So to rehash a topic.....

[HD6]

the team I watched us play today was terrible. They legitmately could be the worst team in the PAC-10. Last year's PAC-10 last place team was Oregon, which finished with a RPI of 156.

Now, am I supposed to believe we couldn't have gotten a similar RPI boost and gotten the monetary benefits of a home game? Why did we play this game?

 

[HD6]

the team I watched us play today was terrible. They legitmately could be the worst team in the PAC-10. Last year's PAC-10 last place team was Oregon, which finished with a RPI of 156.

Now, am I supposed to believe we couldn't have gotten a similar RPI boost and gotten the monetary benefits of a home game? Why did we play this game?

 

[HD6]

the team I watched us play today was terrible. They legitmately could be the worst team in the PAC-10. Last year's PAC-10 last place team was Oregon, which finished with a RPI of 156.

Now, am I supposed to believe we couldn't have gotten a similar RPI boost and gotten the monetary benefits of a home game? Why did we play this game?

 

[Xenomorph]

How, in God's name, can UCLA field such a pitiful basketball team?

 

[HD6]

*

 

[DowntownDawg]

...You don't schedule it if you are expecting them to be that bad.Still, we did what we were supposed to do and whipped a big name team on the road on tv. Much much better than playing a no name at home with the same rpi.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

it was set up last year?
Never Never Never Never pass up a chance to play UCLA!

This is one is fairly simple!

 

[Xenomorph]

/oops.

 

[Dawgbreeze]

But they lost to Butler at Butler by 2 and Kansas beat them 12. Maybe we should be given some credit. We are still jelling but we are playing better. I think we also play to the level of our competition at times but all the soothsayers full of doom and gloom are not going to be happy until we win the National Championship.

 

[Columbus Dawg]

also great exposure and experience to play out West. An added benefit is that UCLA's AD is chairman of the selection committee.</p>

 

[HD6]

We'll get a bigger TV audience playing Wright State at home Wednesday night. And something tells me we won't be the lead story in the LA Times sports section tomorrow.

We don't even get the road game bonus, this was technically a neutral site game. This game was useless.

 

[Xenomorph]

Hell, would you today?

I couldn't disagree with you more.

 

[Columbus Dawg]

A guy like Varnado got to play in front of a lot of scouts and people like Bill Walton that otherwise wouldn't know who he is. I'm sure any UCLA b-ball game is going to get headlines out west. This is one of your stranger complaints, posts.</p>

 

[HD6]

absolutely.

 

[Coach34]

and when is UCLA ever this bad? Their RPI will also improve i'm sure- I doubt they will have the same RPI come March

 

[HD6]

that we had to play games like this in order to play better in March. And I didn't see it then, and I sure don't see it now.

 

[HD6]

you think they will be higher?

 

[jamdawg96]

but he's right. UCLA should get better. They were picked 3rd/4th in the Pac-10, but most publications suggested that they would start out rocky. They lost four starters and replaced a lot of minutes with freshmen. That being said, they've had Final Fours to recruit from and it's shown in their recent classes. They don't have a dominant post guy, but they have a lot of unproven talent. I'm not saying they'll turn it around and end up a quality win for us just yet, but I agree with Coach that their RPI will improve, and this win will get better with time.

I really don't see what the problem is with playing this game. Maybe you can elaborate, HD?

 

[HD6]

we had to beat teams like UCLA to be better in March, and I don't see how beating this terrible team did anything for us. I doubt we'll see anybody as bad as them come tourney time.

I was also told that we need to ***** ourselves out to all the "major programs" in order to be better in March. I would think a lot of teams we could have brought to the Hump will finish with a higher RPI than UCLA.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

We played this game because you don't say no to the Wooden Classic and a game against UCLA. Yes, they are bad right now. I don't imagine UCLA imagined Jrue Holiday was going to go pro when this game was booked. They didn't know Drew Gordon would be gone either. So yes, this game became somewhat less of a gain than was hoped. But it's still better than another 250+ RPI team in the Hump. UCLA may or may not finish above 156, but I guarantee you they finish ahead of the back end of the SWAC teams, who we love to beat up on at home.

