[NU Sports] Getting to the Tournament, IMHO

[Arthur Miller]

Roy, your math's a bit off--we have 12 non-conference games, for which 11-1
is a realistic goal.

13-5 in the conference (24-6 overall) would not only guarantee us a slot,
we'd be looking at a seeding in the #3-#5 range.  Alas, 13-5 is way too
optimistic, but 10-8 in conference is by all indications a realistic goal
for this year's team.


On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 10:15 AM, Roy S. Lamberton
<rstetson at capps-assoc.com>wrote:

> Assuming we don't sneak up on Baylor....and get past Creighton - a former
> NCAA pick, we'll
> start the Big 10 Season at 9-1.
>
> We must win the following games, including an 8 game winning streak:
> (yes they are presented out of date order)
>
> 01/01/12        vs. Penn State * TV     Evanston, Ill.  6:00 p.m. CT
> 01/04/12        vs. Illinois * TV       Evanston, Ill.  6:00 p.m. CT
> 01/28/12        vs. Purdue * TV                 Evanston, Ill.  3:00 p.m.
> CT
> 02/02/12        vs. Nebraska * TV       Evanston, Ill.  6:00 p.m. CT
> 02/09/12        vs. Iowa * TV           Evanston, Ill.  8:00 p.m. CT
> 02/12/12        at Purdue TV            West Lafayette, Ind.    5:00 p.m.
> CT
> 02/15/12        at Indiana * TV                 Bloomington, Ind. 5:30
> p.m. CT
> 02/18/12        vs. Minnesota * TV      Evanston, Ill.  6:00 p.m. CT
> 02/21/12        vs. Michigan * TV       Evanston, Ill.  7:00 p.m. CT
> 02/25/12        at Penn State * TV      University Park, Pa.    8:00 p.m.
> CT
> 03/03/12        at Iowa * TV            Iowa City, Iowa         1:30 p.m.
> CT
>
> Which puts us at 20-1, 11-0 in the Big 10. If we could somehow split the
> next 4 on the
> list, we'd wind up 22-3, 13-2 in the Big 10.
>
> 01/11/12        at Michigan * TV                Ann Arbor, Mich.
>  5:30 p.m. CT
> 01/14/12        vs. Michigan State * TV Evanston, Ill.  2:00 p.m. CT
> 01/22/12        at Minnesota * TV       Minneapolis, Minn.3:00 p.m. CT
> 02/05/12        at Illinois * TV                Champaign, Ill.
> 2:00 p.m. CT
>
> That leaves three real toughies (altho MSU won't be easy)
>
> 12/28/11        at Ohio State * TV      Columbus, Ohio  4:30 p.m. CT
> 01/18/12        at Wisconsin * TV       Madison, Wis.   8:00 p.m. CT
> 02/29/12        vs. Ohio State * TV     Evanston, Ill.  7:30 p.m. CT
>
> Which leaves the Cats at 22-6/13-5 which should be enuff for a bid.
>
> That is not to say that the Big 10 isn't better this year. There were a
> few stumbles in
> the Big 10-ACC Challenge, but overall the "good guys" pretty well handled
> the competition.
>
>
> BTW - I think beating Baylor Sunday would go a long way to turning up the
> heat on NU's
> shot at the dance, and the most of the games in the last few weeks of our
> schedule are
> winable, except for maybe that NBA team in Columbus at home on the 29th.
>
> Maybe we can declare that game null because it is on Sadie Hawkin's Day?
> (See Al Capp's
> Lil' Abner)
>
>
> Go Cats...
>
> rsl