Week 13 - Jan 29 to Feb 4

[nwhoopfan]

That was well drawn up and executed, rim just didn't want it. Tough way to lose.

 

[Plebe]

How many bids will the Big East get this year? After UConn and Creighton it gets sketchy. Marquette has faded. Seton Hall is below .500 in conference. 3rd and 4th place currently is St. Johns and Villanova, not sure either is at large worthy. Marquette could still be in at this point but they should be higher than 5th in the conference.

Can't rely too heavily on conference standings. Marquette's schedule was front-loaded; they have played UConn twice, Creighton twice and road games at VU, at SHU, at SJU.

Marquette will probably be in the tournament and Nova is on the outer bubble. They don't have a great resume of wins, but they also haven't had any losses as bad as Arizona State, UCF, or Rutgers.

 

[nwhoopfan]

UNLV about to avenge an earlier loss to New Mexico and will stay 1 game ahead of the Lobos and Wyoming in the Mountain West.

 

[Plebe]

That was well drawn up and executed, rim just didn't want it. Tough way to lose.

Anytime anything bad happens to Nebraska in any sport, I blame John Cook

 

[nwhoopfan]

Can't rely too heavily on conference standings. Marquette's schedule was front-loaded; they have played UConn twice, Creighton twice and road games at VU and SJU.

Marquette will probably be in the tournament and Nova is on the outer bubble. They don't have many great wins, but they also haven't had any losses as bad as Arizona State, UCF, or Rutgers.

I saw that, Marquette went 1-3 against UConn and Creighton. Also losses to St. John's and Nova in conference. 1-5 against the top half of the conference is BAD. I think they better plan on not losing many more games. They are still on shaky ground to me. Not much in OOC. You can't really hang your hat on beating Illinois and Arkansas. There's just not much there. Only truly good win is Creighton.

I keep looking at Nova's schedule. That's not even close to Tourney worthy to me. Honestly, who have they beaten? The aforementioned shaky Marquette. That's about it. Avoiding really bad losses isn't enough. You have to beat a few good teams.

 

[Plebe]

I saw that, Marquette went 1-3 against UConn and Creighton. Also losses to St. John's and Nova in conference. 1-5 against the top half of the conference is BAD. I think they better plan on not losing many more games. They are still on shaky ground to me. Not much in OOC. You can't really hang your hat on beating Illinois and Arkansas. There's just not much there. Only truly good win is Creighton.

I keep looking at Nova's schedule. That's not even close to Tourney worthy to me. Honestly, who have they beaten? The aforementioned shaky Marquette. That's about it. Avoiding really bad losses isn't enough. You have to beat a few good teams.

Have you scrutinized the resumes of the other bubble teams with this level of interest? Go look at the bubble teams in the other conferences and let me know when you're impressed.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Have you scrutinized the resumes of the other bubble teams with this level of interest? Go look at the bubble teams in the other conferences and let me know when you're impressed.

I haven't. Maybe the bubble is exceptionally soft. Most seasons those wouldn't be at large worthy resumes.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Where is our Northern Arizona fan? Improved to 8-1 in conference today, leading the Big Sky. Montana and Eastern Washington are battling it out right now for 2nd place.

 

[Vowelguy]

I haven't. Maybe the bubble is exceptionally soft. Most seasons those wouldn't be at large worthy resumes.

The women’s bubble is usually super soft, which is why I was against moving from 64 to 68 teams.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Okay, currently in his last 4 in Creme has Tennessee, Washington, Auburn and Maryland. Soft bubble doesn't even begin to describe that.

 

[Plebe]

I haven't. Maybe the bubble is exceptionally soft. Most seasons those wouldn't be at large worthy resumes.

Well the at-large field was expanded by 4 teams a few years ago, so by definition it's a softer bubble than it used to be. What used to be the first four out are now the last four in.

To be clear, if selection were today I don't believe Nova would be in. Creme has them among "next four out". Marquette would probably be an 8 or 9 seed.

