Just putting this here for perspective, not arguing/disagreeing or agreeing.
Big East SOS
Marquette: 12
UConn: 16
Creighton: 27
STJ: 43
Butler: 53
Xavier: 56
Providence: 68
Villanova: 72
Seton Hall: 103
DePaul: 152
Georgetown: 153
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- Thread starter fordham96
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Big East SOS
Marquette: 12
UConn: 16
Creighton: 27
STJ: 43
Butler: 53
Xavier: 56
Providence: 68
Villanova: 72
Seton Hall: 103
DePaul: 152
Georgetown: 153
Mullins Revenge
Well-known member
Karaban is playing himself into the 2nd round of the draft. He has not been great so far this year. He was downright awful yesterday.
tom in salem
Well-known member
He wasn't that good last year. By far the weakest of the 5.
I wouldn’t say “weak” - but def lacked “opportunities”… banking on a W vs Baylor it seems…
Now that it’s over (basically)- we had a shot at two Ws over potential Tournament teams- Baylor/Georgia… and lost them both.
We are again entering League play with no “Resume win”… here’s to hoping KState turns it around but doubt it…
hate to admit it… but, in the eyes of the committee- I think we need to 2-2 vs UConn/Marq at minimum… 8-2 vs Creighton/X/Nova/Prov/Butler….each one of those teams have a better win than us currently.
All that said… I think we Can. I like this team.
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McNeeley was 11 on that list. I think he will go that high as long as he shoots well from distance. He is an excellent player.
I think we need 13 wins with one each against UCONN, Marquette and Creighton. No losses to Seton Hall. Won't be easy but definitely possible. It would be great to win the first three.
McNeeley is the spitting image of Indiana State’s Larry Bird. How ironic he committed to IU first as well.
Exactly. This is what bothers me about it. Next year, we shouldn't be banking on the Vegas MTE for our OOC wins. We should have enough buffer so if its a flukey week (e.g. UConn in Maui), or we have an injury, it's not all lost. I like how Marq/UConn/Creighton gave themselves 6-7 chances at good quality wins.
I think your BE breakdown is spot on, but that also includes sweeping DePaul/Georgetown/Seton Hall.
Unless the NCAA is going to only include teams from the SEC, Big 12, and B10 the Big East is in better shape than people think.
Finding more than four ACC teams worthy is basically impossible. And four might be a gift. Not only do ACC teams lose almost every game they play against power conference opponents - they regularly get crushed. The Mountain West got seven bids last year (!), go look at what those schools are doing and they can’t come close to that again. The PAC 12 doesn’t even exist this year - that equals zero bids.
The Big East squeezing in some more 10 and 11 bids seems logical to me. I’m also hoping/expecting that SJU is more concerned with finding out who they are playing that day than if they are in the tournament.
Finding more than four ACC teams worthy is basically impossible. And four might be a gift. Not only do ACC teams lose almost every game they play against power conference opponents - they regularly get crushed. The Mountain West got seven bids last year (!), go look at what those schools are doing and they can’t come close to that again. The PAC 12 doesn’t even exist this year - that equals zero bids.
The Big East squeezing in some more 10 and 11 bids seems logical to me. I’m also hoping/expecting that SJU is more concerned with finding out who they are playing that day than if they are in the tournament.
Definitely missed opportunities.
Re: U Conn, I was at the game last night. They are not close to what they were the last couple of years but I do think they are making progress and will get better as the year goes on.
At the moment they are really just McNeely and 4 guys. Diarra is just a guy and I don't think he's going to be any more than that. He does what they need him to do but he isn't going to beat you.
Samson Johnson has one and only one skill, which is being Slamson Johnson. I actually think they may be better off with Reed if he can stay out of foul trouble - he has legitimate size and I think does a lot more than Johnson.
At the moment everyone else is just a role player and none of them have found their roles yet because so much revolves around McNeely. Karaban is surprisingly struggling. Mahaney is buried on the bench and not good when in. Solo Ball is unimpressive though he would probably be good if he were a focal point.
TBH I think at least for the time being Hurley has largely abandoned trying to create a team and is just giving the ball to McNeely because he needs to win some games after Maui.
They won last night basically because they had McNeely and Gonzaga's bigs were absolute trash (how many 2 foot shots can you miss???) or at least couldn't deal with Reed's size. OTOH the Zags guards and wings lit UConn up.
From an SJU standpoint we want Johnson to get healthy because while Zuby can play with him I don't think he can deal with Reed. Beyond that it will have to be either Luis or Scott on McNeely and after that I think SJU has an advantage or potential advantage everywhere else including the bench. We can definitely compete with them.
