I realize that there is a lot of basketball left to be played. I realize that we have some bad OOC losses. However, we are currently in 4th place in the SEC, and I think the conference gets no fewer than 4 teams in the tournament this year. In fact, I think 5 or 6 is more likely. Supposing we finish in 4th or 5th place, are we in? Are we at least on the bubble? I haven’t seen any talk about this since some speculated that we would need to go nearly undefeated in the conference after our dismal OOC play.
Way too early NCAA Tournament talk
- Thread starter KayakCock
- Start date
I'd love to think that we have a chance but we almost need to win out and we definitely need to somehow beat Kentucky or Tennessee on the road to have a chance.
We are a scrappy team and good at times but I think my honest assessment is that most of the times we are just a little above average.
Had to win at least 2 or 3 of the early games (including the Ok. State game) to be in a better spot.
I'd love to see them do it but they got way behind the 8 ball. But hey, keep showing up and keep playing hard....never know what might happen
We are a scrappy team and good at times but I think my honest assessment is that most of the times we are just a little above average.
Had to win at least 2 or 3 of the early games (including the Ok. State game) to be in a better spot.
I'd love to see them do it but they got way behind the 8 ball. But hey, keep showing up and keep playing hard....never know what might happen
Franks proving a point early in the year is a point the NCAA will use against us. We have almost a zero chance. Our losses aren't just bad, they're atrocious.
We do this, and maybe steal 2 in SEC tourney and I think we are in. I do think winning against UT or UK at least once is a must.
I feel like big wins help more than bad losses hurt
I really like the makeup of this team moving forward however
Unless we end up 13-5 in conference, plus two wins in the SECt we don't make it. OOC kills any chance otherwise. I'm sorry but you can't lose to Wyoming, a bad OSU team, Stoney, and Wofford and make the tourney without the above mentioned
Wofford and Stonybrook losses are not as bad as they appeared in December. Go look at their body of work this far.
They don't need to go 16-2 in the SEC (winning out) to go to the NCAA tournament.
Assuming they lose to UT and UK, the toughest remaining teams on the schedule is Arkansas (home) and MSU (road). That's my opinion. They could win all of those games, but I get the feeling they'll play a dud. 13-5 seems like it could be bubble territory.
If the team remains consistent, that at least, shows the committee that that is who they are as a team - not the team that lost to Wyoming.
We really needed that OSU win. I think 13-5 might require at least two wins in the SEC tourney....unless one of those 13 wins is UK or UT. Need an upset at Rupp on Tuesday!
It’s not how many conference wins we have but how we compare to other teams, think RPI//NET. Our loses are bad and bring down our rating. Win the SEC or stay home. Fun to see them win but it may be too late.
I get the feeling that even a really good record in the conference with a win over UK or UT will not increase that number that much. It will still show a team that lost some bad games early on. I think Carolina's best hope is that the way they played in conference is heavily considered. There just aren't that many circumstances where a team kind of craps the bad in the first half of the season and plays really well to finish the season. I don't think those ratings reflect that well. Carolina would be a team that "looks bad on paper".
Agree with everything you’re saying, we’re not Syracuse or North Carolina. So, we can’t overcome those circumstances.
The only actually bad loss the team has is to Wyoming. Oklahoma St., Stony Brook, and Wofford are all good basketball teams.
That said, an NCAA tournament berth is very far-fetched. If they win one of these two road games against Kentucky or Tennessee, maybe we can start thinking about scenarios. If they don't win one of those, then hope they win every single other game and see where that gets them.
Guys and girls I love our men’s basketball team and support Coach Martin but an NCAA tourney bid is WAY off. We are ranked 118. With automatic bids we need to be in the top 40. We would need to win out just to have a shot at that and even then I’m not sure we would get there.
Were not even on the bubble and we’re not even close to the bubble. We’re one game over .500 overall. Name one team within 2 games of .500 overall (other than S.C.) that you think should be in the ncaa tournament.
Yes the league will likely get 6-8 teams in. Just because we finish in the top 5 does not mean we are one of them. This is a bubble NIT team. Right now we wouldn’t even make that. You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak if you think otherwise.
Our only shot in the NCAAs is a magical run in March through the SEC tournament. That’s it.
Were not even on the bubble and we’re not even close to the bubble. We’re one game over .500 overall. Name one team within 2 games of .500 overall (other than S.C.) that you think should be in the ncaa tournament.
Yes the league will likely get 6-8 teams in. Just because we finish in the top 5 does not mean we are one of them. This is a bubble NIT team. Right now we wouldn’t even make that. You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak if you think otherwise.
Our only shot in the NCAAs is a magical run in March through the SEC tournament. That’s it.
That loss with OK State put us out of the NCAA, the SEC is a weak conference with Tennessee, Kentucky and LSU on top... We have 9 games left and even if we can win 6 out of 9, it won't be enough to get us in...
I would like to make the SEC as a 3 seed (or a 4th), being in the double bye could be just the right spot for us to pull some razzle dazzle stuff
OSU was 8-10 when we played them, and had kicked off three of their rotation players, yea that's a bad loss. Losing to Wofford by 20 at HOME is a very bad loss, being from Spartanburg, I don't pull against Wofford and like to see them do well, but you can not lose to them at home by 20... And Stoney again is a team you don't lose to if you are an SEC team... Those three and Wyoming will keep us out of the tournament alone.
This is our best chance. Honestly I hate the double byes. Get all the teams playing. There’s been some years we have won two games and just ran out of gas on Saturday because the other team was playing it’s second game. It’s getting harder and harder for the 13 seed to make a magical run.
Mookie, I'm almost always in agreement with your perspective on all things basketball but I just feel like we really do need to win out or at worst lose only 1 more game. We have to beat UT or UK too...we cant point to W's over Auburn and Miss St. (We'll have to beat them twice) to punch our ticket at this point.
Watching the team now it feels very misleading because I watch them and I see what may be a tourney team but that just doesnt count for much in the big picture and the fact we are currently #105 in the NET rankings puts us pretty far off the pace.
Hope you're right though!!
Oklahoma St. has played perhaps the toughest schedule in the country....they are better than an 8-10 team. They beat LSU earlier this season. In fact, I believe they were favorites over South Carolina...that should tell you that it wasn't a bad loss.
You can just say "you can't lose to Wofford" or Stony Brook, but the fact is that both teams are probably better than SEC teams like Missouri, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Texas A&M. Wofford is the better of the two...they're probably better than Clemson or Providence, which we don't consider to be "bad losses".
I agree. If the NET ratings are the only criteria, then the Gamecocks really can't lose much. It seems like the early losses made those ratings impossible to reverse. I am just thinking their only reasonable case is to finish in the top 4 in the league. That shows to me that they're a different team than early in the season. That should mean a lot to a selection committee. It would probably be a case of the one of the lowest RPI/NET ratings ever for an at-large NCAA team.
Syracuse has and I have seen teams that barely have an over .500 play in this conference go. If we beat UK or UT once then the picture changes completely for us.
