It only gets worse for Bucky

[GooooMarquette]

One thing is clear.  We, as a fanbase, totally lose our minds with 9 days minutes off!

FIFY

[cheese ball chaser]

One thing is clear.  We, as a fanbase, totally lose our minds with 9 days off!

This is brutal. Wojo/Marquette Athletic Department - if you're out there reading this, never do it again!

[Spotcheck Billy]

This is brutal. Wojo/Marquette Athletic Department - if you're out there reading this, never do it again!

Schedule another game against Stetson?

[Dr. Blackheart]

One thing is clear.  We, as a fanbase, totally lose our minds with 9 days off!

Not a Scoop membership prerequisite?

[CTWarrior]

Schedule another game against Stetson?

Maybe not this season, because we only have 9 scholarship players and everybody plays, but I think moving a cupcake game from November to this portion of the schedule if possible is a good idea in general.  Get some minutes for the end of the bench guys and keep the team somewhat game sharp, as well as give yourself a chance to test out a few wrinkles you may want to add.

[mu03eng]

We're going to have a week off in February as well, Scoop my burn.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

We're going to have a week off in February as well, Scoop my burn.

Scoop your own burns.

[mu03eng]

Scoop your own burns.

I pay for the premium membership around here SPECIFICALLY so I don't have to Scoop my own burns.

*Edit, thought about changing the original post, but I'm just going to own my idiocy.

[Silkk the Shaka]

I pay for the premium membership around here SPECIFICALLY so I don't have to Scoop my own burns.

*Edit, thought about changing the original post, but I'm just going to own my idiocy.

This exchange made me laugh harder than it should have

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Fun fact that I learned while looking this up. The B1G currently only has 2 teams in the top 30 for RPI (Purdue and Ohio State). Only 2 more in the top 40 (Michigan and Michigan State). Only 1 more in the top 60 (Maryland). And only 2 more in the top 100 (Minnesota and Nebraska). Half their teams currently fall outside the top 100. Hard to make up ground in conference season when there aren't many good teams to play.

#midmajor 

Maryland lost at Indiana last night. Sounds reasonable right? A Big 10 team lost to another Big 10 team on the road. The win bumped Indiana into the top 100 for RPI but is still a bad loss for Maryland whose resume is starting to look a little shaky.

They have one win against the top 50, Butler at home in one of the first games of the season. They only have one other win against anyone in the top 125, Minnesota, who is looking worse and worse by the day. No truly awful losses, @Indiana and neutral court vs St. Bonaventure are the worst of the bunch. But looking ahead, they only play four more teams current ranked in the top 100 for RPI (Michigan State, @Purdue, @Nebraksa, Michigan) and face 6 teams ranked outside the top 100. If they get swept by the top 100 teams or even go 1-3, is the committee really impressed with a team that only has 1 top 50 win, 2 or 3 (assuming Minnesota doesn't fallout) top 100 wins and a bunch of wins over sub 100 opponents? What if they drop a road game to Northwestern or Penn State? Big Ten is garbage this year.

#midmajor

[nyg]

Maryland lost at Indiana last night. Sounds reasonable right? A Big 10 team lost to another Big 10 team on the road. The win bumped Indiana into the top 100 for RPI but is still a bad loss for Maryland whose resume is starting to look a little shaky.

They have one win against the top 50, Butler at home in one of the first games of the season. They only have one other win against anyone in the top 125, Minnesota, who is looking worse and worse by the day. No truly awful losses, @Indiana and neutral court vs St. Bonaventure are the worst of the bunch. But looking ahead, they only play four more teams current ranked in the top 100 for RPI (Michigan State, @Purdue, @Nebraksa, Michigan) and face 6 teams ranked outside the top 100. If they get swept by the top 100 teams or even go 1-3, is the committee really impressed with a team that only has 1 top 50 win, 2 or 3 (assuming Minnesota doesn't fallout) top 100 wins and a bunch of wins over sub 100 opponents? What if they drop a road game to Northwestern or Penn State? Big Ten is garbage this year.

#midmajor

Tough comparison with Maryland.  They lost two of their best players in Jackson and Bender and will not be any type of force in Big Ten this year. 

[fjm]

Mayfairskatingrink would be proud of all the thought you're all putting into madison extension basketball.

Shouldn't everyone's Mindset be:
screw Bucky year round... when we play them: Fug Bucky.
Then back to screw Bucky.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Mayfairskatingrink would be proud of all the thought you're all putting into madison extension basketball.

Shouldn't everyone's Mindset be:
screw Bucky year round... when we play them: Fug Bucky.
Then back to screw Bucky.

