Road performance and the tournament

[Retire54]

I've seen lots of people worried about our road record--I don't think it's that big of a deal.

All that it takes to get back to the Sweet Sixteen is beating who we're supposed to beat. Elite Eight is just a great game/ good match up past that.

We obviously won all of the games we were supposed to win at home (and even some we weren't) this year, but we did the same on the road too.

The only 'upset' (depending how you define it) was the Nova game, but we were 2 point underdogs, and I think we win 8/10 against them in a neutral court, tournament style environment. We lost by 6 in a small, loud gym against a desperate team. Don't forget we won at Pitt as 10.5 point dogs.

We took care of business every single game without a real blemish in the Big East, and I think that bodes well.

We finished 5-4 last year on the road. We finished 5-4 this year on the road.

Some other 3/4 seeds conf. road records:

Ohio St.: 5-4
Oklahoma St.: 5-4
Michigan: 4-5
Florida: 5-4
Kansas St.:6-3
Michigan St.: 5-4

Personally, I'd put good money on going back to the Sweet Sixteen because we're good at beating who we're supposed to- and against a 13/14 seed and a 5/6 seed I think we'll get it done. Here's to hoping we slide into a 3 seed to get the 2 seed rather than the 1 in the E8.

[Sunbelt15]

The road may become an issue after the first 2 games. Competition gets real in Sweet 16.

[TallTitan34]

I thought I saw an article recently that indicted home performance was actually more telling how a team would do in the NCAA tournament.

[MUMonster03]

The only 'upset' (depending how you define it) was the Nova game, but we were 2 point underdogs, and I think we win 8/10 against them in a neutral court, tournament style environment. We lost by 6 in a small, loud gym against a desperate team. Don't forget we won at Pitt as 10.5 point dogs.

We lost to UWGB that was an upset.

This teams margin of error is not very big. If we turn the ball over, most nights, we do not have the shooting to get ourselves back in the game/stay in the game.

This years tournament run/non-run is going to depend more on match ups than the last two years.

[Henry Sugar]

I thought I saw an article recently that indicted home performance was actually more telling how a team would do in the NCAA tournament.

I would like to read that newsletter. link?

[bilsu]

Remember we beat Pitt after Derrick Wilson eliminated their starting point guard with a head on head collision.

[TJ]

My big question about the tournament games coming up is whether they will show up for the first half or dig themselves into a big hole like @Cincy (down 16), @GU (10), @Nova (11), @RU (12), and @StJ (8).  Especially in the NCAA it might be difficult to climb back from a large deficit.

[tower912]

Remember we beat Pitt after Derrick Wilson eliminated their starting point guard with a head on head collision.

Remember, we beat Pitt with out point guard sitting the last 30 minutes of the game with a twisted ankle.   

[bilsu]

My big question about the tournament games coming up is whether they will show up for the first half or dig themselves into a big hole like @Cincy (down 16), @GU (10), @Nova (11), @RU (12), and @StJ (8).  Especially in the NCAA it might be difficult to climb back from a large deficit.

The benefit of having a deep team is that we simply wear out teams at the end. However, I wonder if that somewhat contributes to our slow start.? It would seem to me early substitutions can disrupt your team early.