[Husker] Basketball comments

[Paul Dalen]

Where will NU have to finish for an NCAA tournament bid?  With the automatic
qualifiers, 46 won't be high enough to guarantee a bid by any means.

On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 1:42 PM, Steve Reichenbach <reich at inetnebr.com>wrote:

> With last night's win, Sagarin has NU #46 and the Wilson ratings have
> NU tied at #45 with Xavier and Kansas St.  NU doesn't have the top
> players, but they have balance inside, outside, and at the point on
> offense and they are playing great defense.  They played very well
> last night, but the game left me wishing that Diaz had more desire,
> especially on the boards, and worrying what the team would be like
> if Jeter were injured.  Diaz had two rebounds last night and one of
> those was flat-footed with the ball coming at his head.  McCray had
> a great game and his consistency and headiness is improving.
>
> If the Huskers get a road win against Texas Tech, which is winless
> in the conference at 0-4, the game against #10 Texas A&M in Lincoln
> is a huge game.  NU has the midweek off, which could be an opportunity
> to really be ready (although it doesn't always work that way).  Sagarin
> has NU favored at Texas Tech by nearly 8 points and favored against
> Texas A&M at home by about 1.5.  There are some things about this
> year's schedule that set up nicely for the Huskers, e.g., playing a
> weak Texas Tech on the road for an opportunity to get the experience
> of a conference road win, and the mid-week off before getting a
> pivotal game against Texas A&M at home.
>
> Of the team members who play many minutes, NU loses only Jeter and
> Beranek.  If they can get a good point guard (which, with Jeter's
> departure, they could), next year's team could be even better ---
> especially if Diaz, who is only a sophomore, steps up and Almeida
> gets a little more polished.
>
> > After the first few minutes of their first road game, the men didn't
> > look too bad @Missouri.  Here is how Sagarin rates the difficulties
> > of men's games after the 1-1 start (minus point NU favored, plus
> > points NU underdog).
> >
> > OSU   -6.39
> > @OU   -5.99
> > @TTU  -5.66
> > CU    -5.24
> > KSU   -3.25
> > MU    -1.41
> > TAMU  -0.20
> > UT    +2.77
> > @CU   +2.90
> > @KSU  +4.89
> > @BU   +5.27
> > @ISU  +5.66
> > KU    +7.33
> > @KU   +15.47
> >
> > Actually NU's schedule sets up pretty well.  The two lowest rated
> > teams in the conference are in the South Division and NU plays
> > each of them on the road.  NU plays the two highest-rated teams in
> > the South Division at home.  That is what you'd like --- easier
> > teams on the road and tougher teams at home.  Of the other two
> > games against South Division teams, a win vs Texas at home would
> > be a huge (NU is less an underdog by less than 3pts).  NU is
> > predicted to split with every team in the North Division except
> > Kansas.  Key home games for a successful season are TAMU, MU, and
> > KSU.  The best shot at a sweep appears to be CU, but they already
> > have two huge conference wins.
> >
> > On the other hand, the women's team looks not very good right now.
> > Without Kelley, there is alot of standing around on offense.
>
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