The Wiz

The December run continues although the next one won't be as easy. While these wins aren't impressive they will look nice in March.They also give us a chance to get healthy, build some confidence and develop a little momentum.

The wild card is the BE7 can change the rules because they have the required 2/3 majotity to do so until July1 ....do away with penalties, exit times etc. They may decide to forgo collecting exit fees from others as it may be more valuable to just leave and cut a new deal....But if they plan on forming a league for fall 2013 then they do not have until July 1...They have to do something now and even at this date it is iffy. As I said earlier, time is the Bills friend....the longer this takes ie pushing the opening date past the 2013 season...the better chance the conference will be larger and increase our chances of getting in.

I think one of the key factors in determining the size of the BE7 will be time. If they want to start the league next Fall they may go with 10. However, if they have to wait a couple of years they may use the extra time to expand to 12 (or more). The official line from the existing BE is that the BE7 can't leave till early 2015. Of course, that is subject to change. Bottomline is time is running out to start a league in the fall of 2013. I think pushing the starting date back works in favor of the Bills.

What do you find curious? ....the fact SLU has not been contacted or that SLU is being a good A-10er

The view from Fox Sp Mdwst http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=st%20louis%20university%20big%20east&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CFQQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxsportsmidwest.com%2F12%2F16%2F12%2FSLU-could-be-next-in-conference-realignm%2Flanding_stlbillikens.html%3FblockID%3D836149%26feedID%3D3794&ei=PonQUN-KK8fK2AWj9oDYCQ&usg=AFQjCNH3Bgs2p4vN9FoVdsBRHhckxJkMdA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.b2I

Should we have won by 51 or 42? Probably not. If we had a great game and they had a terrible game(yes that was an average game for them) we could have beat them by 40 or 50. In the UT-M prediction thread I had us winning by 25. We won by 22. We did what we were supposed to do and they did what they were supposed to do....that is how predictions work and generally how games go. Occasinally, teams divert from the mean and you have surprises. That is why you play the games. UT-M is the worst team we will play all year.... 25 points will be the biggest spread for SLU. A 40 or 50 point margin is rare. I think if you had a top team like Duke or Fla playing at home against Grambling St. you might be able to hit the 50 point spread but generally it is very difficult. In point spread calculations....the importance diminishes quickly as the margins increase past 18 points. Bottomline ....a 22 point win was about right for the Bills

As of today, we are a 2 point favorite. In looking at this upcoming game, there are 2 key games to factor in. The first game is the Valpo one...for both teams. Valpo is a common opponent. Both teams played Valpo at home and both beat Valpo by 13....a strong indicator that SLU and UNM are closely matched. The Pit is a huge homecourt advantage for the Lobos ...the Fetz not as much. With the winning margin an equal 13...that tilts things slightly to the Bills as UNM should have won by 15 or 16. The second key game will be on Dec 27 when NM plays Cinn. Cinn is an A+ (elite) team right now. They should beat NM by 10 points. If that game turns out to be close or a win for NM that could spell trouble. for the Bills...at least from a numbers point. But there is another factor....this will be a tough road trip for UNM. They first travel to Cinn...play a very tough game and then travel to us. I do not know their travel arrangements ie...play Cinn , return home and then come back to StL or play Cinn and then come straight here...either way a tough road trip. From a mental aspect, they will be very focused on beating a higher ranked Cinn team. There will be a let down playing the unranked Bills afterward...Lobos will be incredibly high if they beat Cinn...letdown...or depressed after losing a key game....letdown. Meanwhile the Bills will be warming up at home against F rated SIU-E. One last factor is the KM factor which doesn't factor in and will probably not make much difference. First, we don't know for sure he will be playing and even if he does he may not be much of a factor as it will be "spring training" for him. He has been off since last March. If you remember, when he came back after his last layoff it took him awhile to get going. Best case scenario would be in a close game maybe an extra basket or a steal might be the difference.

Only if we play with 4 players

Another cupcake...EIU also checks in with an F rating...though not as bad as UT-M ...pretty close.

