Tournament Talk

seaofred92

seaofred92

All-American
I posted this in the 2016-17 Season Notes thread originally but figured it would be worthwhile to start a thread surrounding any tournament talk for the Huskers. Here is my general outline for what we need to do the rest of the way to have a realistic shot at the tournament:

This team will continue to hit highs and lows but the good news is in the B1G this year every single team is beatable and we've seen that so far with us winning @ MD and @ Indiana

It will come down to us defending our home court. It's crucial our fans turn out and support this squad, they deserve it after the start to conference play. I was pleasantly surprised by the win on Sunday but this is where it becomes tough for a young team that is tasting success for the first time- finding the ability to sustain it.

IF Nebraska is going to make the tournament, home games against Iowa and Northwestern are games that the team needs to win. That is what tournament teams do.

For us to get to 10-6 I think we need to win 8 of the following 10 conference games IMO:

vs Iowa

vs Northwestern

vs Ohio State

@ Rutgers

@ Northwestern

@ Iowa

Penn State

vs Illinois

@ Minnesota

vs Michigan

Games that I think aren't very likely for us to win:

@ Michigan

vs Purdue

vs Michigan State

vs Wisconsin

@ Ohio State

@ Michigan State

win 8 of 10 from the first group and sneak 1 or 2 from that second group and I don't see how you can possibly keep NU out. Our RPI will only continue to rise as we win and the rest of our out of conference schedule continues to win. Bottom line, win the games you're supposed to and steal 1 or 2 more and the rest takes care of itself

 
There doesn't appear to be a truly dominant B1G team thus far, and that definitely plays in NU's favor. Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana are obviously the top teams right now, however none of them appear overly intimidating. I think you're dead on with the "Win the home games" sentiment.

If NU can keep this momentum going, 10-6 does not seem outrageous. That is a mighty big "if" though. I hope they do. I'd happily take a steaming bowl of crow, if it means NU can get a tournament berth.

 
Fru said:
If NU can keep this momentum going, 10-6 does not seem outrageous. That is a mighty big "if" though. I hope they do. I'd happily take a steaming bowl of crow, if it means NU can get a tournament berth.
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I'll join you and pay for your steaming bowl of crow if this happens. I really haven't been happy with Miles the past couple of seasons...but it seems that he's doing what we've wanted our coaches to do, especially after taking a hard loss--go look for new ideas to implement based on the kids we have on hand, get them tough and scrappy, and have them fight from beginning to end.

Looks like Miles is making changes (e.g. hard practices and tough drills, working with Xavier staff re: 1-3-1 zone implementation and guidance) for the better. Hope it pays off, and hope I get to eat crow with Fru.
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VectorVictor said:
Fru said:
If NU can keep this momentum going, 10-6 does not seem outrageous. That is a mighty big "if" though. I hope they do. I'd happily take a steaming bowl of crow, if it means NU can get a tournament berth.
Click to expand...
I'll join you and pay for your steaming bowl of crow if this happens. I really haven't been happy with Miles the past couple of seasons...but it seems that he's doing what we've wanted our coaches to do, especially after taking a hard loss--go look for new ideas to implement based on the kids we have on hand, get them tough and scrappy, and have them fight from beginning to end.

Looks like Miles is making changes (e.g. hard practices and tough drills, working with Xavier staff re: 1-3-1 zone implementation and guidance) for the better. Hope it pays off, and hope I get to eat crow with Fru.
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I haven't either. I agree though if he changes things up and gets positive results... gotta give credit where it's due.

 
Talk about a swinging gate of knee jerk reactions. First the board was full of "Fire the Coach" talk and now there's tourney talk. There's a lot of season left so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Anything is possible at this point, we've played 2 conference games.

 
pearljammer said:
Talk about a swinging gate of knee jerk reactions. First the board was full of "Fire the Coach" talk and now there's tourney talk. There's a lot of season left so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Anything is possible at this point, we've played 2 conference games.
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Yes, it's early, but tourney talk is fair. A lot of websites have NU squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Yes, there is a long ways to go, but NU is in decent position right now.

 
Worst overall record in the B1G.

2nd in league standings.

#UsAlways #3stripelife

 
What is the golden number for wins? Usually 18 or 19 from the big ten but with our hard schedule is 16 enough?

 
TNelson97 said:
What is the golden number for wins? Usually 18 or 19 from the big ten but with our hard schedule is 16 enough?
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We would need 19 regular season wins and one B1G tourney win to get in. Last time we made it in the tourney with 19 wins because we had a huge win against Wiscy and we caught fire late. With our SOS being really good, we may have "some" leeway but we faltered in most of our big games and we have 1 bad loss. Get to 19 and hope to get in, get to 20 and we would be in for certain. I believe if we make the NIT this year, Miles will keep his job, and heck we may have a chance to win the NIT possibly.

 
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The good news: There are really no more bad losses because that can happen

The Bad news: Big Ten is down (and weird) this year.

18 wins...no chance

19 wins...Probably not unless that means they get to the finals of the BTT

20 wins...Golden

 
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