Bubblicious Weekend: Reeling Gophers have primo opportunity in Columbus

I can't think of a better time for the Gophers to pick up a road win vs. a sure-fire NCAA tourney qualifier. If Mathieu outplays Craft, it can be done. Absent that, Gophers must beat Iowa on Tuesday.

Thursday Bubbler Results
#36 BYU 73, Gonzaga 65 (I like BYU's resume better than Zags; Zags not a lock if they don't win WCC tourney)
#41 Southern Miss 85, UTSA 56 (USM a paper tiger just like last year, can't see how they'll get at-large bid)
#48 Stanford 80, USC 59 (Cardinal do what Gophers couldn't, avoid stinky home loss)
#52 Nebraska 80, Penn State 67 (Huskers' tourney path simply may be avoiding bad losses down the stretch)
San Francisco 73, Saint Mary's 62 (I'm doing Gaels a favor, will keep them on bubble list for the weekend)
Seton Hall 82, #63 Georgetown 67 (Hoyas headed the wrong way)
East Carolina 75, #89 Louisiana Tech 68 (LT falls off the board for good, auto bid now only path to tourney)

Friday Bubblers
none (but VCU @ UMass, 6 p.m. on ESPN2, worth a look)

Saturday Bubblers (in order of RPI, not time of game)
San Diego State @ #21 New Mexico, 9 p.m. (ESPN2) -- Lobos become a virtual lock with a win
#32 George Washington @ Saint Louis, 7 p.m. -- Colonials become a virtual lock with a win
Portland @ #36 BYU, 8 p.m.
#37 Missouri @ Alabama, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
#38 Kansas State @ Oklahoma, 3 p.m. -- Wildcats become a virtual lock with a win
Fordham @ #40 Saint Joseph's, 1 p.m.
UTEP @ #41 Southern Miss, 5 p.m. (CBSSN)
#42 Xavier @ #63 Georgetown, 10:30 a.m. (FS1)
#45 GOPHERS @ Ohio State, 5 p.m. (BTN) -- it's time for Gophers to step up and be counted
La Salle @ #46 Richmond, 3 p.m. (CBSSN)
#47 Baylor @ #70 West Virginia, 12:30 p.m.
UCLA @ #48 Stanford, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
Texas Tech @ #49 Oklahoma State, 12:30 p.m.
#51 Tennessee @ Texas A&M, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
#53 Saint John's @ Villanova, 12:30 p.m. (FS1)
#55 Indiana State @ Missouri State, noon (ESPNU)
UNLV @ #56 Boise State, 7:05 p.m. (CBSSN)
#57 NC State @ Virginia Tech, 1 p.m.
#58 Dayton @ Duquesne, 1 p.m.
#62 Saint Mary's @ Santa Clara, 3 p.m.
#69 LSU @ Kentucky, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
#71 Clemson @ Georgia Tech, 11 a.m.
#74 Arkansas @ Mississippi State, 3 p.m.
Florida # #76 Ole Miss, 11 a.m. (CBS)

Sunday Bubblers
#31 Arizona State @ Utah, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
#67 Florida State @ #33 Pitt, 5 p.m. (ESPNU)
Washington State @ #39 Oregon, 8 p.m. (Pac 12 Network)
#44 SMU @ UConn, 1 p.m. (CBSSN)
USC @ #50 Cal, 7 p.m. (FS1)
Purdue @ #52 Nebraska, 3:15 p.m. (BTN)
#61 Providence @ Butler, 5 p.m. (FS1)

Most Likely to Significantly Enhance Bubble Status
Baylor/West Virginia winner
New Mexico (over San Diego State)
Stanford (over UCLA)

Most Likely to Drop Completely Off the Bubble
Clemson (by losing to Georgia Tech)
Indiana State (by losing to Missouri State)
Ole Miss (by losing to Florida)
Saint Mary's (by losing to Santa Clara)

I'm not crazy for thinking an 8-10 record with a win over OSU or Iowa and a loss to PSU or Ill is better than an 8-10 record with wins only wins over PSU and Ill and losses to OSU and Iowa, am I?

