nostatic Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/men...2004-bubble.htm They list us on their bubble tracker, way down at the bottom. This is the first time we've been on the list. They also list Arizona with a quality win @ St. Louis, which speaks good for us. It's the last week of February and at least we're getting talked about. Now, how we play in the next 3 weeks will determine our fate. Let's get one on Wednesday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I find all of this interesting and it serves a purpose as a debate tool. But living here in Maryland, I have to laugh at what broy has called the "media bias" that seems to permeate all this and favor the "big boy" conferences. Case in point: Maryland. Maryland is a program sitting in a tub with a man-hole-cover-sized drain and the plug is missing. The problem with Maryland is its youth, with only one senior (Smith) and the fact that this senior is actually playing his first (and last) year of college ball. they are 4 and 8 in the ACC and 13 and 10 overall. They must win their remianing home games against Clemson and Virginia because they will in all likelihood lose on the road at NC State and will probably lose at home to a good Wake team. That makes them 6 and 10 in the ACC and 15 and 12 overall. Yet, when you read this posted link on the bubble teams posted by nostatic, the author in his opening sentence says Maryland is still in! How can he say that??????? Down near the bottom he talks about "big time wins" for Maryland and lists their wins against UNC, at Florida, against Wisconsin and Florida State and at Virginia as big time wins. Excuse me? Having said that, his listing of Arizona's wins at us as a big time win comes into question. His bias shines through loud and clear by the very fact that he list three of Maryland's big time wins against those in their very conference and last time I checked neither UNC, FSU nor UVa were worth much outside their own friendly confines. The other wins were way early in the season and should all but be discounted for now. For evidence of that ... look at Florida's current status as well. I think its great for discussion and its great that we're getting a mention. But it still way too early to tell about much of anything. The thing that always scrambled things for me are the tourney upsets. Mark my words ... they always happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikendave Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 The Billikens are also noted to be on the bubble according to cnnsi.com: http://tinyurl.com/2jsqh Interesting to note, they are in the same boat as Mizzou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikens_Fanatic Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I believe Dick Vitale was making the case for Maryland during the Texas-KU game last night, if they could finish 7-9 in conference. That's still terrible. Florida State has lost 26 straight ACC road games, and Virginia isn't worth anything. And while Florida may have been top 10 when Maryland beat them, they aren't ranked now. I suppose it was on the road, but still... Give Maryland a year or two and they'll be in easily, when they're young players get more experience. But this year give its spot to a more worthy candidate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 >I believe Dick Vitale was making the case for Maryland >during the Texas-KU game last night, if they could finish >7-9 in conference. That's still terrible. Florida State has >lost 26 straight ACC road games, and Virginia isn't worth >anything. And while Florida may have been top 10 when >Maryland beat them, they aren't ranked now. I suppose it was >on the road, but still... Give Maryland a year or two and >they'll be in easily, when they're young players get more >experience. But this year give its spot to a more worthy >candidate. If it were up to Vitale 112 teams would be in the tourney every year, or so it seems. However, I do somewhat agree with him on Maryland. While 7-9 in conference isn't great look at the conference. Outside of Duke and, to a lesser extent, NC State, everyone in the ACC is tightly bunched together. Georgia Tech, one of the best teams we've played this year, is 6-6 in the ACC. Even Clemson went in and took out NC State and UNC and they are 3-10 in confernce yet their RPI is 60. 7-9 in the ACC is not the same as 7-9 in the Big Ten or CUSA this year. Plus, I think their RPI would be pretty high. Figuring out "the bubble" is strange and one should look past conference records or standings. Xavier right now is in 5th in the A-10, 4th in their own division, yet they are legitimately "on the bubble" over teams ahead of them in conference. Speaking of RPI, how in God's name is Boston College in the top 25 with a top 10 SOS??? My buddy who is a BC grad can't figure it out either. IMHO, SLU must finish the regular season 3-1 and win at least 1 conference tourney game to be legitimately "on the bubble." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I think BC has an RPI of 22 by beating a lot of good teams (including NC State) and not losing to any bad ones. Playing and losing against St. Joe's dramatically helps your RPI as St. Joe's is undefeated against decent competition. I also think Al Skinner is a good coach (Craig Smith can play--he reminds me of a Weeble). They are ready to play every night so they will overachieve a bit in the regular season (the flipside of this is that solid, plodding teams tend to be overseeded in the NCAA and easier prey to upsets). In a related note about cross-state public/private rivalry and classy moves, UMass retired Al Skinner's number at the Mullins Center last week with Dr. J eloquently speaking on behalf of his friend/teammate (Skinner was not Erving's teammate at UMass but as Skinner played for the Nets, Pistons, and Sixers in his pro career they were together in Philly). The fans at UMass gave Skinner a nice standing O. In an unclassy move, Pitino said he would be there (Pitino was also at UMass) but cancelled (I do not mind him not going as he is a busy man as HC at Louisville but why say if you are going to go if it you really have little chance of making it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 I think 3-1 and 1-1 in the conference tourney puts us squarely on the bubble. We would be one of 10 teams fighting for around 5 spots IMO. We may not get in dependent on what happens around the country but I would watch the selection show with a lot of interest. I think a 4-0 run here would guarantee us a spot but 2-2 won't get us a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 4-0 w/ (with 2 top 30 wins) should put SLU in regardless of conference tourney performance. Would be 11-5 in conference then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.