Cuse - Nova...a view of things to come?

[77ncaachamps]

Cuse is getting run right now. Nova's clicking.

Gonna be a hard one to win in Philly.

[statnik]

This may be a good thing for us.  For one thing, Nova's going to be ranked pretty high on Monday, with many teams ahead of them losing.  Also, it is often better to face a team after a couple of good games than after a tough loss.  I think Marquette will come in having more to prove than Villanova.

[ChicosBailBonds]

This may be a good thing for us.  For one thing, Nova's going to be ranked pretty high on Monday, with many teams ahead of them losing.  Also, it is often better to face a team after a couple of good games than after a tough loss.  I think Marquette will come in having more to prove than Villanova.

MU will lose at Nova, that's why last night was so critical.

[robmufan]

MU will lose at Nova, that's why last night was so critical.

In what respect was last night critical?

If your talking winning the big east, top 4 in the big east...yes!

But if your talking about moving on, getting a decent seed, than i beg to differ.

I feel like a win vs. Uconn or Pitt will offset the bad loss to USF

[MUfan12]

MU will lose at Nova, that's why last night was so critical.

Thanks, now I can watch some Scrubs reruns instead.

[ChicosBailBonds]

In what respect was last night critical?

If your talking winning the big east, top 4 in the big east...yes!

But if your talking about moving on, getting a decent seed, than i beg to differ.

I feel like a win vs. Uconn or Pitt will offset the bad loss to USF

Top 4 Big East basically means you're looking at no worse than a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and probably a 3.  That's why it's critical.  Yes, a win against Uconn or Pitt would offset this bad loss.

But I guess it comes back to why do you think we will beat UCONN or PITT?  To this day, I'm still struggling to find a really really good win against a team of that caliber.

NC State isn't that good.  Notre Dame certainly isn't.  Nova, GTown, WVU have had their moments, but are not in that class.  Providence the same thing. Wisconsin same thing. We're a good team capable of anything but a top 4 seed is critical for this team in my opinion, that's why last night was critical. 

[TrevorCandelino]

Top 4 Big East basically means you're looking at no worse than a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and probably a 3.  That's why it's critical.  Yes, a win against Uconn or Pitt would offset this bad loss.

But I guess it comes back to why do you think we will beat UCONN or PITT?  To this day, I'm still struggling to find a really really good win against a team of that caliber.

NC State isn't that good.  Notre Dame certainly isn't.  Nova, GTown, WVU have had their moments, but are not in that class.  Providence the same thing. Wisconsin same thing. We're a good team capable of anything but a top 4 seed is critical for this team in my opinion, that's why last night was critical. 

1st...How about the Villanova win?  You realize we already beat them once, right?  You realize they are ranked #16th and running Syracuse right now, yes??

2nd....UCONN/PITT....We haven't beaten a team of that caliber?  You mean we haven't beaten the #1 team in the country or a top 5 team in the country yet?  Not many people have...That's why UCONN is #1 and Pitt is top 5.

Struggle away Chicos....Until last night, we have beaten everyone the Big East put in our way, which is an accomplishment for any team in the Big East....

[ChicosBailBonds]

1st...How about the Villanova win?  You realize we already beat them once, right?  You realize they are ranked #16th and running Syracuse right now, yes??

2nd....UCONN/PITT....We haven't beaten a team of that caliber?  You mean we haven't beaten the #1 team in the country or a top 5 team in the country yet?  Not many people have...That's why UCONN is #1 and Pitt is top 5.

Struggle away Chicos....Until last night, we have beaten everyone the Big East put in our way, which is an accomplishment for any team in the Big East....

Which is why I don't think we'll beat Nova in their place.  I'll say it again, we're a good team but let me expand it for you, I don't see us beating Louisville, Pitt, UConn or at Nova.  That gets us to 5 losses.  Syracuse we should beat.  We should beat the Hall and St. John's.  13-5.  Terrific season.  My guess is that 13-5 will put us right on the bubble for a top 4 seed.  14-4 would have been practically a lock, that's why last night hurts.

[bamamarquettefan]

Agree completely with TrevorC.  Haven't beaten a team of UConn's calibre?  Marquette has beat three top three teams - IN THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM.  We've beaten the top team in the country ONCE - D.Wade over Kentucky. 

