Northern Iowa (11/28/24)

[CMJ]

Let's get a trophy from the NIT Season Tip Off in Kissimmee Florida.

[Matt from A700]

Gonna be a tough next three games. Northern Iowa, an undefeated Utah State if we win, and High Point all away from Denton. If we could take 2/3 I'd be happy.

[greenminer]

3 hours ago, Matt from A700 said:

Gonna be a tough next three games. Northern Iowa, an undefeated Utah State if we win, and High Point all away from Denton. If we could take 2/3 I'd be happy.

Is 2/3 a reasonable expectation? Is 3/3 possible, or a reach?

[Censored by Laurie]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

Is 2/3 a reasonable expectation? Is 3/3 possible, or a reach?

2 of 3 I think should be the expectation. UNI is better than last year, but I think we're still a step above and High Point is going to be more of a challenge than most realize, but I still think we're a rung up. Utah State is starting to get Top 25 votes and look like they've got two high-level scorers and a bunch of really good role players...including a 6'11" center who is literally perfect (18-18) from the field this year. if we draw USU and win it'd probably be our best win since Purdue

[Matt from A700]

Yeah Utah State is already 5-0 in mostly dominating fashion:

Def. Alcorn State, 101-46
Def. Charlotte, 103-74
Def. Westminster UT (non-D1), 117-53
Def. Montana, 95-83
Def. @ Iowa, 77-69

[NT93]

13 minutes ago, Matt from A700 said:

Yeah Utah State is already 5-0 in mostly dominating fashion:

Def. Alcorn State, 101-46
Def. Charlotte, 103-74
Def. Westminster UT (non-D1), 117-53
Def. Montana, 95-83
Def. @ Iowa, 77-69

Would be interesting to see their offense vs our defense.

[greenminer]

1 hour ago, Censored by Laurie said:

including a 6'11" center who is literally perfect (18-18) from the field this year. if we draw USU and win it'd probably be our best win since Purdue

I dug into this.

Game by game, it's 11-11 (G1), 2-2, 2-2, 3-3.  He DNP in G4.

Aubin Gateretse, from Namur, Belgium

[greenminer]

 

[Andrew]

2 hours ago, greenminer said:

 

Hate to have lost to Mcneesse state who isn’t even listed. 

[BleedingGreen]

Shocked we are second highest in conference that is ranked after being picked middle of pack in conference preseason poll.

[NT80]

6 hours ago, greenminer said:

Is 2/3 a reasonable expectation? Is 3/3 possible, or a reach?

Don't we only play two (2) games?   The schedule says Nov. 28 and 29 only.

[CMJ]

3 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Don't we only play two (2) games?   The schedule says Nov. 28 and 29 only.

We're counting the High Point game in that trio of challenging ones.

[NT80]

3 hours ago, greenminer said:

 

Why is Gonzaga not on that list? 

They are in the same Mid-Major conference (WCC) as #2 St. Mary's?

[NT80]

8 minutes ago, CMJ said:

We're counting the High Point game in that trio of challenging ones.

Oh, got it.   

Yes, High Point is 7-1.

Beat UAB by 3, lost by 10 to Mo. St.

[NT80]

45 minutes ago, BleedingGreen said:

Shocked we are second highest in conference that is ranked after being picked middle of pack in conference preseason poll.

Hard to predict teams with all the portal turnover.  They should be ranking by head coaches instead, lol.

[greenminer]

2 hours ago, Andrew said:

Hate to have lost to Mcneesse state who isn’t even listed. 

I think he likes the Mean Green.  I personally think if it were a series, it'd be like 50/50.  We seem really really close in terms of talent/identity.
 

 

[greenminer]

1 hour ago, NT80 said:

Why is Gonzaga not on that list? 

They are in the same Mid-Major conference (WCC) as #2 St. Mary's?

Yeah, one of the (coolest) anomalies in sports: they are so elevated as a brand that they are included in the Power/Major discussions.

Also, on the other side of the coin, people refuse to include Memphis lol.  Why am I remindeed of the "Stay out of Malibu!" scene in Big Lebowski?

