demone

April 3 at 10:00 am CDT.

Definitely appreciate all of the effort in running this thread - I continue to demonstrate a consistent ability to be very, very mediocre at anything that resembles making a prediction about sporting events.

This is an interesting topic and boy, do I have some mixed feelings: I like the AQ but have always wondered why the AQ bid is given to the conference tourney winner vs. the regular season winner. I think you prove yourself more over the course of the conference season vs. getting hot for a 3-4 days to win the conference tourney. This, of course, only truly works out if you have a 'balanced' schedule. I also like the smaller schools having a chance to get in and do some damage. Buffalo is just the latest example from last night. Could you do a moderate expansion to say, 80 without going all the way to 128? Perhaps expand the "play-in" round to 16 teams (4 per region) and make it a 4-team playoff to get into each regional?

1. I like the idea of quarters, but the 1-game we have experienced is not enough to know whether it actually makes the men's game better. 2. Wider lane & 20-second reset was really not noticeable to me. 3. The longer 3-point shot is a good addition, provided you have a team with shooters. (We need to be careful what we wish for here).

Combine that game with South Daum-kota State getting 7.5 and losing by 8...well that's how my day has gone...

The article by LB discusses the following: McVeigh leaving to go play professionally in Australia (sounded like a better than 50/50 bet). Palmer going thru the draft evaluation process. Michael Lewis potentially being in line for the Evansville HC job. Nothing else about roster movement was mentioned.

I lean toward extending him and hope he is able to learn and grow. It comes down to competing, one day, one game at a time and coaching in a way that gives your team the best chance to win. IMO, Miles' politicking for his team before Selection Sunday really did a number on his team's psyche. I hope he learns from it - you have to manage to the right expectations and stay off the emotional roller-coaster as much as possible. He sent these kids way up and left it in the hands of 2 different selection committees to bring it crashing down. Control what you can control and leave the rest for others to worry about. Let 2015 be his guide and find a way to get Palmer some help. Again, my opinion, but if you look at JPJ's last 5 games, he has struggled. Might be due to the long season, but to me, he has more on film and can be neutralized in some ways by good coaches with the right personnel. Ill: 5-14, 1-6 Ind: 6-12, 1-3 PSU: 5-12, 0-3 Mich: 3-9, 1-3 Miss St: 5-15, 0-5 I think Palmer can be a great piece of the puzzle, but he can't be the solution going into next year (see TP, 2015). Good season overall, but a really sour ending. Let's hope 2018-19 will be what we all believe it could be! GBR

At the end of the day, it has to be about beating people. We had chances, we didn't win. I understand and am frustrated as well, but it really isn't complicated. Limited opportunities, on the road, whatever - you gotta win to earn respect. We didn't do that in the "games that mattered" (and even a couple that didn't).

Could be...

Very interesting when compared to the Vegas lines. Thanks for putting that together!

Miss St 70 NU 64 0

I definitely understand the emotional reaction - but based on what has been revealed, Nebraska wasn't anywhere near getting in so Rasmussen wouldn't have been able to impact the discussion one way or the other. As I tweeted a bit earlier, schedule makers have been warned. Metrics matter more than actually playing the game so proceed accordingly.

Yep...and there are a couple more "if onlys" that might have cost this team a bid. Hopefully, all involved will learn from the experience and understand the future impact of present actions.

I have accepted our fate logically - the odds are extremely long that Nebraska will be in the Big Dance. Emotionally, however, is another story and I'm still holding out more hope than I probably should. If/when "Nebraska" does not appear on the list at 5 PM today, I will come to terms with it.

I have had a bad feeling about this for a while. I just don't see any way we get into the Big Dance. Schedule broke the wrong way and we didn't get as many opportunities for big wins as we needed (and the chances we did get, we couldn't close the deal). I do think 2 games really cost us...2 games that we had no business losing: at PSU and at Illinois. Win those 2 and we are 15-3 in the B1G. Quad 1 wins be damned, there is no way we could be kept out. Would love to be wrong. It doesn't take away from a good year and it has been a ton of fun to watch and cheer for this team, however the brackets fall.