no, not Rutgers....if not just for the sake of all the tournament fans watching. That game might be in the 40's.
Bracket Discussion
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Hard pass on Rutgers, they would muck up the game like West Virginia and we'd be in a 54-50 type dogfights.
We play alot better against teams like Baylor who are softer inside and don't rely on hacking teams to death. Pitt or Penn State would probably be a good matchup for us, good offenses but not very physical or good defense.
100% serious. The best team Drake has played all year is Miss St who is 49th in the NET. They haven’t played anyone else in the Top 60 in 3 months.
Can they get hot and bear us? Of course. But give me them over someone like Penn State who has 7 Quad 1 wins and 11 Quad 1/2 wins compared to Drake’s 1 and 4.
We have no idea how many Drake would have if the entire system wasn't built against them getting the opportunities.
That's a team that's older than 5 NBA teams that's won a lot of games with a dominant point guard and a go to scorer. That's the exact type of Valley, A10, MW team that wins a game or two in the tournament.
The NCAA Tournament is a brand new season. What you did in the regular season can pretty much be reset. You see upsets all the time in the first couple of rounds. With that said, Drake seems like a formidable opponent I’d rather not face. A Penn State or VCU would be something I’d be on board with. I’ve seen those teams play, I think we could comfortably beat them.
Agree. If we assume a 5 seed, those 3 are almost certainly on 12 line. So there's 75% chance, realistically.
My best-guess for the other 12 is probably one of these (in order of likelihood):
(1) A-10 auto-bid
(2) UAB (if it wins C-USA auto-bid)
(3) Late bid steal as AQ (Vandy/Ohio State) or Vandy getting at-large*
One First Four could be on 12 line, but more likely both are locked into 11 line.
* Still thinking it's win AQ or out for Vandy, I don't think def A&M is enough to climb into it. But I've been wrong before!
The worst matchups are teams that have a lot of athleticism and length, especially on the perimeter. OSU and Texas cause us a lot of problems and the "new Kansas", where Gradey is more apt to drive and hit some twos are tough. Especially when any of those teams (at least) keep the rebounding honest.
We tend to be able to neutralize teams that like to run (TCU) or that don't have the height to go with the athleticism (Baylor). We are probably one of Baylor's worst matchups as we use our hustle/tenacity and their lack of trim protection to maul them inside (rebounding and paint scoring).
The worst combinations for us are teams that have long athletic defenders on the perimeter, ones that do a good job of protecting paint (whether with traditional bigs or effort), and ones that have tall perimeter shooters. KU, while an extreme example, showed many of these things in tandem. We are at our best when we score in the paint with drives and or offensive put backs, which they shut down. Their perimeter length and guarding made it hard to get separation and or shoot over their defenders. On the other end Wilson and **** made shots over shorter defenders who played good defense. The only guys who are capable of having the height, athleticism, and quickness to guard them are possibly Ward and Watson. If we did that we would have had issues scoring and had Ward out of position and unable to protect the rim.
The ultimate scenario is getting a 6 seed. TBH I like our chances against many of the projected 2 and 3 seeds outside of Texas. Gonzaga, with a true post players (Timme) is something we really dont face in the Big 12 and that could pose a problem. The 4s and 1s scare me a lot more than most of the 2s and 3s, from a matchup perspective.
Eh, Drake schedules their own non-con and could likely go play several better teams. But they didn’t do that.
I get your point, the system is rigged for the P6 guys. All I’m saying is for me, personally, I’d rather play someone like Drake than a Penn State. Others can disagree.
Go sit with Drake or UNI or VCU or anybody at that level when they're trying to schedule and see how many schools are willing to answer the call, even for a buy game.
I get your point. I definitely see that argument too. You hope that the talent level of the 4 or 5 see overwhelms the mid. I get that side of it and it's completely fair.
Iowa and ISU fit this, correct?
I'm in the minority of enjoying when all teams played one another home/away.
Correct. UNI has tried with both and there is zero interest even for a buy game.
I hate that Iowa State won’t play Drake or UNI. I don’t think we have to play both every year but would like to see them rotate between the two : Drake in Ames, UNI in CF, Drake in DSM, UNI in Ames. The committee doesn’t really penalize people for losing anymore (see Iowa and Eastern Ill) so I don’t see any downside other than ISU fans don’t want to lose to an instate team.
Instead with get a game with Omaha or IUPUI. No thanks.
I’m going on record that okie state gets in despite almost everyone saying they’re one of the first out.
I think we should play one of them every year at the Well. We'd have 2/3 of the crowd. Don't let Iowa piggyback in this time around.
It's a dangerous game either way, and I don't know if there's an advantage one way or the other. Sometimes those 12 over 5 or 11 over 6 upsets are a Power 6 team beating another Power 6 team, and IMO that's because the talent level is fairly equal. I remember some posters (who frankly had an anti-Prohm agenda to push) screamed bloody murder four years ago when we lost to a 11 seed Ohio State team about it being the worst NCAA loss in ISU history while conveniently ignoring the lack of discrepancy in the overall talent. We pretty much did the same thing against a higher seeded Power 6 team in LSU last season.
All else being equal, better bring your "A" game right away, no matter who you're playing.
They will be big Florida Atlantic Owl fans today.
Be curious what JP‘s committee vote would be on a Drake matchup. Doubt it happens, but I say we can handle them if it did.
Both Iowa and ISU should play Drake and UNI every year. The games should always be played in Hilton and Carver. This is the correct answer, not sure what gets in the way.
I’m sure there is influence there in some shape or form.
