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http://www.si.com/college-basketball/20 ... ova-xavier

[stever20]

standings like their projection are killers-
Villanova 14-4
Georgetown 12-6
Xavier 10-8
PC 9-9
SJ 9-9
Marq 9-9
SH 8-10
Cre 8-10
But 7-11
Dep 4-14

[hoyahooligan]

standings like their projection are killers-
Villanova 14-4
Georgetown 12-6
Xavier 10-8
PC 9-9
SJ 9-9
Marq 9-9
SH 8-10
Cre 8-10
But 7-11
Dep 4-14

depends on how the OOC schedule goes. If people went undefeated in OOC then 9 conference wins would be plenty.

[gosports1]

standings like their projection are killers-
Villanova 14-4
Georgetown 12-6
Xavier 10-8
PC 9-9
SJ 9-9
Marq 9-9
SH 8-10
Cre 8-10
But 7-11
Dep 4-14

depends on how the OOC schedule goes. If people went undefeated in OOC then 9 conference wins would be plenty.

"Bold" predictions like these final standings always make me shake my head. This is a safe projection. that way when they turn out wrong they can point to how "close" they were in getting it right.

Its like when the so called experts pick 4 number 1 seeds to make the final 4. When only 2 of them actually make they can say they were 50% right.

[stever20]

standings like their projection are killers-
Villanova 14-4
Georgetown 12-6
Xavier 10-8
PC 9-9
SJ 9-9
Marq 9-9
SH 8-10
Cre 8-10
But 7-11
Dep 4-14

depends on how the OOC schedule goes. If people went undefeated in OOC then 9 conference wins would be plenty.

"Bold" predictions like these final standings always make me shake my head. This is a safe projection. that way when they turn out wrong they can point to how "close" they were in getting it right.

Its like when the so called experts pick 4 number 1 seeds to make the final 4. When only 2 of them actually make they can say they were 50% right.

The thing about it- if you look at last years standings- this is very close to that. A smidge more competitive with 1 and 2 seed with 2 fewer wins each- bottom teams a bit better.

And the problem with it- going undefeated with what we have is going to be tough. 2 losses is about best case scenario- and with a team with 9 losses- that equals bubble almost certainly.

[Bill Marsh]

standings like their projection are killers-
Villanova 14-4
Georgetown 12-6
Xavier 10-8
PC 9-9
SJ 9-9
Marq 9-9
SH 8-10
Cre 8-10
But 7-11
Dep 4-14

So if The Big East members all go undefeated OOC, standings like these will kill them?

Standings precisely like those didn't kill the Big Ten last year and won't kill The Big East this year if the members get the job done OOC. If they don't do that, it won't matter what the standings look like.

[stever20]

standings like their projection are killers-
Villanova 14-4
Georgetown 12-6
Xavier 10-8
PC 9-9
SJ 9-9
Marq 9-9
SH 8-10
Cre 8-10
But 7-11
Dep 4-14

So if The Big East members all go undefeated OOC, standings like these will kill them?

Standings precisely like those didn't kill the Big Ten last year and won't kill The Big East this year if the members get the job done OOC. If they don't do that, it won't matter what the standings look like.

what are you talking about?

Big Ten final standings:
Michigan 15-3
Wisconsin 12-6
Mich St 12-6
Nebraska 11-7
Ohio St 10-8
Iowa 9-9
Minnesota 8-10
etc.

Nebraska going 11-7 in conference was the ONLY reason they MADE the tourney. Nebraska was only 8-4 OOC.... If they were 9-9 or 10-8 they aren't in the tourney.

And it's a big ask to have any of the teams going undefeated OOC with the schedules they have now. You don't see many teams by end of OOC play undefeated now. Last year- only 2 ACC teams, 4 B12 teams, 1 BE team, 3 B10 teams, 3 P12 teams, 1 SEC team, 2 A10, 1 AAC, 1 MWC, 1 MVC teams had fewer than 2 losses by then. That's 19 teams(only 7 undefeateds). So most of the time you are looking best case with 2 losses in the OOC schedule. Totally unrealistic to assume any of the teams will go undefeated- much less all of them. Pretty much bottom line if your 4th place team finishes 9-9, they are going to be at best a bubble team. Pretty much why I would prefer to have the AAC type final standings with 5 teams at 12-6 or better. You have that with our OOC records and you have 5 EASY NCAA tourney teams. Parity may be great in Jan/Feb- but it absolutely is a killer in March.

