RPI drops 20 places just stepping on court with CCSU.

[Gurleyman]

Do the rest of you feel playing 5 teams outside of the top 220 is a good idea? I think that was part of the OP's point. Personally, I think we would argue that we would be better served with tune-up games against 100-200 RPI . I believe we will be fine too, but why are we playing 5 teams like these? They do little to help us.

You need a few gimmes strategically placed. One early in the year (season opener, or right after a tough opening tipoff game or tournament). One after finals and one or two around the holidays. The Stanford loss at home was what happens when you play a decent team after finals - you chunk one away you should win by being out of sorts. Ideally you play UNH level teams in the low 200s and not the worst teams in America - and perhaps we should have figured SHU and CCSU would be this bad. We'd be better off playing Southern Connecticut (Scott Burrell coaches there) than Central, RPI-wise.

Another problem with our current RPI is more the good teams we've played aren't that good in the RPI, at least not yet. Hopefully that will change as Gonzaga wins 25 in a row and Cuse starts playing its ACC schedule (and UM and OSU get into B1G time, to improve the cache of those wins).

 

[imno1]

Well, they are 2-3. Ohio State and Michigan. I'm expecting they finish 3-4.

All I'm saying is that at the end of the day, teams get credited for 3-4 OOC records when they play that many good teams. I remember Michigan St.. finished with 15 losses and got into a tourney for precisely this reason. Granted, they were in the B1G, and I ain't saying that UConn can get away with 15 losses. But I also think that if UConn holds its own in conference (and that means finishing 1st or 2nd in the conference tourney, 1st-3rd over the season) then it gets in.

You stated you thought we'd have 11 loses. If we go 3&4 against p5 that means 7 conference loses. We are not making the tournament with that record unless we win our tourney. That I would put money on.

 

[Rocktheworld]

We need to beat Texas. If we don't, we are guaranteed a sub-.500 record in P5 OOC. Not a good look for a team trying to get in the tournament potentially via at-large bid from the AAC. Of course none would be considered "bad losses," but we can't have our best OOC win be Ohio State.

 

[upstater]

You stated you thought we'd have 11 loses. If we go 3&4 against p5 that means 7 conference loses. We are not making the tournament with that record unless we win our tourney. That I would put money on.

6 conference losses.

I say we get in.

That would be 3 games against Cincy, say 3 against Tulsa or Memphis, 2 against SMU, 2 against the other of Tulsa or Memphis. That could be 5 losses right there (i.e. 1 in tourney, 1 to Cincy, 1 to Tulsa, 1 to Memphis, 1 to SMU) and then add a WTF loss, and you're at 6.

A team with 10 losses, wins over Cincy, SMU, Ohio State, Michigan and Georgetown, gets into the tourney.

BTW, 10 losses isn't like the old days when teams went 17-10 in 27 games. UConn has up to 34 games this year.

10 losses means your record is 24-10.

 

[BUConn10]

People actually think 23-11 in this conference is a lock to get in? Oh man what a joke.

This is UConn we are talking about. We win titles and are one of the premier programs of the game, we aren't some mid major who gets excited about limping into the tournament as a 10+ seed. Low seeds are embarrassing for elite programs.

 

[CTBasketball]

People actually think 23-11 in this conference is a lock to get in? Oh man what a joke.

This is UConn we are talking about. We win titles and are one of the premier programs of the game, we aren't some mid major who gets excited about limping into the tournament as a 10+ seed. Low seeds are embarrassing for elite programs.

I would say we're a premier program in March. Since 2008/2009, our seeding has been 1, NIT, 3, 9, None, 7, NIT.

 

[jibsey]

Cindy, SMU, Georgetown and Texas, these teams have big bruisers inside, not that Amida would have helped with that. That's why I don't understand not leaving Enoch out there as much as possible against a team we beat by 40 even if he makes defensive mistakes. Let him learn.

 

[upstater]

People actually think 23-11 in this conference is a lock to get in? Oh man what a joke.

This is UConn we are talking about. We win titles and are one of the premier programs of the game, we aren't some mid major who gets excited about limping into the tournament as a 10+ seed. Low seeds are embarrassing for elite programs.

No one knows what you're even talking about. Did anyone here express excitement at that? Do you even know what this discussion is about? We are talking about what it would take for UConn to be excluded from the tourney.

And by the way, you may have been asleep last year, but the former national champ was in the NIT!

 

[BUConn10]

I would say we're a premier program in March. Since 2008/2009, our seeding has been 1, NIT, 3, 9, None, 7, NIT.

And before that it was the exact opposite. People have serious short term memory when it comes to us, pure recency bias. Fans of other program always say UConn is good in March but disappointing in the regular season which is only a result of the last 5 years or so, now our own fans have this stuck in their heads.

Have we all forgotten the 90s and 00s? We dominated the regular season and since 1990 w have been a #1 or #2 seed 11 times, 12 if you include '11 where we won the title as a 3 seed. 11 times in the 20 season from 1990 to 2009. Now get that "we are a streaky postseason team" bs narrative that has gotten out of hand lately out of here.

 

[4in16]

This team is also much better than last year, way better offensively and still can improve defensively A.B. (After Brimah). Last part from Borges, haha.

 

[Hi-Low]

30-7), This is why SMU was left off, though they deserved to be in (by the way, SMU was not even ranked).

I think you might have gotten SMU 2013 confused with last year's SMU team, which was ranked. Last year's SMU team obviously made the NCAA.

SMU 2013-2014 ranked #25 in March 10 AP poll, #23 in Coaches poll...ranked as high as #18 in Coaches poll March 3.....No NCAA bid.

