NET is up to 79: Big Week Ahead

[confucius say]

We need to start a run now if we want any chance of getting into the bubble.
We win two this week and we will be right there for a double bye spot in the sec tourney and a NET around 70.

[trob115]

Tomorrow is a huge game. Need to win it to realistically have any chance of making the tournament discussion. We shouldn't lose another game the rest of the year besides Bama. Having said that, I fully expect us to be .500 the rest of the year.

[msstate7]

Ark will be tough.

[msstate7]

Tomorrow is a huge game. Need to win it to realistically have any chance of making the tournament discussion. We shouldn't lose another game the rest of the year besides Bama. Having said that, I fully expect us to be .500 the rest of the year.

LSU and at auburn should be wins? Maybe, but that's pretty tough expectations to run the table after tomorrow minus Bama

[CaptainObvious]

I had a YoYo when I was a kid. I recognize YoYos really easily.

[msstate7]

I had a YoYo when I was a kid. I recognize YoYos really easily.

11 sec teams are in the 6-3 to 3-6/2-4 range. In this 11 team group, only 1 team has lost or won more than 2 in a row. There is a whole lot of parity in this league.

[Lord McBuckethead]

It is put up or shut up. We are basically in a "tourney" now because we shit the bed against Ole Miss and aTm. We need every win from here on out.

[CaptainObvious]

11 sec teams are in the 6-3 to 3-6/2-4 range. In this 11 team group, only 1 team has lost or won more than 2 in a row. There is a whole lot of parity in this league.

So you are saying mediocrity is a good thing?

[Coach34]

So you are saying mediocrity is a good thing?

The SEC is going to get 6 teams in the Dance- thats not mediocrity.

Just Win Baby and it all takes care of itself

[Lord McBuckethead]

It is put up or shut up. We are basically in a "tourney" now because we shit the bed against Ole Miss and aTm. We need every win from here on out.

[Hot Rock]

Optimism.. what his this?

This team goes to Arkansas and wins and I will be dragged back in to the "HOPE".

I do like this team and I truly hope they get it together. I do believe they can beat anyone in this league on a given night.

[BrunswickDawg]

11 sec teams are in the 6-3 to 3-6/2-4 range. In this 11 team group, only 1 team has lost or won more than 2 in a row. There is a whole lot of parity in this league.

I think that is somewhat common in SEC play. February is usually a make or break month for anyone not named Kentucky. I wonder too if Bama will come back to Earth. Their 3 early losses (Stanford, Clemson, and WKy) tells me they will. Could be a crazy month.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Right now our task is pretty easy, every game is the most important cause lose 1 and you'll have to win the conference tourney to get in.

[confucius say]

7-2 to close the season puts us squarely on the bubble going to the sec tourney

[msstate7]

If there's no conference tournaments, it'll probably open up a spot or 2 that usually gets taken by small schools that win conf tourney

[StarkVegasSteve]

7-2 to close the season puts us squarely on the bubble going to the sec tourney

Squarely on the bubble=win the SEC Tourney to get in. We just didn't have a chance to play quality opponents this year and Clemson's season imploding isn't helping us. I firmly believe 8-1 or 9-0 will be needed for us not to need to win the tourney to get in. A lot could change between now and Selection Sunday but that's how I see it now.

[MetEdDawg]

Does anyone actually feel confident about winning tonight? I don't.

Although if I'm being honest, this has the Howland gets this win and gets the fan base back in it only to lose to a 4-6 SC team in Columbia on Saturday feel.

[PGHBulldogBG]

7-2? Unfortunately the other way around is probably more realistic but I bet we finish 8-10

[Ari Gold]

Does anyone actually feel confident about winning tonight? I don't.

Although if I'm being honest, this has the Howland gets this win and gets the fan base back in it only to lose to a 4-6 SC team in Columbia on Saturday feel.

I doubt even with a win tonight we are favored on the road in Columbia.. it’s hard to win on the road in the SEC Tennessee is proving that tonight in Oxford..

