Re: College Basketball 2008-2009

[XZero771679666304]

 

stop being a ---SOAPDROPPING--- goon, i'm just kidding.

 

To be fair, you can be kind of a tool when it comes to the Illini.

 

to put it mildly

 

That said, I'm not about to take any crap from a Mizzou fan.

[hawkeyecub]

you'd almost think illinois was good this year or something

 

almost

 

they have very few passable players. that will change soon, though.

 

My God I can't wait until all of those guys actually get there so we don't have to hear about the next 3 years and all of the studs you'll have every week.

 

For like the last 2-3 years all Illinois fans talk about are guys who aren't even playing on the team. It was nothing but E.J. for how long, then last year and in the off season we heard about what a stud Legion was (that's turning out well) and how unstoppable you would be once you had him, young Derron Williams, Paul, Richardson, etc.

 

I eagerly await the Illini reign of dominance just so you will actually discuss the present and not end every argument with "but we've got studs on the way." I feel like I'm in a warped discussion of the future of the Cubs with our farm system in 2002.

[illiniguy]

you'd almost think illinois was good this year or something

 

almost

 

they have very few passable players. that will change soon, though.

 

My God I can't wait until all of those guys actually get there so we don't have to hear about the next 3 years and all of the studs you'll have every week.

 

For like the last 2-3 years all Illinois fans talk about are guys who aren't even playing on the team. It was nothing but E.J. for how long, then last year and in the off season we heard about what a stud Legion was (that's turning out well) and how unstoppable you would be once you had him, young Derron Williams, Paul, Richardson, etc.

 

I eagerly await the Illini reign of dominance just so you will actually discuss the present and not end every argument with "but we've got studs on the way." I feel like I'm in a warped discussion of the future of the Cubs with our farm system in 2002.

You guys could be excited for the future as well. If you had any talent coming in.

That and I love how a ranked team in the top 20 isn't at all relevant this year.

[Magnetic Curses]

you'd almost think illinois was good this year or something

 

almost

 

they have very few passable players. that will change soon, though.

 

My God I can't wait until all of those guys actually get there so we don't have to hear about the next 3 years and all of the studs you'll have every week.

 

For like the last 2-3 years all Illinois fans talk about are guys who aren't even playing on the team. It was nothing but E.J. for how long, then last year and in the off season we heard about what a stud Legion was (that's turning out well) and how unstoppable you would be once you had him, young Derron Williams, Paul, Richardson, etc.

 

I eagerly await the Illini reign of dominance just so you will actually discuss the present and not end every argument with "but we've got studs on the way." I feel like I'm in a warped discussion of the future of the Cubs with our farm system in 2002.

 

i don't think i ever crowed about ej or legion, i was glad that we got them, but i'm much more excited about the next 2 years of recruits coming in.

 

just relax, i in no way mentioned iowa or their perpetual lack of relevance.

[Magnetic Curses]

 

stop being a ---SOAPDROPPING--- goon, i'm just kidding.

 

To be fair, you can be kind of a tool when it comes to the Illini.

 

to put it mildly

 

That said, I'm not about to take any crap from a Mizzou fan.

 

haha, you got me. but seriously, mizzou fans talking crap are like washington general fans talking crap.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

 

stop being a ---SOAPDROPPING--- goon, i'm just kidding.

 

To be fair, you can be kind of a tool when it comes to the Illini.

 

to put it mildly

 

That said, I'm not about to take any crap from a Mizzou fan.

 

haha, you got me. but seriously, mizzou fans talking crap are like washington general fans talking crap.

 

Haha thanks for the laugh. Anyways I would wager to guess that the only reason the Big 12 is ahead of Big Ten in those rankings in due to the fact that IU is so piss poor this year. Also if you look at the conference RPI ratings the Big Ten is number two behind only the ACC.

 

http://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2009/conferencerpi

[SouthSideRyan]

It's IU being terrible to some extent, but it's also not having a top team the caliber of Oklahoma.

 

Haha, or not. Pomeroy, not a fan of Oklahoma.

[SouthSideRyan]

I've got 16 teams as locks barring nuclear holocaust.

