3/11 Bracketology update

[CadaverDawg]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...&year=2019&wjb

6 seed playing Temple, winner gets Michigan

Michigan is tough, but I've pretty much decided no matter who we would potentially play in the second round, it will take a big upset for us to win. The 3 seeds are pretty tough this year.

Would love for us to pull an upset or two in the SECT and find our way into a 5 seed, but I don't see it happening

-fixed link -scooba

[basedog]

Upset indeed IF we make the sweet 16 and win, history says only 3 times to sweet 16. Let that sink in, Msu is tough place to win.

[msstate7]

Don't like being matched up with great defensive teams. The other projection was with Texas tech. Texas tech and Michigan are 1-2 in defensive efficiency according to pomeroy. Purdue or VT would be a much better matchup... really good offense and defense in the 30s

[CadaverDawg]

Don't like being matched up with great defensive teams. The other projection was with Texas tech. Texas tech and Michigan are 1-2 in defensive efficiency according to pomeroy. Purdue or VT would be a much better matchup... really good offense and defense in the 30s

I agree

[maroonmania]

We can't catch a break from a bracket perspective anyway. Heck, we are the 6 seed in the SEC tourney and would have to beat TN and KY just to get to the final. On the other hand Auburn, as the 5th seed, has a near cakewalk into the final with an average SC team and an LSU team with all kind of off the court issues at the moment including a suspended HC. And that happened all because Auburn pulled off the TN upset on the final weekend.

[CadaverDawg]

We can't catch a break from a bracket perspective anyway. Heck, we are the 6 seed in the SEC tourney and would have to beat TN and KY just to get to the final. On the other hand Auburn, as the 5th seed, has a near cakewalk into the final with an average SC team and an LSU team with all kind of off the court issues at the moment including a suspended HC. And that happened all because Auburn pulled off the TN upset on the final weekend.

Very True....you can make your own breaks though, and we had many opportunities to get big wins this year and failed to get it done. Beating LSU on our home court might have us a 5 seed in the dance for instance. We'll get at least 1 more shot at a big time seed altering win in the SECT....but nobody has confidence that we can pull it off. Time for our guys to step up and prove they aren't a pretender that just beats the teams they're supposed to.

[Tbonewannabe]

Very True....you can make your own breaks though, and we had many opportunities to get big wins this year and failed to get it done. Beating LSU on our home court might have us a 5 seed in the dance for instance. We'll get at least 1 more shot at a big time seed altering win in the SECT....but nobody has confidence that we can pull it off. Time for our guys to step up and prove they aren't a pretender that just beats the teams they're supposed to.

No matter how far we go in the Big Dance, we got back there. We have been wandering in the desert for quite a while. Howland had to rebuild the foundation similar to how Mullen did, only Howland didn't have Pro talent on the roster that wasn't being used correctly. Howland had a bigger rebuild although in not as tough of a league.

[CadaverDawg]

No matter how far we go in the Big Dance, we got back there. We have been wandering in the desert for quite a while. Howland had to rebuild the foundation similar to how Mullen did, only Howland didn't have Pro talent on the roster that wasn't being used correctly. Howland had a bigger rebuild although in not as tough of a league.

Yeah, but if you want to know why Howland doesn't get the love and fan support Mullen got, I think it comes down to wins compared to personnel. In other words, Dan had a roster of primarily 3 and 4 stars, and while he didn't pull a ton of upsets he did win almost all of the games he was supposed to win in addition to a few LSU, AU, & A&M teams we weren't favored against.....meanwhile Howland has a starting lineup of 4 four stars and 1 five star, yet hasn't really beaten anybody this year that we didn't have better or equal talent than. To me, a win vs LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc or even a road win vs an AU level talent would have changed many people's view and excitement of this team. But instead we pretty much could pencil in losses against every decent to good team on the road, and had zero expectations of upsetting one of the big boys even at home. Hopefully going forward we can take that next step of beating some of the better teams in the league next year.