[CaptainObvious]

This thread just died on the vine at about 9:30 last night.

[msstate7]

83rd in NET rankings now

Dropped, but not bad. My goal has been NIT all season, so I didn't trip last night even though it was as terrible as we've been in a long time. Saturday will be difficult on the road, but more winnable than last night. Maybe we get it done.

[R2Dawg]

83rd in NET rankings now

Dropped, but not bad. My goal has been NIT all season, so I didn't trip last night even though it was as terrible as we've been in a long time. Saturday will be difficult on the road, but more winnable than last night. Maybe we get it done.

Well NIT is our ceiling now and we got work to do just to make it. Last night about did me in on much hope for this year. I was still holding out till last night's performance - players and coaches. It was a total team egg.

[Captain Falcon]

83rd in NET rankings now

Dropped, but not bad. My goal has been NIT all season, so I didn't trip last night even though it was as terrible as we've been in a long time. Saturday will be difficult on the road, but more winnable than last night. Maybe we get it done.

Buddy we are 10-9 and will be favored in less than half of our remaining games. Forget the NET for a second, we aren?t sniffing the NIT unless we are well over .500. And that most likely is not gonna come close to happening. There is a very real chance we finish the year below .500 overall.

[msstate7]

Buddy we are 10-9 and will be favored in less than half of our remaining games. Forget the NET for a second, we aren?t sniffing the NIT unless we are well over .500. And that most likely is not gonna come close to happening. There is a very real chance we finish the year below .500 overall.

Maybe, maybe not. Things can turn on a dime when you dealing with a young team... and yes, it could go bad.

[klong-dog]

We will not win in Columbia Saturday. Hell they (SC) just won in Gainesville tonight. We'll be lucky to win 3-4 more games.

[msstate7]

We will not win in Columbia Saturday. Hell they (SC) just won in Gainesville tonight. We'll be lucky to win 3-4 more games.

And they lost to vandy before that. Making definitive statements about sec teams 2-14 isn't smart. Any of those teams can win or lose to each other.

[PGHBulldogBG]

Looking at this realistically I think 7-11 is what we end up getting. Assuming we beat vandy and SC at home, I think we find one more win between @auburn @sc @tamu and LSU at home. Depending on the match up should hopefully get 1 in SEC tournament and then most likely close the books on this season. Hopefully if everyone comes back minus Ado and Johnson next year we have a chance to make the NCAA

[msstate7]

Here's our chances to win based on current BPI projection...

SC - .519
Lsu - .452
Vandy - .808
Auburn - .480
OM - .405
Sc - .679
Bama - .333
aTm - .672

Take this with a grain of salt, obviously.

[msstate7]

I wanna win, but I'd be thrilled if we just see these things...

Stewart get more consistent game to game with his shooting.

D. Smith take the primary Pg position. I really think for us to reach our potential next season, we need d. Smith, Molinar, and Stewart on the court together with smith initiating and Molinar/Stewart scoring.

Matthews, post, and fountain continue to progress. I'm not as down on Matthews as most. I think he's gonna be a very valuable role player for us in the future. The only offense we really need from him is put backs, 60+ Ft %, and his passing, which is pretty dang good for a young forward. Post has looked much better lately, but I wanna see be more than a spot up shooter... finish down low, big guy. No idea what to think of fountain, but he looked like a potential guy off the bench to provide energy and hopefully some scoring.

I've always looked at this season as prep for next year since Woodard bolted. I'm 100% behind howland, but next season, he has to have us back in the tourney. If he can't do it, I'll turn on him big time.

[Johnson85]

Here's our chances to win based on current BPI projection...

SC - .519
Lsu - .452
Vandy - .808
Auburn - .480
OM - .405
Sc - .679
Bama - .333
aTm - .672

Take this with a grain of salt, obviously.

So basically projected to go 4-4. Is that good enough to get us into the dance?****

[msstate7]

So basically projected to go 4-4. Is that good enough to get us into the dance?****

At 14-13, I have us safely in haha

[msstate7]

We will not win in Columbia Saturday. Hell they (SC) just won in Gainesville tonight. We'll be lucky to win 3-4 more games.

