improved noncon

[sys]

i guess i really hadn't appreciated how much better it is this year.  there aren't any true marquee games, but just looking at the remaining games... there's just 3 bad teams left.  not counting the ex game.

[doom]

I know.  Last year all of our noncon was an rpi killer.  This year we have a win on a neutral site to the favorites in the a10, and a chance at 2 wins over power conference teams and 2 wins over major conference teams.  We don't play Duke, but it won't keep us out like last year's did (unless we lose them all.)

[ksu_FAN]

You can eliminate FHSU, it really doesn't count anyway.  Basically another exhibition.

Overall, very solid, especially if we can make the Championship game in PR.  Key thing is that only four of those teams end up >200 in the RPI and only one >300, those really kill you.  Last year we had six >200 and two >300.

Then the possibility of 5 OOC games against <100 teams.  Last year we only had 2.  Of course if we do have 5, it would be good to win at least 3 of those, if not 4. 

That's set up to be a solid OOC schedule, probably top 100 or better.

Even not ending up in the Championship game in PR ended up alright for us, though a game vs likely a Top 25 RPI team in Nova would've been nice.  Still, Boston, Ole Miss, and Dayton make for a nice trio of games; the big thing was winning that first round game and also being opposite of Mason, probably the worst team in the field.  I don't think Indiana will be all that great either, looks like Crean still has work to do.

[yosh]

Did Boston win the next 2 games?

[sys]

Did Boston win the next 2 games?

beat indiana, lost to georgia tech.

[Rush45]

Dayton was number 8 in the RPI rankings prior to our game.  I believe they have a higher RPI than Villanova.

[ksu_FAN]

Dayton was number 8 in the RPI rankings prior to our game.  I believe they have a higher RPI than Villanova.

Yeah, but rpi is meaningless right now.  We won't know the true effect of these games until at least late January or so. 

[Bookcat]

I just have this feeling that Dayton is going to be crappy this year now that we beat them...but I'm a HUGE Dayton fan now. GO FLYERS!

[ksu_FAN]

I just have this feeling that Dayton is going to be crappy this year now that we beat them...but I'm a HUGE Dayton fan now. GO FLYERS!

Why? 

They are a good program, beat teams like Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburg, and Xavier and won 20+ games the last 2 seasons, and lost 1 player from last year's team that lost to ku in the round of 32. 

[sys]

i'm not going to whine about how i'm scared they'll lose millions of games to spite kstate, but they're not that great.  ole miss is a considerably better team.

overrated in the past couple years too.  kenpom had them about right, imo.

[ksu_FAN]

i'm not going to whine about how i'm scared they'll lose millions of games to spite kstate, but they're not that great.  ole miss is a considerably better team.

overrated in the past couple years too.  kenpom had them about right, imo.

That's reasonable.  They'll be a 50-70 rpi team.  I'll take it.  They're problem the last few years has been getting beat too much in the A-10, they've had pretty solid OOC seasons with some nice wins the last few years, but then they seem to get into A-10 play and lose 2-3 games they shouldn't.

Ole Miss is considerably more talented, we'll see what Andy gets them to be as a team though.  If they play as well as they did against us they'll beat people, especially in the SEC.

[sys]

Ole Miss is considerably more talented, we'll see what Andy gets them to be as a team though.

yeah, he needs to achieve something this year.

[catzacker]

wash st.
Xavier
@UNLV
@Alabama

have to beat wash st. and can't really lose at home to X, then split with UNLV and Bama and this is a successful non-con.  Would put us at 12-2 going into conf play with some nice wins. 

[ksu_FAN]

wash st.
Xavier
@UNLV
@Alabama

have to beat wash st. and can't really lose at home to X, then split with UNLV and Bama and this is a successful non-con.  Would put us at 12-2 going into conf play with some nice wins. 

Yes.  Plus it appears Alabama is really a bad team.  Wash St is probably okay, but they lost some good players from an average team last year.  Xavier's is solid, but again, some losses from last year and a new coach.  Then UNLV looks pretty solid as well, we'll find out when they play Louisville and Arizona, they also lost some good players.

I'd say 3-1 against those 4 would be more than reasonable with the most likely loss at UNLV.

[michigancat]

alabama beat providence, FWIW.

[sys]

a split of the roads would be very, very good.  have to win the homes.

[Rick Daris]

wash st.
Xavier
@UNLV
@Alabama

have to beat wash st. and can't really lose at home to X, then split with UNLV and Bama and this is a successful non-con.  Would put us at 12-2 going into conf play with some nice wins. 

unlv and alabama and both neutral site games.

[ksu_FAN]

wash st.
Xavier
@UNLV
@Alabama

have to beat wash st. and can't really lose at home to X, then split with UNLV and Bama and this is a successful non-con.  Would put us at 12-2 going into conf play with some nice wins. 

unlv and alabama and both neutral site games.

kenpom lists Bama as "semi-away" and LV as "away".  I would assume that Bama is not part of their season ticket package, like our game in KC, but its close enough to home that they count it as semi-away.  LV part of their season ticket package apparently?   kenpom usually gets those right.

[steve dave]

wash st.
Xavier
@UNLV
@Alabama

have to beat wash st. and can't really lose at home to X, then split with UNLV and Bama and this is a successful non-con.  Would put us at 12-2 going into conf play with some nice wins. 

unlv and alabama and both neutral site games.

Were our Sprint Center games classified as homes or neutrals?

[ksu_FAN]

wash st.
Xavier
@UNLV
@Alabama

have to beat wash st. and can't really lose at home to X, then split with UNLV and Bama and this is a successful non-con.  Would put us at 12-2 going into conf play with some nice wins. 

unlv and alabama and both neutral site games.

