Projected Conference record
- Thread starter tom in salem
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No question in my mind we dance with 11 wins if we beat Dartmouth.
We'd have a top 25 sos and top 40 RPI.
I don't care what anyone says. We have no bad losses for the first since I can remember. We lost in OT to a Big Ten team on a neutral court. We have two single digit losses in close game to undefeated top 5 teams. Problem is that we don't have any high quality wins. Wins over Nova and Creighton will change that.
My take on some of the teams. I formed these opinions because I've watched every team in the conference once or twice and some teams even more.
Butler - I say we lose at their place with a chance to win at MSG. No way we sweep IMO, they are a team that doesn't beat themselves and never gets blown out. In their gym, can't see us winning, at our place we could win. I say we go 1-1
Creighton - Believe it or not I am confident about beating this team. They struggle with athletic teams look at the SDSU game, and we cause some serious matchup problems, I really believe we can go 2-0 against them, I know most of you will disagree.
Depaul - we should and will go 2-0.
Georgetown - Another team I think we can sweep. If we win at their place we are going to sweep them, we will see. They are so much worse from last year, and it's not even close. They can't score very well, and I think we beat them twice.
Marquette - a team a lot like us. Athleticism everywhere, but lack BBALL I.Q. and can't make outside shots outside of one sharpshooter they have. I think we will beat them at the end of the year at the garden but don't see us winning at their place. 1-1.
Providence - Although a scrappy team that almost beat UMASS. We should beat them at home and when we play them at their place it will he February and we will be meshing and dangerous if Lavin is right. I think we sweep them.
Seton hall - won't be easy to sweep them next year. But this year it should be 2-0 against the pirates
Villanova - I think we split with them at best. Hard to predict because they could come out on fire from three against us or be cold from three. Whatever happens in the three department for them good or bad could determine whether we win or not
Xavier - I'm optimistic we win on Tuesday. But we could very well loss. My gut tells me we split with these guys, because they just look ready for conference play right now and I'm jot sure about us yet.
Butler - I say we lose at their place with a chance to win at MSG. No way we sweep IMO, they are a team that doesn't beat themselves and never gets blown out. In their gym, can't see us winning, at our place we could win. I say we go 1-1
Creighton - Believe it or not I am confident about beating this team. They struggle with athletic teams look at the SDSU game, and we cause some serious matchup problems, I really believe we can go 2-0 against them, I know most of you will disagree.
Depaul - we should and will go 2-0.
Georgetown - Another team I think we can sweep. If we win at their place we are going to sweep them, we will see. They are so much worse from last year, and it's not even close. They can't score very well, and I think we beat them twice.
Marquette - a team a lot like us. Athleticism everywhere, but lack BBALL I.Q. and can't make outside shots outside of one sharpshooter they have. I think we will beat them at the end of the year at the garden but don't see us winning at their place. 1-1.
Providence - Although a scrappy team that almost beat UMASS. We should beat them at home and when we play them at their place it will he February and we will be meshing and dangerous if Lavin is right. I think we sweep them.
Seton hall - won't be easy to sweep them next year. But this year it should be 2-0 against the pirates
Villanova - I think we split with them at best. Hard to predict because they could come out on fire from three against us or be cold from three. Whatever happens in the three department for them good or bad could determine whether we win or not
Xavier - I'm optimistic we win on Tuesday. But we could very well loss. My gut tells me we split with these guys, because they just look ready for conference play right now and I'm jot sure about us yet.
I'm pulling for PSU to have a great conference season and make the dance so people will stop referring to it as a bad loss, because it isn't.
I detest the Big Ten, but they are the class of college basketball this season. They have 5 top 25 RPI teams and 11/12 in the top 100 (unheard of). Penn State is currently 9-4 (with a very tough schedule) and has an RPI of 89 according to ESPN. If they can hover around .500 they will have a top 40-60 RPI with a top 25 SOS and could be a bubble team. I will be cheering for them all year as well as Wisconsin. I think they will get eight teams in.
Well, it was a game we should have won, and didn't. One thing people forget, though. We would not have had a guaranteed win the next day against Ole Miss. In fact, I was at Barclays for the both games that Friday, and when Ole Miss played Georgia Tech in the first game that day, I said that, by the looks of things, we were going to go 1-1 in that tournament either way. Felt Ole Miss was way better then us at the time (they are not anymore, as we have gotten better), and that Georgia Tech shot the ball even worse then us (which proved true).