 

[Columbus Dawg]

playing triple digit RPI teams in the Hump prepares us for March? I think we've seen the last 10 years, that's not the case.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

we had to beat teams like UCLA to be better in March, and I don't see how beating this terrible team did anything for us. I doubt we'll see anybody as bad as them come tourney time.

I was also told that we need to ***** ourselves out to all the "major programs" in order to be better in March. I would think a lot of teams we could have brought to the Hump will finish with a higher RPI than UCLA.

Your memory is failing you. You were told we need to play more competitive non-conference games so we can be better prepared to take on those types of teams in March. Normally, UCLA would qualify. This year, they do not.

You love to rip on Coach for just posting to stir up the pot. That's all you're doing with this thread.

 

[HD6]

Louisiana Tech, James Madison, Central Florida, Bowling Green, Evansville, or Sam Houston State? All of those teams were better than Oregon's 156 last season, and we could have gotten a home game out of all of them.

The RPI website only went back to 2004, and we have only played a SWAC team twice in that time span. And in 2009, it happened to be the SWAC champion Alabama State.

 

[HD6]

you can suffer me.

 

[jamdawg96]

but there was no way to know they'd be as bad as they are when we scheduled the game. And I still think we have to ***** ourselves out a bit, simply because we aren't a marquee program. In football, you can schedule cupcakes because the games you're forced to play in conference are going to be tough enough. A win is a win, and unless we're competing for a spot in the national title game, schedule strength isn't going to matter.

But you know as well as I do that's not the case in basketball. On top of that, our conference games aren't as well respected as they are in football. So we have to be willing to make these kinds of trips every now and then.

 

[HD6]

but if all things are equal, better to make money at home than spend it on the road, especially when you will not be getting a return game.

Do you really think if we get through the first weekend of the tournament, we'll all look back and say "Man, we were able to do this because of the confidence we gained beating UCLA!" They are unrelated.

 

[HD6]

In 2004, we played a cupcake non-conference and didn't lose a game. But we didn't miss out on a one seed because of that, we missed out because we choked in the SEC tournament and went one and done there.

We could play all 100-200 RPI teams in the non-conference, but if we win those games and finish above .500 in the SEC, we will get into the tournament every year.

I just think it's funny that I was told this was a necessary evil to make the team better in the postseason, and UCLA is freaking terrible.

 

[missouridawg]

This UCLA team was horrific today. They are absolutely awful....

But to say this game was meaningless is completely idiotic. Their RPI will climb a lot higher as the year goes on and Ben Howland will turn this team into a decent competitor. It's ridiculous to think that our team doesn't need to showcase itself in front of an audience outside of the SEC. There's nothing but good things that come from wins like this, and the confidence that our team gets from it, I think, will be priceless.

Anyone remember the last time we tried the Tampa to West Coast road trip? It didn't turn out too well then...

 

[Columbus Dawg]

better to make money at home than spend it on the road

Thanks LT.

Do you really think if we get through the first weekend of the tournament, we'll all look back and say "Man, we were able to do this because of the confidence we gained beating UCLA!"

No, not necessarily, but if we have to go out West in the NCAAT and play on a neutral floor, we can draw on this experience. It's certainly more valuable than playing any of those teams you listed in the Hump.

You are fighting a losing battle, but I guess I admire your persistence.

 

[jamdawg96]

If UCLA was the UCLA they usually are, this game would've been a good opportunity to travel across the country and play a game against a prominent team from a major conference. That's what we could have to do in March. Might as well attempt to get a cross-country experience under our belt early in the season before we hit the SEC grind, which is a beast in itself. I still think this was a good chance for our team to prove something and we did. We beat UCLA worse than Kansas did six days ago. I'll take it.

Perhaps the 2004 team should have tested themselves a little more in the non-conference...

 

[HD6]

we'll draw on this if we play Kansas or North Carolina in the West Regional. I can hear Stansbury now "Guys, remember that time we pounded the worst team in the PAC 10? Why should this be any different?"

If my argument that MSU needs to worry about winning the non-conference games we have been scheduling for years is a far bigger worry for us in terms of RPI and seeding than the need to schedule road games against big name opponents in the hope that we can draw off of that come tourney time is wrong, then yes, I guess I am wrong.