[sleepy dawg]

Very True....you can make your own breaks though, and we had many opportunities to get big wins this year and failed to get it done. Beating LSU on our home court might have us a 5 seed in the dance for instance. We'll get at least 1 more shot at a big time seed altering win in the SECT....but nobody has confidence that we can pull it off. Time for our guys to step up and prove they aren't a pretender that just beats the teams they're supposed to.

I think we're one good win away from a 5 seed too. In any ranking system the NCAA will look at we slot in a 5 or 6 spot. There's also some rumblings that it's being discussed that LSU may even decline a spot in the tournament. I doubt this will happen, but that would only help us.

[Tbonewannabe]

Yeah, but if you want to know why Howland doesn't get the love and fan support Mullen got, I think it comes down to wins compared to personnel. In other words, Dan had a roster of primarily 3 and 4 stars, and while he didn't pull a ton of upsets he did win almost all of the games he was supposed to win in addition to a few LSU, AU, & A&M teams we weren't favored against.....meanwhile Howland has a starting lineup of 4 four stars and 1 five star, yet hasn't really beaten anybody this year that we didn't have better or equal talent than. To me, a win vs LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc or even a road win vs an AU level talent would have changed many people's view and excitement of this team. But instead we pretty much could pencil in losses against every decent to good team on the road, and had zero expectations of upsetting one of the big boys even at home. Hopefully going forward we can take that next step of beating some of the better teams in the league next year.

We should have beaten LSU (at the time the best team in the SEC) and had a good chance against UK. One thing I heard on our game was the announcers talking about how you only play certain teams twice and the rest once. We played the toughest schedule possible in the SEC. We played the top half twice and the bottom half once. It just worked out that way but it was the equivalent of playing UGA and UF as our two East games in Football.

I will say that most schools lose on the road against good teams. UK blew out UT at home then got blown out at UT. Right now, we are essentially the 4th-6th best team in the SEC. Other than UT just gelling perfectly and playing great team ball (Barnes deserves coach of the year), most schools that beat us have about as much or more talent. Other than Perry, we don't have the same talent level as LSU, UK, or UT, we are on the same level with everyone else. It does suck to see Davis take UM and make them competitive but it shouldn't mean we blow up our program. UM had somewhat a good foundation when he got there whereas Howland had to build it from the ground up.

[HailState39110]

Both ESPN and CBS has us a 6 seed playing Temple . Temple would be a tough out and hasn’t lost to any bad opponents this year . They just won at UConn and beat uCF

Other potential 11 seeds are St Johns and Arizona St ( who was our only non conf loss this year )

A 6 would match us up with a 3 seed for the 2nd round . Potential 3 seeds we would be in the bracket with are Texas Tech and Michigan

[Bubb Rubb]

Both ESPN and CBS has us a 6 seed playing Temple . Temple would be a tough out and hasn’t lost to any bad opponents this year . They just won at UConn and beat uCF

Other potential 11 seeds are St Johns and Arizona St ( who was our only non conf loss this year )

A 6 would match us up with a 3 seed for the 2nd round . Potential 3 seeds we would be in the bracket with are Texas Tech and Michigan

Temple sucks. Beating UConn and UCF are not major accomplishments.

Michigan is a bad matchup for us. They are very good defensively, and they are very well coached.

[Dawg61]

Yeah, but if you want to know why Howland doesn't get the love and fan support Mullen got, I think it comes down to wins compared to personnel. In other words, Dan had a roster of primarily 3 and 4 stars, and while he didn't pull a ton of upsets he did win almost all of the games he was supposed to win in addition to a few LSU, AU, & A&M teams we weren't favored against.....meanwhile Howland has a starting lineup of 4 four stars and 1 five star, yet hasn't really beaten anybody this year that we didn't have better or equal talent than. To me, a win vs LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc or even a road win vs an AU level talent would have changed many people's view and excitement of this team. But instead we pretty much could pencil in losses against every decent to good team on the road, and had zero expectations of upsetting one of the big boys even at home. Hopefully going forward we can take that next step of beating some of the better teams in the league next year.

