Today's games(2) - Wed. 1/3

[Red Rooster]

I just think that our fan base is so used to mediocrity and failure that excuses are now second nature. If we didn't lose this player, if this coach did that, if we played this team instead of another team, etc. Another thing I hear constantly is how tough the match ups are. Yeah they are all tough, so what? Win a game. Every team has injuries. Mizzou lost Porter and did very well, PC had hobbled key players play well, etc. I just don't see this team rattling off 3 in a row anywhere even with LoVett. This team always digs itself into holes to begin conference play.

Porter, Jr. is one player, who also happened to play all but one minute of college basketball. Mizzou has enough depth and solid personnel to offset Porter.

You're a fool, if you think Providence was playing well with their injuries. You were the one on here railing Providence when they were losing and not playing well. You're a headcase and too overly, emotional about this stuff.

The only thing I'll rail the Johnnies' staff about is they left the team shorthanded by not adding another player or two to the roster during the offseason. Sid Wilson's situation left us even more shorthanded, as he would've been "that" extra body we need. But, even with Wilson, I think we needed another player who could be counted on to contribute.

Let's see any team in the conference (or anywhere else throughout college hoops) lose possibly their two best players and see what happens. Not only that, but two of their primary ballhandlers. Yesterday's loss could've been for the taken, even without LoVett. I have another reason or two for that particular loss. But, if LoVett was playing, then there is also the likelihood we walk out of Omaha with a 'W.' Possibly, the same against Seton Hall this past Sunday.

Should the Johnnies still have won one or two of their conference losses? Perhaps. You'll get no argument from me there. But, this season is still a long way from being over. My tune could change on the season being a "long way from being over" within another week or two. Currently, there's still lots of games to be played and the season is yet to be determined.

[XUFan09]

Thank you to whoever said this is what the forum is for. I've never heard of forums where posters must post the exact same POV and where they are forced to stay positive as their team's season is ending before their eyes after a hot start. It's 100% natural to bitch about that and this is exactly the medium to use it for. And to answer the X fan who said it's stupid to compare our 0-3 with DePaul's 0-3, yes they are the same. Enough of the if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle mindset. You can almost hear the excuses for next season already. Good teams find ways to win even with an injury. Almost is not good enough, this isn't pee wee league.

No, they're not the same, because I guarantee that SJU is going to do more with the remaining 15 games. If at the end of the conference slate, they had the same record as DePaul, then yes, that would qualify as the same thing.

Thank you XUFan. Before the conference season began, I had figured at this point we'd be 1-2 instead of 0-3. Seton Hall and Creighton on the road were going to be incredibly tough games and I'm encouraged by the fact that we competed and of course, disappointed we fell short. I think the frustration with Mayhem is that each and every game becomes a referendum on Mullin, the staff, the players, the fans, the school, etc. It gets tiresome. I had predicted that we would end up 9-9 for the season and I still feel that way. Now, if we lose at home to DePaul, Georgetown or both, I will definitely have to reassess my prediction.

Yeah, I definitely get being frustrated that your team started off 0-3 when 1-2 was expected. Hell, DePaul fans are probably frustrated about starting off 0-3 instead of 1-2, because their team lost their most winnable game of the season, at home versus Gerorgetown. The overreaction with SJU so far is just stupid. Good teams do often pull out the win in these cases on the road with injuries, but when they're also playing good teams, something has to give. It's like Mayhem doesn't recognize their opponents' impact on games and just feels entitled to the win. It's only three games. They straight-up blew it against Providence and I'd be pissed about that as a fan, but they rebounded well and put up a good showing in two of their five toughest conference games. That's promising for the rest of the conference season. I don't think they'll quite hit .500 in a tough Big East, but maybe they can pull that off if they play like this. They definitely match up well against Xavier and could get the "unexpected win" there.

[GumbyDamnit!]

That would be true if the committee based seeding entirely on RPI. Of course, we all know that they do not do that, so the entire statement is complete bullsh--.

You're right it doesn't. But it does constitute a lot of it. How you do vs tier 1 games(top 30 home games, top 75 road games) will factor a lot. Your SOS factors a lot into it(both overall and OOC- whether folks like it or not). Your road/neutral record means a ton.

Seton Hall I think 2 years ago a fair comparison to Seton Hall. They were 24-9, BET champs, and had a RPI of 19. With 193 OOC SOS. And they got a 6 seed.

OK, let's take a look...

