Can we get 10 wins the rest of the way?

[PimpMario]

We have 22 games left and we need to stay at least at .500 to make the NIT.

 

That means 10 wins.  We needed to add 1 more game against a Directional State School.  

 

Can we make the NIT?  I don't want to think our postseason hopes are already over.  

 

Which of these are the 10 we can win?

 

Arkansas State

The Citadel

@Cincinnati

@Iowa

@Ohio State

Michigan

@Purdue

Ohio State

@Penn State

Minnesota

Indiana

@Michigan

@Northwestern

Illinois

@Michigan State

Penn State

Purdue

@Illinois

Northwestern

@Indiana

Wisconsin

First Round B1G Conference

 

[Silverbacked1]

With this team it will need to be one game, maybe one half...hell maybe one minute at a time to see if we win the game we are in.

I'm not going to worry about anything but the next game.

I am already crazy enough, don't need to add to it.

[hhcmatt]

Our post season hopes are never over until we lose a B1G tournament game.

[busticket]

The most realistic scenario I can see is:

- Beat Arkansas State and The Citadel

- Sweep Northwestern and Penn St (could happen but not as likely)

- Split with Purdue

- Beat Minnesota or Illinois

 

All of this is contingent on us never playing like we did in the first half against Creighton in these aforementioned games.... 

[nuled2dance]

I agree bus ticket....I do feel Tim needs to get one of the big guys at home this year.

[PimpMario]

The most realistic scenario I can see is:

- Beat Arkansas State and The Citadel

- Sweep Northwestern and Penn St (could happen but not as likely)

- Split with Purdue

- Beat Minnesota or Illinois

 

All of this is contingent on us never playing like we did in the first half against Creighton in these aforementioned games.... 

 

That doesn't seem impossible but that is only 9 wins.  Beating NW and PSU on the road will be a challenge.

[Buglem]

My answer to the question depends on how much improvement we see from the team from here on out. If they match the amount of improvement we saw last year then we will hit ten wins. If we don't improve from here on out and are still making silly mistakes like the first 15 minutes of Sundays game then we won't. At this point my money is on the ten or more wins. I've seen this team take its lumps and keep learning. They have lots of upside if they can keep learning. Based on that, I see these games as our ten wins.

 

Arkansas State

The Citadel

@Penn State

Minnesota

Indiana

@Northwestern

Illinois

Penn State

Purdue

Northwestern

[49r]

Winning @Penn State and against Illinois is a pretty tall order.  Not impossible I suppose, but we can count on this team to drop a winnable game or two at home, IMO.

[hskr4life]

Like I said... this team can beat anyone, and LOSE to anyone.  It will be a ride of a year... that is for sure.

[busticket]

Argh!  Blew a hole right through my plan   (Kind of botched the math on that one)

 

Hmmmm...after those nine @ Cincinnati and splitting with Illinois make the most sense to me, assuming then we need to beat the Gophers.

 

It's not impossible but our teams needs some things to break right, and more importantly the offense has to gel.

[Norm Peterson]

I don't think I'm capable of offering any predictions.  This is a Jekyl and Hyde team like you'd expect from such a young group.  The talent is certainly better than years past.  So is the athleticism.  Don't know about the buy-in just yet, or the amount of "want to" of some of the players.  Seems like some of the guys with more buy-in and want-to have less skill and athleticism, maybe. 

 

The other thing is that I don't know how much we can judge by what happened at Creighton.  Yeah, we got our asses whipped.  And McDermott is a hell of a player.  But we played badly notwithstanding how good they might be.  And I think part of the reason we did so bad was because to the Creighton fans and coaches and players, this is their ONLY real rivalry game of the season.  They haven't established any rivalries in their new conference yet.  And it's hard to hate on Wichita State if you don't play them anymore.  This is the game they most want to win every season -- coaches, players and fans alike.  This is their "must win" game and they all act accordingly.  Plus, they're just assholes anyway. 

 

Y'know, a couple thing go their way, their crowd erupts, it throws you off your game even further and the next thing you know, you look up and the scoreboard reads 22-3.  I don't think the outcome in Omaha is indicative of the quality of team we have but it might be indicative of their level of maturity and experience.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they respond.  Again, say what you want about the final score, but I do think it speaks well of them that they didn't quit and kept fighting until the final buzzer.

[Silverbacked1]

One thing that could help us steal an away game is that we will be often seen as a "winnable game" and the crowd might now show up to cause us problems.