While Marquette is my favorite team, I am a college basketball nerd. I enjoy pulling numbers and researching other teams,  and learning more about the game and the analytics we use to analyze it. So posting about Madison and Marylands tournament resumes and how craptastic the Big ten is isn't "effort" for me. It's fun.

Besides,  most of my posting happens either on the bus as I'm going from meeting to meeting or when I'm on the sh#tter. It's either this or candy crush

[cheese ball chaser]

Mayfairskatingrink would be proud of all the thought you're all putting into madison extension basketball.

Shouldn't everyone's Mindset be:
screw Bucky year round... when we play them: Fug Bucky.
Then back to screw Bucky.

Wait, what? My mindset is always "fug bucky," doesn't matter if we're playing them or not. Plus, this 9 day stretch off is agonizing. I've already exhausted the hell out of all podcasts I listen to (scrambled eggs, big east coast, real chilly - if anyone has any other good ones I'd love to hear your recommendations). One can only research Marquette so much before running the numbers on other teams. Know your enemy...

[fjm]

Tamu and cheeseball.

Good points. Very fair. I suppose this is a long break. And exhausting to have nothing to do other than read this and listen to pods.

(Which the pods have been outstanding by the way)

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

While Marquette is my favorite team, I am a college basketball nerd. I enjoy pulling numbers and researching other teams,  and learning more about the game and the analytics we use to analyze it. So posting about Madison and Marylands tournament resumes and how craptastic the Big ten is isn't "effort" for me. It's fun.

This for me too.  Especially since I am friends with Badger fans, I am at least aware of what they're team is doing.  Besides, this year we can revel in their misery. 

(The rest of TAMU's post was TMI. Did not need to know you take the bus.)

[barfolomew]

Maryland lost at Indiana last night. Sounds reasonable right? A Big 10 team lost to another Big 10 team on the road. The win bumped Indiana into the top 100 for RPI but is still a bad loss for Maryland whose resume is starting to look a little shaky.

They have one win against the top 50, Butler at home in one of the first games of the season. They only have one other win against anyone in the top 125, Minnesota, who is looking worse and worse by the day. No truly awful losses, @Indiana and neutral court vs St. Bonaventure are the worst of the bunch. But looking ahead, they only play four more teams current ranked in the top 100 for RPI (Michigan State, @Purdue, @Nebraksa, Michigan) and face 6 teams ranked outside the top 100. If they get swept by the top 100 teams or even go 1-3, is the committee really impressed with a team that only has 1 top 50 win, 2 or 3 (assuming Minnesota doesn't fallout) top 100 wins and a bunch of wins over sub 100 opponents? What if they drop a road game to Northwestern or Penn State? Big Ten is garbage this year.

#midmajor

Unless Maryland totally falls off a cliff and has their RPI drop below 70, I don't think the committee will leave them out, precisely because the B1G sucks nads this year.
WITH Maryland, there would only be four B1G teams in the tourney (28.6% of league). Methinks the NCAA doesn't like that. They harbor the delusion that the B1G is a high major league.

[JoeSmith1721]

Unless Maryland totally falls off a cliff and has their RPI drop below 70, I don't think the committee will leave them out, precisely because the B1G sucks nads this year.
WITH Maryland, there would only be four B1G teams in the tourney (28.6% of league). Methinks the NCAA doesn't like that. They harbor the delusion that the B1G is a high major league.

With Maryland there would be five. Purdue, Mich St., Ohio St. and Michigan are all safely in as of now.

[barfolomew]

With Maryland there would be five. Purdue, Mich St., Ohio St. and Michigan are all safely in as of now.

Right you are, I missed Michigan.
Don't tell Keefe.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I'd be really surprised if the B10 only got 4 bids.  I think that is what they deserve, but I'll believe when I see it. 

I see 6 more likely than 4.

[cheese ball chaser]

While Marquette is my favorite team, I am a college basketball nerd. I enjoy pulling numbers and researching other teams,  and learning more about the game and the analytics we use to analyze it. So posting about Madison and Marylands tournament resumes and how craptastic the Big ten is isn't "effort" for me. It's fun.

Besides,  most of my posting happens either on the bus as I'm going from meeting to meeting or when I'm on the sh#tter. It's either this or candy crush

TAMU what websites do you use to pull data? I really like BartTorvik,  Kenpom, and Teamrankings but wondering if there are any other good ones

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

TAMU what websites do you use to pull data? I really like BartTorvik,  Kenpom, and Teamrankings but wondering if there are any other good ones

BarTorvik and KenPom are quality. Not a fan of teamrankings.