 

[Vowelguy]

I saw that, Marquette went 1-3 against UConn and Creighton. Also losses to St. John's and Nova in conference. 1-5 against the top half of the conference is BAD. I think they better plan on not losing many more games.

They’ve got Vill Seton and St. John’s at home while their road games are against the 3 worst teams. Winning their final 8 is plausible, which would put them 24-5.

 

[Vowelguy]

Okay, currently in his last 4 in Creme has Tennessee, Washington, Auburn and Maryland. Soft bubble doesn't even begin to describe that.

I was stunned that he still had MD in.

 

[Plebe]

I was stunned that he still had MD in.

Just curious, which of his first teams out would you have ahead of MD at this point? His first 4 out are Minnesota, George Mason, Michigan, Richmond.

 

[DefenseBB]

I haven't. Maybe the bubble is exceptionally soft. Most seasons those wouldn't be at large worthy resumes.

To me, the whole lot of WCBB seems less this year, which is odd considering how many 5th year players are still around. Maybe the transfer portal decimated the mid-majors more than I have thought as not too many of them impress me this year. So is the Covid year exception hurting the development and therefore team play of the middle tier of WCBB?

 

[Vowelguy]

Just curious, which of his first teams out would you have ahead of MD at this point? His first 4 out are Minnesota, George Mason, Michigan, Richmond.

I haven’t looked at the bubble so I guess I should rephrase: I am stunned that there is no one better than a bad Maryland team to make the field.

 

[Vowelguy]

To me, the whole lot of WCBB seems less this year, which is odd considering how many 5th year players are still around. Maybe the transfer portal decimated the mid-majors more than I have thought as not too many of them impress me this year. So is the Covid year exception hurting the development and therefore team play of the middle tier of WCBB?

It could but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. These players are getting a chance to shine when otherwise they wouldn’t have. Look at Fairfield/UConns Lou Lopez Senechal. Highly unlikely should would’ve have made it to the WNBA based on Fairfield.

Also NIL and the big TV contracts are going to start drawing more and more players to the big schools.

 

[nwhoopfan]

How long til the rest of the WCC votes to kick Gonzaga out? GU hammering Pacific 100-37 right now...and Pacific is tied for 3rd in the conference, 1 game back of 2nd place.

Who was it that said the gap between Gonzaga and the rest of the conference was massive? Was that me?

 

[Vowelguy]

How long til the rest of the WCC votes to kick Gonzaga out? GU hammering Pacific 100-37 right now...and Pacific is tied for 3rd in the conference, 1 game back of 2nd place.

Who was it that said the gap between Gonzaga and the rest of the conference was massive? Was that me?

Well at least they’ll get OregonSt and Wazzu for a year or two.

 

[Vowelguy]

How long til the rest of the WCC votes to kick Gonzaga out? GU hammering Pacific 100-37 right now...and Pacific is tied for 3rd in the conference, 1 game back of 2nd place.

Who was it that said the gap between Gonzaga and the rest of the conference was massive? Was that me?

UConn: talk to us when you’ve won 118 conference games in a row

 

[nwhoopfan]

Also in WCC news, San Diego about to get their first conference win of the season, against also tied for 3rd place San Francisco.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oklahoma used a 48-34 2nd half to turn a 7 point halftime deficit into a 7 point road win against Okie St.

 

[Plebe]

Michigan once again doing that thing where they careen from good to horrible back to good again

 

[JellyBean]

How many bids will the Big East get this year? After UConn and Creighton it gets sketchy. Marquette has faded. Seton Hall is below .500 in conference. 3rd and 4th place currently is St. Johns and Villanova, not sure either is at large worthy. Marquette could still be in at this point but they should be higher than 5th in the conference.

The Big East will get three for sure; UConn, Creighton, and Marquette. Nova or St. John's might sneak in as that 4th team. A lot depends on the rest of the field and how those two teams do in the Big East the rest of the season and into the tournament.

 

[JellyBean]

Michigan once again doing that thing where they careen from good to horrible back to good again

Such a true statement about this Wolverines squad.