As Of Right Now

SUMG · February 15, 2008

If I read the standings (both divisions) correctly....as of right now, we'd have to go ON THE ROAD...for the first round of the Belt tournament.

If there are 13 teams in the tournament.....3 would have to get byes....correct? That would leave the other 10 to battle......leaving 5 winners, to add to the three bye teams....for an 8-team tourney at Mobile.

I believe that's right.

As of now, we're ahead of 4 teams....but are tied with two teams (UNO and FAU)...who have both beaten us.

My point: We've got some work to do, if we want to host a first round game.

chrisfisher · February 15, 2008

If I read the standings (both divisions) correctly....as of right now, we'd have to go ON THE ROAD...for the first round of the Belt tournament.
If there are 13 teams in the tournament.....3 would have to get byes....correct? That would leave the other 10 to battle......leaving 5 winners, to add to the three bye teams....for an 8-team tourney at Mobile.
I believe that's right.
As of now, we're ahead of 4 teams....but are tied with two teams (UNO and FAU)...who have both beaten us.
My point: We've got some work to do, if we want to host a first round game.

We could actually still win the West if we win out and some other teams lose a few key games.....

CMJ · February 15, 2008

Yeah, I believe right now we're the 9 seed, which means road game.

I think these would be the seeds(I'm not sure of all tiebreakers).

1. WKU

2. Denver

3. USA

4. MTSU

5. UALR

6. ULL

7. FAU

8. UNO

9. UNT

10. FIU

11. ASU

12 ULM

13. Troy

Edited February 15, 2008 by CMJ

Censored by Laurie · February 15, 2008

If I read the standings (both divisions) correctly....as of right now, we'd have to go ON THE ROAD...for the first round of the Belt tournament.
If there are 13 teams in the tournament.....3 would have to get byes....correct? That would leave the other 10 to battle......leaving 5 winners, to add to the three bye teams....for an 8-team tourney at Mobile.
I believe that's right.
As of now, we're ahead of 4 teams....but are tied with two teams (UNO and FAU)...who have both beaten us.
My point: We've got some work to do, if we want to host a first round game.

Exactly right...as of today we would be the 9th seed in the tourney, and we would play the 8 seed, who would be UNO, in New Orleans (UNO lost to FAU earlier in the season). We're only 1 game (well, 2 in reality b/c of head to head and the ridiculous SBC scheduling that has us playing UALR only once) out of 4th place...which would mean we're playing Troy, ULM or ASU at home...a much better situation. Six teams, Denver, ULL, UNT, UNO, FAU, UALR, are all within a game of each other:

UALR (7-6) - Wins vs. UNT, FAU, ULL, UNO; Loses vs. Denver. Remaining schedule - UNO, ASU, @ULL, Denver, @ULM

ULL (7-6) - Wins vs. UNO, FAU; Loses vs. UNT, UALR, Denver. Remaining schedule - @ASU, @UNO, UALR, UNT, Denver

UD (7-6) - Wins vs. UNT, ULL, UALR; Loses vs. UNT, UNO, FAU. Remaining schedule - @ULM, MTSU, UNO, @UALR, @ULL

FAU (6-7) - Wins vs. UNT, UNO, Denver; Loses vs. ULL, UALR. Remaining schedule - @USA, FIU, MTSU, @Troy, WKU

UNO (6-7) - Wins vs. UNT, Denver; Loses vs. ULL, UALR, FAU. Remaining schedule - @UALR, ULL, @Denver, @USA, UNT

UNT (6-7) - Wins vs. ULL, Denver; Loses vs. FAU, UALR, UNO, Denver. Remaining schedule - Troy, @ULM, ASU, @ULL, @UNO

UALR has the best head to head so far at 4-1...and they will play Denver in Little Rock later this year. Denver, who is 0 for their last 27 on the road has 3 of 5 away. FAU has the toughest road through the East. ULL has three straight at home to close out the season. UNO is a step behind FAU for difficulty, 4 games against this six team gaggle, and the other being at USA. I think we have the best overall road...if we can step up and win these next 3 games against the basement dwellers of the league.

Censored by Laurie · February 15, 2008

Right now we're sixth of six and just one spot out of a home opening round game. Denver should fall and its certainly possible UNO comes into the UNT game with 4 straight loses. FIU may sneak into this discussion, but i'd be very surprised if we dont finish between 6 and 8

CMJ · February 15, 2008

Just to note - last year thru 13 league games we were 7-6. Most of our losses last year were at the buzzer and/or on the road. I'm not sure we've had as many of those close games this season(I think over 20 of our contests last year were decided by 5 or less), and I liked the makeup of the squad slightly better last year - but simply by wins and losses we're just about the same.

untbowler · February 15, 2008

After the ass-whipping WKU handed us we had better hope for a 3,6,7,or 10 seed to avoid the Toppers until the finals.

Green Lantern · February 15, 2008

Exactly right...as of today we would be the 9th seed in the tourney, and we would play the 8 seed, who would be UNO, in New Orleans (UNO lost to FAU earlier in the season). We're only 1 game (well, 2 in reality b/c of head to head and the ridiculous SBC scheduling that has us playing UALR only once) out of 4th place...which would mean we're playing Troy, ULM or ASU at home...a much better situation. Six teams, Denver, ULL, UNT, UNO, FAU, UALR, are all within a game of each other:
UALR (7-6) - Wins vs. UNT, FAU, ULL, UNO; Loses vs. Denver. Remaining schedule - UNO, ASU, @ULL, Denver, @ULM
ULL (7-6) - Wins vs. UNO, FAU; Loses vs. UNT, UALR, Denver. Remaining schedule - @ASU, @UNO, UALR, UNT, Denver
UD (7-6) - Wins vs. UNT, ULL, UALR; Loses vs. UNT, UNO, FAU. Remaining schedule - @ULM, MTSU, UNO, @UALR, @ULL
FAU (6-7) - Wins vs. UNT, UNO, Denver; Loses vs. ULL, UALR. Remaining schedule - @USA, FIU, MTSU, @Troy, WKU
UNO (6-7) - Wins vs. UNT, Denver; Loses vs. ULL, UALR, FAU. Remaining schedule - @UALR, ULL, @Denver, @USA, UNT
UNT (6-7) - Wins vs. ULL, Denver; Loses vs. FAU, UALR, UNO, Denver. Remaining schedule - Troy, @ULM, ASU, @ULL, @UNO
UALR has the best head to head so far at 4-1...and they will play Denver in Little Rock later this year. Denver, who is 0 for their last 27 on the road has 3 of 5 away. FAU has the toughest road through the East. ULL has three straight at home to close out the season. UNO is a step behind FAU for difficulty, 4 games against this six team gaggle, and the other being at USA. I think we have the best overall road...if we can step up and win these next 3 games against the basement dwellers of the league.

I'd really like to see your 2nd scenario play out. I'd feel a lot better with Troy, ULM, or ASU in the opening round of the Tourney. I hate the idea of playing at UNO in the 1st round. We've had too many bad experiences with UNO in the past few years (McCalebb specifically).

That being said, when we are playing as a cohesive unit, we can match up with anyone in the Belt. We dominated that game last night...I'd like to see a few more of those types of performances going into the Tournament. It would certainly go a long way to easing my mind about our chances.

CMJ · February 15, 2008

After the ass-whipping WKU handed us we had better hope for a 3,6,7,or 10 seed to avoid the Toppers until the finals.

Well, it'd be the 2 not the 3.

We're gonna probably have to go thru USA and WKU in some order. USA in their house might be a worse matchup than the Toppers. Whereas the USA fans will get behind anyone playing Western, because they know that's their stiffest competition.