Chad Forde's "Sleeper" Final Four

[drewm88]

Ben (Tempe, AZ): Who is your sleeper final 4? Meaning 4 teams no one is really talking about that can make it...

SportsNation Pat Forde: Ben: I'm not sure they're complete sleepers, but I'll throw out four teams that are playing pretty well and are perceived to be a cut below the current glam group: UConn, Xavier, Vandy ... Marquette? Teams I consider in the glam group: carolina, ucla, kansas, memphis, tennessee, louisville, georgetown, duke.



Which I think means he'd put us as the 12th-likeliest to make it to San Antonio.

[Mayor McCheese]

weird... I don't see any Big Ten teams

[MUfan12]

I loved this:

Gabe (St Paul MN): Say something about the Badgers.

Pat Forde: Something.

[Knight Commission]

Look at Xavier's Road record/schedule and you'll see a team who does not belong in the top 20.

[wadesworld]

Look at Xavier's Road record/schedule and you'll see a team who does not belong in the top 20.

Honestly?  You're joking, right?  They're 25-4 and 13-1 in a solid conference.  I'm pretty sure they belong in the top 20.

[Eye]

7-3 on the road, which doesn't include neutral-court wins over Kent and IU at that tourney in Chicago. Maybe not Final Four-caliber, but probably top-20 caliber.

[Fullodds]

Look at Xavier's Road record/schedule and you'll see a team who does not belong in the top 20.

Xavier has an RPI of 6

6-1 against the top 50

12-2 against the top 100

They will be a higher seed than MU

[tower912]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.
1. A favorable draw and other upsets in our bracket
2. Stay healthy
3. Shoot well, rebound well
4. Face teams that play man-to-man.
5.  DJ play to his maximum ability.

[NavinRJohnson]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.
1. A favorable draw and other upsets in our bracket
2. Stay healthy
3. Shoot well, rebound well
4. Face teams that play man-to-man.
5.  DJ play to his maximum ability.

I would add a very important one...Beat Syracuse on Saturday. If we don't do that, barring a spectacular week in NY, we probably fall into that 7-10 seed group, and give ourselves very little chance. Need to be a 6 seed or better.

[Henry Sugar]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.
1. A favorable draw and other upsets in our bracket
2. Stay healthy
3. Shoot well, rebound well
4. Face teams that play man-to-man.
5.  DJ play to his maximum ability.

I would add a very important one...Beat Syracuse on Saturday. If we don't do that, barring a spectacular week in NY, we probably fall into that 7-10 seed group, and give ourselves very little chance. Need to be a 6 seed or better.

Totally agree.  I think Saturday's game is the most important game of the season.  At the end of this game, we should know what kind of post-season results to expect.

However, I don't think there is any chance of us making a final four this year.  I put the ceiling at Elite Eight.  One expected victory and two upsets.

[BrewCity83]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.

I would add a very important one...Beat Syracuse on Saturday. If we don't do that, barring a spectacular week in NY, we probably fall into that 7-10 seed group, and give ourselves very little chance. Need to be a 6 seed or better.

Totally agree.  I think Saturday's game is the most important game of the season.  At the end of this game, we should know what kind of post-season results to expect.

However, I don't think there is any chance of us making a final four this year.  I put the ceiling at Elite Eight.  One expected victory and two upsets.

Disagree.  If we lose to Syracuse, get the 6th seed in the BE (see revised matchups as of last night), beat the Hall, ND and GT, I think we may even move up to a 4 seed in the NCAA's.

Also disagree with ceiling at Elite 8.  But we would need to get hot outside shooting to do it.

[muarmy81]

shooting is key...I think we'll bring the necessary defensive pressure/intensity and with Trevor getting his feet under him I don't think we're as much of a liability underneath as we were earlier this season.  It all comes down to how well we shoot b/c you know teams that scout us are going to throw a zone our way to prevent our penetration

[Secret of the Ouse]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.

I would add a very important one...Beat Syracuse on Saturday. If we don't do that, barring a spectacular week in NY, we probably fall into that 7-10 seed group, and give ourselves very little chance. Need to be a 6 seed or better.

Totally agree.  I think Saturday's game is the most important game of the season.  At the end of this game, we should know what kind of post-season results to expect.

However, I don't think there is any chance of us making a final four this year.  I put the ceiling at Elite Eight.  One expected victory and two upsets.

Disagree.  If we lose to Syracuse, get the 6th seed in the BE (see revised matchups as of last night), beat the Hall, ND and GT, I think we may even move up to a 4 seed in the NCAA's.

Also disagree with ceiling at Elite 8.  But we would need to get hot outside shooting to do it.

If we get the 6 seed we would play UCONN second round not ND. No matter what happens in the GTOWN 'VILLE game on sat the 5 seed is a better place for us because I'd rather play ND rather then UCONN in the second round

[WashDCWarrior]

You sure about that? It looks like the 6-seed would play ND in round 2.

[Henry Sugar]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.

I would add a very important one...Beat Syracuse on Saturday. If we don't do that, barring a spectacular week in NY, we probably fall into that 7-10 seed group, and give ourselves very little chance. Need to be a 6 seed or better.

Totally agree.  I think Saturday's game is the most important game of the season.  At the end of this game, we should know what kind of post-season results to expect.

