Why we lost

[fifty]

Didn't we only have 8 losses last year going into the conference tournament? Plus we had multiple top25 wins and 1 top10 win. I don't see how we get in with more losses this year and potentially beating 0 ranked teams.

So our 2014-15 hope is no bad losses coupled with no good wins (0-4 vs top 50 so far)?

[CoxMustangFan]

Didn't we only have 8 losses last year going into the conference tournament? Plus we had multiple top25 wins and 1 top10 win. I don't see how we get in with more losses this year and potentially beating 0 ranked teams.

So our new hope is no bad losses coupled with no good wins?

Assuming the same number of losses, we'll have a MUCH better SOS. I really don't understand why SMU fans like to go myopic and focus on a couple of big wins. It's your total resume and when you play a steaming pile, the Committee is going to penalize the team.

[CalallenStang]

Didn't we only have 8 losses last year going into the conference tournament? Plus we had multiple top25 wins and 1 top10 win. I don't see how we get in with more losses this year and potentially beating 0 ranked teams.

So our new hope is no bad losses coupled with no good wins?

Assuming the same number of losses, we'll have a MUCH better SOS. I really don't understand why SMU fans like to go myopic and focus on a couple of big wins. It's your total resume and when you play a steaming pile, the Committee is going to penalize the team.

exactly. Our schedule was such crap to start off last year that despite a few good wins, we ended up finishing 45th in the RPI. 45th is bubble territory and that's why the committee had the opportunity to pass on us.

Our lack of statement wins this year may penalize us by a couple of seed positions, but our overall resume is solid enough that we are in unless we collapse in conference.

[fifty]

Well we're ~40 in rpi now. You guys need to lay off the kool aid for a little while.

[CalallenStang]

Well we're 40 in rpi now. You guys need to lay off the kool aid for a little while.

And we were 41 before the game yesterday. Where we are at now is truly immaterial. What matters is where we will finish. And that's a complex equation involving what we do, what our opponents do, and what our opponents' opponents do, but the basic thing to know is that because we have a strong schedule, it's projected to rise unless we lose 7 or more conference games.

[fan]

Didn't we only have 8 losses last year going into the conference tournament? Plus we had multiple top25 wins and 1 top10 win. I don't see how we get in with more losses this year and potentially beating 0 ranked teams.

So our new hope is no bad losses coupled with no good wins?

Assuming the same number of losses, we'll have a MUCH better SOS. I really don't understand why SMU fans like to go myopic and focus on a couple of big wins. It's your total resume and when you play a steaming pile, the Committee is going to penalize the team.

There are 32 auto qualifiers. 9 of those are above us in KenPOM. That means that out of the 66 spots 32 are taken but 9 we wouldn't have gotten anyway. So we need to be somewhere in the KenPom top 40 and hope there are no huge upsets in the upper level conference tourneys. Beyond the top 5 this year is more wide open than any I can remember in NCAA Mens Basketball.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Obviously, if we end up with 2-3 of the right losses in The American we will likely be in the tournament.

But, after seeing the display yesterday, it's hard to fault SMU fans for thinking about losing at Connecticut and at Temple, and if we have another bad loss like at USF last season on the road we are in trouble even if we do win out at Moody.

The loss yesterday doesn't make every game a must-win, but the ice got a bit thinner, which is so frustrating because the win yesterday was right there for us to take.

[RGV Pony]

Uconn temple Memphis tulane Houston cinci could be 5-7 losses right there

[SMUstangs22]

Uconn temple Memphis tulane Houston cinci could be 5-7 losses right there

Take Uconn temple Memphis tulane Houston cinci off that list.

[CalallenStang]

Uconn temple Memphis tulane Houston cinci could be 5-7 losses right there

And if it is, that means we lose games at home that we shouldn't lose. And I think we all agree that that's what NIT teams do.

[SMUstangs22]

Uconn temple Memphis tulane Houston cinci could be 5-7 losses right there

Def take houston off that list please. No repeats

[CoxMustangFan]

Uconn temple Memphis tulane Houston cinci could be 5-7 losses right there

And if it is, that means we lose games at home that we shouldn't lose. And I think we all agree that that's what NIT teams do.

Agreed. I think we lose four more (at most), but if we lose 5+ we don't deserve to make the cut.

[smusportspage]

Cincinnati paper said that Nic was sick also.

That makes sense because I remember seeing him in the first have and thinking boy he looks tired and winded. I thought it was strange because it was just the first half. When your body is fighting an illness, sometimes you just can't find the energy.

[Junior]

Having MK play so much didn't help us either. He looks so lost and so out of shape and so off in general. I know LB is trying to play him into shape, but he is a liability out there right now.

[Morris Code 11]

We lost because we have a slew of players that only show up at home, or versus very poor competition...Which is the same problem as last year.

Sure, Keith has made strides this year, guy really can't handle any kind of on ball pressure. He feasts on teams like Midwestern State, but when we need him the most he is nowhere to be found. We don't have any other reliable shooters outside of Nic and Keith, which puts too much pressure on Nic to produce. And when he doesn't, we go on our 3 minute scoreless runs which often times is insurmountable on the road, ESP in conference. Same thing happened last year. When you can't shoot the 3, it clogs the lane - which is why we turn it over so often trying to force passes down into the paint.

Also, LB needs to take Nic off the other player's best shooter unless they are 5'8 or shorter. Russ Smith, Kevin Pangos are highlighted examples of shooters not fazed by his D, or his sagging off to help on a guy driving into the lane who hasn't scored all game. Cobb shooting over Nic and Saturday was painful to watch. Barefield will take over as PG, and slide Nic into a spot up shooter role, which is where he should be in the first place if EM didn't bail.