Yes, it would have been a little better to beat Penn State, even with a loss to Ole Miss, but the 9-3 record would still have stood, IMO, and while we would be in a bit better situation, it wouldn't have been enough of one to make a difference, IMO.
Instead of perseverating on whether losses were good or bad, let's focus on getting some quality road wins,hold serve at home & get a couple of BE Tourney games. That would negate any of the disappointments thus far. Time to demonstrate that all the SJU talent referenced leads to commensurate success.
beast of the east
Active member
Sorry, I am just not convinced at this point that we can be consistently good in conference play. I really don't expect 8 wins, unless the team completely fails to reach its potential. I love our depth, and if Harrison plays with the purpose and efficiency seen lately, with the supporting cast responding, then we can compete at the top. There are so many role players I like, but they haven't put it all together against to tourney level team yet. We'll see soon enough, and thanks for the vote of confidence.
tom in salem
Well-known member
I've seen them all once at a minimum (retirement is AWESOME).
SJU has the best talent in the conference.
tom in salem
Well-known member
That's 14-4.
I like your thinking.
I love our team this year, 14-4 can be done.
Class of 72
Active member
We can beat every team at least once and sweep at least 4 but I think our NCAA hopes will come down to getting to the BE tourney final.
They only won two conference games last year, but Frazier sat out with an ACL injury, Newbill--who is a likely 2nd round NBA pick, played out of position, they had a few transfers sitting out the year, and they had a walkon starting. Frazier played 30 mpg as a soph when they made the 2nd round of the tournament with Talor Battle (always wanted Battle here) in 2010-2011, so we know he can win games.
I hope they can hover around .500, but I don't realistically expect them to. I just took a look at their schedule and it is ROUGH. The only quasi-break they get is playing Northwestern, and even that is on the road. They play Michigan St. and Ohio St. twice each and they don't have Rutgers on the schedule. I really believe the Big Ten gets eight teams this year and that means teams with sub-.500 records will be invited. At first glance, I give them 6-7 conference wins. Sounds bad, but I think 7-8 conference wins could put them in the bubble conversation, and could turn that into a quality neutral court game for us. Their SOS will be absurd and the RPI would be solid with 7-8 conference wins.
They just got Pitt transfer, John Johnson, and SMU transfer, Jordan Dickerson, eligible last week. Johnson went for 20 points right off the bat and he is their x-factor. I call Johnson the x-factor, because I always thought he was a douchebag and seemed to have some character issues, but he can shoot the rock and gives Penn State yet another scorer in the backcourt. Dickerson, as we already know is a huge body that can't really do that much else, but they had absolutely no size.
I think they will get two twins from the five total games they have against MSU, OSU, and Wisconsin.
Battle can be compared to Harrison in a lot of ways. Undersized guards who can fill it up, Battle was absolutely ridiculous in 2010 his senior year, and I hope DLo is that good next year.
I love your optimism, but I think you are severely underestimating Creighton. They are the most experienced team in the country, they have shooters all over the court, and a few quick guards that will give us trouble. They also will have 18,000 screaming fans in an awesome arena. I'd be shocked if we won that game in Omaha. We should take care of business at home. I see a split, and you really can't expect to stop McDermott for two games. If we do, great, but that's just gravy.
I also don't see a sweep of Georgetown. They are still a tough team even at 9-3. 2/3 of their losses came to legit Final Four contenders in Kansas and (especially) Oregon. They slipped up against Northeastern, but they seem to always lose one bad game a year. They beat VCU and destroyed Kansas State.
In order from most to least likely to be swept by us in my opinion: Depaul, SH, Xavier, Providence, Marquette, Butler, G'town, Creighton, Nova. I put Xavier so high, because I think Coach will have the team sky high for the first conference game and on New Year's Eve. Taking care of business for the home game is always easier.
tom in salem
Well-known member
So 13 wins in conference?
It's always good to get through the early season games when there is little to gain and too much to lose when they do lose.
This team should reach12 conference wins and lock up a bid with at least a 22-9 record going into the BET.
I've never picked a season record correctly. I stopped betting on basketball games 30 years ago with an 0-1 record.
This team should reach12 conference wins and lock up a bid with at least a 22-9 record going into the BET.
I've never picked a season record correctly. I stopped betting on basketball games 30 years ago with an 0-1 record.