Players have to look at it one game at a time. Fans donât have to. So, the way I see it is that we have 3 games left that we can count on the outcome. Tulane and Southern Miss are wins and Louisville is a loss. This is not to say that we canât lose to Tulane or canât beat UL, but those are pretty sure bets. That gives us a 3 game season left. Depaul, Memphis and @ South Florida.
We need to win 1 to assure ourselves of a dance bid, 2 wins gets us a better seed and 3 wins gets us a much better seed.
Of course, we can really improve our stock with a strong showing in the conference tournament. I would say right now, we could be anywhere from a 5-10 seed in the dance. We would get a 5 seed if we run the table from here on out and a 10 seed if we just win 1 of the 3 remaining games.
I really think a win @ Loserville might be easier to achieve than people think. They just got waxed by Memphis @ Freedom Hall and barely beat South Fla. by a few points when they were 25 point favorites. I dont know why everyone is on their jock.
They have beaten hardly anyone. They lost to Kentucky, lost to Iowa, beat Florida, but that is it. Yeah they have two wins over the Bearcats, but I think they are overated as well.
Am I supposed to be scared of them b/c they took out Austin Peay, or maybe it was that big win at Chaminade. The only thing Loserville does well is put people away they should beat. I think we handle them at Freedom Hall and handle them with ease. At least an 8 point victory.
The only game that concerns me right now is Memphis, b/c they have as much talent as anyone and seem to be on the same page. So I think we finish 6-0 if not 5-1 over this stretch. But we will be the Cards.
This final C-USA title is ours for the taken. Go 9ers!
LAniner, I might argue your logic on what happens if we âwin outâ. If youâre talking the rest of the regular season, then weâre 23-4 with a late road win at louisville and home wins over depaul and memphis with no stumbles along the way, ending the season with an 11-1 streak and a top 25 RPI. Even a 1st round tourney loss should mean no less than a 5 seed.
If âwin outâ also means the tourney, then make that 26-4 with an RPI in the 15-20 range. If that were to pan out, I could see a 3 or 4 seed to begin madness.
Either way, as a 24 year fan ('85 grad), isnât it great to be talking about seeding with 6 games left, instead of trying to work our way onto the bubble.
we are set up for a good run right now. If we could just win out and get to the finals and/or win our tourney I say we might even get a four seed. If we fall apart we could drop to a 10 or 11 seed.
We have played well in Loserville. We can win in that building.
Memphis is coming on as of late and are getting dangerous. They can still play their way into the NCAAâs.
If we keep winning then we can just sit back as other teams ranked 13 to 25 lose and watch our ranking increase. I say if we win out we could be in the top 15 by the time the conference tourney is over.
But first things first, BEAT DEPAUL! They too have come on strong.
[i]Originally posted by finalfourtyniners[/i]@Feb 13 2005, 03:20 PM
[b] I would almost rather depaul get in the top 25 instead of us. Then we can take the snub personally. [/b]
[i]Originally posted by louisiana_niner[/i]@Feb 13 2005, 02:45 PM
[b] So, the way I see it is that we have 3 games left that we can count on the outcome. Tulane and Southern Miss are wins and Louisville is a loss. This is not to say that we can't lose to Tulane or can't beat UL, but those are pretty sure bets. That gives us a 3 game season left. Depaul, Memphis and @ South Florida.
[/b]
Actually since joining CUSA we are 5-5 at Freedom Hall vs. Louisville. 6-5 at Halton and 3-0 at nuetral sites. The 49ers beat Loisville at home 106-72 giving them there worst defeat ever under Denny Crum of 34 points. (tie with 34 pt loss to KY). So to say that one is a loss I disagree. We have a good shot at winning that game.
Charlotte
Feb 16 DEPAUL - W
Feb 19 at TULANE - W
Feb 23 MEMPHIS - L
Feb 26 SOUTHERN MISS - W
Mar 3 at LOUISVILLE - L
Mar 5 at USF - W
CUSA Tourney
BYE
W
W
L
Final Record = 23 - 7
My prediction is that we finish 4 - 2 HOWEVER, this is arguably the best niner team that we have had since I have been following the 49ers in 1983. The Rodney team was very good as was the Demarco team but when was the last time we had a team with 7 players that have scored over 20 points in a game? When has our second best player scored 39 points in a single game? When in the last 15 years have we had this much front court depth - Withers, Iti, Nance, EJ and Basden are all good players.
The above is a very realistic finish to the season and even if we do not go to the championship of CUSA we would still finish at 22 - 7. But this team needs to accomplish more and think bigger. This is our best chance in decades to have a very good seeding in the NCAAâs and should be thinking Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4. This team has a real shot at winning out the regular season and should focus on capturing the final C-USA Regular Season championship and the Tourney! With Plavich as the third option on this team we should be thinking bigger that 23-7!
Go Niners! This is the year that we make a statement run at the end of the year!
Oh, and while we are counting chickens before they hatch, thanks to Depaul, we currently donât have to worry about being on the losing end of a tie-breaker with Cincy.
Lâville is not looking good. If Pitino doesnât right that ship quick, they are in trouble (yet another late season collapse). I watched the game vs. USF and USF was in it the whole timeâŚand they are no where near as talented. A bit scrappy, but still - it was at Lâville!
A week ago, I looked at some old pre-season prediction threads. Most were 22-5. To do that, we need to go 5-1. I think we can do it, but I also think we could go 6-0âŚor 3-3. Iâm hoping weâve really turned the corner - we made up for ECU by winning 3 straightâŚnow letâs win 6 more! Go Niners!
[i]Originally posted by 49er1[/i]@Feb 14 2005, 10:30 AM
[b] Looking at this, I like our chances of taking the top spot for the regular season. Loserville has to go TO memphis AND depaul. heehee. [/b]
I [b]really[/b] don't need/want a reason to have to pull for Memphis
Is it wrong to hope for 1 loss down the stretch. Sure, in a perfect world the Niners would run the table and win it all in St. Louis. Lets say Charlotte wins out and then wins the CUSA tourney. That would be a streak of 12 wins in a row going into the tournament. 6 more to win it all(I know this is pretty fantastical) would be 18 in a row. I of course would never wish for a 9er loss, but a deep tourney run is more likely with a hiccup somewhere to refire the troops.
The team I am worried most about is Memphis. They have been underachieving all year and have finally turned it on. I think they are playing the best ball in the conference right now, after us of course . And to think that the c-tourney is in MemphisâŚThats scary.
DePaul will be a tough game. Louisville is starting to have problems so I think we could beat them at their place. Memphis is looking strong and it looks like no one could beat them except for us. We should really have a shot to win out and win the tournament but if we lost just one more game I would feel more comfortable about our chances in the NCAA tournament.
