Magic number is not 2

RutgersNYCB1G

Freshman
Jan 8, 2020
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Anyone promoting this propaganda is doing a disservice to Rutgers basketball, plain and simple. For Rutgers to get in the NCAAs with 19 wins, that means the committee would be picking a team that went 2-6 in its last 8 games. Do you really think they'd take that kind of risk on a school that hasn't been to the tournament since 1991?

I firmly believe Rutgers needs to finish with 20 wins to have a strong case. 21 gets us in no matter what. So the magic number is 4, not 2. Hopefully RU plays great down the stretch, starting tonight, and makes all of this a moot point.

Edit: To clarify, I think Rutgers is about 75-25% to get in with 3 more wins. With 4, they're 100%. That's why it's the real magic number; it leaves nothing to chance.
 
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bac2therac

Hall of Famer
Jul 30, 2001
247,870
177,566
113
Anyone promoting this propaganda is doing a disservice to Rutgers basketball, plain and simple. For Rutgers to get in the NCAAs with 19 wins, that means the committee would be picking a team that went 2-6 in its last 8 games. Do you really think they'd take that kind of risk on a school that hasn't been to the tournament since 1991?

I firmly believe Rutgers needs to finish with 20 wins to have a strong case. 21 gets us in no matter what. So the magic number is 4, not 2. Hopefully RU plays great down the stretch, starting tonight, and makes all of this a moot point.

Body of work

How you finish is not looked at
 

NewJerseyHawk

Heisman
Jan 11, 2007
24,466
38,772
113
I also think that a win tonight doesn't immediately end the discussion either. I think RU comes through vs Ohio State, but danger continues to lurk around the corners with Illinois and Michigan up next.
 

biazza38

Heisman
Nov 18, 2012
14,432
17,487
81
Anyone promoting this propaganda is doing a disservice to Rutgers basketball, plain and simple. For Rutgers to get in the NCAAs with 19 wins, that means the committee would be picking a team that went 2-6 in its last 8 games. Do you really think they'd take that kind of risk on a school that hasn't been to the tournament since 1991?

I firmly believe Rutgers needs to finish with 20 wins to have a strong case. 21 gets us in no matter what. So the magic number is 4, not 2. Hopefully RU plays great down the stretch, starting tonight, and makes all of this a moot point.
You think the magic number is 4? How high are you? No other bubble team will have the type of wins we have over SHU and PSU. And you think the magic number is 4? That’s rich
 

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
I hope the players don't have the same anxiety as us fans have. As the season comes to an end if we don't get more wins soon the last 2 to 3 games are going to be agony.
 

RUfinal4

All-Conference
Apr 24, 2006
15,759
1,931
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A lot depends on other teams

Where the OPs magic number matters is who we lose to.

If Purdue and Ohio St beat us then we may sink below them when compared vs other B10 teams.

Assuming 10 teams are considered for the NCAA tourney, we don't want to be number 9 and 10 on the list as that would be a bubble spot. It may come down to Rutgers, Ohio St, and Purdue all considered for the last spot from the B10.

What RU needs is:
- a quality road win
- a win in the B10 tourney
- avoid bad losses (blow outs)
- not to lose to both Ohio St and Purdue
 

bethlehemfan

Heisman
Sep 6, 2003
15,112
16,398
113
I hope the players don't have the same anxiety as us fans have. As the season comes to an end if we don't get more wins soon the last 2 to 3 games are going to be agony.
At this point every game is like a tournament game in a way. I would think (hope) they’d be excited not anxious. Great opportunity for them to play loose and enjoy it.
 

RU84

All-Conference
May 6, 2003
1,477
1,377
48
I also think that a win tonight doesn't immediately end the discussion either. I think RU comes through vs Ohio State, but danger continues to lurk around the corners with Illinois and Michigan up next.

Agree. Not holding serve against at least 2 of 3 at home (Illinois, Michigan and Maryland) makes our case a little wobblier.
 

djrc89

All-Conference
Aug 4, 2001
3,585
2,797
92
We all have hopes. So far they certainly haven’t played loose with the elevated expectations. Taking the pressure off would be nice but I still feel like this team wins by its relentlessness. Aggressive defense and rebounding. One game at a time. Stay relentless and hungry
 

Salvi's Headband

All-American
Oct 30, 2006
5,569
9,436
0
Ever since we got our ranking with the relatively comfortable wins against Minnesota and Indiana, we have played nothing but agonizing basketball. 3 ulcer-inducing wins (Purdue, Nebraska, Northwestern), 3 oh-so-close losses on the road (Iowa, Michigan, Maryland). I'm not sure what to say about it, other than that this conference is really tough, but if you look at SHU, PSU, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, we were really putting teams away at home before the ranking came in.
 

