Bardo Hates NU
- Thread starter NJCat
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You want Groce fired so Smith comes to the Cats rather than staying close to home. Champaign is 2.5 hours closer to home and a virtual metropolis compared to Edwardsville - which is a very nice town. Also, they would likely release other top recruits and I'd bet the two top 100 kids head elsewhere.
As for Bardo, he will talk down Cats bc the worst thing that can happen to U of I is NU becoming a Top 20 team and securing the top Chicago and Suburban talent.
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No. Curious why you asked because I wouldn't think that would matter for this year's tourney.
I don't think so either. Just wondering what other list members thought. MSU/Izzo isn't known for one-and-done guys, but the way Bridges matured and improved through the year makes me think he is ready for the next level.
I think Bridges was gone before he set foot on campus. He's special and aside from the physical skills, he comes from a good family structure. 
Ever the contrarian, Glades : )
The committee (while imperfect...and lacking in the advanced metrics department) does go a little deeper than "...only having 3 wins over .500 in the conference".
Non conference wins matter. Illinois did beat #26 VCU, but their next best non-con win? #67 BYU. NU beat #21 Dayton (A-10 champ) and #33 Wake Forest. I'd say that's a pretty significant difference, especially with a bubble this weak. The Illini, as you mentioned, lost to Rutgers. While I personally view the Scarlet Knights as a dangerous team and much better than their record (and RPI) indicates, the 'Cats currently (knock on wood) do not have that (bad) type of loss (+100) on their resume. With so many mediocre at large candidates, things like this matter in 2017. Simply stated, Northwestern beat who they were supposed to beat. Illinois did not.
Illini fans should stop whining and look at their team's inability to win home games against Winthrop and Penn State as the reason for a potential NIT bid. If UofI gets left out, they have no one but themselves to blame.
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To be fair, our home loss to Indiana is worse than their home loss to Winthrop. Getting swept by PSU, and losing at Rutgers, is the primary difference between their resume and ours.
(edited after the fact to reflect my obvious mistake that we *didn't* lose at home to Indiana.)
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I never feel this way, but I have disagree with you on this one, Styre.
While you are right on the numbers (10 spot RPI difference) and Winthrop has been a solid basketball program for some time now (definitely will be one of my bracket busters), losing to Eagles at home is a better loss than falling in the final seconds at Assembly Hall? I can't buy that.
To your resume point, Illinois has five 70+ losses. NU has only one (IU #80). The only reason there is any comparison at all is because the 'Cats were swept by Groce and Co.
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Actually, I just realized we didn't lose at home to Indiana, we lost on the road.
So never mind.
Skepticism is a good thing. I read the Rivals Illinois boards and they make a good case that Illinois is just as good as NU. Then they go out and beat us twice (one game by 16 points) and then knock off MSU.
And that's significant, IMO.
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That's the thing though, their argument isn't great.
Illinois' biggest selling point is beating NU. This in itself is big, but as I pointed out above, you gotta dig deeper. The 'Cats have a better RPI (conference and non-con), better non-conference wins (two top 50), better conference victories (@Wisconsin, Michigan > Michigan, MSU) and have avoided bad losses. It's important to remember the Illini also have a losing conference record, which is almost always a kiss of death in the committee's eyes (although with a bubble this soft it may be less impactful). Remember Shurna's senior year?
Fixed it ; )
But seriously, Rutgers is going to relevant to this conversation. If Pikiell's team can beat the 'Cats tonight and Illinois can knock off Michigan today, the narrative changes. The Scarlet Knights are capable of inflicting that kind of damage to NU's resume.
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Ooops! Bardo's favorite team UofI gets spanked and his second favorite team Iowa get hammered too. Deep analysis by Bardo. Columbus Cat Fan 1 ... ouch with your prediction. NU played with a bounce in their step and the real Scottie Lindsey is back!!!!
Lots of blah, blah, blah nonsense about the Illini being better than us, imo. Anyone care to revisit that?
Ummm....what prediction? Re-read the post (and thread) I responded to (hint: it was Glades). Can you clarify what you are trying to say?
I'm over the moon that 'Cats are going to be dancing next week! You aren't going to ruin this moment for me with your predilection for divisiveness (see Carmody vs Collins threads).
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???
C'mon, Hdhntr. I know you have better comprehension skills than this. What's with the snark?
Did you even read my entire post or just the part where I felt Rutgers was capable of harming NU (which they almost did a few weeks back)? If you read all my of post (and the thread), you'd know was a defending NU's resume against the arguments certain of Illinois fans (and Glades). Furthermore, if you saw my other recent posts you'd know I pointed out that even with a loss NU would almost certainly still make the dance due to a weak bubble and lack of bad losses.
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It was more that IL no longer in any conversation and that since we did win, that part of the statement no longer needed. Was not meant as a question on on you, just that there was no longer relevance to any of the potential issues listed because IL lost and we took care of business.
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