AAC 3 weeks in

[alchemy]

With almost half the OOC schedule in, I thought I would try to identify the AAC's 5 best wins and 5 worst losses to date.

Wins:
UConn over Syracuse 83-76 Only AAC win over a ranked opponent
Cincinnati over Ole Miss 71-57 Bearcats dominate
Houston over BYU 76-62 Won big on the road
UCF over Western Ky 78-62 Western coming off big win over West Virginia
WSU over Providence 83-80 Another road win
Temple over Georgia 81-77 Tie with WSU

Losses:
High Point over ECU 55-52
Southern Miss over SMU 74-64
Florida Atlantic over UCF 80-79
Citadel over South Florida 84-81
Bradley over SMU 75-62 It was close with TU loss to SIU

Net rankings of teamsTU defeated:
UALR 212
Cal Baptist 244
Alcorn 334
SC State 344

Lots of big games Dec 1 and 2 will tell a lot about the AAC. Can't wait!

 

[TU4ever2]

With almost half the OOC schedule in, I thought I would try to identify the AAC's 5 best wins and 5 worst losses to date.

Wins:
UConn over Syracuse 83-76 Only AAC win over a ranked opponent
Cincinnati over Ole Miss 71-57 Bearcats dominate
Houston over BYU 76-62 Won big on the road
UCF over Western Ky 78-62 Western coming off big win over West Virginia
WSU over Providence 83-80 Another road win
Temple over Georgia 81-77 Tie with WSU

Losses:
High Point over ECU 55-52
Southern Miss over SMU 74-64
Florida Atlantic over UCF 80-79
Citadel over South Florida 84-81
Bradley over SMU 75-62 It was close with TU loss to SIU

Net rankings of teamsTU defeated:
UALR 212
Cal Baptist 244
Alcorn 334
SC State 344

Lots of big games Dec 1 and 2 will tell a lot about the AAC. Can't wait!

Might want to check that FAU game. They are like 5-1 and decently rated. Bradley is also looking much better than expected. Our SIU is bad though.

 

[alchemy]

I know about FAU, but the preseason AAC#1 should have handled them at home.

 

[TU4ever2]

I know about FAU, but the preseason AAC#1 should have handled them at home.

I disagree, first FAU is proving they are a good team. Second UCF hadn't really played together despite a good group of upperclassmen because of injury. That's exactly the sort of game they should be expected to lose.

 

[drboobay]

With almost half the OOC schedule in, I thought I would try to identify the AAC's 5 best wins and 5 worst losses to date.

Wins:
UConn over Syracuse 83-76 Only AAC win over a ranked opponent
Cincinnati over Ole Miss 71-57 Bearcats dominate
Houston over BYU 76-62 Won big on the road
UCF over Western Ky 78-62 Western coming off big win over West Virginia
WSU over Providence 83-80 Another road win
Temple over Georgia 81-77 Tie with WSU

Losses:
High Point over ECU 55-52
Southern Miss over SMU 74-64
Florida Atlantic over UCF 80-79
Citadel over South Florida 84-81
Bradley over SMU 75-62 It was close with TU loss to SIU

Net rankings of teamsTU defeated:
UALR 212
Cal Baptist 244
Alcorn 334
SC State 344

Lots of big games Dec 1 and 2 will tell a lot about the AAC. Can't wait!

Might want to check that FAU game. They are like 5-1 and decently rated. Bradley is also looking much better than expected. Our SIU is bad though.

Announcers said SIU is picked 3rd in the Valley. I guess we will see.

 

[Bill Lowery_1]

Announcers said SIU is picked 3rd in the Valley. I guess we will see.

5 of 6 top scorers return from a 20 win team. Lost to ranked Kentucky by 12 and ranked Buffalo by 9. Definitely not a “bad” team but a team we should expect to beat.

Lots of good teams getting beat early on. Ranked Oregon lost at home to Texas Southern yesterday.

 

[tupatsfan]

5 of 6 top scorers return from s 20 win team. Lost to ranked Kentucky by 12 and ranked Buffalo by 9. Definitely not a “bad” team but a team we should expect to beat.

Lots of good teams getting beat early on. Ranked Oregon lost at home to Texas Southern yesterday.