Looks like things are starting to pick up http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nypost.com%2Fp%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2Fbasketball%2Fbegin_big_east_withdrawal_s5jgh7rs4cztu7tcsnwddj&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nypost.com%2Fp%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2Fbasketball%2Fbegin_big_east_withdrawal_s5JGH7Rs4cZtu7TcsNwdDJ&ei=ufjNULy_AemMyAG42YH4Aw&usg=AFQjCNE36ocOY7jjWixhsjnviYfes8nCDw

We are halfway through the projected win streak. We pummeled UT-M right about on target. Next up, another creampuff....EIU...not as bad as UT-M but close.

There should be more clarity Monday. BE7 having another meeting Sat....ND & Lville meeting with the ACC on Sun about an early BEAST exit.

I thought it might be interesting to see how the new potential teams stack up against the BE7. This is just using this season's data. While the season is still young, I think there is enough data at this point to make comparisons. BE7 GT......A- Marq...A- DeP....B Prov...B St. J....B S Hall..B Vill.......B- Potential add ons Creighton...A+ Gonz..........A+ SLU............B+ St. Mary's...B+ Butler.........B+ X................B+ Day............B So it looks like at this point if they take teams from this list it will be making the new conference stronger..

Another perspective.... http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=who%20owns%20the%20big%20east%20name&source=web&cd=13&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQFjACOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.syracuse.com%2Fsports%2F2012%2F12%2Fcollege_basketball_big_east_georgetown_st_johns_marquette.html&ei=EVXHULXBEaXgiwLzzYD4Dw&usg=AFQjCNHD2R1eU325LevkHPWkmqx_JG2t0g

They might walk away from the money. They have control/majority till July 1. There are only 3 football schools at this point. After that all the new football schools coming flooding in and the BB schools may not have their way anymore. By walking away now (before July 1) they may be able to cut a better deal as an expanded all basketball league.....not to mention they can take the name "Big East" with them.

Depends if you want it to be a "quality loss" or not. If UW 's numbers get better than so do ours. You want all our opponents to do well except when they play us.

Nevada is not a bad team...A C team that played above average including 2 spectacular long 3s at the end of the game to win it. Now that UW has Kemp and Suggs back they will play more like a B team.

UT-Martin an F team. This is truly a cupcake team ...our easiest/weakest team of the year. We should see everyone who is healthy play in this game.

They beat Valpo at home. As pointed out last year, UNM at home is one of the most difficult venues to play in. Last year UNM had a slight advantage over the Bills at home. I felt the UNM home court was the difference in the game. This year we will meet them at the Fetz which will give us the slight advantage. This assumes no slip ups between now and New Year's Eve.

Although slipping some UW is still a B team. Now that they are starting to get some of their players healthy they could still have a good season.

Very nicely done. Another nice touch were the approximately 100 easel sized diagramed basketball plays from RM's office which were on the walls surrounding the pavilion. A touching and emotional ceremony. A meaningful sendoff for Coach that really focused on him as a great person not just a great coach.

I have the Bills at B+...we are a good team that is missing depth right now...we tire or get into foul trouble and can lose a lead or fall behind. We have lost to A+, B, C+ teams (KU, UW, SC) No shame there. We will get better when we get our players healthy and have more depth...we look tired at the end of games. We need to try and shut down the opp 3 shots (under 35% and preferably under 30%) We have 4 more games to build confidence, get healthy, and add some victories. I plan on us being 9-3 coming into the NMex game. To me that will be at least a B+.

After last night's game , I have N Tex at C and the Bills at B+. NT is not a bad team....they are an average team...this is what an average team looks like...When an average team has a good game and a B+ team has a so so game it will be close....but the average team usually falls short. We will be better when we get some of our people back and have a little more depth.

Too close for comfort...we should have won this by more...but a win is a win. I give the Bills a pass on this one as they deal with the trauma of RM and also finals. NT shot 57% from the arc...way too high....the good news is they didn't take many shots from there. Next up will be win #3 of 6....Cream puff UT-Martin ....This will be our easiest game of the season. We should win this even if we play poorly. I will wait till UT-M plays their next game to put up the spread though it won't matter much.

I agree with brian and bizzle...the key to this team is to keep the 3pt % for opp down. Last year we were 9th in the nation with a 25.6% for 3's against us. It was something RM hammered away at. If we let up we struggle. In the Valpo game the Crusaders shot 23.8% ....RM would have been proud....and we won the game easily. If we can keep that % below 30 we could go on a long run.I want us to be so good at defending the 3 that the other team passes on the shot.