RUBigFrank

All-Conference
Jun 9, 2003
2,865
1,785
113
In the words of Bill Parcells - you are what your record is. We are damn good! and should be in with 2-3 more W's.
 
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xkiesterx

Senior
Oct 2, 2005
3,302
558
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This is not true and the committee expressly does not worry about last 10 games anymore. They consider body of work.

Two is iffy, I believe 3 is the magic number. 4 is almost certainly not necessary.
 

Big boy stan

All-Conference
Oct 9, 2017
950
1,286
93
To the OP. Rutgers having already beat the #10 team in the nation and the number #13 team in the nation, if RU goes 2-5 but those two wins are against Maryland (#9) and PSU at their gym (beating them twice), that there is no way they get in???
 

RUBigFrank

All-Conference
Jun 9, 2003
2,865
1,785
113
Many posters are using the 20 win standard as a gauge without regard to quality of wins nor taking into account the NET rankings.

There are too many journalist based prognosticators that have us in at the 7-10 range. Barring a complete collapse things look very hopeful to end our drought.
 

fluoxetine

Heisman
Nov 11, 2012
23,529
16,898
0
@RutgersNYCB1G, you do yourself a disservice by starting your own thread to post the ignorant, misinformed takes that you were already spouting in the other bubble related threads. To wit:

Anyone promoting this propaganda is doing a disservice to Rutgers basketball, plain and simple. For Rutgers to get in the NCAAs with 19 wins, that means the committee would be picking a team that went 2-6 in its last 8 games. Do you really think they'd take that kind of risk on a school that hasn't been to the tournament since 1991?

I firmly believe Rutgers needs to finish with 20 wins to have a strong case. 21 gets us in no matter what. So the magic number is 4, not 2. Hopefully RU plays great down the stretch, starting tonight, and makes all of this a moot point.

Edit: To clarify, I think Rutgers is about 75-25% to get in with 3 more wins. With 4, they're 100%. That's why it's the real magic number; it leaves nothing to chance.

This is not how anything works.

1) The committee does not take "risks" when it selects teams for the tournament.
2) The "last 8 games" is not a point of consideration.
3) How long it has been since you were in the tournament is not a point of consideration
4) You have to compare the resumes to the other teams that actually exist. You are just thinking about Rutgers in a vacuum and thus making a fool of yourself. They have to choose 68 teams, they can't just decide "oops, no one strong enough, we'll only take 61 this year."


A lot depends on other teams

Where the OPs magic number matters is who we lose to.

If Purdue and Ohio St beat us then we may sink below them when compared vs other B10 teams.

Assuming 10 teams are considered for the NCAA tourney, we don't want to be number 9 and 10 on the list as that would be a bubble spot. It may come down to Rutgers, Ohio St, and Purdue all considered for the last spot from the B10.

What RU needs is:
- a quality road win
- a win in the B10 tourney
- avoid bad losses (blow outs)
- not to lose to both Ohio St and Purdue

THIS IS NOT HOW IT WORKS!!!!!!
 

rutobs

Senior
Jan 26, 2012
322
402
63
Anyone promoting this propaganda is doing a disservice to Rutgers basketball, plain and simple. For Rutgers to get in the NCAAs with 19 wins, that means the committee would be picking a team that went 2-6 in its last 8 games. Do you really think they'd take that kind of risk on a school that hasn't been to the tournament since 1991?

I firmly believe Rutgers needs to finish with 20 wins to have a strong case. 21 gets us in no matter what. So the magic number is 4, not 2. Hopefully RU plays great down the stretch, starting tonight, and makes all of this a moot point.

Edit: To clarify, I think Rutgers is about 75-25% to get in with 3 more wins. With 4, they're 100%. That's why it's the real magic number; it leaves nothing to chance.

I agree with this; 3 wins and were in; the good news is that we control our own destiny. You do not want to have to depend on the Committee on Selection Sunday.
 
