Southern Mississippi (1/5/19)

[CMJ]

Southern Miss lost at Rice, so this shapes up as a game we should win.  That's why they play the games though...we need to actually do it.  Favorable schedule for us early on in league play though.

[BillySee58]

Heading into yesterday, La Tech and Southern Miss we’re 3rd and 4th in our conference in NET. Southern Miss won’t be 4th when we play them after that Rice loss, but it’s still a quality CUSA school that is senior heavy.

[Philip Ferguson]

Looks good for us...

[Talon90]

The way I am understanding the NET ranking I just don't see CUSA getting an At-Large bid. 

Our OOC schedule is pretty weak and weaker than other top conference teams.  If we had beaten OU..maybe that pushes us into that conversation.  Even with the top teams in the conference playing each other at the end of the season our rankings don't appear high enough now to make a difference and they will only get lower now that we are in conference play.  If you objectively see this differently I would like to understand how an At Large bid is a possibility.

Having said that we need to keep winning for the best seeding in the tournament and take care of business when we get there.  We have a great shot to win the CUSA Tournament this year and go to the dance.  This is the first time in the CUSA we could say this about our team.

GMG!

 

 

[Jason Howeth]

I wonder what the worst snub of an at-large bid has usually been. For example, if UNT finishes 28-3 (losing to WKU and ODU in the regular season, but winning the tournament), would the selection committee still snub them of an at-large, even at a 14/15/16-seed?

Edited January 4, 2019 by Jason Howeth

[MeanGreenTexan]

18 minutes ago, Jason Howeth said:

I wonder what the worst snub of an at-large bid has usually been. For example, if UNT finishes 28-3 (losing to WKU and ODU in the regular season, but winning the tournament), would the selection committee still snub them of an at-large, even at a 14/15/16-seed?

If we win the tournament, we get an auto-bid.   I'm not sure what you're asking...

[UNT86]

The NCAA tournament is not about the best teams and it certainly isn't about fairness or giving the little guy a chance.  As long as they have a "play in" game, the evidence is in plain sight.  The NCAA would rather invite a 14 win team from the SEC than a 20 win team from C-USA.  It also isn't in the best interest of the tournament to have a #15 seed from C-USA knocking off a big name.

The NCAA tournament is about the money.  C-USA will not get a second bid regardless of the record or the opponents.

Someone will get to enjoy the NIT and maybe someone the CBI.  Until we, as a conference, start selling out our stadiums and arenas, it will stay that way.

[meangreenlax]

Conference USA is in the 10-15 range out of 32 conferences. Not bad, but not good. To get an at-large your resume including OOC wins and SOS has to be really convincing. If we had beaten OU, maybe our resume is strong enough. As is, it is not.

The only sure path is to win as many games as you can, and win the conference tournament. 

[Philip Ferguson]

Here's what these guys think...

 

[Philip Ferguson]

2 hours ago, CMJ said:

Southern Miss lost at Rice, so this shapes up as a game we should win.  That's why they play the games though...we need to actually do it.  Favorable schedule for us early on in league play though.

[UNTcrazy727]

3 minutes ago, Philip Ferguson said:

"Mean Green Eagles" 🙄

[Philip Ferguson]

10 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

"Mean Green Eagles" 🙄

I know, right!  Freakin' "experts"

[greenminer]

Didn't LaTech hammer SM prior to the NT game?

[Jason Howeth]

6 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

If we win the tournament, we get an auto-bid.   I'm not sure what you're asking...

Yep. I forgot about that little tidbit.

[Marty]

 

[Talon90]

Current line is UNT -7.5

GMG!

 

[Censored by Laurie]

we're still talking at-large bids like this past football season didn't even happen, huh?

[southsideguy]

if we don't win the conference championship, we will most likely get an NIT bid and if we can keep the attendance up and growing we might get a home game.

[Harry]

Old Mavs basketball coach Dick Motta used to ascribe to the “wounded tiger” theory.  This Southern Miss game seems to be one of those instances as they have had a key injury with redshirt senior Dominic Magee who let the team in rebounds last season and was 3rd in scoring. 

"Dick Motta, former coach of the Dallas Mavericks, loved to invoke the Wounded Tiger theory any time his team suffered a key injury or played an opponent missing a pivotal starter. Motta's theory, in a nutshell, suggests that the wounded tiger fights hardest, making it the most difficult jungle cat to subdue."

[Green Lantern]

2 hours ago, Censored by Laurie said:

we're still talking at-large bids like this past football season didn't even happen, huh?

Agree. We’ve definitely got a good team, but anyone who’s watched these games can see we’re not capable of running through the conference slate before the pods unscathed. People need to prepare for a couple losses. 

[GMG24]

18 hours ago, Marty said:

 

Thanks for posting that Marty! Hope you are doing well

[EagleMBA]

This is the kind of opponent that I always worry about the most. We cannot afford to take them lightly and I trust that GM will get the team's heads in the right place.

Plus, I hope RV's phones have been tapped to be aware of the transmission of any sensitive information about our team. 🙂

We will know we've been compromised when the SM players holler "Sushi!!" every time they drain a 3-ball, instead of "Swooosh!!".

Edited January 5, 2019 by EagleMBA

[Venson]

2 hours ago, Green Lantern said:

Agree. We’ve definitely got a good team, but anyone who’s watched these games can see we’re not capable of running through the conference slate before the pods unscathed. People need to prepare for a couple losses. 

While I agree that we probably won't make it through the conference without a loss, I disagree with we're not capable. I think they are very capable of going through the conference without a loss. It would be tough, but they definitely have the ability. Will they do it? Probably not, but can they? Yes.

[Green Lantern]

13 minutes ago, Venson said:

While I agree that we probably won't make it through the conference without a loss, I disagree with we're not capable. I think they are very capable of going through the conference without a loss. It would be tough, but they definitely have the ability. Will they do it? Probably not, but can they? Yes.

Just don’t see it against the top end of the conference. It’s basketball. Goofy stuff happens and we’ve already seen a couple close calls against teams that aren’t as talented as us. It’s extremelt difficult in this sport to run through a schedule unscathed.

All that said, even though I don’t think we’ll win em all, I do think we’re a legitimate conference contender. We’re going to be an extremely tough out in Frisco this year.

Cautioning our fans not to be too judgemental when we do drop a game or two. We’ll still be a very good team.

Edited January 5, 2019 by Green Lantern

[BillySee58]

30 minutes ago, Green Lantern said:

Just don’t see it against the top end of the conference. It’s basketball. Goofy stuff happens and we’ve already seen a couple close calls against teams that aren’t as talented as us. It’s extremelt difficult in this sport to run through a schedule unscathed.

All that said, even though I don’t think we’ll win em all, I do think we’re a legitimate conference contender. We’re going to be an extremely tough out in Frisco this year.

Cautioning our fans not to be too judgemental when we do drop a game or two. We’ll still be a very good team.

We’ve never had a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than 15. I just want us to be in position where if we win the CUSA Tourney we can have a 13 or better seed and actually have an opponent we have a shot against.