That’s why it’s important not to freak out over that loss this early. It’s not nearly as bad as losing to an oru or Lamar. The next couple weeks can really help us if we can get some of these Ws.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

That’s why it’s important not to freak out over that loss this early. It’s not nearly as bad as losing to an oru or Lamar. The next couple weeks can really help us if we can get some of these Ws.

Losing to the 3rd place team in a mediocre Valley conference is something to freak out about if you're trying to go for an at large bid. That's Haith's requirement this season. Anything less is a glaring failure.

 

[lawpoke87]

If Southern Ill hadn't lost by 20 to UMass in the game before ours there wouldn't be near as much concern imo. I don't think they're as bad as that loss and in the end they should be at least a respectable team. Much better than those we've lost too the past few years.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

If Southern Ill hadn't lost by 20 to UMass in the game before ours there wouldn't be near as much concern imo. I don't think they're as bad as that loss and in the end they should be at least a respectable team. Much better than those we've lost too the past few years.

It's comparable to the ORU loss in 2016. I don't think either ORU that season or SIU this season are NCAA or NIT teams (unless SIU makes a run in the valley tournament). That loss, along with the season ending losses to Memphis almost kept the 2016 out of the tournament... we were probably the most controversial pick in a decade for that tournament and no one had us in their projected brackets. To say we got in by the skin of our teeth would be an understatement. Also, this season we won't have as many conference opportunities for good wins as we did in 2016. Which means we'll probably know if we can make the tournament by the end of December. Our non-conference was really important this year. Losses to SIU aren't acceptable when we'll be going into a conference season with tougher bottom feeding teams as well as weaker top teams.

 

[tupatsfan]

No, it’s not comparable. Sorry.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

No, it’s not comparable. Sorry.

If we miss the tournament it will be. Just another bad loss in a sea of bad to mediocre losses.

 

[ctt8410]

ORU was 174 in KenPom and we lost that game at home.
SIU is 114 and we lost on a neutral court.
Not sure I'm seeing the parallel there.

This is more like our Illinois State losses last year.

 

[tupatsfan]

We can more than offset it in the next couple weeks. I think you’ll see more the team that played nevada starting tonight.

 

[mcane]

The key is Taplin's ankle and endurance level. He is a difference maker.

Jeffries must also learn not to play aggressively at the start of the game.

TU is an 8 point favorite tonight. That sounds right to me.

OSU lost its only road game at Charlotte, although the circumstances there were truly bizarre.
I don't think KSU will have played a road game when we play them.
TU's first road game is Saturday at Utah, which is not very good but probably good enough in SLC.

 

[TU_BLA]

We can more than offset it in the next couple weeks. I think you’ll see more the team that played nevada starting tonight.

I hope you're right. I keep seeing glimpses of undisciplined teams of the past with poor shot selection at key moments and key contributors getting into consistent foul trouble because they don't play with a high IQ.

I'm also seeing Haith's sub patterns being detrimental to the teams development and continuity...again.

 

[TU_BLA]

Jeffries must also learn not to play aggressively at the start of the game.

It's not necessarily about being aggressive or not, it's being smart. The 2nd foul against SIU the other night was just plain dumb basketball. That's on the player.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

ORU was 174 in KenPom and we lost that game at home.
SIU is 114 and we lost on a neutral court.
Not sure I'm seeing the parallel there.

This is more like our Illinois State losses last year.

Illinois State last year was a fringe NCAA team. SIU isn't that good. I expect them to eat losses in the valley. A lot more than the 1 L that ISU had in the valley last year.

Do you think they'll end up rising or falling in the rankings ctt?

My guess is they'll fall. They honestly didn't look like a good team when we played them or the day before. We just looked like a worse team.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

If we miss the tournament it will be. Just another bad loss in a sea of bad to mediocre losses.

Bro, you would pick at anything Haith did or didn’t do given the opportunity.

If he doesn’t make the tournament this year, he won’t be extended and will have his contract run out after next season and we’ll move on.

However, with only 2 losses (one of which isn’t a bad loss), I think it’s a little early to write the entire season off.

We all know that you HATE Haith with a deep passion and everything he does is wrong and there is no way he can get it right. Oh and that ncaa Tournament bid we got? It doesn’t count, because reasons!!

