ladyhusker

Of course, even if we had beaten UCF, we get West Virginia. Considering how they were playing at the time (they demolished UCF) I don't think we win that. So we get another opportunity but realistically we lose that one. Then we get St. John's again, at full strength. Even if we win that, it's still not a Quad 1, and neither is UCF (despite being in Orlando, it's still a neutral site). Our SOS jumps 16 points but we add another tough loss. So unless we pulled out a miracle against WV, we're just talking about at least one more tough loss, and maybe two. Honestly, considering how it all shook out, it feels like we probably would have had to win vs KU, UCF, WV AND @Creighton to be in (which would only be 3 Q1 wins + our 1 vs Michigan...not sure how Minnesota wound up factoring in). Or beat Kansas and/or Creighton AND at least one (for bubble status, probably two to be a lock) of Mich State, Purdue, and Ohio State plus our Michigan win. Either of those situations would be tall order for anyone. Of course on the flip side we could apparently lose to our usual December cupcake and if we won those big ones, it wouldn't matter. "Winning the ones you're supposed to" is apparently not nearly as big a deal as some blue-clad ADs may have suggested. (Or maybe I'm just still bitter.) Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

One thing to keep in mind is that the non-conference schedule is set before the Big Ten releases the conference schedule. Teams have no way of knowing if they'll have a tough lineup in conference or not. Had we known what we'd get from the Big Ten, especially in the back half of the year, would we have scheduled the non-con differently? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But had we scheduled much tougher in the non-con, and gotten a tougher slate in conference, we potentially get a repeat of last year's landmine road. If this is how NCAA selection is going to work, maybe the conference should give teams their Big Ten schedules in June (God knows we have the football schedules set from now until my hypothetical grandkids are in middle school, so figuring out a hoops schedule two months early shouldn't be too hard) so they can try to fill out the non-con accordingly. Still takes a hell of a crystal ball to figure out who may or may not be good, but at least you're not flying quite so blind as you set your non-con. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Isn't this kind of a reversal of his earlier interviews? Could have sworn he said before that strength of schedule wasn't as important as intent of schedule, and was kind of arbitrary. Not that things didn't change, or maybe that was his own system vs what the committee as a whole wound up doing, but that seems opposite of what I thought he had said earlier, unless I just made all that up. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

As the (sole?) gal here, I'd share my chunk of floating fireplace with you guys. Thanks for doing the heavy lifting the last couple months. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I can see this, but that would also require us to do something that Michigan State couldn't do either, and Purdue barely barely achieved but it didn't feel like it at all. In those games, their starters were in until the end, but we pulled ours for the last minute or so, and Michigan also had an undefended shot at the end that ballooned the margin a little more. Michigan also looked like an 8th grade girls team at the free throw line against Purdue -- had they actually made any free throws down the stretch, that score would have resembled ours a lot more too. Had we kept it within 10, the way Michigan was playing, it would have been Herculean and yes, we'd likely be in. But I don't think it hurts us all that bad, considering how everything else played out. It just would have been a nice bonus.

Announcers in KU-OSU straight up campaigning for Oklahoma State even though their numbers are terrible ("but my eyes tell me this is a tournament team") and talking about how it's "unfair" that Florida State isn't a Quad-1 win anymore because they lost, but they were undefeated until Oklahoma State beat them. Must be nice to have your network in your corner.

Don't we actually want Buffalo tonight? It's their conference tournament and I don't THINK they could realistically steal an at-large but wouldn't it be better not to gamble on that? Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Officials in the BC-NC State game giving the Big Ten a run for their money. Really brutal calls (and no-calls) the last couple minutes against BC. Good night.

The fact that a school can commit enough infractions to result in the firing of their head coach AND athletic director, and yet still be on the bubble for this year, just bothers me. If there's a fairly high likelihood any game they play in will have its result vacated -- and since Rick Pitino and Tom Jurich are no longer employed for some quite recent infractions, that seems like a safe statement to make -- it just seems extraordinarily unfair to whoever's spot they get. I know the committee folks say they won't take that stuff into account, but I really hope that's just public speak and behind closed doors it's another story.

