throwback

It'll be Wednesday at 8 pm - ESPN2 https://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/images/2019/03/17/2019_nit_bracket_3.17.pdf TCU-Sam Houston is also Wednesday at 8 pm on ESPNU

Looking a little deeper at NCAA, Ohio State is a real outlier. 55 NET, 9 Q1+Q2 wins, 4 Q1 wins. As much as I hate to say it, Tejas had better metrics, 38 NET, 9 Q1+Q2 wins, 5 Q1 wins. OSU probably should've been in the First Four play-in games, yet they were safely in. I wonder if OSU was given some benefit of the doubt for the 3 games where they suspended Wesson. I think they lost all 3. Not sure that should've happened, but it kind of looks like the committee did. Also really weird that MSU could be looking at a path of Bradley, Minnesota, Maryland and then Duke. Why are 3 B1G teams all in the same part of the bracket like that? Weird. And there's no way MSU should be in the same region as Duke. Although that's just enough of a snub to piss Izzo off, so they'll probably go and win the whole thing now.

Barry Collier will be in Lincoln. Bill Moos will be in Lincoln. Coincidence? Or NU's next basketball coach? But they'll have to do the interview away from PBA. Moos won't be there, of course.

Q1 wins - at Indiana, at Clemson, (N) Maryland Q2 wins - blue team, Seton Hall, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn St, (N) Oklahoma St Rutgers finished #101 in NET. Two more spots, and that would've been a Q2 to get us to 10. But there's no way we're in with that alone. Probably still needed both Wisc and MSU.

Here are how the NET numbers ended up as seeds: NET RANKS (*Non P5 teams) 1 SEEDS: 1, 2, 3, 7 2 SEEDS: 5, 6, 8, 9 3 SEEDS: 4*, 10, 12, 14 4 SEEDS: 11, 16, 20, 24 5 SEEDS: 17, 19, 18, 28 6 SEEDS: 15*, 21, 26, 27 7 SEEDS: 13*, 22, 23*, 25* 8 SEEDS: 29*, 34*, 36, 42 9 SEEDS: 30*, 37, 39, 45 10 SEEDS: 31, 43, 57, 61 11 SEEDS: 32*, 47*, 55, 56*, 63, 73 12 SEEDS: 40*, 44*, 51, 58* FIRST 4 OUT: 52, 54, 59, 60* The top 28 in the NET all were given at least a #7 seed. Not sure if they did that on purpose, but it's interesting. Once you get to the #8 seed line and down, it gets a little weird. As we get closer to the bubble, that's where it seems like the Q1+Q2 wins came into play much more than NET ranking for the P5 teams. Arizona St gets in with a #63 NET but had 11 Q1+Q2 wins, 3 of which were Q1 St John's has a #73 NET but had 10 Q1+Q2 wins, 5 of which were Q1 Seton Hall has a #57 NET but had 14 Q1+Q2 wins, 7 of which were Q1 Minnesota has a #61 NET but had 12 Q1+Q2 wins, 5 of which were Q1 Syracuse (36) and Mississippi (42) were rewarded for good NET rankings with #8 seeds, even though they only had 7 and 6 Q1+Q2 wins, respectively. Those seeds are a little odd. Oklahoma (37), Baylor (39), and Washington (45) had similar NET rankings but were made #9 seeds, even though they had 10, 12, and 10 Q1+Q2 wins. Highest ranked NET P5 teams left out: NC State, 33 NET / 8 Q1+Q2 wins (3 in Q1) Clemson, 35 NET/ 7 (1) Texas, 38 NET / 9 (5) Nebraska, 48 NET / 9 (3) Penn St, 50 NET / 7 (3) TCU, 52 NET / 9 (3) blue team, 53 NET / 9 (3) Indiana, 54 NET / 8 (6) Notice none of these teams got to 10 Q1+Q2 wins. Much like last year, reaching at least 10 Q1+Q2 wins seemed to be the magic number. Last year, 23 of the 24 teams that got to 10 made the field. This year, 32 of the 34 made the field. Alabama had a 59 NET with 10 Q1+Q2 wins (only 3 Q1). Georgetown had an 82 NET with 11 Q1+Q2 wins (5 Q1). Last year Georgia missed with 10 Q1+Q2 wins but had a bad RPI ranking. So if we could've beaten Wisconsin, we'd have had 10 Q1+Q2 wins with 4 in Q1 and an NET around 43-45. We'd have been damn close, based on who else made it and who didn't. And Ohio St/Indiana at the B1G tourney was almost certainly treated like a play-in game. OSU had NET of 55 and 9 Q1+Q2 wins; Indiana had NET of 54 and 8 Q1+Q2 wins. Flip that result, and those two teams are probably flipped.