However, I don't think there is any chance of us making a final four this year.  I put the ceiling at Elite Eight.  One expected victory and two upsets.

Disagree.  If we lose to Syracuse, get the 6th seed in the BE (see revised matchups as of last night), beat the Hall, ND and GT, I think we may even move up to a 4 seed in the NCAA's.

Also disagree with ceiling at Elite 8.  But we would need to get hot outside shooting to do it.

I guess my point is this.  I really fail to see how this team could win three games in three days.  Period.  Sure, given the right matchups and all, but has a Crean team ever done well in a conference tourney?  Should they lose to Syracuse, I perceive their chances of winning three games in three days as even less likely.

Frankly, I don't even care about the BET, except for what it means with regards to the NCAA.  I want the end result of the game against Syracuse and the BET to result in a decent seed.

As for the ceiling of the team, we can agree to disagree.  I think we'd all be giggly with another Final Four, but all I want is just one NCAA win.  Anything beyond one win is gravy*

*statement applies to 2008 team only

[Secret of the Ouse]

You sure about that? It looks like the 6-seed would play ND in round 2.

My bad, I didn't see the updated version

[The Man in Gold]

I guess my point is this.  I really fail to see how this team could win three games in three days.  Period.  Sure, given the right matchups and all, but has a Crean team ever done well in a conference tourney? 

We did get to the C-USA finals in 2002.(Thanks MU Wiki!)  Does that count?

[Doctor V]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.
1. A favorable draw and other upsets in our bracket
2. Stay healthy
3. Shoot well, rebound well
4. Face teams that play man-to-man.
5.  DJ play to his maximum ability.

I would add a very important one...Beat Syracuse on Saturday. If we don't do that, barring a spectacular week in NY, we probably fall into that 7-10 seed group, and give ourselves very little chance. Need to be a 6 seed or better.

I think this is wrong and we would get jobbed if we got anything less than a 7, with 7 being the worst case scenario. If we lose saturday, which wouldnt be a shock, and we lose in the first round of the BE tourney i think we get a 7. If we win the first round and then lose to the 3 or 4 seed i still think we get a 6.
Win saturday and win in the first round borderline 5/6. Win saturday and win 2 in the BE tourney prob a 5/4. Win saturday and win 3 in the BE tourney all the way to the final and we get a 4. Win out and we are 4/3 borderline. Its kinda nuts how much these tourneys actually mean in the committees eyes, even though every year they say its just a few more games. I remember I think 2 years ago when Syracuse won 4 straight to win it and got a 4 seed I believe?? from bubble to 4 seed- i was shocked

Also, this years BE tourney kinda means alot to me for 3 reasons: 1- i think we are better than 5th or 6th in conference. 2- in order to win it we would have to beat 3 teams that already beat us and a few that think they own us (id actually love another shot at louisville, even with the possibility of losing again). 3- tom crean and his bad showing at these things needs to change

everyone says its not the best thing to win those because the players get tired or whatever. i dont buy it and i think they would rather play a 40 minute game 4 days in a row than deal with 4 crean practices. also helps momentum, and everyone knows MU is streaky

[Henry Sugar]

I guess my point is this.  I really fail to see how this team could win three games in three days.  Period.  Sure, given the right matchups and all, but has a Crean team ever done well in a conference tourney? 

We did get to the C-USA finals in 2002.(Thanks MU Wiki!)  Does that count?

Uh, sure.  I guess this counts.  It was three wins in three days and then the loss to Cincy.  Was that the game that Cordell got hit in the balls?

I honestly didn't remember.  Hooray for the wiki.

[NateDoggMarq]

To prove that it lived up to Its pre-season hype
anything less than that is a disaster
If we lose a first round game it is a travesty!!!

[CTWarrior]

To prove that it lived up to Its pre-season hype
anything less than that is a disaster
If we lose a first round game it is a travesty!!!

You're overstating, but just a little bit.  We were top 25 all year last year.  If you're a top 25 team getting every useful player back plus a couple freshmen you think will be solid contributers, making the sweet 16 is expected.  I think losing Mbakwe tempers things a little, because he is not near the player he would have been had he been playing all year.

So for me, first round loss = disaster, second round loss = disappointment.  It's all gravy after that.

[rocky_warrior]

Its kinda nuts how much these tourneys actually mean in the committees eyes, even though every year they say its just a few more games. I remember I think 2 years ago when Syracuse won 4 straight to win it and got a 4 seed I believe?? from bubble to 4 seed- i was shocked

I don't remember where teams were ranked that year, but (at this point) for MU to win the BET we'd have to beat DePaul, then the #14 team in the country (UConn), likely the #13 team in the country (UL), and then likely the #10 team in the country (GTown) [unless ND gets hot, in which case we'd be playing the #19 team in the country for the championship].  Beating 3 ranked teams in 4 days will raise some eyebrows.

The big east is just STACKED, and getting to the final game is quiet the gauntlet to walk (or run!) though.

[4everwarriors]

Things that must happen for us to make a final 4.
1. A favorable draw and other upsets in our bracket
2. Stay healthy
3. Shoot well, rebound well
4. Face teams that play man-to-man.
5.  DJ play to his maximum ability.

Most importantly, 60 of the other 63 teams have to come down with crotch rot, diarrhea, and pulled groins all at the same time.