2020 vs 2021

[Kat burglar]

In 2020 we played 9 conference games against ranked opponents. We went 0-9

we played 12 conf games against unranked opponents. We went 3-9

We played 2 games against top 10 opponents all MSU.

We played 7 games against the other bottom 4 teams (MN, PSU and NE) we were 3-4.

In 2021 we played 9 conf games against ranked opponents. We went 1-8.

we have played 9 conf games vs unranked teams. We are 5-4.

we have played 7 games vs top 10 teams. We are 1-6.

we have played 3 games vs bottom 4 teams. We are 2-1

The league has improved based on national rankings and we have done better. We have played 5 more games against top 10 teams and 4 fewer games against bottom 4 (MN, PSU and NE)

I think there is more improvement than wins and losses suggest.

 

[Inovacat]

As an annual optimist until the wins and losses are in, and we end up on the short side, I thank Kat burglar for the research.

 

[Vassar69]

KenPom agrees. 2020 ended with NU at 132. 2021 has them at 66. Big jump

 

[freewillie07]

Nice post. They sort of made the same argument on the gamecast earlier today.

The 13-game losing streak, rightly or wrongly, will overshadow a lot this season.

 

[Deeringfish]

Thanks for posting this. I'm not a big BB fan but I want to cheer on my Cats. I was just coming on the BB board to ask a very similar question after watching the end of the game today.
I have heard multiple times the the B1G is greatly improved this year and so very highly competitive and that The Cats are a relatively young team. Is there any reason to believe that while NU doesn't lose much to graduation this year a meaningful number of other B1G schools will have a drop in talent?

 

[PurpleFaze]

I’m actually excited for next season assuming we don’t see bodies lost to transfer. WIll be a vet team with lots of seniors and juniors. Lots of depth with 12-13 Big 10 level players.

 

[PurpleFaze]

Thanks for posting this. I'm not a big BB fan but I want to cheer on my Cats. I was just coming on the BB board to ask a very similar question after watching the end of the game today.
I have heard multiple times the the B1G is greatly improved this year and so very highly competitive and that The Cats are a relatively young team. Is there any reason to believe that while NU doesn't lose much to graduation this year a meaningful number of other B1G schools will have a drop in talent?

Tough to say what talent levels will look like next season across the conference with all the transfers that happen this days, but our incoming recruiting class is ranked 5th in the conference.

To me next year will be a major disappointment if we don‘t make the NCAA tourney.

 

[willycat]

Tough to say what talent levels will look like next season across the conference with all the transfers that happen this days, but our incoming recruiting class is ranked 5th in the conference.

To me next year will be a major disappointment if we don‘t make the NCAA tourney.

really and how many times has NU dome that? Got it, ok.

 

[hdhntr1]

In 2020 we played 9 conference games against ranked opponents. We went 0-9

we played 12 conf games against unranked opponents. We went 3-9

We played 2 games against top 10 opponents all MSU.

We played 7 games against the other bottom 4 teams (MN, PSU and NE) we were 3-4.

In 2021 we played 9 conf games against ranked opponents. We went 1-8.

we have played 9 conf games vs unranked teams. We are 5-4.

we have played 7 games vs top 10 teams. We are 1-6.

we have played 3 games vs bottom 4 teams. We are 2-1

The league has improved based on national rankings and we have done better. We have played 5 more games against top 10 teams and 3 fewer games against bottom 4 (MN, PSU and NE)

I think there is more improvement than wins and losses suggest.

Are you counting teams as ranked if they were ranked when we played them or only if they are ranked now? I think we have played more against ranked teams. Also according tgo you last year we played 7 against bottom 4 and this year 3 meaning we played 4 less.

 

[Kat burglar]

Are you counting teams as ranked if they were ranked when we played them or only if they are ranked now? I think we have played more against ranked teams. Also according tgo you last year we played 7 against bottom 4 and this year 3 meaning we played 4 less.

Ranked now.

 

[hdhntr1]

Ranked now.

Well we were scheduled to play another against Mich and if you take when we played them it was significantly more as Rutgers was ranked MSU, Minn, I believe, was ranked the first time we played them and we were supposed to be playing Mich a second time. It would have been 14 or 15 out of the 20 games playing against ranked teams when we played them or at some point during the year. When we played them dealt with how they were playing at the time we played them. And considering that the reason some of those teams did not end up ranked had more to do with the other ranked teams beating them up.... We also were scheduled to play each of the final top 10 teams twice each. The BIG was brutal this year and of all the teams in BIG, our schedule was the hardest. Saying we had to play 9 games against top 25 teams minimises what we really had to face

 

[Kat burglar]

You are correct. But then the thread gets 10 comments about how that is over-reaching or it does not count because they are not ranked now etc., so I chose to keep it simple.