Last note from last night's game is that my dispute with the UConn fan was that after Johnson got up (for awhile I was worried he was seriously injured) I observed to my wife that Hurley (to his credit) ran out onto the floor to get to Johnson while the game was in progress (Zags with the ball in the front court 5-4) and the refs stopped the game.
What they should have done is assessed Hurley a technical foul in connection with the stoppage, otherwise there should not have been a stoppage until the possession was over. Or UConn could have given a foul or allowed the Zags to score to get the stoppage to check on Johnson. But you can't just stop the game in that situation.
The UConn fan in front of me (a fairly typical hillbilly) went apeshit at the thought of giving Hurley a T which led to ... Some back and forth. It was entertaining for me but Mrs LMF was not happy. The price of fandom...
At the moment they are really just McNeely and 4 guys. Diarra is just a guy and I don't think he's going to be any more than that. He does what they need him to do but he isn't going to beat you.
Samson Johnson has one and only one skill, which is being Slamson Johnson. I actually think they may be better off with Reed if he can stay out of foul trouble - he has legitimate size and I think does a lot more than Johnson.
At the moment everyone else is just a role player and none of them have found their roles yet because so much revolves around McNeely. Karaban is surprisingly struggling. Mahaney is buried on the bench and not good when in. Solo Ball is unimpressive though he would probably be good if he were a focal point.
TBH I think at least for the time being Hurley has largely abandoned trying to create a team and is just giving the ball to McNeely because he needs to win some games after Maui.
They won last night basically because they had McNeely and Gonzaga's bigs were absolute trash (how many 2 foot shots can you miss???) or at least couldn't deal with Reed's size. OTOH the Zags guards and wings lit UConn up.
From an SJU standpoint we want Johnson to get healthy because while Zuby can play with him I don't think he can deal with Reed. Beyond that it will have to be either Luis or Scott on McNeely and after that I think SJU has an advantage or potential advantage everywhere else including the bench. We can definitely compete with them.
Last note from last night's game is that my dispute with the UConn fan was that after Johnson got up (for awhile I was worried he was seriously injured) I observed to my wife that Hurley (to his credit) ran out onto the floor to get to Johnson while the game was in progress (Zags with the ball in the front court 5-4) and the refs stopped the game.
What they should have done is assessed Hurley a technical foul in connection with the stoppage, otherwise there should not have been a stoppage until the possession was over. Or UConn could have given a foul or allowed the Zags to score to get the stoppage to check on Johnson. But you can't just stop the game in that situation.
The UConn fan in front of me (a fairly typical hillbilly) went apeshit at the thought of giving Hurley a T which led to ... Some back and forth. It was entertaining for me but Mrs LMF was not happy. The price of fandom...
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Astoria STH
Well-known member
Agree on all points, they are less talented, balanced and more shallow than the last 2 years. I expect RJ to be assigned to McNeeley. We should be aiming to sweep them.
Were you as bad as the guy who sits behind me at MSG?
Nobody can compete with that guy. Nobody.
Was it close to dropping the Gloves ?
Understandable that the Mrs wasn’t happy .
Few Ladies enjoy exchanging F bombs by husband against the usually nasty UCONN
Fans .
Were there any sizable number of Gonzaga fans in house !
I ask because the Zags are the level of opponent we need to schedule OOC, instead of Wagner, Delaware , Towson .
How big a Crowd last night ? It must have been insufferable to have some many blitzed Huskies running loose.at MSG?
My only comment on this is UConn had the ball and was not attacking the basket so the referees should have stopped play a lot sooner than they did when Johnson was down. Yes, a technical could have been assessed but swallowing the whistle was the right call on this.
classof2010
Well-known member
My former roommate sent me a pic from the game calling it their house. Storrs South, I hope we kick their ass. He was upstairs lol. I went to Radio City with the family yesterday saw a UConn fan throw up 
in GC too and this was 330. People at SantaCon more well behaved. No shame with those animals!
in GC too and this was 330. People at SantaCon more well behaved. No shame with those animals!
LMF, caraban is averaging 16, 5, 3 with 2 blocks and a steal and is shooting 42% from 3. More points, assists, blocks, steals and shooting better than McNeely. To say it’s mcneely and 4 other guys makes no sense to me.
I missed that game last year (my wife and daughter were there) and people still talk about it. It was the first thing I heard about the next game. From what I heard, his wife is probably a helluva lot more upset with him than yours with you. We might never see her at a game again.