Top 30 home game wins so far:
X - Butler
CU - 0 (although SJU is 32 right now)

Top 75 on the road:
X - Marq.,
CU -0

Top 50 neutral:
X - 0
CU - UCLA

So X beat Butler at home and @ Marq. CU vs. UCLA on a neutral court, and just missed on SJU who could seemingly climb up two spots later. Now, I'm guessing in conference both will have about 10 more games that fit into these categories that you agree are so important. Hmmm... maybe these conference games will decide a whole lot for both teams. Just a hunch.

[stever20]

That would be true if the committee based seeding entirely on RPI. Of course, we all know that they do not do that, so the entire statement is complete bullsh--.

You're right it doesn't. But it does constitute a lot of it. How you do vs tier 1 games(top 30 home games, top 75 road games) will factor a lot. Your SOS factors a lot into it(both overall and OOC- whether folks like it or not). Your road/neutral record means a ton.

Seton Hall I think 2 years ago a fair comparison to Seton Hall. They were 24-9, BET champs, and had a RPI of 19. With 193 OOC SOS. And they got a 6 seed.

OK, let's take a look...

Top 30 home game wins so far:
X - Butler
CU - 0 (although SJU is 32 right now)

Top 75 on the road:
X - Marq.,
CU -0

Top 50 neutral:
X - 0
CU - UCLA

So X beat Butler at home and @ Marq. CU vs. UCLA on a neutral court, and just missed on SJU who could seemingly climb up two spots later. Now, I'm guessing in conference both will have about 10 more games that fit into these categories that you agree are so important. Hmmm... maybe these conference games will decide a whole lot for both teams. Just a hunch.

Xavier has also-
home win vs Cincy(projected to be #20)

to your point on the having 10 games that'll be tier 1 games.. Xavier has looks like 8 left. Creighton has looks like 9 left.

Creighton has played so far 1-2 vs projected tier 1 opponents- UCLA, Gonzaga, and Seton Hall. they've played so far 2-1 vs projected tier 2 opponents (Baylor, Providence, Seton Hall)
Xavier has played so far 2-1 vs projected tier 1 opponents- Arizona St, Cincy, Marquette. They've played so far 4-0 vs projected tier 2 opponents (Wisconsin, Baylor, Northern Iowa, Butler)
so 3-3 vs 6-1 is a pretty big gap right now. With 3 vs 5 in OOC opponents.
Also entering this period- 1 loss vs 3 losses matters.
Xavier's RPI record right now- 11.8-1.0 4-1 away neutral right now
Creighton's RPI record right now- 8.4-2.2 2-3 away neutral right now

You can definitely see why Xavier is so high and Creighton isn't. If they finish with the same record in conference play, Xavier is pretty much a lock to have the better profile.

[Irishdawg]

That would be true if the committee based seeding entirely on RPI. Of course, we all know that they do not do that, so the entire statement is complete bullsh--.

You're right it doesn't. But it does constitute a lot of it. How you do vs tier 1 games(top 30 home games, top 75 road games) will factor a lot. Your SOS factors a lot into it(both overall and OOC- whether folks like it or not). Your road/neutral record means a ton.

Seton Hall I think 2 years ago a fair comparison to Seton Hall. They were 24-9, BET champs, and had a RPI of 19. With 193 OOC SOS. And they got a 6 seed.

OK, let's take a look...

Top 30 home game wins so far:
X - Butler
CU - 0 (although SJU is 32 right now)

Top 75 on the road:
X - Marq.,
CU -0

Top 50 neutral:
X - 0
CU - UCLA

So X beat Butler at home and @ Marq. CU vs. UCLA on a neutral court, and just missed on SJU who could seemingly climb up two spots later. Now, I'm guessing in conference both will have about 10 more games that fit into these categories that you agree are so important. Hmmm... maybe these conference games will decide a whole lot for both teams. Just a hunch.

I knew the Villanova win was overrated and wouldn't help Butler at all

[handdownmandown]

Creighton's projected schedule strength, come seasons end: 44

Wichiturd's projected schedule strength: 38

That gap will close (and likely disappear entirely if CU advances) once the conference tournament starts, because the Shockers will open with some ass clown and CU will get a 20 win team. Then, our 2 loss non-con (with a UCLA and Nebraska win) is about the same at the top as their Baylor/Okie St win. And, we have a St John's win, they have a Marquette win.


In case you can't tell, this is the part where you say that our two situations are similar. They will benefit by having played better goofs than our 300+ RPI cupcakes, which will be offset by not being forced to ingest South Florida and East Carolina home games. Say it: if we are in trouble then so are they.