UM leading MSU by 8 at half. Hot take here: Michigan's defensive philosophy and execution are almost unfair. They just never seem to be out of position. They made things almost impossible for MSU and committed 1 foul the entire half. So, so good. If John Beilein is ready for one last adventure a new challenge, I know a school that will have an opening soon.

Not Catholic, but willing to start going to confession if that will help. After the sheer number and various combinations of swear words I directed at Happ, Reuvers, and Davison Friday, I probably need to.

I'm with you - that thought came to mind watching Saint Louis qualify today. Travis Ford won an NCAA game at Oklahoma State, had a few really good years but was fired after eight years, now has SLU in the NCAA in three years there. Would I want a guy like Ford over someone like Craig Smith or DeCuire, who have had big success quickly at the mid-major level but who don't have the P5 experience? Tough call. Certainly Ford has had nice success at a few mid-major stops over the years. And guys have had success when given a 2nd shot at a P5 job. Then again, some have flamed out quickly. Certainly Ford isn't the only option, but, save for someone like Hoiberg, we're probably looking at guys who have had a P5 shot and probably failed or got fired for other reasons to fit the criteria of having an NCAA win or NCAA at-large berth. (Smith is an exception, as he would have had an NCAA at-large with USU this season, had they not won the Mt West tournament.) Ultimately, it would've been significantly better if we had just won enough last year or this year and we could keep Miles. But, baring some strange about-face from NU administration in the next few days, that ship has sailed. EDIT: Just to be clear, I'm not advocating for Ford, nor do I think he's on the radar. Just a convenient example as SLU was playing today. Plus he has Midwest ties.

Just noticed Montana and Travis DeCuire won the Big Sky again last night. 2nd straight NCAA trip. As was mentioned earlier in the thread, it's someone Moos may have on his list, just from his time at Montana, as DeCuire played there while Moos was AD. 4 20-win seasons in 5 years at Montana, 3 regular season titles, 2 conference tournament titles.

Yeah, it's kind of crazy to think that from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018, we played like a #4/#5 seed. Went 23-8. Undefeated at home. Crushed the national-runner up by 20. Routed the blue team up the road by 19. Beat the Big East tourney runner-up by 23. Won at Clemson. Won at Wisconsin. But we're going to miss the NCAA tourney on either side of that stretch. We will be a mid-level-seed NIT team on both sides instead. It's almost too improbable to even fathom something like that happening to any team in the country. The b-ball gods sure don't like us much.

Oh, I agree, we're not anywhere in the picture today. Cope's injury may have sunk the season, but that gives us zero benefit today. That's very clear. Our record without Cope is nowhere near good enough to even make the injury a consideration. We're not on the right side or wrong side of anyone's bubble. Indiana seems to be far closer to the bubble than us, and they're not making it either. If we were playing today, we'd be on the bubble, potentially even on the right side. But zero chance after the loss Friday.

I am firmly in the camp that losing Cope sunk the season. He was rock solid for the team, extremely consistent. He was playing much better than in 2017-18. His mid-range game and ability to get that shot off over almost anyone just gave us another option late in the shot clock. Without him, defensive big men were able to sag in the lane more, cutting driving lanes, and leaving us without a lot of late shot clock choices. That's not a slight against Borchardt. He played far, far better than I think we could've hoped in Cope's spot. And he did some things better than Cope. Defending a guy like Bruno worked much better with Borchardt/Roby than with Cope/Roby. Always love watching Tanner's ability to subtly screen the helper down low when Palmer drives, keeping that shot-blocker out of the picture. It's true we weren't playing great in the few games before Cope's injury. But with him in Nov/Dec, we were a #4/#5 seed type of team. Every team goes thru slumps and we were in a bit of one in mid-Jan. Then it got extended to a ridiculous length once he was injured. Had Cope stayed healthy, I think we win 3-4 more games, and we're in the tournament. Sucks ass for everyone.