From the Barn said:

I'm not crazy for thinking an 8-10 record with a win over OSU or Iowa and a loss to PSU or Ill is better than an 8-10 record with wins only wins over PSU and Ill and losses to OSU and Iowa, am I?

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Kind of what I'm thinking as well. If we beat OSU or Iowa, isn't that better than our original goal of making the tourney? The original goal being beat Illinois, PSU, and win the first game of the BTT. Just trying to stay positive after that awful performance Wednesday.

From the Barn said:

I'm not crazy for thinking an 8-10 record with a win over OSU or Iowa and a loss to PSU or Ill is better than an 8-10 record with wins only wins over PSU and Ill and losses to OSU and Iowa, am I?

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Not crazy at all.

From the Barn said:

I'm not crazy for thinking an 8-10 record with a win over OSU or Iowa and a loss to PSU or Ill is better than an 8-10 record with wins only wins over PSU and Ill and losses to OSU and Iowa, am I?

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No, but you might be crazy for thinking we can beat OSU or Iowa.

So are we thinking 8-10 and 1 win in BTT makes us a lock or does that simply place us smack dab on the bubble?

From the Barn said:

I'm not crazy for thinking an 8-10 record with a win over OSU or Iowa and a loss to PSU or Ill is better than an 8-10 record with wins only wins over PSU and Ill and losses to OSU and Iowa, am I?

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Seems to me that instead of having expected games/outcomes we would be adding one more 'good win' as well as one more 'bad loss'. Net result would be a wash.

station19 said:

Seems to me that instead of having expected games/outcomes we would be adding one more 'good win' as well as one more 'bad loss'. Net result would be a wash.

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I hate washes!!!

station19 said:

Seems to me that instead of having expected games/outcomes we would be adding one more 'good win' as well as one more 'bad loss'. Net result would be a wash.

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Depends on how you look it. When it's gets right down to the final nitty gritty of the last few teams, I value quality wins more than I punish for bad losses. In the end, the selection committee wants to include teams capable of beating good teams. That's my best guess, anyways, from what I've observed over the years.

I think the Gophers and us should concentrate on the team playing better and let the NCAA take care of itself.

kiedro said:

I think the Gophers and us should concentrate on the team playing better and let the NCAA take care of itself.

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The team? Yes. Us fans? No. This is what we do

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

SelectionSunday said:

Depends on how you look it. When it's gets right down to the final nitty gritty of the last few teams, I value quality wins more than I punish for bad losses. In the end, the selection committee wants to include teams capable of beating good teams. That's my best guess, anyways, from what I've observed over the years.

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Could be. I just hope we start winning some more games and make it easy for them.

I'm all for an 11 or 12 seed.

SelectionSunday said:

Depends on how you look it. When it's gets right down to the final nitty gritty of the last few teams, I value quality wins more than I punish for bad losses. In the end, the selection committee wants to include teams capable of beating good teams. That's my best guess, anyways, from what I've observed over the years.

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I know that's the way the committee seems to do it, but I've never been a big fan of it. To me, if you take a given schedule, a 20-10 record should mean the same thing regardless of who you beat. Pretty sure I'm in a minority.

bleedsmaroonandgold said:

I know that's the way the committee seems to do it, but I've never been a big fan of it. To me, if you take a given schedule, a 20-10 record should mean the same thing regardless of who you beat. Pretty sure I'm in a minority.

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If that were the case I'd schedule Lamar, Southern, and 11 other teams of their ilk, than all I would need is 7 big ten wins to get to 20

bemidjigopher said:

If that were the case I'd schedule Lamar, Southern, and 11 other teams of their ilk, than all I would need is 7 big ten wins to get to 20

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I said "take a given schedule". I meant that two teams with identical records and scheduels should be identical. I recognize that there are differences between 20-10 teams. However, there should not be a difference between two 20-10 teams who played the same schedule. My main point is that if one team loses to Syracuse and beats Lamar, and the other team beats Syracuse and loses to Lamar, they have done exactly the same thing: taken identical opponents and earned the same number of wins.