We are now tied for 3rd in the SEC

[Bulldogg31]

With pretty much everybody else, but still...it's ours to take now.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Yea .. Tied with Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and Florida

Looking at 'who plays who' .. we seem to be in a 'good place.'

MSU 8-7 (USCe, UT, @ LSU)
Missouri 8-7 (@ UK, @ Vandy, Ark)
Arkansas 8-7 (@ Bama, AUB, @ Miz)
Kentucky 8-7 (Miz, OM, @ UF)
Bama 8-7 (ARK, UF, @ A&M)
UF 8-7 (AUB, @ Bama, UK)

 

[MSUDC11]

Win out and we are guaranteed to finish no worse than 5th. We might sneak ourselves into the 3 seed if everyone else beats up on each other and we keep winning.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Win out and we are guaranteed to finish no worse than 5th.

This is why I've been saying it is mind-blowing, to me, that some folks suggest we need to win up to 2 games in the SEC Tourney to get into the NCAA.

How can a team that finishes 5th (at worst) in a league that is projected to get 7-8 into the NCAA Tourney, be left out?

That is beyond dumb.

That feat, alone, should trump any non-conference scheduling fiasco.

 

[615dawg]

We win out and we will be:

2nd if Tennessee loses to Georgia or Ole Miss and Kentucky/Florida winner loses another game
3rd if the Kentucky/Florida winner loses another game
4th in any other scenario
5th if Alabama and Kentucky both win out

 

[MSUDC11]

Would we not be 5th if Alabama and Kentucky both win out?

Kentucky has the tiebreaker over both State and UA so they would be the 3 seed. We split with Alabama but they are 1-1 against Auburn while we are 0-1. So tiebreaker goes to Bama.

Is that not how it would work?

 

[Choctaw Dawg]

Florida has a hellish stretch to end out the season and they aren't playing so hot right now. Kentucky is very beatable this year especially on a neutral court. Arky has another hellish stretch to finish out the season while we have USCe and LSU left as "easier" games. Tennessee can be beat too on any given night.

 

[philduckworth]

We win out and we will be:

2nd if Tennessee loses to Georgia or Ole Miss and Kentucky/Florida winner loses another game
3rd if the Kentucky/Florida winner loses another game
4th in any other scenario

Need UF to lose to AU or @Bama then beat UK at home. I think UK beats Mizz and Ole Miss at home.

 

[philduckworth]

This is why I've been saying it is mind-blowing, to me, that some folks suggest we need to win up to 2 games in the SEC Tourney to get into the NCAA.

How can a team that finishes 5th (at worst) in a league that is projected to get 7-8 into the NCAA Tourney, be left out?

That is beyond dumb.

That feat, alone, should trump any non-conference scheduling fiasco.

The committee doesn't really care where you finish in your conference. They look at your resume. How did you schedule? Who did you beat and where did you beat them? Subtract 1 win from our win total b/c it doesn't count and you can't dismiss our atrocious non-conference schedule.

 

[615dawg]

You are right.

Cheering guide for this weekend:

Missouri over Kentucky
Arkansas over Alabama
Auburn over Florida

All three of these happen and we are in the No. 3 position. 3 way tie with Mizzou and Arkansas (MSU 2-1, Arkansas 1-1, Mizzou, 1-2)
If Kentucky beats Mizzou and ARK over ALA and AUB over FLA, we would be in the No. 4 position.

Ole Miss over Tennessee would open up the possibility of #2 seed if we beat Tennessee.

Basically, if you look at the teams we are tied with: We lose all tiebreakers that involve Kentucky and Florida, win all tiebreakers that involve Arkansas, and Missouri and Alabama tiebreakers get screwy, but lean against us slightly because Missouri has a win over Tennessee and Alabama has a win over Auburn.

 

[KurtRambis4]

The committee doesn't really care where you finish in your conference.

Obviously.

 

[kired]

How different this season would be if we'd pulled out the Vandy & Missouri games... and not gone ice cold for the last 10 minutes @ UM. Dammit.

 

[DAWGS1.sixpack]

How bad does losing to OM, Missouri and Vanderbilt sting now?
Should have won all three and that puts us in 2nd place chasing AU for the SEC title.
Just win one of those and we are in much better shape.

 

[Xenomorph]

We'd be ranked 20th and a 5 seed.

 

[Go Budaw]

We have to win every time we take the floor at this point to feel good about our chances....that’s really all there is to it. Need to just stay in the “now” with what we need to do....both players and fans. Win the next one....don’t think past that or your head will start spinning. USC is playing very good basketball right now. Last 3 games, they have a very close loss on the road to the league’s 2nd best team (UT), soundly beat the league’s best team at home (Auburn), and also beat another team just outside the bubble in Georgia. They are going to be a tough out on Saturday, make no mistake. And we get an even tougher one after that.

