I guess 3 games under 500 is viewed differently. It's really one to me. If you flip the Iowa game, it's one more win and one less loss.
It looks worse because it's 14-17, when in 99% of the scenarios is 15-16. Or I take the leap of faith that RU is just better than Northwestern and if healthy, that home loss makes RU 16-15. And that is assuming we are a 10 seed or 9 seed in the B1G and still have a 1st round loss to Ohio State or Minnesota.
I never felt that RU lucked into any of their B1G wins and despite many believing the referees have no impact on games or foul trouble, it wasn't until the games after the Iowa game at the RAC, where I felt the referees were a factor.
I know we have a new and expected better coach arriving at Nebraska, but the rest of the league appears to be intact. I think that helps RU scouting and being able to know what teams want to run. On the flip side, RU is likely to at least 3 or potentially 4 new players that all offer upside that teams have to adjust to.
RU will be more flexible on defense if we get to a 10 man rotation for the bulk of the season and with Young, Mulcahy and the next recruit for 2019. RU went through being Baker and Eugene reliant, to being able to score with Caleb, Harper and getting an occasional easy basket off the dribble with Mathis.
As Mathis did really well in January on drives, teams adjusted and that slowed him down.....then another layer was added as Harper's minutes increased and then Caleb saw more minutes and his production went up.
In a sense, we were being scouted. Then adjusted, then expanded, then adjusted again. You don't go from 3 to 7 or potentially 8 wins, without more scoring and more options.
There are now multiple ways to score next year, with Young and I believe the staff will stagger Mulcahy into the flow slowly vs. starting him right away and letting other teams scout how to defend him. That will allow his success to grow under the radar, while others expand their roles like Harper, McConnell and Mathis.
I am not including any additional leaps or growth spurts in any way with Myles Johnson, all he has to do is be more efficient in his 18 to 24 minutes a game. His potential alone, not by playing more minutes, but being better in general, takes RU up a level.
There's all spring and summer to break down the additions, departures and kids sitting out as transfers across the B1G. But either 2 things will happen.
A) The B1G continues to maintain its level of play as a conference or improves even more in 2019 and 2020 and RU improves because almost everyone is back.
B) The B1G takes a slight step back from #1 or 2 or 2A in comparison to the ACC and SEC or Big 12....and RU is positioned to improve from a 10th place finish and finds an additional 2 to 4 wins, going from 16 to 18 regular season wins and 8 or 9 or maybe 10 B1G wins.
And with the high amount of grad transfers hitting the market again, RU does NOT need to have one, to be successful next year, filling the 2 spots.
Caleb McConnell became available and was ultimately a target as early as December of 2017 and if there weren't so many schools looking for the quick fix with grad transfers, there should have been more schools all over McConnell.
I can easily foresee the same thing happening again. RU can add a grad transfer that fits AND potentially land a sit out transfer that can help down the road OR target a player that maybe is a 2020 recruit capable of reclassifying back to 2019....or finding another 2019 recruit that can help.
I can't find one reason to feel uncertain that things aren't trending very well for RU. The last 3 games don't erase the 1st 28 for me.
