If we want to avoid the NIT this year

[IthacaMatt]

It all starts with the Nova game. We don't have a quality OOC win yet. I guess you can point to Iowa, but we are 1-3 so far against quality OOC opponents. Villanova is our last chance at a quality OOC win for the NCAA selection committee. We really need this game if we intend to make the NCAA tournament this year. No excuses. Just win.

 

[Macky44]

I beg to differ. It all starts with hitting shots.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

I think Matt is right plus its real all just Cause and Effect...

 

[Cusefan0307]

A big road win this weekend would take us off the December Bubble thats for sure. This bracketology every week makes my head spin.

 

[Alsacs]

Nova is by far the best team we will have played. I just want to play a tough game against them. Iowa on. a neutral court will matter in March.

Just get to 19/20 wins and hope for a weak bubble.

 

[TBCuse11]

Nova is by far the best team we will have played. I just want to play a tough game against them. Iowa on. a neutral court will matter in March.

Just get to 19/20 wins and hope for a weak bubble.

If we lose to Nova, which is probable, a weak bubble is our best and maybe only shot. That, or somehow going 11-7 or better in conference.

 

[RF2044]

Don't overlook the conference tournament games. Ground can be made up there, as well.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Saturday will go a long way towards answering a lot of questions. It's by far the biggest game of the pre-season and the atmosphere is going to be excellent. The Philly alumni club bought a block of tickets so I expect to see quite a bit of Orange at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday...I expect that the kids will bring their A game.

 

[jncuse]

Losing to Nova will not necessarily hurt us. But a bubble team typically needs one or two big scalps.

We have 4 potential top 25 teams playing us at Home this year which will really help us to get a big scalp at some point if its not Nova: no debate on Duke, Louisville or Virginia (and maybe even Miami)

 

[jordoo]

It would be a very important big win but losing doesn't automatically disqualify us from the NCAAT. That's kind of silly since losing to a top10 team in a true road game has probably never been the reason someone missed the tourney.

 

[omniorange]

At the moment, I see us like NC State last year. They had one decent win OOC beating Tennessee, they finished 9-9 in conference with no great wins there, then they won 2 games in the ACCT beating us in one of those and then they along with Tennessee got placed in the First Four games as a 12 and 11 seed.

A Nova win would be great, but a loss isn't a killer.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[KaiserUEO]

It all starts with the Nova game. We don't have a quality OOC win yet. I guess you can point to Iowa, but we are 1-3 so far against quality OOC opponents. Villanova is our last chance at a quality OOC win for the NCAA selection committee. We really need this game if we intend to make the NCAA tournament this year. No excuses. Just win.

well that aint happenin, so what else you got???

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

well that aint happenin, so what else you got???

That's why they play the games...we will see

 

[Briancuse]

Not to be Debbie Downer, but Nova is probably the 2nd best team we play all year, behind Duke. I really don't see how we win this game.

 

[Briancuse]

At the moment, I see us like NC State last year. They had one decent win OOC beating Tennessee, they finished 9-9 in conference with no great wins there, then they won 2 games in the ACCT beating us in one of those and then they along with Tennessee got placed in the First Four games as a 12 and 11 seed.

A Nova win would be great, but a loss isn't a killer.

Cheers,
Neil

As long as we win some games in conference, the Iowa win could be enough.

 

[CaptainJ]

The easiest way to avoid the NIT is to follow the example of MCW, Grant, and their teammates.

 

[Flacusian]

For me, I'm just going to take it one game at a time. There is a lot of season which lies out there ahead of this team and there are many things which are going to surprise us as we navigate through the schedule.

Beyond, "lets just focus on the next game" I place my hopes on the fact that this team will continue to improve and their upward trajectory will be the factor which helps us if it comes down to Bubble Bonanza-Rama.

 

[IthacaMatt]

It would be a very important big win but losing doesn't automatically disqualify us from the NCAAT. That's kind of silly since losing to a top10 team in a true road game has probably never been the reason someone missed the tourney.

I agree with this; a loss won't necessarily knock us out, but if we want the resume of a team that gets in, we really could use this game.

 

[NineOneSeven]

The worst possible scenario in this game is Nova's guards start hot from deep, and Rak/chris pick up fouls by the under 15min timeout.

To win this game, I think our two most important priorities are:
1. Keep Rak and Chris on the floor.
2. Guard defense up top. Caleb has been terrible so far, in my opinion. They need to get out on shooters and limit penetration because that is how our bigs will get fouls.

Of course, hitting shots is nice, but we won't win this game from the outside regardless.

 

[jordoo]

I agree with this; a loss won't necessarily knock us out, but if we want the resume of a team that gets in, we really could use this game.

Agreed! It would go a long way and is our last chance at a big time OOC scalp but playing in the ACC this year does provide us with the opportunity for more down the road.

 

[jordoo]

The worst possible scenario in this game is Nova's guards start hot from deep, and Rak/chris pick up fouls by the under 15min timeout.

To win this game, I think our two most important priorities are:
1. Keep Rak and Chris on the floor.
2. Guard defense up top. Caleb has been terrible so far, in my opinion. They need to get out on shooters and limit penetration because that is how our bigs will get fouls.

Of course, hitting shots is nice, but we won't win this game from the outside regardless.

#2. is vital to #1 because part of our defensive breakdowns has been allowing easy straight line penetration that puts the big guys in disadvantage situations that often result in fouls.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Not to be Debbie Downer, but Nova is probably the 2nd best team we play all year, behind Duke. I really don't see how we win this game.

We get Virginia and Louisville at home. Most expert's think they are better.

We have the opportunity to get lots of good wins this year if we can improve. All we need is to bag a couple and there will be no bubble talk.

 

[Cusefan0307]

well that aint happenin, so what else you got???

Well literally nobody thought we would win at Louisville 2 years ago either. We saw what happened there.

We may as well roll over and die. I guess I won't even watch.

Statements like this are annoying.

 

[RF2044]

We get Virginia and Louisville at home. Most expert's think they are better.

We have the opportunity to get lots of good wins this year if we can improve. All we need is to bag a couple and there will be no bubble talk.

Agreed.

On the other hand, while I'm generally one of the more consistently optimistic posters on this forum, I do fear that our record is going to have us swirling at the center of bubble talk all year long.

 

[Knicks411]

I'd say instead of Nova being the second best team we're gonna play this year (possible, tough call between Lville and UVA and them) this should be the second toughest game of the year because it's on the road and Lville and UVA come here.