Were our Sprint Center games classified as homes or neutrals?

Games like that which are not part of a team's season ticket package, but still close to campus so still basically a home situation are classified as "semi-home" or "semi-away" and a slight adjustment is made in the RPI formula for those as opposed to "neutral" like our games in PR.

[Bullfn33]

It only took us three-four(?) years to figure out that you need to schedule a tough non-con(win or lose) to greatly increase your chances of the making the NCAAs.

[The Nasti]

I just have this feeling that Dayton is going to be crappy this year now that we beat them...but I'm a HUGE Dayton fan now. GO FLYERS!

Why? 

They are a good program, beat teams like Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburg, and Xavier and won 20+ games the last 2 seasons, and lost 1 player from last year's team that lost to ku in the round of 32. 

Dayton still plays two teams they did not face in P.R. - George Mason and Boston U. - the rest of the non-con for them is soft.

They will finish no worse than 2nd in the A-10, probably first. They are a 20 win squad, considering they are likely the most talented team in a weak A-10. This will look like a good win by selection Sunday.

[ksu_FAN]

I just have this feeling that Dayton is going to be crappy this year now that we beat them...but I'm a HUGE Dayton fan now. GO FLYERS!

Why? 

They are a good program, beat teams like Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburg, and Xavier and won 20+ games the last 2 seasons, and lost 1 player from last year's team that lost to ku in the round of 32. 

Dayton still plays two teams they did not face in P.R. - George Mason and Boston U. - the rest of the non-con for them is soft.

They will finish no worse than 2nd in the A-10, probably first. They are a 20 win squad, considering they are likely the most talented team in a weak A-10. This will look like a good win by selection Sunday.

Yeah, and with Xavier on our schedule we will play 2 of the top 3 teams in the A-10, if not the 2 teams.

[doom]

I just have this feeling that Dayton is going to be crappy this year now that we beat them...but I'm a HUGE Dayton fan now. GO FLYERS!

Why? 

They are a good program, beat teams like Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburg, and Xavier and won 20+ games the last 2 seasons, and lost 1 player from last year's team that lost to ku in the round of 32. 

Dayton still plays two teams they did not face in P.R. - George Mason and Boston U. - the rest of the non-con for them is soft.

They will finish no worse than 2nd in the A-10, probably first. They are a 20 win squad, considering they are likely the most talented team in a weak A-10. This will look like a good win by selection Sunday.

Yeah, and with Xavier on our schedule we will play 2 of the top 3 teams in the A-10, if not the 2 teams.

Who would you consider the third?

[ksu_FAN]

I just have this feeling that Dayton is going to be crappy this year now that we beat them...but I'm a HUGE Dayton fan now. GO FLYERS!

Why? 

They are a good program, beat teams like Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburg, and Xavier and won 20+ games the last 2 seasons, and lost 1 player from last year's team that lost to ku in the round of 32. 

Dayton still plays two teams they did not face in P.R. - George Mason and Boston U. - the rest of the non-con for them is soft.

They will finish no worse than 2nd in the A-10, probably first. They are a 20 win squad, considering they are likely the most talented team in a weak A-10. This will look like a good win by selection Sunday.

Yeah, and with Xavier on our schedule we will play 2 of the top 3 teams in the A-10, if not the 2 teams.

Who would you consider the third?

Temple or Rhode Island have been good the last few years, but they had some significant losses.

[JTKSU]

I just have this feeling that Dayton is going to be crappy this year now that we beat them...but I'm a HUGE Dayton fan now. GO FLYERS!

Why? 

They are a good program, beat teams like Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburg, and Xavier and won 20+ games the last 2 seasons, and lost 1 player from last year's team that lost to ku in the round of 32. 

Dayton still plays two teams they did not face in P.R. - George Mason and Boston U. - the rest of the non-con for them is soft.

They will finish no worse than 2nd in the A-10, probably first. They are a 20 win squad, considering they are likely the most talented team in a weak A-10. This will look like a good win by selection Sunday.

Yeah, and with Xavier on our schedule we will play 2 of the top 3 teams in the A-10, if not the 2 teams.

Who would you consider the third?

I guess probably Richmond?

[The Nasti]

Agreed, either them or LaSalle...


Really, Xavier and Dayton are superior talent-wise so they should finish 1-2. Xavier has some new pieces this year, but Sean Miller has not left the cupboard bare, they should be pretty competitive by the end of the season. Jordan Crawford, transfer from Indiana, played very well in the summer league here in Cincinnati. They lost their best player (Derrick Brown) and best shooter (BJ Raymond) so it will take them some time to find guys to step into new roles. I'm glad we play them in December and not February.

[nicname]

Dayton was number 8 in the RPI rankings prior to our game.  I believe they have a higher RPI than Villanova.

Yeah, but rpi is meaningless right now.  We won't know the true effect of these games until at least late January or so. 

I would bet the house that both UD and Ole Miss are RPI top 5o teams. 

[montywildcat]

Noteworthy upcoming opponents for our non-cons.... Some good b-ball on Turkey Day!
- Today: Cleveland St v. Kentucky, 3:30 CBSCS (Cancun Challenge)
- Thu 11/26: Marquette v. Xavier, 1:00 ESPN2 (Old Spice Classic)
- Thu 11/26: Alabama v. Baylor, 5:30 ESPN2 (Old Spice Classic)
- Sat 11/28: Louisville @ UNLV, 3:00
- Wed 12/2: BU @ UConn, 6:00
- Wed 12/2: UNLV @ Arizona, 8:00
- Wed 12/2: Wash St @ Gonzaga, 8:00

[wildcat79]

I think our RPI ends up in good shape. The Puerto Rico tournament had some sold teams.