[handdownmandown]

Oh, and trying to sell a win vs UConn as a difference maker is bad salesmanship.

Gotta throw that in before I see it on here and projectile vomit.

[stever20]

Creighton's projected schedule strength, come seasons end: 44

Wichiturd's projected schedule strength: 38

That gap will close (and likely disappear entirely if CU advances) once the conference tournament starts, because the Shockers will open with some ass clown and CU will get a 20 win team. Then, our 2 loss non-con (with a UCLA and Nebraska win) is about the same at the top as their Baylor/Okie St win. And, we have a St John's win, they have a Marquette win.


In case you can't tell, this is the part where you say that our two situations are similar. They will benefit by having played better goofs than our 300+ RPI cupcakes, which will be offset by not being forced to ingest South Florida and East Carolina home games. Say it: if we are in trouble then so are they.

Right now, top 9 teams in the AAC are projected to be top 120 RPI. Very possible it could be a Temple team in the top 75. Hardly a RPI killer.

As far as them seeing USF and ECU- they play both of those teams only once. Along with Memphis and Tulane. Otherwise known as the 4 projected worst AAC teams.

And I would say Wichita has a similar curve to what Creighton has. But where they're not likely at all to have only 10 conference wins, it's very easy to see Creighton finishing at only 10-8 or 11-7. Looking at RPI Forecast- Wichita's most likely conference record is 14-4- producing a 12.5 RPI. Creighton's most likely conference record is 11-7- producing a 30.9 RPI.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Xavier has also-
home win vs Cincy(projected to be #20)

to your point on the having 10 games that'll be tier 1 games.. Xavier has looks like 8 left. Creighton has looks like 9 left.

Creighton has played so far 1-2 vs projected tier 1 opponents- UCLA, Gonzaga, and Seton Hall. they've played so far 2-1 vs projected tier 2 opponents (Baylor, Providence, Seton Hall)
Xavier has played so far 2-1 vs projected tier 1 opponents- Arizona St, Cincy, Marquette. They've played so far 4-0 vs projected tier 2 opponents (Wisconsin, Baylor, Northern Iowa, Butler)
so 3-3 vs 6-1 is a pretty big gap right now. With 3 vs 5 in OOC opponents.
Also entering this period- 1 loss vs 3 losses matters.
Xavier's RPI record right now- 11.8-1.0 4-1 away neutral right now
Creighton's RPI record right now- 8.4-2.2 2-3 away neutral right now

You can definitely see why Xavier is so high and Creighton isn't. If they finish with the same record in conference play, Xavier is pretty much a lock to have the better profile.

These words mean zero other than the fact that you agree that both teams have their most important games in front of them (which was my point). But again you continue to peddle what’s going to happen with the outcome of these games as if they already happened and everything is set in stone.

Your last sentence is laughable. You told me that if X finished 10-8 and CU 12-6 that X’s profile would be better and “it wouldn’t even be close.” Now you try to nudge those goalposts ever so slightly to suit your narrative. Exhibit A as to why you are not taken seriously. Insert shit-posting time meme from MarqRustler here.

[stever20]

they both have about the same schedule left. But Xavier's profile right now is far superior to Creightons. And yeah, I was wrong- even if X finishes 2 games worse than Creighton- X's profile will still be stronger..... You can't ignore what has already happened OOC.. Xavier isn't going to all of a sudden not have played Cincy, Wisconsin, Baylor, or Northern Iowa. Those aren't going away. Nor are all the dreg teams that Creighton played OOC.

Heck, UCLA losing last night calls into question whether or not they're going to be a tier 1 win for Creighton(remember that was neutral so just top 50). If that's gone than it's 2-1 vs 0-2 for Xavier right now . And 4-0 vs 3-1 for tier 2 right now. With Xavier still having the 4-1 vs 2-3 advantage in road/neutral games.

Bottom line- your OOC games absolutely matter. Other P5 conferences have grinds in conference play just like the Big East does.

just looking comparing what is Creighton's overall 44 projected SOS....

it's better than of teams projected in Lunardi's bracket from yesterday top 6 seed lines- only than Mich St, Arizona St, Purdue(at 45), Arizona(47), Cincy, and Gonzaga... And of the 4-6 seed lines which are where Creighton would be looking even at 12-6- their 44 is better than only Arizona, Cincy, and Gonzaga. So in a lot of the comparisons they're going to have the worse SOS.