NCAAs: Where and when might we play?

[FeralFelidae]

If we could have both, then that would be great. But I am a realist and we only have 5-7 players we can count on right now.

I want them to focus and make history that matters. Fans want March Madness wins, not conference tournament ones.

The BTT has been around 25 years and has arguably hurt our conference, and hasn’t done much to help our team.

Winning the BTT would help our seed in the NCAA Tournament. We have a double-bye, so we will be well-rested going in. By the time we get to the BTT finals, everybody will be tired on both teams. Let's just win the thing.

 

[NUThump]

If the 'Cats were to win the BTT (long shot but not impossible with a double-bye), they would shoot up above a 7, probably to a 5.

I want some BTT wins just to get us off the 8-9 line, so we avoid a #1 in the second round of the NCAA. Currently ESPN has us with a potential second round game against Houston.

 

[loyolacat]

might be a good match up against UH...they depend on defense and turnovers to generate offense and we tend to be stingy with the turnovers. Boo can control the tempo....could be a dog fight.

 

[Catreporter]

Would love a second round matchup with Houston. That would mean we won our first round game AGAIN!

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Would love a second round matchup with Houston. That would mean we won our first round game AGAIN!

No downside .

 

[phatcat]

No downside .

Well....if we lose by 30 to Houston it would hurt our NET rating 🤪

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Well....if we lose by 30 to Houston it would hurt our NET rating 🤪

Except not even by that much, Houston would be favored by like 16 in the KenPom! It would be like losing at Maryland by 10.

 

[CappyNU]

For what it's worth, Evan Miya has potential matchups going as follows:

Houston 70 - 62 NU
UConn 74 - 66 NU
Tennessee 74 - 67 NU

Arizona 80 - 73 NU
UNC 75 - 70 NU
Marquette 75 - 71 NU
Creighton 74 - 70 NU
Iowa State 69 - 65 NU

His rankings take into account whether teams play better against good teams and worse against bad (like us) and vice-versa, giving us roughly 1.5-2 points in each matchup as a result, as well as injuries, which costs us about 0.5 points.