See what I mean?

[confucius say]

I honestly enjoy watching out men more than our women now. First time since 2012.

Also, it is very possible that our men finish higher than our women.

[klong-dog]

See what I mean?

Yep, this year is so weird. Bama obviously the surprise and being the only consistent team thus far. I still think MO is the most complete team in the league and you saw what we did to them. Which yeah, that was our best half of the year against them.

[klong-dog]

I honestly enjoy watching out men more than our women now. First time since 2012.

Also, it is very possible that our men finish higher than our women.

Which is amazing how far we've regressed. I seriously thought we'd be top 5 all year long with our roster. Amazing what differences a coach can mean, I think we have 1 loss, 2 at the most with Vic.

[Jarius]

I feel sorry for anyone gambling on MSU basketball this year. This is the most schizophrenic basketball team I have ever seen. You literally have no clue what is going to happen every time out.

[msstate7]

I feel sorry for anyone gambling on MSU basketball this year. This is the most schizophrenic basketball team I have ever seen. You literally have no clue what is going to happen every time out.

It's basketball.

What most here say they want in football, we have in basketball now - competitive balance. Almost any conference game can go one way or the other.

[PGHBulldogBG]

NET now up to 73. I?ve been following this NET closer this year and I?ve noticed it seems like the biggest thing it awards is marginal of victory over anything else. KenPom uses this as a strong indicator as well. I always thought it was more about quad wins but that seems to take a backseat compared to margin on victory.

[msstate7]

NET now up to 73. I?ve been following this NET closer this year and I?ve noticed it seems like the biggest thing it awards is marginal of victory over anything else. KenPom uses this as a strong indicator as well. I always thought it was more about quad wins but that seems to take a backseat compared to margin on victory.

We probably got a good boost for the road Q2 win and also Missouri beating Bama. We could really use Florida closing strong to move that win to Q1; currently, it's right on the cusp at #31.

[Jarius]

It's basketball.

What most here say they want in football, we have in basketball now - competitive balance. Almost any conference game can go one way or the other.

It would be very nice if football were this equal. I can take shitty play if I know we are a good head coaching hire away from being competitive within the conference. Football is just about bragging about beating ole miss when we do and going to a nice bowl game. Very little for anyone outside a few teams to play for every year.

[Johnson85]

It's basketball.

What most here say they want in football, we have in basketball now - competitive balance. Almost any conference game can go one way or the other.

The parity is not bad. The problem is it's just an ugly product right now. Some of that comes from parity. Players look a lot prettier when they have a talent advantage. But a lot of it is it's hard to develop any continuity or do anything really well when your best players leave as soon as they show anything.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The parity is not bad. The problem is it's just an ugly product right now. Some of that comes from parity. Players look a lot prettier when they have a talent advantage. But a lot of it is it's hard to develop any continuity or do anything really well when your best players leave as soon as they show anything.

And this is why the need to do the draft the way the MLB does it. You can go out of high school but if you come to college you have to stay for 3 academic years. That will solve a lot of the problems, especially after a few of the "Can't Miss" prospects can't play in the NBA. It may not be as physical as it used to be, but in 20+ years of watching college basketball I haven't seen very many players who would've succeeded at the NBA level at 18 years old. I can only think of 6-7.

[BrunswickDawg]

And this is why the need to do the draft the way the MLB does it. You can go out of high school but if you come to college you have to stay for 3 academic years. That will solve a lot of the problems, especially after a few of the "Can't Miss" prospects can't play in the NBA. It may not be as physical as it used to be, but in 20+ years of watching college basketball I haven't seen very many players who would've succeeded at the NBA level at 18 years old. I can only think of 6-7.

Actually, the hit rate on HS to NBA was pretty good. They may have not all been stars, but the majority of them had long careers - or were at least more successful than the vast number of people who leave early now and end up in the D League or going Euro.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_high_school_draftees

But - you are spot on about draft eligibility needing to be like baseball.