Bubble Watch

[RedStormHoops]

Xavier will beat Cincy and butler to clinch their bid. Book it

Bump.

What do you foresee for the Johnnies?

Most up and down team I've ever watched, so I can't predict anything

[Bill Marsh]

Xavier will beat Cincy and butler to clinch their bid. Book it.

What do you foresee for the Johnnies?

Most up and down team I've ever watched, so I can't predict anything

Aw, come on, You're being too hard on your boys. 10-2 OOC with the only 2 losses to 2 teams in the top 10 is hardly up and down. 5 of their 7 conference losses were on the road; it happens in every conference. The only 2 home losses were to Villanova and Butler, the top 2 teams in the league.

As for ups, you're right. Road wins over PC and X were certainly unexpected. I think that speaks more to how closely contested this league is rather than to your Johnnies' inconsistency.

Good luck with the rest of the season. There's still hope - especially in the BE tournament.

[stever20]

really only 2 games St John's has been down on this year to me- DePaul and Creighton. I think you are thinking more last year quite frankly.

I think the big game is the Xavier game for St John's. I don't know if Georgetown this year is the best matchup for St John's.

[Steve Lavin]

SJ can easily lose all the games left or somehow win all of them. You never know with this team. They really are terribly inconsistent. It also wouldn't shock me at all if we didn't win a BET game or won the entire BET tourney.

If we were healthy I'd feel more confident. Harrison is an absolute warrior and even he said he didn't feel well before the game because of his calves. If we are to do anything he has to be 100%.

[Bill Marsh]

St. John's is in the middle of the stretch that will define their season, i.e. The 3 straight home games that started yesterday. They got off on the right foot with the win over Seton Hall. If they win the next two, they are in the tournament no matter what.

If they split the next two, then they go into Marquette with Carlino and ?Anderson probably back and a lot of pressure to win that game. If they lose there as well, then they need a big showing in the tournament.

Bottom line is that they have a chance to lock things up at home by beating Xavier and Georgetown. My guess is that they'll win 2 of the next 3 and make the tournament.

[Bill Marsh]

Teams working to defend their position:

UMass
NC State
LSU
St. John's
Boise State
Stanford
BYU
Georgia


Teams on the outside working to get in:


St. Mary's
UCLA
Illinois
Pitt

Conference Leaders who are vulnerable in a conference tournament where a loss would throw them into the at-large bubble mix:

Stephen F. Austin (Southland)
Old Dominion (CUSA)
Buffalo (MAC)

X-Factor: Wins conference tournament & bumps bubble team, not the conference leader or runners up:

UConn

[stever20]

Teams working to defend their position:

UMass
NC State
LSU
St. John's
Boise State
Stanford
BYU
Georgia


Teams on the outside working to get in:


St. Mary's
UCLA
Illinois
Pitt

Conference Leaders who are vulnerable in a conference tournament where a loss would throw them into the at-large bubble mix:

Stephen F. Austin (Southland)
Old Dominion (CUSA)
Buffalo (MAC)

X-Factor: Wins conference tournament & bumps bubble team, not the conference leader or runners up:

UConn

I'd put in another X-Factor team- UNLV in the MWC.

Also, do not think BYU is in right now- so they aren't working to defend their position.

My list of teams trying to defend their position-
Temple
Cincy
Colorado St
Iowa
St John's
Georgia
LSU
Texas A&M
Illinois
NC State
Purdue
Stanford
Boise

teams looking in from the outside
UCLA
Miami
Davidson
Tulsa
Oregon
BYU
Pitt

[Bill Marsh]

Teams working to defend their position:

UMass
NC State
LSU
St. John's
Boise State
Stanford
BYU
Georgia


Teams on the outside working to get in:


St. Mary's
UCLA
Illinois
Pitt

Conference Leaders who are vulnerable in a conference tournament where a loss would throw them into the at-large bubble mix:

Stephen F. Austin (Southland)
Old Dominion (CUSA)
Buffalo (MAC)

X-Factor: Wins conference tournament & bumps bubble team, not the conference leader or runners up:

UConn

I'd put in another X-Factor team- UNLV in the MWC.

Also, do not think BYU is in right now- so they aren't working to defend their position.

My list of teams trying to defend their position-
Temple
Cincy
Colorado St
Iowa
St John's
Georgia
LSU
Texas A&M
Illinois
NC State
Purdue
Stanford
Boise

teams looking in from the outside
UCLA
Miami
Davidson
Tulsa
Oregon
BYU
Pitt

Fair point about UNLV. Definitely a threat in the Mountain West with home court advantage although I don"t think they'll pull it off vs San Diego State.

Tulsa is definitely on the outside, but I don't think they have any shot. If you were to factor the SE Oklahoma State into their RPI, it would drop precipitously, taking them out of consideration.

[HoosierPal]

Texas is either on the bubble or has slid off the bubble for now. They are 17-10 with a sub 500 conference record at 6-8. RPI is 41. They have only 1 Top 25 RPI win but no bad losses. In fact, all 10 losses are to Top 50 RPI teams. Weird resume.

[stever20]

Tulsa still has enough good games left to elevate their RPI. Also, Jerry Palm was asked about it- and he said that the loss would be a small part to a huge cake.

Texas is definitely interesting. They need to get one of these next 3 games for sure.