 

[BUConn10]

No one knows what you're even talking about. Did anyone here express excitement at that? Do you even know what this discussion is about? We are talking about what it would take for UConn to be excluded from the tourney.

And by the way, you may have been asleep last year, but the former national champ was in the NIT!

It's funny that my post that no one apparently understood caught your eye, the person who made the original claim that we are going "23-11 and that its more than enough to get in". First off I don't see how you got 23-11, in guessing a total shot in the dark. Also the fact that you are so confident that it will be enough to safely get into the dance is perplexing to me.

And yes I'm aware we were in the NIT last year, how does that change the reality of what I said regarding where we NEED to be. Don't be so complacent with mediocrity.

 

[upstater]

SMU 2013-2014 ranked #25 in March 10 AP poll, #23 in Coaches poll...ranked as high as #18 in Coaches poll March 3.....No NCAA bid.

Good to know that a 10 loss team was ranked in the top 25.

But still only 3 games against the P5, and they lost both games to the teams in the top 50 of the RPI. No OOC Top 50 RPI wins.

 

[upstater]

It's funny that my post that no one apparently understood caught your eye, the person who made the original claim that we are going "23-11 and that its more than enough to get in". First off I don't see how you got 23-11, in guessing a total shot in the dark. Also the fact that you are so confident that it will be enough to safely get into the dance is perplexing to me.

And yes I'm aware we were in the NIT last year, how does that change the reality of what I said regarding where we NEED to be. Don't be so complacent with mediocrity.

I still can't figure out your post. No one is complacent. This is about reality. Someone pointed out that UConn has a string like this since 2010. Not preferred outcomes. Seriously, why is it hard to understand.

I also laid out how UConn gets to 10 losses. 1 in championship game of tourney, 1 loss to Cincy, 1 to SMU, 1 to Tulsa, 1 to Memphis, 1 WTF loss, and 1 to Texas.

More than good enough for the tourney.

 

[CTBasketball]

And before that it was the exact opposite. People have serious short term memory when it comes to us, pure recency bias. Fans of other program always say UConn is good in March but disappointing in the regular season which is only a result of the last 5 years or so, now our own fans have this stuck in their heads.

Have we all forgotten the 90s and 00s? We dominated the regular season and since 1990 w have been a #1 or #2 seed 11 times, 12 if you include '11 where we won the title as a 3 seed. 11 times in the 20 season from 1990 to 2009. Now get that "we are a streaky postseason team" bs narrative that has gotten out of hand lately out of here.

I'm aware of our past success. But we've also have been ranked inside the Top 25 about 15% of the time since 2012. Been ranked inside the Top 10 one week in that time span. We've mainly lulled around the 18-25 ranking except for a few weeks.

It doesn't change the fact that seeding is entirely dependent on your season. Since Calhoun left we're a streaky team in the regular season - no one can deny that. I think the better argument here is that it will be difficult to maintain our post-season success with such mediocre regular seasons in a non-P5 conference.

 

[intlzncster]

What pains me is that anyone ever used this particular stat for anything. I think people now understand its limitations a bit better, I hope that has led to it not being used by the tournament committee,

They still use it.

 

[UconnFanDC]

Beat Texas and georgetown, no more then 3-4 losses in the conference and we have no worries! Merry Christmas

 

[Hi-Low]

Beat Texas and georgetown, no more then 3-4 losses in the conference and we have no worries! Merry Christmas

Yes, I think we all agree...if we beat good teams we'll be in. By the same token, if we played More good teams our margin for error is greater. Point was quite simply to call out lack of creativity in our non-conf schedule (3 America East teams, etc.) while we play in AAC conf, a 2 - 3 bid conference....hope that puts a bow on it....Merry Christmas!

 

[upstater]

Beat Texas and georgetown, no more then 3-4 losses in the conference and we have no worries! Merry Christmas

3 or 4 losses would be fantastic. They've had 9 losses (last year) and 7 losses in the national championship year. I can't see how this team limits it to only 3 or 4 losses.

 

[champs99and04]

I think people on this board dramatically overstate the relevance of RPI. Yes, it matters, but the committee is still comprised of humans, and even if you could argue that the league has been shafted a bit in recent years, there are a ton of factors that come into play, and the totality of the resume always supersedes outdated computer metrics.

Being in the AAC, you're going to have to beat teams OOC to get into the tournament as an at-large. Our current resume is a lot closer to what Cincinnati's was last year (losses to Ole Miss, Xavier, Nebraska, and VCU, wins over San Diego State and N.C. State) than what SMU's was in 2014. And it isn't as if Cincinnati dominated the conference - they went 13-5 with a loss in the quarterfinals of the AAC Tournament, and yet still, they were comfortably in.

The bubble should be harder this year, so I'm definitely not going to be comfortable on selection sunday if we have ten losses. This is still UConn, though, and if we miss the tournament entirely, I'll be hard pressed to blame the committee. This is a team that has won and will continue to win games. And, although we're currently 2-3 in our legitimate OOC games, we're also a +18 in those match-ups. That should enhance the BPI or whatever other nonsense metric ESPN uses.

 

[NEforceUConn]

It just doesn't matter.

Corrected it for you.

 

[mauconnfan]

Beat Texas and GTown go 12-6 0r 11-5 all will be fine.

 

[pnow15]

AAC had a good football season. The league is gaining in national credibility. Let's see if this translates to BB respect.

 

[intlzncster]

AAC had a good football season. The league is gaining in national credibility. Let's see if this translates to BB respect.

Without an AAC rep on the Committee, I highly doubt it. Really need someone in the room lobbying your interest.

 

[CTBasketball]

AAC had a good football season. The league is gaining in national credibility. Let's see if this translates to BB respect.

Money talks my friend.