Agree with TrevorC also on the fact that we've already beaten the Villanova team that now has 102 points against the 2-3 Syracuse defense.  How about destroying Cincinnati team that looks awfully good this year with another win today at Georgetown.  If I hear one more time that we haven't beaten UConn, Pitt, Louisville OR SYRACUSE I'm going to get sick.  We beat a team that beat Syracuse by 17.  We destroyed a West Virginia team that has been Top 10 RPI all year.  We are knocking teams out of the rankings by beating them.   We are 5-1 against ranked teams.  The only time in the history of the program we've beaten more ranked teams in a season was in 1977 - the title year - when we went 6-5 against ranked teams (2-5 in the regular season, and 4-0 in the tourney).  We didn't beat a Top 10 team that year until the tournament.  I would have loved to hear Chicagos comment throughout the 1977 season  if we were blogging back then - I'm sure he would have been thanking God every blog that McGuire was retiring at the end of the season.

We shot terrible for a night against a team that always gives us trouble, and the potential game-winning shot hit the back of the rim and went out.  Six of the top 13 teams have already had terrible losses this week.  I'd rather have our one-point loss against S. Florida than being:

3. Duke getting embarrassed 47-74 by Clemson
6. Wake getting destroyed by unranked Miami 52-79
7. Louisville getting destroyed on their home court by UConn 51-68
11. Butler losing to GREEN BAY 66-75
13. Purdue losing to Ohio State 72-80

Don't give up every time we lose a game.  It's college basketball.

[77ncaachamps]

3. Duke getting embarrassed 47-74 by Clemson
6. Wake getting destroyed by unranked Miami 52-79
7. Louisville getting destroyed on their home court by UConn 51-68
11. Butler losing to GREEN BAY 66-75
13. Purdue losing to Ohio State 72-80

Don't give up every time we lose a game.  It's college basketball.

Way to put it into perspective.

But the loss still stings because USF didn't outplay us; we lost the game.

Looking forward to Nova, they're clicking. They put up a century on a ranked Cuse team that - on paper - can upset some of the best.
They're hitting their threes, the guard penetration and dish out was working tonight, the offensive boards were hauled in, and the ball was passed around very unselfishly.

They're going to be a handful.

[ErickJD08]

Which is why I don't think we'll beat Nova in their place.  I'll say it again, we're a good team but let me expand it for you, I don't see us beating Louisville, Pitt, UConn or at Nova.  That gets us to 5 losses.  Syracuse we should beat.  We should beat the Hall and St. John's.  13-5.  Terrific season.  My guess is that 13-5 will put us right on the bubble for a top 4 seed.  14-4 would have been practically a lock, that's why last night hurts.

I hate getting personal on these things but this is stupid.  We beat Nova.  And if you don't see if beating those teams, don't watch.  I am going to watch because I think we can win.  Is it going to be a tough game?  Sure.  Do we have a shot at losing?  Of course.  But we are a good team and all those teams have lost to teams that are worse than us. 

[Marquette65]

some body is just not paying attention or has no sense of history.  Last night's lost was a crushing blow.  We need a top 4 seed in the BE tourney otherwise we are back to back games and you know how we play in back to back ( see dayton and the competition in Madison Sq. will be a little better)..

As to the NCAA - last night was really bad.  In our next 8 games we will be a favorite in maybe 3.  If form holds that gives us a BE record of 12-5.  One more win than last year when we were a 6 seed.  The loss last night cost us a ton- going from a 2-3 seed to probable 4-6 seed.  A big disappointment.

[romey]

I posted this on another thread, but I think it fits better here.  I believe Chicos and I are on the same page here.  THAT WAS A GAME WE SHOULD HAVE WON!

Here's the frustration.  We should have won.  Absolutely if someone had asked us before the season began whether we'd be 9-1 in conference and 20-3 overall, would we believe it?  We'd all be lying if we said we did.  But 24 hours ago, if someone said we can be 10-0 in conference and 21-2 overall, we would would have said, "damn straight we will be" (most of us).
Looking ahead 24 hours ago (we can do that as fans, remember?), my thoughts were, "we are going to lose some games in the BEast,  but not this one."  We have the murderous stretch coming up to end the regular season.  I figured of those five, if we could win at least two, we'd be in great shape - PROVIDED we don't lose the ones we're "supposed" to win.  Now, we may have to pull off at least three of those final five.  Not impossible, by any means.  But it sure would have been nice to win last night.