Other weak NC schedules...it's the norm

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Here is a write-up about Villanova of the heralded big east teams. They are rated #17...go figure.

"The Wildcats (8-0) continued their season full of romps and this one was over not long after the opening tip. They have yet to play a truly competitive game and won by 20-plus points for the fourth time this season. No game has been won by less than 13 points.

Villanova said the schedule was short a game and severely overmatched Houston Baptist (0-7) was available to fill the gap.

''A lot of people say we haven't really had a test, we haven't really played anybody,'' Reynolds said. ''I think every time we step on the floor we have the mind-set that we're playing for each other, we're playing for our coaches. It doesn't matter if we have 30,000 or 300 (fans) we're still going to play Villanova basketball for 40 minutes.''

From SI.com
 

"Everyone else does it"

My favorite excuse in the world for everything. So that makes it OK?
 

Doesn't make it OK...just makes it a fact. Your view is from a ticket-holder. Totally understandable. From inside the program, it's for positioning. Different viewpoints.
 

I'm not sure if it's on the other RPI websites but KenPom lists the non-con strength of schedules on the far right entries.

As it stands I think the Gophers are 230ish or so.

http://kenpom.com/rate.php
 



I think that it's not just the season ticket holder who will be disgruntled with this schedule, but it could also include the selection committee come March. Let's say the Gophers finish the non-conference 11-1 (win the rest of their games in the non-conf. except for Louisville). I don't know that 10-8 in the conference with one win in the Big 10 tourney gets them into the dance.

The Gophers would be sitting at 22-10 if that were to occur. Looks good, right? But consider that the non-conference has one team which will look good at the end of the season in the RPI rankings (Louisville). It's actually bad news that Cornell's starting backcourt's been hurt all season because by the time they return, it will be during Ivy League play, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say those games won't drastically approve Cornell's RPI.

So then we turn to conference play. We've seen that with the unbalanced schedules in conference play, the NCAA committee is taking a look at who teams are playing in their conference, just not their final conference record. This year, the Gophers only play once against Purdue (home) and Iowa (road). It seems that missing Iowa won't affect them too much, but having Purdue off the schedule can't be too helpful to the RPI calculations.

I expect the Gophers to fight for the fourth spot in conference along with Ohio State, Illinois, Penn State and potentially Michigan. Indiana will likely claim the cellar in the Big Ten and who knows where Iowa and Northwestern will finish, but they've looked better than expected thus far.

If the Gophers finish 9-9 in conference, I don't like their chances for the tournament. 8-10, forget it. Unless the other middle of the pack Big 10 teams prove to be very solid and can take some games from the Big 3 at the top of the conference (it would definitely help the Gophers cause to do so too), I don't think the Big Ten has the SOS needed this year. That's why it was a great thing for Michigan to beat UCLA and for the middle of the pack teams to do well in the ACC Challenge. The Gophers have little margin for error due to their non-conference schedule this season and will need help from the strength of their Big Ten schedule, unless they are able to vault into the Top 3 of the conference this season.

Now if they had replaced South Dakota State and SE Louisiana on the schedule with say Butler or Nebraska or Iowa State, as examples, I'd feel better about their chances for the NCAA, even if they split those home contests.
 

Without looking at Villanova's past schedules, it could be just this year. However, the Gophers' schedule seems to be like this EVERY year. It's an easy road to 20 wins for the head coach and he's got a nice streak going...
 

But I must point out that the year before Tubby arrived, we were playing a soft schedule... and they were beating us. Have we forgotten so quickly? The year we got beat by the likes of Marist, Arkansas-Little Rock, Montana, and barely beat SE Louisiana?

However, I agree that as our talent level improves, the schedule should match it.
 

Actually, that was a pretty decent schedule

Actually, in my opinion, the year before Tubby arrived Monson put together a good nonconference schedule. I remember being surprised by it because of the pressure he was under to win. If ever there was a time for Monson to line his schedule with cupcakes, that would have been the year to do it. To his credit, he didn't.

The Gophers had home games that year against three schools from BCS conferences, Arizona State, Clemson & Iowa State. They played UAB on the road. They were in the inaugural Old Spice Classic, which had a solid field, including Arkansas, West Virginia & two teams the Gophers lost to (Marist & Southern Illinois). Marist won the regular-season title of the MAAC (that didn't make the loss much easier to swallow) and SIU ended up in the Sweet 16 where it gave Kansas a to-the-wire tussle in San Jose.

I would have been thrilled with a similar (home) schedule this season, a season in which I thought heading in ending up on the the bubble would be a distinct possibility. If Tubby ever schedules 2 BCS teams at home, let alone 3, I'll jump for joy and be the first to commend him for it.
 



Hey, Gopher OOC schedule is NOT all cupcakes. We handled NDSU, who is favored for 1st or 2nd in the Summit, and NDSU also beat Oral Roberts last night, and Oral Roberts is the other co-favorite in the Summit League. We toyed with VA before putting them away. Coming up is Cornell, an NCAA tourney team last year, and also don't forget about upcoming Louisville. So far, Tubby's Monsters are undefeated. Do NOT cut this OOC schedule short. It is tougher than we all think. Tubby knows what he is doing. End of lecture, Amen.
 

"It is tougher than we all think."

There's no way we can know that as fact until the end of the season.

Until then, all we're doing is offering our opinions on the merits/demerits of the schedule, how it looks on paper, etc. By March we'll know if this schedule was weak, strong or somewhere in between. I sincerely hope the schedule proves significantly more helpful in garnering a NCAA at-large bid (if we don't win the BTT) than I think it will. How our nonconference foes perform will determine that.
 

SS....You are absolutely correct, and I offered and expressed my opinion regarding the OOC schedule. The end result come Selection Sunday in March is the final decision maker....But I still think our OOC schedule is tougher than a lot of people are giving the Gophers credit for. We are currently 7-0, and not many teams are undefeated, even with cupcakes on their schedules.
 

"It is tougher than we all think."

There's no way we can know that as fact until the end of the season.

Until then, all we're doing is offering our opinions on the merits/demerits of the schedule, how it looks on paper, etc. By March we'll know if this schedule was weak, strong or somewhere in between. I sincerely hope the schedule proves significantly more helpful in garnering a NCAA at-large bid (if we don't win the BTT) than I think it will. How our nonconference foes perform will determine that.

23 W. The Gophers need that number to earn NCAA bid without winning B10T in March.
 






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