 

[wsjmsu75]

Yea .. Tied with Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and Florida

Looking at 'who plays who' .. we seem to be in a 'good place.'

MSU 8-7 (USCe, UT, @ LSU)
Missouri 8-7 (@ UK, @ Vandy, Ark)
Arkansas 8-7 (@ Bama, AUB, @ Miz)
Kentucky 8-7 (Miz, OM, @ UF)
Bama 8-7 (ARK, UF, @ A&M)
UF 8-7 (AUB, @ Bama, UK)

Yep. All of the teams we are tied with are playing games against each other. So that means most of them have to have at least one or two losses the rest of the way. We will be sitting pretty if we win our last three regular season games.

 

[wsjmsu75]

The committee doesn't really care where you finish in your conference. They look at your resume. How did you schedule? Who did you beat and where did you beat them? Subtract 1 win from our win total b/c it doesn't count and you can't dismiss our atrocious non-conference schedule.

Personally, I think it is stupid that so much emphasis seems to be put on the non-conference schedule. Especially for major conference teams, there should be much more emphasis placed on how the teams finished within their conference, and also how the teams are performing closer to tournament time. I mean, the vast majority of teams schedule mostly cupcakes in the pre-conference season. We should not be punished for that more than anyone else, seeing as how we did win them all other than at Cincinnati.

 

[KurtRambis4]

and also how the teams are performing closer to tournament time

Bingo.

This is another reason that it's so dumb to weigh, so heavily, non-conference.

We are currently playing top 25 (if not higher) basketball. There is no doubt about it.

 

[VegasDawg13]

We're still 7-4 in games decided by 6 or fewer. I'm trying not to torture myself over those three because of that.

 

[VegasDawg13]

Personally, I think it is stupid that so much emphasis seems to be put on the non-conference schedule... and also how the teams are performing closer to tournament time.

I kinda side with the NCAA on this. If they were to change their emphasis as you suggest, it would disincentivize scheduling games against strong opponents. I think college basketball is better off that teams are encouraged to participate in the best preseason tournaments they can get in and take games against good mid-majors to build their resume.

However, considering SOS is already such a large part of the other metrics they use, having it as a separately listed metric that seemingly is of equal importance is taking it too far. And also, if there is an extreme example, like if we end up three games better than aTm in the conference standings, then at that point it is obviously stupid to claim they are the better team and put them in over us.

 

[Junction John]

Well, see, now you did it.

And we get an even tougher one after that.

I know you told me I couldn't think of the next one, but since you said that, now all I can think of is the next one. DAMNIT WE ARE SCREWED!!!!!!!

 

[Bulldogg31]

If we win our next 12 games in a row we'll be National Champs.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

However, considering SOS is already such a large part of the other metrics they use, having it as a separately listed metric that seemingly is of equal importance is taking it too far.

^This^

To show a graphic with RPI and SOS side by side is redundant. SOS is 75% of the RPI formula. It’s more than adequately accounted for in the RPI. There’s no need to account for it separately.

 

[FlotownDawg]

I know we think the basketball season starts on Jan 2 after the bowl games when conference play begins but it actually starts in November. Nearly half of a team’s games are non conference and you want the selection committee to basically ignore that? For many years, the SEC treated non conference games like a preseason and scheduled cupcakes, and then paid for it come March. Slive basically had a meeting with coaches and AD’s and told them to start scheduling better and it would help the league. It’s worked, except we didn’t get the memo. Our non conference schedule was embarrassingly weak. Just look at all the teams with RPIs of 250 or higher that we played. You can’t spend nearly half your season playing teams that bad and expect to come out on the positive end of any bubble discussion.

 

[patdog]

^This^

To show a graphic with RPI and SOS side by side is redundant. SOS is 75% of the RPI formula. It’s more than adequately accounted for in the RPI. There’s no need to account for it separately.

And yet, the committee does so regularly. They do not like major conference teams scheduling weak OOC schedules. And they often punish those that do.

 

[Cow College]

^This^

To show a graphic with RPI and SOS side by side is redundant. SOS is 75% of the RPI formula. It’s more than adequately accounted for in the RPI. There’s no need to account for it separately.

If you would like please feel free to look at all the other schools that we are competing with for spots. They all have a lower RPI and SOS than us. Doesn't matter which metric you use. And they are correct you can scratch one win off our win column because it is only there to make people feel good. North Georgia does not count at all for anything. It also does not show up in our RPI because they are not rated or it would be worse. No excuse for our OOC but we continue to do it in almost every sport.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Where'd he say

it should be "ignored?"