They all suck compared to synergy though. https://corp.synergysportstech.com/

This is how Andrei pays me for my Paint Touches articles, gives me access to a synergy account it's niiiiiice.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

This for me too.  Especially since I am friends with Badger fans, I am at least aware of what they're team is doing.  Besides, this year we can revel in their misery. 

(The rest of TAMU's post was TMI. Did not need to know you take the bus.)

Hey man, A&M is a huge campus and they are sticklers about parking (seriously, I think I've had two dozen parking tickets since I moved here, all from campus cops). Aggie spirit is the only way to get around!

[brewcity77]

I'd be really surprised if the B10 only got 4 bids.  I think that is what they deserve, but I'll believe when I see it. 

I see 6 more likely than 4.

If so, they'll likely break some RPI precedents. Here are record forecasts currently for Pomeroy for possible NCAA teams:

• Indiana 15-15 (8-10)
  
• Maryland 20-11 (9-9)
  
• Minnesota 18-13 (7-11)
  
• Nebraska 19-12 (10-8)
  
• Northwestern 15-15 (7-11)
  
• Penn State 17-14 (7-11)
  
• Wisconsin 14-17 (7-11)

Now, here are what they need to do to get an RPI better than 67, which is the current worst ever RPI to get into the NCAA Tournament:

• Indiana 19-11 (12-6), 57 RPI: Anything less has them sub-70 RPI. They have to finish 7-3 when they will only be favored twice per Pomeroy.
  
• Maryland 18-12 (8-10), 58 RPI: I do think Maryland gets in as the 5th Big Ten team. Their resume is thin, but they should have the numbers.
  
• Minnesota 20-11 (9-9), 66 RPI: They probably actually need 10-8, which means 7-2 the rest of the way. 7 wins when they are favored in only 3 games.
  
• Nebraska 21-10 (12-6), 57 RPI: A Nebraska fan started me looking at these recently. They could go 12-6 in the Big 10 and still be on the bubble. Do they go 7-2 down the stretch? It's possible, but any slip-up and they're out. This shows why the Big 10 is so weak that a team could realistically go 12-6 team and be left out.
  
• Northwestern 19-11 (11-7), 65 RPI: Remember how excited we were to beat Northwestern in that exhibition? Not sure how this team is this bad, but 8-2 the rest of the way gets them on the bubble. They aren't going 8-2.
  
• Penn State 21-10 (11-7), 57 RPI: They need to go 8-2 and they're favored in 4 games. Again, this is just to get on the bubble.
  
• Wisconsin 19-12 (12-6), 58 RPI: This gives me the most hope they are done, because I don't see them going 9-2 the rest of the way.

I think most likely these numbers are the minimums these teams need to get in. Again, I do think Maryland will get there. They really only have the Butler win, but they have no bad losses, only one sub-300 opponent, and a good shot at 20 wins and 9-9 in conference. But after that?

Someone there needs to get really hot. Indiana, Northwestern, and Penn State just don't seem good enough. Minnesota and Wisconsin just did too much damage to their resumes already to overcome it. The Huskers are the only really viable argument, but I have a hard time seeing them at 12-6 even in a depleted Big 10. And even if 1-2 of these teams have this kind of white hot finish, this is just to get on the bubble. RPIs in the low-50s to mid-60s are no guarantee, especially when there will be mid-majors with legitimate cases.

Ugh...like TAMU, I like this stuff way too much and spend way too much time looking at these types of things. Okay...back to moving furniture to make my wife happy.

[Dawson Rental]

Joy, joy. Maryland's loss put them below MU in Kenpom, so we are now in Kempom's top 40!

Maryland lost at Indiana last night. Sounds reasonable right? A Big 10 team lost to another Big 10 team on the road. The win bumped Indiana into the top 100 for RPI but is still a bad loss for Maryland whose resume is starting to look a little shaky.

They have one win against the top 50, Butler at home in one of the first games of the season. They only have one other win against anyone in the top 125, Minnesota, who is looking worse and worse by the day. No truly awful losses, @Indiana and neutral court vs St. Bonaventure are the worst of the bunch. But looking ahead, they only play four more teams current ranked in the top 100 for RPI (Michigan State, @Purdue, @Nebraksa, Michigan) and face 6 teams ranked outside the top 100. If they get swept by the top 100 teams or even go 1-3, is the committee really impressed with a team that only has 1 top 50 win, 2 or 3 (assuming Minnesota doesn't fallout) top 100 wins and a bunch of wins over sub 100 opponents? What if they drop a road game to Northwestern or Penn State? Big Ten is garbage this year.

#midmajor