Seems like you have a personal thing against Haith.

 

[tupatsfan]

We are actually 11.5 point favorites

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

Bro, you would pick at anything Haith did it didn’t do given the opportunity.

If he doesn’t make the tournament this year, he won’t be extended and will have his contract run out after next season and we’ll move on.

However, with only 2 losses (one of which isn’t a bad loss), I think it’s a little early to write the entire season off.

We all know that you HATE Haith with a deep passion and everything he does is wrong and there is no way he can get it right. Oh and that ncaa Tournament bid we got? It doesn’t count, because reasons!!

Seems like you have a personal thing against Haith.

I won't say it doesn't count... I will say it shouldn't be a major selling point for Haith because we simply shouldn't have had that bid. I mean. No one on this board expected us to even be in the conversation after we got dominated by Memphis twice in the final week or so of the season (with a bad ORU loss to boot) and a couple more mediocre losses for our resume. We had 2 good wins and quite a few bad to mediocre losses.

I think Haith got extremely lucky.... like the luckiest anyone has ever gotten in the history of the selection committee to be in that tournament.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

I won't say it doesn't count... I will say it shouldn't be a major selling point for Haith because we simply shouldn't have had that bid. I mean. No one on this board expected us to even be in the conversation after we got dominated by Memphis twice in the final week or so of the season (with a bad ORU loss to boot)

I think Haith got extremely lucky.... like the luckiest anyone has ever gotten in the history of the selection committee to be in that tournament.

Whatever you need to tell yourself to justify your hate.

 

[tupatsfan]

I won't say it doesn't count... I will say it shouldn't be a major selling point for Haith because we simply shouldn't have had that bid. I mean. No one on this board expected us to even be in the conversation after we got dominated by Memphis twice in the final week or so of the season (with a bad ORU loss to boot) and a couple more mediocre losses for our resume. We had 2 good wins and quite a few bad to mediocre losses.

I think Haith got extremely lucky.... like the luckiest anyone has ever gotten in the history of the selection committee to be in that tournament.

Call the wammmmmmbulance

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

Whatever you need to tell yourself to justify your hate.

Ok.... tell me that you were watching selection Sunday waiting to see if Tulsa would be in or what seed we'd get. I'll call you or anyone else here a liar who says that. No one on these boards or in the media thought we would (or should) be in.

 

[tupatsfan]

Ok.... tell me that you were watching selection Sunday waiting to see if Tulsa would be in or what seed we'd get. I'll call you or anyone else here a liar who says that. No one on these boards or in the media thought we would (or should) be in.

Cool.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

Call the wammmmmmbulance

I'm not complaining that we played in it.... I'm just saying that giving Haith a ton of credit for a tournament he probably shouldn't have made (and likely would have been left out of in other seasons) isn't smart.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

Ok.... tell me that you were watching selection Sunday waiting to see if Tulsa would be in. I'll call you or anyone else here a liar who says that. No one on these boards or in the media thought we would be in.

I don’t understand what that has to do with it? Was it lucky we got in? Yes and no. We were evaluated just the same as every other team out there and we got the nod based on the same criteria everyone else was graded against. So yes I was surprised, but it still counts and is still a legitimate tournament appearance and our conference got credits for it.

We beat Notre Dame on a lucky last play... no one thought we’d win, but we hung in there until the end and gave ourselves the opportunity. Same as hoops did a few years ago. Sure it’s a little lucky, but we did what we needed to do to succeed. They didn’t just let us in because they liked us.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

And let me be clear - Haith very well may not get it done this year. And if he doesn’t, I don’t think he should be given any sort of extension. $2 million is too much for only making the tournament once in 6 years. My fear is that TU will TU and let his contract expire then bring in some d3 coach or Lamar type 2nd assistant for $400k per year and just hope for the best.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

I don’t understand what that has to do with it? Was it lucky we got in? Yes and no. We were evaluated just the same as every other team out there and we got the nod based on the same criteria everyone else was graded against. So yes I was surprised, but it still counts and is still a legitimate tournament appearance and our conference got credits for it.

We beat Notre Dame on a lucky last play... no one thought we’d win, but we hung in there until the end and gave ourselves the opportunity. Same as hoops did a few years ago. Sure it’s a little lucky, but we did what we needed to do to succeed. They didn’t just let us in because they liked us.