If MSU had beaten San Diego and Charlotte last year, and had gone into the SEC tourney 21-10 instead of 19-12, I don't think we would have needed to win the tournament to get in. In 2008, if we beat Miami of Ohio and South Alabama, we probably are not an 8 seed, and we avoid Memphis. In 2004, we played 11 non-conference games, 9 of them against sub-100 opponents, and we were a 2 seed because we won all of those games combined with a 14 win conference season. We do not need to go on the road and ***** ourselves out to improve our RPI and seeding, we just need to win the games we schedule.

 

[HD6]

they should have just beaten Vanderbilt in the first round of the tourney. I don't think any of them flashbacked to the non-conference schedule and thought "Man, if only we had played some tougher games in December!"

 

[deanbar]

i thought we set up the charter jet from starksville to tampa to la and back so that those 50 or so special fans could ride along with the team and the 'bury kids could possibly meet some celebs. 'Bury got some good facetime on the tube - maybe he is taking all the criticism to heart and trying to boost his cred. so he can make a run for the final four and then jump ship.

Had to leave the tv and switch to radio...UCLA seemed to play much better the 2nd half -- or ravern cooled off.. Roll certainly seemed to catch fire.

switching gears ---anyone else surprised at ingram? does boobie post on his fb page that he had better stats than the heisman trophy winner!??!

 

[squirldawg]

nm

 

[Ol Blue.sixpack]

But they lost to Butler at Butler by 2 and Kansas beat them 12. Maybe we should be given some credit. We are still jelling but we are playing better. I think we also play to the level of our competition at times but all the soothsayers full of doom and gloom are not going to be happy until we win the National Championship.

Really? You don't think they are as good as those teams in the Wooden era? You should be on TV.

 

[Ol Blue.sixpack]

you can suffer me.

Ouch.

 

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

we'll draw on this if we play Kansas or North Carolina in the West Regional. I can hear Stansbury now "Guys, remember that time we pounded the worst team in the PAC 10? Why should this be any different?"

If my argument that MSU needs to worry about winning the non-conference games we have been scheduling for years is a far bigger worry for us in terms of RPI and seeding than the need to schedule road games against big name opponents in the hope that we can draw off of that come tourney time is wrong, then yes, I guess I am wrong.

If MSU had beaten San Diego and Charlotte last year, and had gone into the SEC tourney 21-10 instead of 19-12, I don't think we would have needed to win the tournament to get in. In 2008, if we beat Miami of Ohio and South Alabama, we probably are not an 8 seed, and we avoid Memphis. In 2004, we played 11 non-conference games, 9 of them against sub-100 opponents, and we were a 2 seed because we won all of those games combined with a 14 win conference season. We do not need to go on the road and ***** ourselves out to improve our RPI and seeding, we just need to win the games we schedule.

If we end up on the West Coast in the tourny Stans won't be saying that, he'll be saying remember that time this season we went across the country and beat the **** out of one of the premier programs in the country? A team that has been to 3 Final Fours in 4 or 5 years at that... Apparently, by viewing your argument, you think we should have waited until this season started and then backed out on the premise that this years' UCLA team isn't as good as normal? I guess we could have scheduled Jackson Prep in their place and played in the hostile environment of the Prep gymnasium. Would have been a huge test, and exactly the same as playing a game in a different time zone that required travel to get too...

 

[HD6]

it's OK to admit you don't understand.

What I am saying is playing road games with teams that won't give you a return game is pointless, and especially when it's a game that, this season, looks to be a RPI drain rather than boost. What I am also saying is that we don't need to play those kind of games to boost our RPI, we only need to beat the patsies we schedule.

Who gives a **** what they've done in the past? They are terrible now.

 

[AssEndDawg]

we had to deal with traveling across the country to play at a non-neutral neutral site. Since that seems to be our lot in life when it comes to the NCAA tournament it's a good thing to have to do. This wasn't an away game with UCLA without a return, it was the John R. Wooden Basketball Classic and until that old bird dies you go when asked. So it doesn't help the RPI much, it's still a win against UCLA.

 

[paindonthurt_]

When you saw this game pop up on the schedule last year did you.........

1. Think, "damn why are we playing lowly UCLA in Anaheim"

B. Think, "wow we get to go play UCLA in Anaheim"

I thought B.

Stupid thread.