Are we going to the tourney?

[willycat]

I certainly don't want to talk anyone out of their optimism, but I don't think this team is anywhere near a tourney team.

NIT???????????????

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

NIT???????????????

Would be a pretty big disappointment if we don't at least make the NIT.

 

[Max_Power]

Screw it - I’ll say it: this team has enough talent to win 9 or 10 conference games which get us in. What says the board? Does CC figure out the right combos and lineups to make it work? IMO - we are sooo close, that loss against Wake hurts, we just need a couple of breaks to go our way. But the talent is there, can we pull it off????

NU is probably better than Penn State, Minnesota, Maryland, Rutgers and Nebraska. NU plays these teams 9 times in conference play with 5 at home and already has 1 road win. Let's say the Cat's go 7-2 against this group of games - a tall order - then you have to find the remaining 3 wins likely in home games against MSU, Wisconsin, Indiana and in a big stretch, Illinois or Purdue. I can's see the Cats beating MSU, Purdue, Illinois, Iowa or Michigan on the road. The path to the NCAA and a .500 record in conference play is very narrow for this team.

That first home game against MSU in January will be huge.

Also, Cat's have to beat DePaul.

 

[Styre]

The first NET rankings are out, and they have us at #42, which is right on the tournament bubble. Problem is, NET really does not like Maryland (#155), so of our 6 wins, 1 is quad 3 and the rest are quad 4. Our two losses are both quad 1, which is acceptable, but when we get into Big Ten season we can't just beat the bad teams if we have postseason aspirations.

 

[GatoLouco]

The first NET rankings are out, and they have us at #42, which is right on the tournament bubble. Problem is, NET really does not like Maryland (#155), so of our 6 wins, 1 is quad 3 and the rest are quad 4. Our two losses are both quad 1, which is acceptable, but when we get into Big Ten season we can't just beat the bad teams if we have postseason aspirations.

Our SOS is probably in the 100's. It will, of course, rise as we face plenty of top teams in conference.

 

[Alan Smithee_rivals156293]

Our SOS is probably in the 100's. It will, of course, rise as we face plenty of top teams in conference.

Yes, the stretch from mid-Jan through the end of the month will take care of that.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

NU is probably better than Penn State, Minnesota, Maryland, Rutgers and Nebraska. NU plays these teams 9 times in conference play with 5 at home and already has 1 road win. Let's say the Cat's go 7-2 against this group of games - a tall order - then you have to find the remaining 3 wins likely in home games against MSU, Wisconsin, Indiana and in a big stretch, Illinois or Purdue. I can's see the Cats beating MSU, Purdue, Illinois, Iowa or Michigan on the road. The path to the NCAA and a .500 record in conference play is very narrow for this team.

That first home game against MSU in January will be huge.

Also, Cat's have to beat DePaul.

if we don't go 500 in conference, we can always just win the conference tourney...hahaha

 

[7th Cir. Cat]

The first NET rankings are out, and they have us at #42, which is right on the tournament bubble. Problem is, NET really does not like Maryland (#155), so of our wins, 1 is quad 3 and the rest are quad 4. Our two losses are both quad 1, which is acceptable, but when we get into Big Ten season we can't just beat the bad teams if we have postseason aspirations.

This is good info, thx for posting.

 

[7th Cir. Cat]

Yes, the stretch from mid-Jan through the end of the month will take care of that.

Exactly. I don't know if you saw, but Purdue is now the #1 team in the country and we play them twice. I expect that our SOS will improve dramatically with the start of conference play

 

[Styre]

Exactly. I don't know if you saw, but Purdue is now the #1 team in the country and we play them twice. I expect that our SOS will improve dramatically with the start of conference play

SOS will certainly improve, but we have to win some of the bigger games to build a resume. We can win all 7 games over Penn State (137), Maryland (155), Nebraska (192), and Rutgers (217) but they won't help us very much. (Subject to change as their rankings change, of course!)

 

[7th Cir. Cat]

SOS will certainly improve, but we have to win some of the bigger games to build a resume. We can win all 7 games over Penn State (137), Maryland (155), Nebraska (192), and Rutgers (217) but they won't help us very much. (Subject to change as their rankings change, of course!)

Yup - 2016 we had non-con wins over Texas, Dayton, and Wake and the win over Michigan as our signature conference win. Unfortunately, we didn’t close the deal in the non-con as much as 2016, so we will need to pull an upset (or two) in conference.

 

[CatManTrue]

I was at the game in 2015, I think, at College Park. My son was with me. We were WAY ahead in the 2nd half and he was all excited, then MD came back, inevitably, ALL the way back, and beat us at the buzzer. He was shocked, but I had warned him that it would probably happen. Once bitten, twice shy. A hundred times bitten...

Same thing happened with me at the Rutgers game in 2020 before things shut down. We were up big (20?) and RU came back with a monstrous second half to bsat us at the RAC. I warned the buddy I was with that it would happen.

 

[NREPP Fraud]

I’ll go so far as to say it is actually within our own control. If we make good decisions with shot selection the talent is there to get it done. If we don’t, we’ll miss some opportunities that come our way.

We need to keep scoring in the paint!