Dan Mullen has the worst record of all-time vs ranked teams. Howland has 8 Q1 wins this year which puts us top 5 in the nation in that category. He's already beaten 8 of the 64 teams that are about to be in the tourney this year.

[yjnkdawg]

Dan Mullen has the worst record of all-time vs ranked teams. Howland has 8 Q1 wins this year which puts us top 5 in the nation in that category. He's already beaten 8 of the 64 teams that are about to be in the tourney this year.

I agree with what you say. My question is why do some on here want to compare our football program and basketball program, and then here we have Mullen referenced again for whatever reason. Comparing basketball to football, or vice versa, is like comparing apples to oranges. In reference to CD's comment on we should have done this or that. Well every other teams wish they could have done this or that too.

[BuckyIsAB****]

We can't catch a break from a bracket perspective anyway. Heck, we are the 6 seed in the SEC tourney and would have to beat TN and KY just to get to the final. On the other hand Auburn, as the 5th seed, has a near cakewalk into the final with an average SC team and an LSU team with all kind of off the court issues at the moment including a suspended HC. And that happened all because Auburn pulled off the TN upset on the final weekend.

Its our own fault for not giving a shit after we beat Missouri

[Tbonewannabe]

I agree with what you say. My question is why do some on here want to compare our football program and basketball program, and then here we have Mullen referenced again for whatever reason. Comparing basketball to football, or vice versa, is like comparing apples to oranges. In reference to CD's comment on we should have done this or that. Well every other teams wish they could have done this or that too.

We have close to the same historic success in football and basketball. Other than 1996, our basketball team has been in NY6 Bowl game level a few times and the rest is like going to various bowls. Howland had to rebuild the program on a lot worse issues than Mullen. Rick Ray was like Croom only he didn't leave high level players for the next coach. Mullen at least inherited 1st round draft pick and a couple NFL players in the 2 deep. Howland inherited Fred Thomas, Gavin Ware, and Craig Sword. I think Sword is in the G League and that is the extent of it.

We gave Mullen a pass because he was building his program but apparently Howland needs to go to the Final Four or he should be fired. I don't know if it is society that wants immediate results or what but people seem to go off the deep end of what they expect.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I just keep thinking we have a run left in us. I don't know why, maybe it's just blind hope that we can click for the next 6-8 games and make a run at this thing. Regardless, I'll be along every step of the way. Howland has brought this program back from the grave and let's not forget, he's got something to prove too. Because while UCLA has struggled since his talent pool ran dry, he's quietly been building a program and now he gets the chance to show it off to the nation on the biggest stage. And so what if we're outmatched, it's March. Basketball logic takes a break this month.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Its our own fault for not giving a shit after we beat Missouri

Or just playing 2 good teams on the road. Either or

[yjnkdawg]

We have close to the same historic success in football and basketball. Other than 1996, our basketball team has been in NY6 Bowl game level a few times and the rest is like going to various bowls. Howland had to rebuild the program on a lot worse issues than Mullen. Rick Ray was like Croom only he didn't leave high level players for the next coach. Mullen at least inherited 1st round draft pick and a couple NFL players in the 2 deep. Howland inherited Fred Thomas, Gavin Ware, and Craig Sword. I think Sword is in the G League and that is the extent of it.

We gave Mullen a pass because he was building his program but apparently Howland needs to go to the Final Four or he should be fired. I don't know if it is society that wants immediate results or what but people seem to go off the deep end of what they expect.

I think it's just a minority of our fan base, and they just happen to post on message boards and/or social media. I would have definitely liked to have won the games we lost, but I'm glad that our coaches and players have gotten us back to the Big Dance.

[yjnkdawg]

Or just playing 2 good teams on the road. Either or

I think that would be the either or the or.