Who will SMU likely play in the C-USA tourny?

[Sam I Am]

Can we tell at this point what seed the SMU men will have in the CUSA tourny in memphis? Who will be our likely opponent and what are our chances of surviving the first round. Is this a one and done year for the ponies?

[bagice]

Impossible to say at this point, too many teams all bunched together. The top 4 seeds get a bye the first day of they tourney...Memphis, UTEP, UAB, and Houston have that locked up.

So basically, the bottom 8 are seeded for the first day. SMU has a shot at the number 1 seed of the first day, but could also slip as far down as 6, depending on the last three games. The game at Tulsa tonight will play a big part in determining that.

Regardless, we should have a decent shot of winning on the first day, especially if we can get the 1, 2, or 3 seed. The only team of the bottom 8 that I would really worry about is Rice. I would hate to have to play them the first day, they are probably the best of the bottom 8. Anyone else, we should win the first day.

My best guess at this point is that we will get the #2 seed and play ECU or Southern Miss the first day.

[BringBackThePonies03]

[quote="bagice"]Impossible to say at this point, too many teams all bunched together. The top 4 seeds get a bye the first day of they tourney...Memphis, UTEP, UAB, and Houston have that locked up.

So basically, the bottom 8 are seeded for the first day. SMU has a shot at the number 1 seed of the first day, but could also slip as far down as 6, depending on the last three games. The game at Tulsa tonight will play a big part in determining that.

Regardless, we should have a decent shot of winning on the first day, especially if we can get the 1, 2, or 3 seed. The only team of the bottom 8 that I would really worry about is Rice. I would hate to have to play them the first day, they are probably the best of the bottom 8. Anyone else, we should win the first day.

My best guess at this point is that we will get the #2 seed and play ECU or Southern Miss the first day.[/quote]

So basically by saying we are the #2 seed of day one, means that we would actually be the 6 seed. I think we could make a run in this tourney, just hope that we don't end up on the same side of the bracket as Memphis.

[Blunt Pony]

What have you seen from this team that would possibly lead you to say that we might make a "run in this tourney"?? I guess you are just trying to be the optimist, but there does not seem to be much evidence to support that claim. I am very disapointed in this team. There is really not even a moral victory to come up with out of this season.

[Hoop Fan]

What have you seen from this team that would possibly lead you to say that we might make a "run in this tourney"?? I guess you are just trying to be the optimist, but there does not seem to be much evidence to support that claim. I am very disapointed in this team. There is really not even a moral victory to come up with out of this season.

really, you thought it was better with a bunch of seniors going .500 last year? I didn't. The silver lining is that our two most effective big guys on the court this year are true freshman. Our starting point guard (Dez) and starting swingman (Roberts) are sophomores. Those are just facts, not spin. We need more help, but is there a reason that this core cannot get alot better? Name one post player who was as good as a freshman as they were as a senior. An SMU example would be nice, but anybody will do. Bamba and Morris will get alot better as their careers go on, just like Castro did, and Poerner did and anybody else that we can think of.

[Blunt Pony]

Oh, I was probably just as disapointed last year and the year before and on and on. There is never a whole lot of improvement in these teams. You say that we see all this improvement in big man play yet the records end up speaking for themselves. You could say we recruit marginal D 1 talent and turn it into mediocre D 1 talent and then you would be correct in stating that we are successful at player development.

[ponyboy]

Would you consider Fall and Morris to be marginal Division I talent?

[abezontar]

The men's team has been "one and done" every year since the last time the WAC tourney was in Vegas

[Hoop Fan]

your disappointment last year or the year before or 7 years ago is understood, but doesn't mean very much in terms of reality or going forward. I realize all of us have lived through some lean times, going back to 1993, but that is water under the bridge. Really doesn't mean very much in regard to the current roster or the current coach. These particular guys did not cause your previous frustrations. Maybe BHop can take some blame for the recent teams not doing better, but is it really fair to put on his shoulders? He has been a very good player for us, no matter what expectations were. Bottom line is it is too early to give up on the current group, players and coach. If you want to hold these guys accountable for 14 years of frustration, go ahead, but thats just emotional, not logical.