I actually disagree on the UCF loss being such a killer. Say we beat them, but lose to West Virginia (the way they were playing + the way we were playing, that seems like kind of a given)...we get St. John's again, and it's the full-strength version that just decimated us a week before. If we lose that one too, our RPI is...64. Exactly the same as it is now. Our SOS jumps 16 points and we pick up a Quad 2 win in UCF, but that's offset by an extra loss. In order for us to see any real benefit, we'd have to beat St. John's again (or beat WVU, who absolutely SMOKED UCF after getting tripped up a little by Marist) which is something that, as much as I love this team, I'm not sure we would have accomplished at that point in the season. So all things considered, maybe there would be some incremental benefit to have played the tougher opponents, but I'd be surprised if it was enough of a boost to make a real difference in our postseason hopes. (For whatever it's worth, too, simply dropping Delaware State from the schedule has exactly the same effect on our SOS and RPI as losing to WVU but beating St. John's.)

You don't even have to go that far...just say we swapped Delaware State for a D2 team, as several other bubble teams did. That alone bumps our RPI to 48, and gives a better apples-to-apples picture with the teams who did just that. I can't see the rationale for ever penalizing a team that much for playing a team in their own division...if nothing else changes this offseason, that needs to be addressed. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I get that I'm a homer, but I just can't see Penn State getting in OVER us. Their 3 quad 1 wins are all against Ohio State -- which, obviously, is impressive, but not world-beating, and that's literally the only good team they beat. Their record in the Big Ten is much lower than ours. I get that Rider isn't quite the head-scratcher it was at the time, but they still lost to them at home. They beat us in overtime at their place without our big man; we DESTROYED them at our place without theirs. We're 16 points ahead of them in RPI, 1 ahead in SOS (odd but true), and 20 ahead of them in SOR. If you make a case for them, it's purely based on the eye test, and if that's the case, we pass that too. I get that they're kind of the trendy thing right now, but I legitimately don't understand how they're getting any sort of buzz to get in over us.

I wasn't home so was just following scores on my phone...but saw Pat Chambers apparently earned himself a technical? Please tell me it was his old nemesis Kelly Pfeifer who popped him with it. Would be the icing on a very weird flavored cake. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Not for nothing, the FBI may be trimming your hiring pool if you're hanging out in Fire Miles world. Also consider the job he's done here -- cleanly -- when going against competition breaking the rules so badly that the FBI is involved in the first place. I'm as disappointed as anyone, trust me on that. But talk of starting over AGAIN is insanity. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

With Terry Oglesby? Godspeed. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

100% want Iowa over Illinois. In the event the unthinkable happens and someone upsets Michigan, I'd much rather take down Iowa than Illinois for win #23.

You guys keep saying "gizmo" and this is all I think of... (guess who was a child of the 80s and also whose friends had those terrifying Furby things)

You know the crazy thing, that might contribute to the argument about why the RPI is nonsense, is that on Dec. 5, the day we played them (so not factoring in their loss to us), Minnesota was actually #43 RPI...when they were a top-15 team in the country. Technically, that would still only be a Quad 2 win if they factored the RPI at the time the game was played. The one that drives me batty is Northwestern. On the day that game was played, they were #75 RPI, which makes THAT one a Quad 1 win under the same parameters. But a., clearly that win is not the same as beating Minnesota (even at home), and b., Northwestern has also tanked but no one really talks about that. But if we're hoping the committee gives us extra credit for Minnesota, we could make a case for getting a little extra love for Northwestern too.

A hypothetical question... Let's assume we wind up the 4, and Michigan is the 5. But then, if Michigan gets upset by the 12/13, and that's who we get instead, so no opportunity for another Tier 1 game...would us winning THAT game be enough for the folks who say we need one in NYC? It's an outside chance, sure, but still a possibility. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Moses also broke his hand and that was a bit of a hindrance, for whatever that's worth. Not sure if it would have made a TON of difference in his overall trajectory (like that doesn't make him at Palmer or Petteway level), but in a year where we could have used a serviceable big and had Captain Hook instead, that may have affected things a little.

I have a whole shelf of apple butter I made and canned this fall that I don't think I'll be able to look at the same way again.

