[NU Sports] There is still hope

[Jonathan Hodges]

For those interested, Jerry Palm still has NU in the tournament as of this
morning (in one of the "first four" play-in games):

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology?ttag=gen10_on_all_fb_na_txt_0001

Note that both NU & Minny are in the "last four in" so that game will be
very important, as others have noted.  (Palm has 9 Big Ten teams getting in
as of right now.)

My main argument about conference standings had to do with the fact that
the committee does not predetermine how many teams a given conference will
have in the tourney (outside of the auto qualifier) and does not consider
conference standing.  Of course if NU wins 3 or 4 games, they'll finish
higher but they'll also have a better record and RPI and will compare
better to other teams including those in the conference.

If NU only manages to win 3 games down the stretch (which still won't be
easy) they'll likely be in the conversation but making the field would be
unlikely.  Getting a 4th win and/or winning 2 conf tourney games would go a
long way.  (Note that I'm presuming the OSU game is a guaranteed loss).

Jonathan

--
Jonathan Hodges
Contributor, HailToPurple
Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/
Twitter: @hailtopurple
Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu



On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 10:44 AM, <hakirsch at aol.com> wrote:

> Tough to speculate on all of the somewhat long shot possibilities but
> assuming we don't win the BT tourney but that we get past the first 2
> rounds, it would only add  2-1 to our record. I hardly think that would
> pull us from the outside to the inside.  Only if we were on the
> bubble,might it do the trick. And to get on the bubble we absolutely need
> to go 3-1 down the stretch and then pray
>
> Harry
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jonathan Hodges <j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu>
> Sender: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
> Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:35:28
> To: Beamsley, Jeff<Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>
> Cc: <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] There is still hope
>
> The thing is that the selection committee honestly does not care where a
> team finishes in the conference standings (unless it wins the conference,
> at which point it gets some extra weight), and instead focuses on the
> entire body of work.  The fact is that NU needs 4 more wins to put itself
> in a good spot (it's possible that one of those wins could come in the conf
> tourney).  Just finishing tied or above certain teams in the conference
> standings won't mean anything come selection time, and fewer than 4 wins
> would find NU slipping down the bubble.
>
> Jonathan
>
> --
> Jonathan Hodges
> Contributor, HailToPurple
> Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/
> Twitter: @hailtopurple
> Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 7:41 AM, Beamsley, Jeff
> <Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>wrote:
>
> > Iowa lost to PSU last night.
> >
> > That means that there are now four teams tied for 7th in BT at 5-8,
> Minny,
> > Illinoise, NU, and Iowa.
> >
> > The cats have the easiest schedule of these four with three unranked
> teams
> > among the last five games (Minny, PSU, and Iowa).
> >
> > They simply have to take care of business to end up in 7th place in the
> BT
> > conference.
> >
> > Minny has a better overall W-L record at the moment, but looking at their
> > schedule they are likely to end up 1-4 over their last 5 which will leave
> > them 6-12 in the conference and 18-13 overall compared with NU's
> projected
> > 18-12.
> >
> > Illinoisy is also likely to go 2-3 over their last five which will leave
> > them at 7-11 in the conference and 18-13 overall.
> >
> > Speaking of Illinoying, their fall from grace is facinating.  They have
> > all of the talent and the big man that many on this list crave.  They
> also
> > have a good coach who has had success in the NCAA tourney.  What they
> lack
> > according to their own coach is mental toughness.  Weber blames himself,
> > but I think it is a natural by product of recruiting divas.  You end up
> > with a selfish bunch of kids who put themselves ahead of the team.  Weber
> > was either unwilling or unable to change that mindset.  Without a
> > commitment to team-first values, they folded like lawn chair in the face
> of
> > adversity.  It will likely cost Weber his job.
> >
> > Say what you want about Carmody, but he gets this part right.  As we saw
> > with Kevin Coble, Carmody is willing to show his best player the door
> > rather than compromise his team-first approach.
> >
> > Hopefully that philosophy pays off in a demonstration of the cats' mental
> > toughness in this late season run.  I look for Sobo to bounce back with a
> > great game against Minny.
> >
> > Jeff
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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