 

Duke

Wake

UNC

UConn

Pitt

Louisville

Marquette

Gonzaga

Memphis

UCLA

Oklahoma

Xavier

Kansas

Clemson

Butler

Davidson

 

This isn't to say they're in unless they lose every game the rest of the way, but they aren't missing the tourney unless they lose a hell of a lot of games that they shouldn't.

 

18-27 at large bids remain.

 

Add MSU following their depantsing of Minnesota. 17-26 remain.

 

Villanova, Illinois, and Missouri are in. 14-23 remain.

[bukie]

You still think Davidson is a lock? I don't. They're maybe a 12 seed at best if they don't win their conference tournament or beat Butler at home.

[radarluv1]

i'm not so sure about braggin rights next year. our backcourt will be more inexperienced (though more talented), and may have problems with full court pressure. idk what mizzou will graduate this year.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yep, I keep coming back to last year where they were a 10 seed with losses to Western Michigan, Charlotte, and NC State and 2 nonconference wins total.

 

This year they're 7-3 noncon with wins over West Virginia and NC St. Two trip ups against conference opponents and a loss to Butler isn't going to keep them out.

[bukie]

Yep, I keep coming back to last year where they were a 10 seed with losses to Western Michigan, Charlotte, and NC State and 2 nonconference wins total.

 

This year they're 7-3 noncon with wins over West Virginia and NC St. Two trip ups against conference opponents and a loss to Butler isn't going to keep them out.

Last year, they also went a total of 23-0 against their conference and had the longest winning streak in the country going into the tournament, just to get a 10 seed. Neither of those two will happen this year. It's the equivalent of saying "If Davidson wins out, they're a lock". Well, obviously. Any team fits that criteria. Right now, though, they're not a likely tournament team, let alone a lock. They have an RPI of 50 this year as opposed to 35 last year.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

i'm not so sure about braggin rights next year. our backcourt will be more inexperienced (though more talented), and may have problems with full court pressure. idk what mizzou will graduate this year.

 

We bring back like 5 points/game of interior scoring. Maybe we'll attempt 50 threes in a game next year.

[SouthSideRyan]

Mizzou's losing Lawrence, Lyons, and Carroll. We really shouldn't lose to them next year.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yep, I keep coming back to last year where they were a 10 seed with losses to Western Michigan, Charlotte, and NC State and 2 nonconference wins total.

 

This year they're 7-3 noncon with wins over West Virginia and NC St. Two trip ups against conference opponents and a loss to Butler isn't going to keep them out.

Last year, they also went a total of 23-0 against their conference and had the longest winning streak in the country going into the tournament, just to get a 10 seed. Neither of those two will happen this year. It's the equivalent of saying "If Davidson wins out, they're a lock". Well, obviously. Any team fits that criteria. Right now, though, they're not a likely tournament team, let alone a lock. They have an RPI of 50 this year as opposed to 35 last year.

 

They'd have still been within at-large range with 1 conference loss last year. This year, I'm saying they won't add more than 1 more, and have wins over actual teams to cushion that blow. What's the difference between losing to College of Charleston this year and Western Michigan last year? Not a whole hell of a lot.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

i'm not so sure about braggin rights next year. our backcourt will be more inexperienced (though more talented), and may have problems with full court pressure. idk what mizzou will graduate this year.

 

D-Mac will be back. If he can't handle the pressure after seeing it for two years then there are serious problems. Losing Chester will hurt in the ball security department will hurt, however I think the talent coming in will make up for it. My main concern for next year is not having a senior leader with an established role on the team besides Keller.

[bukie]

They'd have still been within at-large range with 1 conference loss last year. This year, I'm saying they won't add more than 1 more, and have wins over actual teams to cushion that blow. What's the difference between losing to College of Charleston this year and Western Michigan last year? Not a whole hell of a lot.

Just the time of year it happened. The committee has taken recent play into account in seeding, and if Davidson loses the Bracketbuster game and a game in the SoCon tourney, that'll put them at just 7-3 in the last 10 with only one win against a top 100 RPI team. They have a worse computer profile than last year, and it's not as if they were clearly safe last year despite winning their final 24 games.

 

On a similar note, here's an article with some information from the committee chair on thoughts on seeding and selection.

 

I think anyone projecting to the top 4-5 seeds at this point would be hard-pressed to blow it over the last 7-8 games of the year. Except Syracuse, because that's kind of what they do every year. :)

 

If I was looking at it, I'd probably set as locks...