It's not 20 years because I do have to get some stuff done today at some point, but I looked up the top 16 NIT seeds for the past five seasons from Power 5 and what I kind of thought of as "Mid-Major Plus" conferences (American, Big East, A10 and Mountain West, only because they each had some success for a while during those years). Those with 11-7 conference records or better who did not receive an NCAA tournament invite and went to the NIT include: 16-2: 1 (2016 San Diego State, Mountain West, lost in conference tournament championship) 14-4: 2 (2016 St. Bonaventure, A10; 2015 Tulsa, American) 13-5: 4 (2015 Rhode Island, A10; 2015 Temple, American; 2015 and 2017 Colorado State, Mountain West) 12-6: 6 (2015 Richmond, A10; 2017 Houston and 2014 SMU, American; 2014 Georgia, 2013 Kentucky, and 2013 Alabama, SEC) -- 2014 Georgia was left out of the NCAA, but 11-7 Tennessee was included 11-7: 8 (2016 George Washington, A10; 2013 Virginia, ACC; 2017 UCF, American; 2016 Ohio State, Big Ten; 2017 Utah, Pac 12; 2016 South Carolina, 2015 Texas A&M, and 2013 Tennessee, SEC) Note that there were no teams with 10 or more wins AND less than 8 losses. There was one 9-7 team (2013 UMass, A10) but I didn't include them because their winning percentage is right around a 10-8 team and that wasn't the question. During that time frame, here are the .500 or worse teams from those conferences who were included over 11-7 or better conference records: 2017: 9-9 Wake Forest (ACC), 9-9 Xavier (Big East), 9-9 Oklahoma State and 8-10 Kansas State (Big 12) In over 11-7 Utah (Pac 12), 11-7 UCF (American), and 13-5 Colorado State (Mountain West) 2016: 9-9 Pittsburgh, 9-9 Syracuse (ACC), 9-9 Texas Tech (Big 12), 9-9 USC (Pac 12), 9-9 Oregon State (Pac 12) In over 16-2 San Diego State (Mountain West), 14-4 St. Bonaventure (A10), 11-7 George Washington (A10), 11-7 Ohio State (Big Ten - had 7 teams 12-6 or better) 2015: 9-9 Indiana (Big Ten), 9-9 Xavier (Big East), 8-10 Oklahoma State (Big 12), 8-10 Texas (Big 12) In over 13-5 Rhode Island (A10), 13-5 Temple (American), 13-5 Colorado State (Mountain West), 12-6 Richmond (A10), 11-7 Texas A&M (SEC) 2014: 9-9 Baylor (Big 12), 9-9 Iowa (Big Ten), 9-9 NC State (ACC), 8-10 Oklahoma State (Big 12 - included over 9-9 West Virginia in same conference) In over 12-6 SMU (American), 12-6 Georgia (SEC) 2013: 9-9 Cincinnati (Big East), 8-10 Illinois (Big Ten), 8-10 Minnesota (Big Ten - included over 9-9 Iowa in same conference), In over 12-6 Kentucky (SEC), 12-6 Alabama (SEC), 11-7 Virginia (ACC), 11-7 Tennessee (SEC) So long answer, but in the last 5 years, unless I missed one or two NIT teams, there have been 6 teams from a Power 5 team with a sub-.500 conference record included over 18 Power 5/mid-major+ team with an 11-7 or better conference record. Subtracting the A10, American, Big East, and Mountain West, that comes down to 6 teams from a Power 5 with a sub-.500 record over 8 Power 5 teams with an 11-7 or better conference record. One thing throwing this off a little, too: I know we hate the RPI around here right now, but the 2013 SEC was the 9th-rated RPI conference (per Warren Nolan), behind the rest of the Power 5, Big East, A10, and Missouri Valley. Three of the 11-7 or better Power 5 teams excluded came from the 2013 SEC. According to his percentage ratings, this year's Big Ten would fit #6 that year, well above that conference, so take this with a little grain of salt.

Ok, gurus, one thing I had forgotten...we can't really cheer for Michigan to win out (to keep them in Quadrant 1) AND Penn State to win out (to make our win over them look better)...they play each other in Happy Valley on Wednesday. Would we rather see Michigan win, keep our Q1 win there, but have a pissed off, desperate Penn State come to Lincoln? Or see Penn State win and run the risk of them taking the 5 seed (if we lose to them AND Michigan loses at Maryland), but if we win Tuesday Penn State beating Michigan clinches the 4 for us?

I mean, if that FBI probe stuff comes out soon, Cal (and a variety of other blue blood coaches) may be available and interested in a coaching job. Our wins may not count for a few years, but hey, no one's perfect, right?

I know it isn't apples to apples, but Feb. 26, 2014, we lost at Illinois 60-49 with three games to go in the regular season. This hurts, a LOT, but it isn't over yet. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk