Pumping the brakes on the Tournament

[RonBurgundy]

If we can get the two home wins over non-con MDES and Tennessee (quality win), if UNI (quality win) can get the Xavier win, and we can start 2-0 with home wins over KSU and UT, there is no doubt that we have a shot at the tourney this year.

Got to find a way to protect conference home court with 7-2 at the minimum. Steal a couple on the road.

This team is trending in the right direction. If we play ball like the 2nd half of UNI game, definitive tournament team.

 

[Cycsk]

I don't think anyone was looking to book hotels to various tournament sites yet.

I bought NCAA tournament tickets in the October pre-sale!

 

[VeloClone]

You write this "pump the breaks" and expect people to read the rest of your drivel?

I'm disappointed. I was going to congratulate the author on the following things that many people seem to get wrong:

1. Pump brakes rather than pump breaks,
2. Tournament berth rather than tournament birth and
3. Play-in game not in the tournament rather than play-in game in the tournament.

 

[Cyballzz]

They were on the bubble. You put that Iowa team in the Big 12 last year and they are not even that.

I don’t think Iowa makes it, but if you’re talking about which has the better path to make the tournament, it’s the Big 10. Wins matter.

Wins absolutely matter but so does who you beat. If Iowa had anything decent in the non conference I would agree that they would have an easier road but having to go 12-4 the remainder of the way in the Big Ten to get to 12-6... good luck with that.

I will take my chances with 9-9. Tough conference or not.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Wins absolutely matter but so does who you beat. If Iowa had anything decent in the non conference I would agree that they would have an easier road but having to go 12-4 the remainder of the way in the Big Ten to get to 12-6... good luck with that.

I will take my chances with 9-9. Tough conference or not.

We’re going 9-9? If we already knew we’d win 9 games in the Big 12 we’re not discussing this.

Do you think ISU would have a better chance to make the tournament facing Iowa’s remaining schedule or ours? Likewise, would Iowa have a better chance with our remaining schedule or their actual schedule?

We definitely would stand a better chance with theirs, and Iowa would go from very little chance to no chance. Nothing is easier in regards to making the tournament than playing in a bad Big 10. That conference will still get at least 6 teams in. Being the tallest couple midgets is good enough for that conference.

 

[CycloneErik]

We’re going 9-9? If we already knew we’d win 9 games in the Big 12 we’re not discussing this.

Do you think ISU would have a better chance to make the tournament facing Iowa’s remaining schedule or ours? Likewise, would Iowa have a better chance with our remaining schedule or their actual schedule?

We definitely would stand a better chance with theirs, and Iowa would go from very little chance to no chance. Nothing is easier with in regards to making the tournament than playing in a bad Big 10. That conference will still get at least 6 teams in.

And our conference will get at least 6 teams in. Playing in the tougher conference helps more than beating bad teams.

 

[FinalFourCy]

And our conference will get at least 6 teams in. Playing in the tougher conference helps more than beating bad teams.

With much better competition for those 6 spots. Go and check out what our expected tournament chances would be with Iowa’s remaining schedule.

The Big 10 is bad in the context of being compared to the Big 12, but it’s the perfect amount of mediocre in terms of giving any team a path to making the tournament.

 

[Deleted member 8507]

I though preseason we would go 18-12. That is still my hope and it appears 18 wins is the magic number for the NCAA. That would get our RPI below 50 and we would be on the right side of any bubble. 17 wins and the RPI is in the 50's which MIGHT get you in but might leave you out. That said, the "experts" only give ISU a 5% chance of 18 or more wins (12.5% at 17 wins).

 

[NWICY]

Boy and I thought you guys hated my articles.

Well we do, but just not as much as this guy's. JK actually I like your articles and I like WRNL also.

 

[moldy78]

Boy and I thought you guys hated my articles.

To be fair, I believe 1 of the 87 negative replies actually had some constructive feedback in it and wasn't just posters I've never heard of whining about me telling them how to feel in an article they obviously didn't read.

So it's not 100% awful feedback.

 

[moldy78]

I though preseason we would go 18-12. That is still my hope and it appears 18 wins is the magic number for the NCAA. That would get our RPI below 50 and we would be on the right side of any bubble. 17 wins and the RPI is in the 50's which MIGHT get you in but might leave you out. That said, the "experts" only give ISU a 5% chance of 18 or more wins (12.5% at 17 wins).

View attachment 52502

Agree here, this is good stuff. 8 wins in conference and split Tennessee/Round 1 in KC.

 

[LarryISU]

We’re going 9-9? If we already knew we’d win 9 games in the Big 12 we’re not discussing this.

Do you think ISU would have a better chance to make the tournament facing Iowa’s remaining schedule or ours? Likewise, would Iowa have a better chance with our remaining schedule or their actual schedule?

We definitely would stand a better chance with theirs, and Iowa would go from very little chance to no chance. Nothing is easier in regards to making the tournament than playing in a bad Big 10. That conference will still get at least 6 teams in. Being the tallest couple midgets is good enough for that conference.

Thanks FinalFour for picking up the argument regarding Iowa. We just don't have Rutgers, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, these are all teams that you can at least count on beating on your home court, and at least a chance on their court. Based on what we know right now I would expect ISU will be an underdog in every road game. Iowa is not so bad that they won't win a lot of B1G games. And we all know when it comes tournament time, those weak conferences still get their share of the bids. I'm not saying it is a huge difference, but realistically playing in the B1G gives you an incredible advantage compared to what ISU is facing this year.

 

[CyArob]

I rate this article a 7 out of 22.

 

[Fitzy]

To be fair, I believe 1 of the 87 negative replies actually had some constructive feedback in it and wasn't just posters I've never heard of whining about me telling them how to feel in an article they obviously didn't read.

So it's not 100% awful feedback.

There’s the always-optimistic Moldy I know from Twitter

 

[istater7]

I don’t think the majority of ISU fans are expecting a tourney berth. This is a bubble team at best, which means it’s still a toss up whether they will get in or not. I get what you’re saying, but why can’t fans have a little optimism? We won’t truly know this team’s potential until they get into conference play. I’m still not convinced the conference will be as much of a bear as everyone is claiming. You can beat the rankings and formulas to death, but let’s see how they perform on the floor against conference opponents whether we should be pumping the breaks or not.

 

[TedFlintKansas]

K...

Which is precisely why I didn't click on his ******** link or twitter follow the other sad sack trolling for followers.

 

[EarthIsMan]

1. B12 will be a bloodbath this year. No average teams + no great teams = whoever wins the conference title will probably have 6 losses

2. The question on NCAA selection Sunday will be: How much will B12 teams be penalized for having so many conference losses while playing a round robin schedule in the most difficult and least variable conference? I think this year B12 could get 7 teams or maybe even 8 teams to qualify.

The one thing that needs be certain is that B12 conference losses cannot be compared equally to any other conference: the B12 is the only conference that does not play an unbalanced schedule with so little parity while stillcontaining so many high quality teams.

The B12 currently has a 14-13 record against the KenPom Top 60 which is easily the best such record among all conferences. I could see B12 record against the SEC playing a big factor in the perception of B12 strength once the NCAA tourney field is decided.

3. Lastly, on ISU: Is this the "8-2 team" or the "8-0 team" (after moving NWB to PG and getting Brase and Lard on the floor)?

@moldy78 used KenPom projected records as an argument to tame optimism. I also tend to be in a wait-and-see approach just because I think B12 conference play will be wild. But for sheer entertainment this might something worth thinking about if you subscribe to this ISU team being very different than the one that played the first 2 games:

 

[NWICY]

IMO anyone that comes to CF pimping their own sites should be a Paetron member. At least give something back to the site that lets you try to grow your site. I have no idea if Mouldy & TedFlint are but that's my 2 cents worth.

 

[TedFlintKansas]

Signed up the day they went live. Anything else? I always support my friends in thier ventures. And I consider everyone who writes at Cyfan to be my friends.

 

[Jacktronic]

I only have 5 Twitter followers, and 1 is a bot. If I post my handle and my blog would you guys smash that follow button?