And standings pretty darn close to what they have projected for us this year nearly killed us last year. Last year only Nova, Creighton, and Butler were 1-2 loss teams. Everyone else had at least 3 losses.

[Bill Marsh]

standings like their projection are killers-
Villanova 14-4
Georgetown 12-6
Xavier 10-8
PC 9-9
SJ 9-9
Marq 9-9
SH 8-10
Cre 8-10
But 7-11
Dep 4-14

So if The Big East members all go undefeated OOC, standings like these will kill them?

Standings precisely like those didn't kill the Big Ten last year and won't kill The Big East this year if the members get the job done OOC. If they don't do that, it won't matter what the standings look like.

what are you talking about?

Big Ten final standings:
Michigan 15-3
Wisconsin 12-6
Mich St 12-6
Nebraska 11-7
Ohio St 10-8
Iowa 9-9
Minnesota 8-10
etc.

Nebraska going 11-7 in conference was the ONLY reason they MADE the tourney. Nebraska was only 8-4 OOC.... If they were 9-9 or 10-8 they aren't in the tourney.

And it's a big ask to have any of the teams going undefeated OOC with the schedules they have now. You don't see many teams by end of OOC play undefeated now. Last year- only 2 ACC teams, 4 B12 teams, 1 BE team, 3 B10 teams, 3 P12 teams, 1 SEC team, 2 A10, 1 AAC, 1 MWC, 1 MVC teams had fewer than 2 losses by then. That's 19 teams(only 7 undefeateds). So most of the time you are looking best case with 2 losses in the OOC schedule. Totally unrealistic to assume any of the teams will go undefeated- much less all of them. Pretty much bottom line if your 4th place team finishes 9-9, they are going to be at best a bubble team. Pretty much why I would prefer to have the AAC type final standings with 5 teams at 12-6 or better. You have that with our OOC records and you have 5 EASY NCAA tourney teams. Parity may be great in Jan/Feb- but it absolutely is a killer in March.

And standings pretty darn close to what they have projected for us this year nearly killed us last year. Last year only Nova, Creighton, and Butler were 1-2 loss teams. Everyone else had at least 3 losses.

What am I talking about?

I'm talking your "etc." There were another 5 teams in that conference, so you're comparing a league with 10 teams to one with 12. When you post all 12, they don't look all that different.

You're analyzing a magazine's projected records as though they have some reality to them. They're just some numbers that a reporter arbitrarily slapped together. They mean nothing.

Meanwhile you claim that in conference records like that almost killed us last year. Really? The polar opposite of the BE was the AAC. In the end, what good did it to them to have a group of weak teams in the lower half of the conference? They got the same 4 tournament bids that we did and despite a good conference record, SMU went off to the NIT.

I wasn't asking the league to go undefeated OOC. Please don't be so dense and argue against a point I wasn't even making. It was a hypothetical statement to show that it's not all about conference record. In fact, it isn't even primarily about that.

You just went on to point out that no one goes undefeated OOC. The best a league can hope for is 2-3 losses. So, how is the Big East in worse shape than anyone else in that regard?

[hoyahooligan]

Yes obviously less of a clog in the middle would help us, but as long as teams don't drop more than 2 OOC and pick up some quality wins they'll be fine. If Georgetown had gotten to 9-9 in conference they would have made the dance last year despite 3 OOC losses.

Looking at last year's standings for the teams that were 9-9 or 10-8:
Providence 10-8 got in
Xavier 10-8 got in
St. John's 10-8 didn't get in- but had no OOC wins of note
Marquette 9-9 didn't get in - had no OOC wins of note and like 5 OOC loses

So these standings would'n't be a death sentence like you proclaim. As long as teams have good OOC portions of the schedule 9-9 will not preclude them.

[Bill Marsh]

Yes obviously less of a clog in the middle would help us, but as long as teams don't drop more than 2 OOC and pick up some quality wins they'll be fine. If Georgetown had gotten to 9-9 in conference they would have made the dance last year despite 3 OOC losses.

Looking at last year's standings for the teams that were 9-9 or 10-8:
Providence 10-8 got in
Xavier 10-8 got in
St. John's 10-8 didn't get in- but had no OOC wins of note
Marquette 9-9 didn't get in - had no OOC wins of note and like 5 OOC loses

So these standings would'n't be a death sentence like you proclaim. As long as teams have good OOC portions of the schedule 9-9 will not preclude them.

Hooligan, you hit the nail on the head. Georgetown would have gotten into the tournament last year because of their big OOC wins. If a league proves themselves against national competition, that's what gets them into the tournament. The conference teams are going to divide up league wins one way or another.