LA_Mustang wrote:You're assuming rankings won't change. Temple will get back in the top 50. Three AAC teams are tourney bound - SMU, Cinci and Temple.
Temple may just get into the top 50, don't know if Tulsa will remain in there though. Right now I see Cincinnati and SMU has solidly in (barring injuries, collapse, etc). Tulsa, Temple and UConn are all battling for the 3rd spot, with the wild card being the conference tournament being played on UConn's home floor. My prediction is Cincinnati, SMU and Temple/Tulsa/UConn get in. If Tulsa wins the regular season title and UConn wins the conference tournament there would be a shot at 4 bids.
Way to go out on a ledge there....3 of the currently viewed top 5 programs in the AAC will end up being the top 3 and will make the NCAA tournament, unless something changes, then they may not, or they still may, but something else could happen.
up to an 8 seed. would play St. John's in the first round and Dook in the second. I don't think this is possible since SJU played Duke already.
ESPN now has us as a 7 seed playing Oklahoma state followed by Wisconsin. Honestly the way the team is playing right now and our RPI I think we will work our way up to a 5 seed.
Any seed 6 or better would be tremendous, as there is typically a big difference between 3 seeds and 1/2 seeds for that second round matchup. Of course, after last year I will be ecstatic just to see our name show up in the bracket.
I couldn't agree more. Just keep winning and moving up the rankings. After last year all that matters is that on Selection Sunday, our name is called. We just need to keep winning. I'm a little concerned about our last 10 games. If we are typical Smu it would look like a 6-4 or 5-5 finish with a couple of back to back road losses UConn and Memphis. I worry about a loss at Tulsa and one bad loss against one of these crap teams like UH on the road. Hopefully this year truly is different but I see us at 23-6 or 22-7 going into the conference tourney and needing to win a couple games to assure a spot in the dance. I hope I'm wrong and we end up only losing one or two more before then but just my thoughts.
We have looked far from "typical SMU" of late. This team has a resiliency and grit I haven't seen in any SMU team (at least since I started following SMU in the past decade.) This conference is ripe for the taking. It should be ours.
Pony ^ wrote:I don't have the same hesitancy with this team as I did last year. They are hungry and determined.
I have a hesitancy with this team because we have had games where we have played so sloppy. In our recent games we have avoided the high level of turnovers but I'm worried about that and even in our current run of good games we have had stretches where we have struggled offensively. If we turn the ball over and stop executing on offense, Cinci, Mephis, UCONN, tulsa, and temple can beat us.
Last year, it didn't matter who we played on the road...I thought we would lose almost every time. Not the case for me this year. I'm looking for a USF 25pt beat down instead. 1 at a time.
Every team goes through stretches where they struggle on offense, at every level. The only thing that worries me are the turnovers. Get those under control, and we are very dangerous.
PonyPlayer4 wrote:Every team goes through stretches where they struggle on offense, at every level. The only thing that worries me are the turnovers. Get those under control, and we are very dangerous.
I agree to a certain extent. Basketball is a game of runs but good teams should not have 5+ minute periods without a field goal (even when struggling)