ACC: UNC, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest

Big East: UConn, Pitt, Louisville, Villanova, Marquette

Big 12: Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri

Big Ten: MSU, Illinois, Ohio State, Purdue (if Hummel comes back healthy, the losses without him will be overlooked, I think)

Pac-10: UCLA

Other: Xavier, Butler, Gonzaga, Memphis

 

That covers 21 teams over 9 conferences, leaving 22 other conference auto bids to total 43 bids taken. That leaves 22 bids up for grabs, IMO.

[SouthSideRyan]

At least from my perspective, the last 12 games can't outweigh what a team did, particularly if it was successful earlier in the year."

[bukie]

At least from my perspective, the last 12 games can't outweigh what a team did, particularly if it was successful earlier in the year."

Heh, I should have just quoted that myself, since I knew you'd do that. :)

 

I still don't think their overall profile is better than last year if they lose to Butler and don't win the conference tournament.

[hawkeyecub]

you'd almost think illinois was good this year or something

 

almost

 

they have very few passable players. that will change soon, though.

 

My God I can't wait until all of those guys actually get there so we don't have to hear about the next 3 years and all of the studs you'll have every week.

 

For like the last 2-3 years all Illinois fans talk about are guys who aren't even playing on the team. It was nothing but E.J. for how long, then last year and in the off season we heard about what a stud Legion was (that's turning out well) and how unstoppable you would be once you had him, young Derron Williams, Paul, Richardson, etc.

 

I eagerly await the Illini reign of dominance just so you will actually discuss the present and not end every argument with "but we've got studs on the way." I feel like I'm in a warped discussion of the future of the Cubs with our farm system in 2002.

You guys could be excited for the future as well. If you had any talent coming in.

That and I love how a ranked team in the top 20 isn't at all relevant this year.

 

Great point! Now show me where I said your team wasn't at all relevant this year.

 

And wait, you actually have guys to be excited about? How is that possible? You ranted like a lunatic for 4 years that your coach was the worst recruiter in history and should be fired? Excellent prognostications indeed.

Edited February 11, 2009 by hawkeyecub

[hawkeyecub]

you'd almost think illinois was good this year or something

 

almost

 

they have very few passable players. that will change soon, though.

 

My God I can't wait until all of those guys actually get there so we don't have to hear about the next 3 years and all of the studs you'll have every week.

 

For like the last 2-3 years all Illinois fans talk about are guys who aren't even playing on the team. It was nothing but E.J. for how long, then last year and in the off season we heard about what a stud Legion was (that's turning out well) and how unstoppable you would be once you had him, young Derron Williams, Paul, Richardson, etc.

 

I eagerly await the Illini reign of dominance just so you will actually discuss the present and not end every argument with "but we've got studs on the way." I feel like I'm in a warped discussion of the future of the Cubs with our farm system in 2002.

 

i don't think i ever crowed about ej or legion, i was glad that we got them, but i'm much more excited about the next 2 years of recruits coming in.

 

just relax, i in no way mentioned iowa or their perpetual lack of relevance.

 

You honestly don't think you ever crowed about EJ? If you didn't, you were the only one.

 

Last year and in the offseason I think I read at least 12,873 times "Thank God we won't have to watch Meachem and Frazier in the Big Ten next year. We've got Legion coming!"

 

It's not a knock on your program or the recruits. I just can't wait until you go 38-0 for 3 straight years so your fans actually live in the present and every discussion doesn't end in "Wait til next year when we have all our studs". We've been hearing it in some form for 3 years.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Here's a cool site that aggregates a bunch of bracket predictions(54 right now) to give the average seeding for each team listed.

 

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/matrix.htm

[SouthSideRyan]

At least from my perspective, the last 12 games can't outweigh what a team did, particularly if it was successful earlier in the year."

Heh, I should have just quoted that myself, since I knew you'd do that. :)

 

I still don't think their overall profile is better than last year if they lose to Butler and don't win the conference tournament.

 

I think it's about equal/a little worse which should make them no worse than a 12 seed.

[rchap24]

Is Hummel playing today? This could be a huge win for us after the last two losses

[Derwood]

Is Hummel playing today? This could be a huge win for us after the last two losses

 

please no please no please no please no