Maybe I'd give Haith more credit if he was actually in the conversation at the end of the season. We weren't even on anyone's radar.

I honestly wasn't surprised we did well at ND. They weren't a great team that season and we were above average. I was surprised that the last play went the way it did (passing instead of kicking a FG)... but it takes a lot of sample size during a football game for an outcome to be determined...

It wasn't like we played in the championship game of the conference tournament finals and a final shot put us into the tournament. That's not luck... that's getting to the finals and playing well enough to be close to a bid. We didn't even play well to end the season. We did OK in the tournament... but my God, Haith didn't have us prepared whatsoever for the world's most tepid Memphis team twice in a row... and most years it would have kept us out.

 

[goldenhurricane2]

Maybe I'd give Haith more credit if he was actually in the conversation at the end of the season. We weren't even on anyone's radar.

I honestly wasn't surprised we did well at ND. They weren't a great team that season and we were above average. I was surprised that the last play went the way it did (passing instead of kicking a FG)... but it takes a lot of sample size during a football game for an outcome to be determined...

It wasn't like we played in the championship game of the conference tournament finals and a final shot put us into the tournament. That's not luck... that's getting to the finals and playing well enough to be close to a bid. We didn't even play well to end the season. We did OK in the tournament... but my God, Haith didn't have us prepared whatsoever for the world's most tepid Memphis team twice in a row... and most years it would have kept us out.

Just curious, who would you have rather had us hire instead of Haith back when all that went down?

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

And let me be clear - Haith very well may not get it done this year. And if he doesn’t, I don’t think he should be given any sort of extension. $2 million is too much for only making the tournament once in 6 years. My fear is that TU will TU and let his contract expire then bring in some d3 coach or Lamar type 2nd assistant for $400k per year and just hope for the best.

We haven't done something like that since 30 years. I don't really see that happening.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

Just curious, who would you have rather had us hire instead of Haith back when all that went down?

Mike White if we could have got him. I would have paid him 50% more than Haith... and we probably would have solidly made the tournament two years in a row and would have been an NIT team last year and a pretty firm NCAA team this year. (Except we probably wouldn't have been able to retain him long)

 

[goldenhurricane2]

Mike White if we could have got him.

Mike would have been a good get.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

Mike would have been a good get.

Yup. He stayed at La Tech the season after we lost Danny probably waiting for the next big thing... I would have gone all out for him.

 

[TU_BLA]

I think Haith got extremely lucky.... like the luckiest anyone has ever gotten in the history of the selection committee to be in that tournament.

That would be Syracuse every other year with their 17-15 records.

 

[TU_BLA]

Mike White if we could have got him. I would have paid him 50% more than Haith... and we probably would have solidly made the tournament two years in a row and would have been an NIT team last year and a pretty firm NCAA team this year. (Except we probably wouldn't have been able to retain him long)

He probably would have stayed here 2 years at the tops. He made no secret about wanting to be an SEC coach.

 

[nevadanatural]

White would never have come here. He didn’t see it as a step up from LaTech and by waiting he got the top level SEC job he wanted.

 

[astonmartin708_rivals]

White would never have come here. He didn’t see it as a step up from LaTech and by waiting he got the top level SEC job he wanted.

I don't believe that. With enough $ anyone will go anywhere. Add to that, he probably would / could have left after doing a really great job with Shaq, Juice, and the rest... He could have been convinced. There was nothing guaranteeing that he was going to have a good season when he returned to La Tech. That team we beat graduated a ton of players and lost quite a few more to transfers / overseas gigs. He did a good job that season though and it earned him the Florida job. I just wonder if we would have shelled out the same level of $$$ we did for Frank to a coach of a C-USA school that we were leaving behind. Probably not. Gragg wanted to make a splash with his hire.

 

[URedskin54]

So arguing that our at-large bid doesn't count because it made Joe Lunardi mad is still a thing?

 

[GoldenCaneKC]

Interesting stat of the day:

Jayden Gardner, a freshman from ECU, scored 22 points on 3-9 shooting from the field tonight in their win over Appalachian State.

(He was 16-19 from the free throw line.)

Also pulled down 11 rebounds.