[bagice]

I would really like to see us go out and wax Tulsa tonight. That team is horrible and the loss we had to them at home was my low point of the season. If we can build on the nice UCF win and play well tonight, I will go on record in saying that we will win one tournament game and be very competitive with a chance to win the second game.

Of course, that is assuming we don't play Memphis in the second round, we want to really avoid the 8 or 9 seed overall (4 and 5 seed on day 1).

We need to shoot for one of the top 3 slots in the bottom 8. The team will have to step up, considering we play Tulsa and Rice on the road and UAB at home. The game tonight is a Pickem and we will be underdogs in the final two. Hopefully, we will have some good emotion and atmosphere for the UAB game and maybe Rice will lay one of their famous eggs like they have done several times this season when we play them.

Bottom line, we need to beat Tulsa tonight. This is a team we should handle easy. No excuse to struggle against them.

[The PonyGrad]

To avoid Memphis until the finals we want to be the 6th or 7th seed overall.

[abezontar]

I personally think my disappointment is entirely justified. I appreciate that these kids try their best, but unfortunately, this year I don't see them being good enough to avoid a first round loss again. I wish it wasn't true, and I hope that I am wrong, but I doubt it will be the case.

[Blunt Pony]

your disappointment last year or the year before or 7 years ago is understood, but doesn't mean very much in terms of reality or going forward. I realize all of us have lived through some lean times, going back to 1993, but that is water under the bridge. Really doesn't mean very much in regard to the current roster or the current coach. These particular guys did not cause your previous frustrations. Maybe BHop can take some blame for the recent teams not doing better, but is it really fair to put on his shoulders? He has been a very good player for us, no matter what expectations were. Bottom line is it is too early to give up on the current group, players and coach. If you want to hold these guys accountable for 14 years of frustration, go ahead, but thats just emotional, not logical.

Not holding the current guys accountable for the past, but can we not use that argument every year? We can hold the program accountable for what it has produced. We can always say that this current group shows lots of promise for the future, but I would say that many other freshman classes have had the same promise but for some reason have not panned out. This program is in SHAMBLES. The sooner we face that reality and address it, the better. To keep thinking we are a couple of years away is only prolonging the capitulation that needs to take place in order for real change to occur. I really would like to see us commit to basketball in a big way. While we may be shut out of the BCS in football, we can build a basketball program that can put us on the map. This is where I hope that our new AD focuses. We have a chance on the big stage in hoops. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for football.

[EastStang]

That was Ken Pye's dream. I heard him say so. See what that got us.

[Hoop Fan]

Not holding the current guys accountable for the past, but can we not use that argument every year? We can hold the program accountable for what it has produced. We can always say that this current group shows lots of promise for the future, but I would say that many other freshman classes have had the same promise but for some reason have not panned out. This program is in SHAMBLES. The sooner we face that reality and address it, the better. To keep thinking we are a couple of years away is only prolonging the capitulation that needs to take place in order for real change to occur. I really would like to see us commit to basketball in a big way. While we may be shut out of the BCS in football, we can build a basketball program that can put us on the map. This is where I hope that our new AD focuses. We have a chance on the big stage in hoops. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for football.

you are mixing alot of points here. Several of which I agree with you on. As a program, we are in a hole right now. Dement left us that way with his last two recruiting classes, and the university/athletic dept/alumni we have collectively FAILED to upgrade the bball facilities to respectable D-1 levels. So you are correct, the program has real issues right now. The facilities thing wont change overnight, so you are left to decide whether the second year coach can recruit at a consistently higher level than the program was able to before him and whether the current young players can mature. Players mature all the time, everywhere. There is not some sort of problem with the water at SMU that players dont improve. Fall will improve, alot, Morris will improve, even Roberts and Dez should improve. Yes, we went through this hope process before with Castro, Simpson and Isham, but there are reasons that group never panned out. For one thing, those guys were all playing out of position at the D-1 level. Castro never should have been playing center and Simpson never should have been a 4, he had the body of a 3 all the way. Not to mention they were not complemented by any pure shooters anywhere on the floor.