Bracket Matrix has USU as a #9 seed, so a chance they'll be matched up with Iowa or Minnesota. Another good reason to root against the Chickens and/or Jackwagons. Smith can surely draw on that 10-11 minutes he spent as a (sort of) head coach in the NCAA Tournament, so that should help USU. Plus Karl Hess is no longer officiating games, so that's helpful for Smith. (To be fair, that's kind of an advantage for all fans/players/coaches.)

DRatings updated its projection this morning, still has us as a #4 seed - ETSU has replaced Wichita on the #5 line, just in case you were hoping we'd be matched up with the Bucs instead of the Shox. Other 3 projected #5 seeds are the same as yesterday - S Carolina, Dayton & Fresno St. Indiana is the only other B1G team in the NIT projection as a #2 seed. Looking like Ohio State will be playing in the First Four in Dayton Tuesday or Wednesday rather than falling to NIT. Penn State has a better NET rating than either Ind/OSU - and at #50, just 2 spots behind us - will be curious to see if they get a chance in the NIT, even with a poor record of 14-18. NIT selection show is at 7:30 pm on ESPNU.

New State Tourism Slogan: Nebraska. Honestly, it's not for everyone. Especially Bill Walton. And we like it that way. Kinda long, I admit. But it has a nice ring to it.

Lincoln's Natty Light distributors will be on cloud nine if Larry ends up here. They may even have to order a real truck instead of putting the orders for all 9 cases they sell per week in the back of Joe's Honda. I do know Larry's sideline language would even make Danny Nee blush.

Yeah, noticed that too. I think Arop just plays such solid defense, can switch anything, rebounds hard, that kind of fits the SDST playing style maybe better than Chang right now. Honestly thought Chang going to SDST was always a little weird, he doesn't seem like he fits what they do. Kind of interesting Tre'Shawn Thurman is having a nice year at Nevada - just an odd collection of Omaha kids all on teams near the top of the Mt West at the same time ... and Smith isn't coaching any of them.

Utah St up 34-32 at half over San Diego St in Mt West final. Heck of a first season for Smith at USU - regular season co-champs, possible postseason champs, and an NCAA berth coming. Arop has had a nice first half for SDSU - 6 pts I think, played maybe 8-10 minutes.

Maybe they should just rename this tournament The Mitten State Invitational.

That just sounds like a lot of work ... especially for a group that wants to spend the bare minimum amount of time dealing with hoops. If that's the plan, just fire the coach and turn down the bid. 1 or 2 teams do this every year. It's a lot easier. But since I love a good conspiracy theory, how about this one: Collier, as chairman of the NIT, is in on it with Moos and Boehm, and he'll be named NU's coach again after the committee snubs us. He'll be the Grover Cleveland of NU hoops.

Yeah, Ward set an, ahem, aggressive screen on him. Then Davison defied the laws of physics and bounced backward several feet, almost as if Ward was made of flubber. Foul, Ward.

Did we break Wisconsin? I'm going to vote yes because I like the idea. And because MSU is running circles around them early.

I'm with you. We caught lightning in a bottle in Chicago with the Magnificent 7, but the chances of repeating that next week in the NIT are minuscule, especially with even more uncertainty hanging over the program (which is hard to believe to be possible, but it's happening). Regardless of what the guys said immediately after yesterday's game, finishing their careers in the NIT has to be a huge disappointment for them, so repeating the Chicago effort and focus seems highly unlikely, regardless of the venue. Their intentions I'm sure are good, but it's just going to be really hard to recreate that emotion and wave of positivity/confidence in an NIT setting. The blue team isn't great by any stretch, but taking our short-handed, inexperienced group into that beer-fueled cesspool is a recipe for disaster. It's a whole lot different playing at a neutral site than going on the road for our former bench mob guys with so little experience. Now if we go in there and win, I'll delete this post before the echo of the final buzzer is over. ? So please, no one quote me.

DRatings updated this morning - has NU as a #4 seed https://www.dratings.com/predictor/bracketology/ #5 seeds are South Carolina, Dayton, Wichita St & Fresno St Has the blue team up the road as a #1 seed, so I'm sure we'd be in the same bracket as them for a potential 2nd round game in Omaha. (Never mind that our NET metrics are better than theirs.) I'd imagine we'd play Wichita in this scenario, as having the blue team lined up with either NU or Wichita is a perfect match from the perspective of attendance.