 

 

[NT80]

UNI fan forum thread about our game...

https://www.panthernation.com/forum/specific-sports-topic-forums/panther-men-s-basketball/737699-game-6-november-28th-north-texas-in-orlando

...........................................

UNI Athletics' article about the Tourney and our game...

https://unipanthers.com/news/2024/11/26/mens-basketball-panther-mens-hoops-prepares-for-thanksgiving-showdowns-at-nit-season-tip-off

 

[Censored by Laurie]

5 hours ago, greenminer said:

 

KenPom (a far from perfect, but solid national metric worth using until NET comes out in December)

1. 27
2. 43
3. 35
4. 34
5. 45
6. 54
7. 59
8. 47
9. 41
10. 61
11. 40
12. 103
13. 81
14. 74
15. 78
16. 76
17. 141
18. 138
19. 95
20. 63
21. 86
22. 85
23. 87
24. 159
25. 165

there are clearly a few teams not like the others. 

UNT opponents:

McNeese - 88
Oregon State - 94
FAU - 96
St. Bonaventure - 106
UNI - 116

 

[BigWillie]

10 hours ago, NT80 said:

UNI fan forum thread about our game...

https://www.panthernation.com/forum/specific-sports-topic-forums/panther-men-s-basketball/737699-game-6-november-28th-north-texas-in-orlando

...........................................

UNI Athletics' article about the Tourney and our game...

https://unipanthers.com/news/2024/11/26/mens-basketball-panther-mens-hoops-prepares-for-thanksgiving-showdowns-at-nit-season-tip-off

 

Wow, their basketball forum sounds like our football forum.

[Greendylan]

25 minutes ago, BigWillie said:

Wow, their basketball forum sounds like our football forum.

You are correct, sir!  Change "Panthers" to "Mean Green" and this post could be copied and pasted onto the NT football forum:

"Well, its a team with a pulse, so until I see otherwise I expect us to lose.

Either get completely obliterated, or get killed in the 1st half only to make a valiant comeback in the 2nd and lose close. Moral victory champions until they can prove they can beat good teams.

Prove me wrong Panthers."

[GMG_Dallas]

12 hours ago, greenminer said:

Yeah, one of the (coolest) anomalies in sports: they are so elevated as a brand that they are included in the Power/Major discussions.

Also, on the other side of the coin, people refuse to include Memphis lol.  Why am I remindeed of the "Stay out of Malibu!" scene in Big Lebowski?

 

 

Kevin Connors of ESPN has been referring to the AAC as outside of mid-major for a few years now. I'd say we need a few programs outside Memphis to pick it up though. Would be great for Wichita State to keep this early season tear, FAU to pick things up to build on their recent success, and us to keep this momentum going as well. If we can maintain 4 or 5 solid programs that consistently make noise, we should solidify our positioning as a "not mid-major" but it certainly feels like Memphis is separating themselves in brand name.

From the article:

"As a reminder, our definition of "mid-majors" excludes programs from the American, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC, as well as the Gonzaga Bulldogs. It includes, as we like to refer to them, the Power 25 conferences."

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/34940247/kevin-connors-2022-23-mid-major-preseason-top-10

And here's Kevin Connors as recently as November 1st.

 

Edited November 27 by GMG_Dallas

[NT80]

12 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

From the article:

"As a reminder, our definition of "mid-majors" excludes programs from the American, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC, as well as the Gonzaga Bulldogs. It includes, as we like to refer to them, the Power 25 conferences."

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/34940247/kevin-connors-2022-23-mid-major-preseason-top-10

So, like football, it's totally by "association" and not by individual programs, except for Gonzaga.   

Which again discriminates against all the "other" outlier programs like Memphis, etc that beat these "Power 25" schools.

[GMG_Dallas]

1 minute ago, NT80 said:

So, like football, it's totally by "association" and not by individual programs, except for Gonzaga.   

Which again discriminates against all the "other" outlier programs like Memphis, etc that beat these "Power 25" schools.

The claim was Memphis was not included in power/major conversations. The entire American is included in power/major conversation by at least one major ESPN journalist so Memphis is by default included in power/major conversations.

[NT80]

St. Bonnie (6-0) vs Utah St. (5-0), 4:30pm on ESPN2... Turkey Day before our game at 7:00 on ESPN-U.