With 9 more BIG games left before the tournament, I think the fan base has to be both happy with how things have worked out so far (4 league wins) and rational about what we are looking at the rest of the way.
We know that RU has some negative issues that clearly have a significant impact on the final results. We are not good from the 3 most of the time and the foul line is not a good bet either. But, when we have a decent day with one or both and we play with the energy that this team has shown, good things can happen.
We have four games with ranked opponents and two of them are on the road. Until we see us beat someone not named PSU on the road, I am going to say that we most probably will not see wins there. With #5 Mich. next at home, I find it difficult to see us having the usual advantage to pull this one out either. But, Iowa is just barely in the top 25 and we may well pull it together against them.
The rest of the schedule, on paper, appears to be a bit easier and I am going to say that we pick up
another 2 league wins against NW away, Minnesota, PSU (hope they win at least one game before we meet them again) and Indiana away.
So, I think we stand a very good chance of having a minimum of 6 league wins when the dust settles. Maybe better. How many of us really thought that was possible at the beginning of the season?
We know that RU has some negative issues that clearly have a significant impact on the final results. We are not good from the 3 most of the time and the foul line is not a good bet either. But, when we have a decent day with one or both and we play with the energy that this team has shown, good things can happen.
We have four games with ranked opponents and two of them are on the road. Until we see us beat someone not named PSU on the road, I am going to say that we most probably will not see wins there. With #5 Mich. next at home, I find it difficult to see us having the usual advantage to pull this one out either. But, Iowa is just barely in the top 25 and we may well pull it together against them.
The rest of the schedule, on paper, appears to be a bit easier and I am going to say that we pick up
another 2 league wins against NW away, Minnesota, PSU (hope they win at least one game before we meet them again) and Indiana away.
So, I think we stand a very good chance of having a minimum of 6 league wins when the dust settles. Maybe better. How many of us really thought that was possible at the beginning of the season?