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BillyC80

Heisman
Oct 23, 2006
17,110
15,542
72
Ever since we got our ranking with the relatively comfortable wins against Minnesota and Indiana, we have played nothing but agonizing basketball. 3 ulcer-inducing wins (Purdue, Nebraska, Northwestern), 3 oh-so-close losses on the road (Iowa, Michigan, Maryland). I'm not sure what to say about it, other than that this conference is really tough, but if you look at SHU, PSU, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, we were really putting teams away at home before the ranking came in.
Gotta factor-in Geo’s injury and recovery period, I would think, as a partial explanation for the ulcers.
 

Scangg

Heisman
Mar 19, 2016
25,448
49,369
113
@RutgersNYCB1G, you do yourself a disservice by starting your own thread to post the ignorant, misinformed takes that you were already spouting in the other bubble related threads. To wit:



This is not how anything works.

1) The committee does not take "risks" when it selects teams for the tournament.
2) The "last 8 games" is not a point of consideration.
3) How long it has been since you were in the tournament is not a point of consideration
4) You have to compare the resumes to the other teams that actually exist. You are just thinking about Rutgers in a vacuum and thus making a fool of yourself. They have to choose 68 teams, they can't just decide "oops, no one strong enough, we'll only take 61 this year."




THIS IS NOT HOW IT WORKS!!!!!!
Appreciate your dedication to calling out these posts. A lot of people seem to just be going off of their own personal preconceived notions of how it works but aren't correct
 

Vegas pj

Senior
Oct 21, 2003
10,161
409
0
Body of work
How you finish is not looked at
Agree with body of work, but have to believe they consider how a team is doing down the stretch even if they don't come right out and say it. It's the double secret tie breaker.
 

GoodOl'Rutgers

Heisman
Sep 11, 2006
123,974
19,586
0
Agree with body of work, but have to believe they consider how a team is doing down the stretch even if they don't come right out and say it. It's the double secret tie breaker.
sounds right to me.. humans are humans and self-interest is self-interest.. all this talk about 12 or even 11 Big Ten invites would seem to go against human nature of the selection committee.
 

czxqa

All-American
Oct 31, 2008
8,638
6,874
113
I just want to win tonight in Columbus. I'm taking this season as one anxiety attack at a time with a few days to recover from each lol.
 
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AreYouNUTS

Heisman
Aug 1, 2001
123,355
57,405
113
Interesting? How do you know that?

Because it’s the same guy with the same modus operandi who follows me around every time he comes back to these boards and makes up lies about me, responds to every post I have that he doesn’t like, etc etc. Just take a look at his content.
 
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bac2therac

Hall of Famer
Jul 30, 2001
247,870
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Agree with body of work, but have to believe they consider how a team is doing down the stretch even if they don't come right out and say it. It's the double secret tie breaker.


if a team loses 6 of 8, its going to show up in the metrics somewhere but ill point you to Ohio State who finished like trash last year and still made it
 

CranfordKnight

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2006
4,085
3,943
113
One issue I have is all the gatekeepers are always wrong on the negative side. It's always "we're not going to make it because the committee isn't going to want to take a risk on us because of our past".

If you are going to just throw **** against the wall, why not at least take the positive tack and say maybe they take us BECAUSE we haven't been in the tournament in forever. It's a huge story and brings eyes to the TVs. It is a money-making tournament, after all. They benefit from having us in. No ones going to be screaming for ETSU or Richmond over us when it comes down to us on the bubble.

Both of these scenarios are wrong, but at least one comes from a Rutgers fan viewpoint.
 

Mr. Magoo1

Heisman
Nov 15, 2001
15,477
16,325
113
A lot depends on the strength of the bubble and conference tournament upsets. That said, I would not feel comfortable at all with 19 wins. 19 wins with another road win and a win over Maryland might be another story.
 
Nov 23, 2015
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Agree with body of work, but have to believe they consider how a team is doing down the stretch even if they don't come right out and say it. It's the double secret tie breaker.
Two seasons ago, Oklahoma finished 2-8/4-11. While some were predicting that they’d miss the tourney due to this finish, they landed as a 10 seed and didn’t even get sent to Dayton.

The committee gives the same weight to all games. How you finish is meaningless.
 
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