbers, the fact that UConn only has 1 win over a Tournament team won't hurt our seedings at all.

BTW, if UConn loses to Seton Hall, you will have been proven catastrophically wrong about UConn's NCAA strategy. I can't remember the last time a poster's credibility was as all in on one game as yours is.
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You still think the Big East is only getting 2 teams in, lol.
 
superjohn said:
You still think the Big East is only getting 2 teams in, lol.
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And that's besides the fact that the argument has been we needed to go 3-1 with the loss being to Seton Hall to feel good with our chances. So it would prove nothing
 
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navery12 said:
And that's besides the fact that the argument has been we needed to go 3-1 with the loss being to Seton Hall to feel good with our chances. So it would prove nothing
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Calhoun used to play tough schedules. Why do you think Calhoun is an idiot?
 
navery12 said:
You keep accusing me of calling coaches idiots when I haven't. Jim Calhoun wasn't coaching UConn basketball in the 2020-21 basketball season in the middle of Covid so I don't care how he scheduled basketball games
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You and most of this board are beyond wrong on this. UConn has now found itself in the position of desperately needing a win over Seton Hall or we could be in danger of not going to the dance, and a win only gets us a crappy seed. This despite having a team that has Sweet 16 talent.

SJ's argument is that the Big East is going to get at least 3 bids no matter what. He may be right, but now the Big East is a 3 bid league when it hits the recruiting trail. Didn't UConn just leave a 3 bid league? Each season is not an island. They impact the seasons that come afterward. There is no upside and all downside for how UConn has managed its schedule this season, and rather than just acknowledge it, most of you are defending it as if it was brilliant.

None of you can put together a remotely coherent rationale for why barely making the Tournament is a great accomplishment for this team.
 
Worrying about UConn's NCAA chances has become a personality trait of mine at this point despite our solid metrics. Only tournament team we've beaten is USC, 0-4 vs the 3 teams in the Big East that have a winning record in conference play besides us, and 75% of our total wins are against teams that are sub .500 on the season. Please beat Seton Hall.
 
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And one of the worst games ever played goes to OT. I'm done. They cant be serious about either of these teams.
 
Brochacho said:
Worrying about UConn's NCAA chances has become a personality trait of mine at this point despite our solid metrics. Only tournament team we've beaten is USC, 0-4 vs the 3 teams in the Big East that have a winning record in conference play besides us, and 75% of our total wins are against teams that are sub .500 on the season. Please beat Seton Hall.
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Yes NEED a win tomorrow for seeding purposes. Without that there’s no way we can get 7 or lower.
 
Brochacho said:
Worrying about UConn's NCAA chances has become a personality trait of mine at this point despite our solid metrics. Only tournament team we've beaten is USC, 0-4 vs the 3 teams in the Big East that have a winning record in conference play besides us, and 75% of our total wins are against teams that are sub .500 on the season. Please beat Seton Hall.
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I agree. Tomorrow night is huge.
 
Butler missed 11 of their last 14 free throws against Nova....but guard play and a defense that held Nova scoreless for seven minutes made that a moot point.

Maybe Butler is better than given credit for being.
 
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