Warming up the Idea of the 6 Seed

[BFieldHusky]

With the all or nothing American tournament scenario we have put ourselves in, I am starting to warm up to the idea of the 6 seed. Initially I was against it because of the idea of the extra game. But it may be worth it to play the extra game for these reasons:

1. Assuming SMU is the 1 seed, we are on the opposite side of the bracket. SMU is clearly the best team in this league. They have a HOF coach, they are a veteran team, and they are the worst matchup in the conference for us. If we are the 5 seed, we will have to beat SMU in the semis. Being on the opposite side of the bracket allows us to only play them in the title game. SMU could get knocked in the semis by a Cincy or Temple. Wouldn't totally shock me either as Cincy beat them twice, and Temple had double digit leads on them in both games. Either team could beat SMU on a neutral floor.

2. Better matchups. Kind of alluded to this in point 1, but assuming we are the 6 seed and we get by either USF/Houston, we would most likely play Tulsa or Temple. That could change based on what happens the last couple of weeks of the season, but if Tulsa beats Temple tomorrow at home, they would only have 2 conference losses, while everyone except SMU would have at least 5. They win tomorrow, and I would be shocked if they are not the 2 or 3 seed. Temple has a good schedule after tomorrow, and I assume they will beat us at Temple to end the season. They have a better chance than Cincy at the 3 seed, but that could change.

If we have to beat a combination of Temple and Tulsa to get to the title game, sign me up right now. I just think we match up with both better at home, then say an SMU or Cincinnati. If we are the 5 seed, we probably have to go through both.

3. Extra initial game may get us into sync. People always talk about the Depaul game in the 1st round of the 2011 BET. We had confidence coming out of that game. I think the 1st round game in the American could do the same. Get some guys feet wet. Maybe get Cassell some minutes if he is healthy. We are going to need 10 bodies to win this tournament anyway.

4. Home crowd. I think we get a HUGE advantage playing the late game Friday night versus the 2nd game Friday afternoon. Might seem small to some people, but we need every advantage we can get.

 

[UConnSwag11]

i want all night games

 

[Jluc]

I agree that the 6 seed looks much better today, but there are still a lot of games and so much time left until the seeds for all teams are finalized.

 

[uconnfan68]

I agree that the 6 seed looks much better today, but there are still a lot of games and so much time left until the seeds for all teams are finalized.

We should tank this year and get the high draft pick next year...oops...

 

[7774]

I think it's pretty obvious at this point we can lose to anyone. We shouldn't be rooting for scenarios that require us to play more games.

 

[CTBasketball]

When I read the title I thought you meant the NCAA Tournament and I was prepared to call you ignorant.

 

[Tenspro2002]

For all the grief that we give this conference, we sure have played like we're exactly where we belong.

2014 -- 3-way tie for 3rd
2015 -- 5th or 6th

Solidly middle-of-the-road in AAC play.

 

[champs99and04]

I think it's pretty obvious at this point we can lose to anyone. We shouldn't be rooting for scenarios that require us to play more games.

That's true, but I think of it as more likely that we beat say, Houston and Tulsa in consecutive days than it is that we beat SMU straight-up.

 

[7774]

That's true, but I think of it as more likely that we beat say, Houston and Tulsa in consecutive days than it is that we beat SMU straight-up.

Yeah, it really just depends upon the what percentage chance you think we have of beating each individual team. It's easy to do the math from that point.

If there was an 100% chance SMU would be in the semi final then I would say the 2 scenarios are pretty equal, but in reality SMU is going to lose in the quarter finals 5-15% of the time, and the times that happens it's much, much better for us to avoid the extra game.