Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty

I think the concern is that they end up winning the ACC tourney. I agree that they don't have an at-large argument over us, nor will they.

Good point. Looks like St. John's is about to bow out. I think we still want BC to win today, though. They'd still likely have to beat Virginia and Duke/UNC after that, so I'm not worried about it yet.

I agree that's a good question. I don't think MTSU has a shot at an at-large if they lose to anyone not named WKU. Worst case scenario for this tournament is having WKU beat MTSU in the final... that's the only chance they both get in IMO. So it's probably best to root against MTSU until they get to the final.

Unfortunately, looking at FSU's resume I would confidently bet that there is no way we'd get in over them. I would have felt good about getting in over Louisville if they lost. Yikes. Not a good start.

Yeah, I’m saying what I suggested is how I imagine the first 15 minutes will work. Release the first 10 in alphabetical order, chat about surprises, bubble teams, etc. Then release the next 10 and so on.

My guess is they're more likely to reveal a list of maybe 10 or so teams, talk briefly about which of them were bubble teams, then move on to the next 10.

I actually think the football program is a great example for why we SHOULD fire Miles (not this year... I'm strictly saying if we miss the dance next year). When you know it isn't working with the current guy, you try again. Most people knew that we were stepping into the unknown by firing Bo, and that there's a chance the next guy could be worse. But with him, we weren't reaching the potential we knew we had, so we took a risk and at least tried (if you can consider Eichorst's coaching search "trying"). We all know that we didn't get the right guy to replace Bo, but ultimately, firing him led to Frost. If we stuck with Bo and continued to win 9 games against mediocre opponents, who knows if we would have ended up firing Eichorst and who knows if we would have ended up firing Bo this year to go for Frost. So the lesson I took away from it was that you don't just stay stagnant because you fear that you can't do better. This basketball program can do better than 5 straight missed tourneys, which is where we'd be with Tim if we don't get in this or next year.

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=211704396 Looks like we're playing in a four-team tourney next year in Kansas City next year with Texas Tech, USC, and Missouri State. Should be virtual home games for us. I hope we don't draw Missouri State.

I definitely agree with what you're saying about RPI vs SOR. RPI is definitely flawed. Still, the biggest knock against us is quality of wins, not quality of opponents. I don't hear Lunardi or anyone saying our RPI is too low (maybe they mention it at times, but it's not their main argument). Whether or not the committee cares about RPI, the fact is still that we only have one win against a tournament team, and it was at home. You can kind of count Minnesota, but it was also at home.

Looks like Notre Dame took no time messing around with Pitt. Up 33-20. I think they'll have to beat Va Tech to get a bid, though.

Seems to me like most of the hate is sourced from Photograph as well as people's tendency to follow the herd. I bet the most passionate Nickelback haters are one's who never decided for themselves that they hate Nickelback. With that being said, I find the verses of Photograph to be corny, lacking flow, and lacking depth. I feel like I could have sat down for a couple hours one afternoon and conjured them up without much thought. My guess is that's why it became popular to hate on them. The chorus is very catchy, though... I definitely find myself getting into it when it's on... which probably explains why it became a radio hit. Outside of that song, I know nothing about them.

I wonder if we could convince Mike Daum from South Dakota State to grad transfer next year. Big man from the panhandle. 6'9" and averages 24 and 10. Anyone that watched the Summit League Championship last year might remember that he torched Omaha for 37.

You're talking about the South Dakota schools? There's absolutely no chance either gets an at-large.

If the Zags win, I'll be rooting for BYU. SMC has missed the tourney in the past when everyone expected them to get in, so I'm hopeful they could be left out if they lose tonight. Then we'd obviously need the Zags to take care of BYU.

The point being made that this team could be scary next year, which I agree with, is the exact reason why I'd be ready to move on if we don't get to the tournament next year.

Not a big deal IMO. The committee is watching and knows how the game went down. The narrative of Michigan's dominance doesn't change, which is what we really needed out of this.

Man, I really think this game is huge for us. It would really help our case if Michigan can win by double digits.

So it looks to me like these 24 teams are fighting for 13 at-large spots, pending any bubble-bursting tournament runs. I ordered the teams based on where they land on Lunardi's bracket and included their conference tourney match-ups. 1. Missouri - Thu vs UGA/Vandy 2. St. Mary's - Hope Zags win tourney, but if not, go SMC 3. Oklahoma - Wed vs Ok State; Thu vs Kansas 4. Kansas State - Thu vs TCU 5. Florida State - Wed vs L'ville (probably want FSU) 6. MTSU - Hope they win tourney, if not get bounced early 7. St. Bonnie - Fri vs Richmond/Duquesne 8. Providence - Thu vs Creighton 9. Louisville - Wed vs FSU (probably want FSU) 10. Alabama - Thu vs Texas A&M 11. Baylor - Thu vs West Va 12. Texas - Wed vs ISU; Thu vs Tex Tech 13. USC - Thu vs Washington/Oregon State ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marquette - Wed vs DePaul; Thu vs Nova UCLA - Thu vs Stanford/Cal Penn State Notre Dame - Tue vs Pitt; Wed vs Va Tech Syracuse -Tue vs Wake; Wed vs UNC Nebraska Mississippi State - Thu vs LSU Utah - Thu vs Oregon/Washington State Washington - Wed vs Oregon State; Thu vs USC LSU - Thu vs Miss State Loyola-Chicago - Hope they either win their tourney or get bounced early

Penn State is interesting, for sure. You have the two head-to-heads with us that are split, so our win is kind of a moot point. Yeah, we won more impressively and later in the season, but they were also missing their big man. I've definitely heard teams get knocked in the past when their impressive wins all come against one team, which for them is obviously tOSU. So hopefully that will dampen their 3-8 Quad1 record a bit. They've lost a few games that we won (@NW, vs Wisconsin, vs Minneosta - not to mention a much worse Minnesota team than we beat at PBA). They also lost to Rider, which I don't know how the committee will view that one since Rider's RPI is 65th (better than Penn State's, actually!). In trying to be as unbiased as I can, I think I'd pick us over them, but can see the point of view of someone who'd pick Penn State.

True. It's just that he's been tweeting a lot the last 48 hours saying Nebraska's chances are slim-to-none. Putting them as your 3rd team out seems to be a whole lot better than slim-to-none.

Hopefully Michigan can win in impressive fashion today. It could change the narrative from, "Nebraska didn't show up when they needed to," to, "Nebraska ran into a force in Michigan." Not to mention it inflates our best win of the season.

Even if URI does get in, it's good to see them stumble down the stretch because it hurts St. Bonnie's best win.

I'm really surprised Lunardi still has us as the 3rd team out. Kind of expected us to drop out of his picture.

Roby’s a darn good player. But if he can’t get to the tournament with those three seniors-to-be, you think he’ll get us there without them? I’m just saying barring injuries, there’s no excuse for missing the tourney next year. Tim got a pass for the unexplainable 2014-15 season. He was then given an opportunity to rebuild for the next three seasons, likely culminating in an NIT bid. He returns the bulk of his team next year, so he gets a fourth opportunity. So it’s not as simple as, “as soon as seniors are gone,” I give up. It’s more like, “after five straight missed NCAA tourneys, including two where we were expected to make it before the season,” I’d be ready to move on instead give him another rebuild.

So if this team doesn’t make the dance next year, you would still have faith in Miles? And what would be the point of keeping him one additional year if we do miss the tourney next season? Just to watch us go through more growing pains after losing Palmer, Copeland, and Watson?