Is top 200 the best they could do?
With multiple losses to sub-300 teams, it’s hard to see them getting much higher than 200 even with a miracle run. But it also wouldn’t matter to the Broncos. For a neutral site game, the Quads go:
- Quad 1: 1-50
- Quad 2: 51-100
- Quad 3: 101-200
- Quad 4: 201+
So if Loyola Chicago can miraculously lift themselves into the top-200, they would be Q3. But not even a miracle will get them to Q2. Even if they go undefeated from here through A10 play, I don’t think they’d get higher than say the 140s in the NET.
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Nevada has been playing awesome lately. 6 game win streak with wins over USF, UCSD, Washington State, Duquesne, Boise State, and Colorado State.
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We need wins (McNeese, Nevada, Minnesota) and losses (UNM, Saint Louis, ASU and Loyola) to age like fine wines, and we are doing alright so far. SLU is 13-1 or something now.
We’re on razor wire from an at large perspective, we’d basically need to only lose to SMC and GU and probably go 1-3 at least against them. We’re probably too up-and-down to actually do that.
Nonetheless, this will likely end up being the best Bronco squad since at least 2006-07 and we should all buckle up and enjoy!
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Seattle is up 8 early in Spokane. I’m not calling a Redhawks victory. Many have built a lead early against the Zags to watch it all slip away down the stretch.
But Seattle is plenty good. They look like the #4 team in the conference and will want to push SCU for that third spot.
Minnesota picks up a pretty good win at Northwestern. That should be enough to lift them into the Top-100 NET which means a Q2 victory for SCU. That’s still mostly academic until two things happen: (a) SCU beats one of GU or SMC and (b) Loyola Chicago shocks the A10 with a crazy winning streak. But having Minnesota do well helps. Xavier, on the other hand, lost to DePaul.
I think my hope of Xavier working its way up to Q1 (top-75) was too rich. Just need to hope they don’t drop below #135 which is the line between Q2 and Q3.
Big week upcoming for the Broncos with GU on Thurs. followed by LMU. Sitting undefeated and tied at the top w/ SMC and GU through the good fortune of a very easy first 4 games of the schedule. USF and WSU lurk just a game behind at 3-1.
Beating GU again in the Kennel will be an uphill battle and my concern is the Broncos could face a let down coning off an intense game vs. GU in the following game 2 days later vs. LMU.
This GU squad looks a bit different than last year. Ike and Huff return in the post and will be a huge challenge for Ensminger, Graves, Bukky and Darlan. But the Zags backcourt and wings are mostly new faces and mostly a long, athletic bunch. They have several excellent defenders in the 6-6 Innocenti, 6-7 Warley, 6-7 Gran-Foster…..all long and athletic and bring the effort on D. It will be interesting to see how our key wings and scorers in Mahi and Hammond hold up vs. those defenders.
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A statistical surprise after four games: SMC has the best offense and the second worst defense in conference so far. Expect that to change but curious even to this point.
Like 92 said, SCU has had the easiest conference schedule so far. Winning in Corvallis felt more special even 2 weeks ago than it does now. Somewhat as a result, SCU has the hardest remaining slate of any WCC team.
The game against GU starts at 8:30pm Pacific time. Seems a bit on the late side.
Maybe the inverse of the Buckets Postulate regarding mid-afternoon games? Any evidence that the Broncos are wired for late tips?
I don’t have a strong feeling one way or another about later than normal start times.
The only later-than-8pm games I can remember offhand are WCC tourney games where the second game each night would start “30 minutes” after the preceding game, which usually ended up being 8:30pm; and the tourney final games that started at 9pm on Monday nights (where ESPN wanted them slotted). Unfortunately, SCU hasn’t been to a conference final game in a very, very long time. 2007 I believe was the last time (lost 77-68) but just looked it up, that game was at 6pm. In 2001, we played at the Slim Gym and lost to Gonzaga 80-77, that game was at 9pm. In 1999, we played Gonzaga at Toso (yes we were the host site that year) and got stomped 91-66. That game was also at 9pm Pacific.
The semifinals games SCU played in 1999 and 2001 were the 2nd games, but back then the first game started at 5:30pm instead of 6pm, so the 2nd games started right around 8pm. The semifinal game in 2007 started at 8:30pm and we beat St. Mary’s.
Too small of a sample size to make any kind of determination, and no clear pattern. I’m sure there are other games I’m completely missing (perhaps several regular season games played in Spokane).
i remember the podz team played USF in the quarters and it started around 9:45 pm due to delays and I remember not leaving the arena until 1:15 or so, which means that game had to end close to midnight
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Yes, of course! The double OT game where Shabazz lit us up! I was there. Very deflating. Game ended after 1am, IIRC.
That was a SCHEDULED 9:30pm start time. What were they thinking?
If anyone wants to re-live the pain, here you go:
Was there and the game didn’t start until after 10pm and ended after 1am.
The most depressed I’ve ever been in Vegas after that loss. Had they won they were Big Dance Bound. Athletic Department had already been contacted by the NCAA to arrange charter flights and hotel bookings. All because of Shabazz.
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This is the info I did not need to hear. Still burns.
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This, if true, rips one’s red and white heart out.
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Based on a quarterfinal game? The assumption was that we’d have been an at-large bid at minimum? Wow. That makes it even more painful.
Though…didn’t we lose in the first round of the NIT?
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A pre-call from the NCAA? That seems like a stretch. I would have to look at that year and our record, KenPom, etc. (too lazy at the moment) but the WCC tourney takes place a whole weekend before most other tourneys. There is lots of bubbling still to happen. Teams always seem awfully surprised on selection Sunday.
Unless the NCAA has changed their MO from the last time we went to the tourney, could it have been a “Hey…you might be going to the Dance. So have a big booster or your travel staff be prepared to charter a flight to 8 possible destinations around the 48 contiguous United States that you won’t know of until next Sunday at 5pm.” kind of a call?
NCAA team hotels are pre-determined and teams get assigned, so that’s not a worry.
NCAA provides the charter for teams to the tournament not the school. That’s why they start talking with the school before Selection Sunday.
Also that’s a made for television show. A select few in the Athletic Department knows before the show airs whether or not they’ve made the tourney
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Well, that burst my bubble. Pun intended.