One problem with our noncon schedule
- Thread starter DocCatsFan
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It doesn't make getting to the tournament almost impossible. You overplayed your hand again. That's just a silly statement from a guy who has made a ton of them. And you do have an axe to grind. That's indisputable. You spent a bunch time figuring out our strength of schedule so you could grind your axe. You completely discounted the North Carolina game because "their best player was out", as if a top 5 team isn't still damn good without him. When we lost to Baylor a few years ago by 40 points, they could have been missing their top 3 players and they still would have killed us. And you always do it in your super annoying passive aggressive way. I try to ignore you as much as possible because you only post negative crap, most of which is completely wrong in the end. In the first year, you posted that you didn't think the team would win a conference game. You also expressed your "sympathy" for the players after they shot about 20% from the field. They went on to win six games in the conference, including 3 on the road for the first time since the 60's. Last year after we played Butler tough, you suggested that Butler was overrated and wouldn't be ranked at the end of the year. They, of course, were ranked in the top 25 at the end of the year. You also went out of your way to talk about how Vic Law really wasn't very good 15 games into his freshman year. He ended up having a few breakout games and being one of the better 3 point shooters on the team. His skills and potential are obvious to anyone who is knowledgeable about basketball. You claim to have no interest in recruiting but went out of your way to downplay comments from Falzon about how much he enjoyed his NU visit and the NU coaches ("every recruit says that sort of thing"). You went on further to talk about how Harvard offers unmatched academic opportunities (really?). When Falzon actually committed, not a peep from you. Or how about the time you got all excited when Collins had Scheyer or some other Duke guy at practice because someone on this board speculated that it might be an NCAA violation. Please stick to talking about women's basketball. You don't seem to have an agenda on every post and you may actually know what you are talking about. Or you can always apologize for one of our football victories... You are my least favorite poster and that, I think we can all agree, is saying something.
1) These games are boring. But being ready to turn the corner is a good sign.
2) Such an easy non-con schedule won't make it easier to get into the NCAA Tournament. But what we do in the Big Ten season is going to have significantly more say in whether we make it. Or even make it to the NIT, which we haven't done in 3 years.
2) Such an easy non-con schedule won't make it easier to get into the NCAA Tournament. But what we do in the Big Ten season is going to have significantly more say in whether we make it. Or even make it to the NIT, which we haven't done in 3 years.
Well, the Trib is reporting that we're nearing a deal to play Dayton next year at the United Center in a doubleheader where Illinois will play BYU. So there's that.
Hate giving away home games that aren't true roadies or part of a tournament, but this is definitely the trend in college hoops these days. And Dayton is a very quality opponent. That will be a toughie.
Hate giving away home games that aren't true roadies or part of a tournament, but this is definitely the trend in college hoops these days. And Dayton is a very quality opponent. That will be a toughie.
That is a good game if it happens. Hate to share the stage with Rantoul's BTT though.
Someday, when NU Men's Hoops are regulars in the NCAA Tournament, they might schedule like perennial Champion WLAX does. This year, Cats play @Duke (2015 Semifinalist), UNC (2015 runner-up), MD (2-time Champs), @Syracuse (2015 semi-finalist), UVA, @Penn (two traditionally strong programs), plus some games against teams coached by former NU players (USC, Colorado). Tough schedule that will prepare them for the NCAA playoff.
http://www.nusports.com/news/2015/12/16/WLAX_1216153657.aspx
Teams I think would be fun home-and-home's with:
- Georgetown
- UMass
- Hawaii
- Gonzaga and/or St. Mary's
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Vanderbilt
- West Virginia
- Virginia
- VCU
- Holy Cross
- Georgetown
- UMass
- Hawaii
- Gonzaga and/or St. Mary's
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Vanderbilt
- West Virginia
- Virginia
- VCU
- Holy Cross
Not sure why I'm engaging with you but a couple of points:
I do think that our SOS and the current weakness of the B1G is going to make getting to the tournament this year almost impossible. It could happen, and it would be amazing if it did, but there just aren't enough opportunities for big wins in my opinion to make it feasible. Also, as I stated, the goal of the schedule makers this year was likely not the Big Dance but rather a step forward just shy of that.
Next, I spent ZERO time figuring out the SOS numbers in order to grind my axe. All that work was done for me and I took it from the social media postings of others who did the work. I was frankly surprised that our schedule was that bad, although I knew it wasn't good. Fact is, our SOS is terrible. It is undeniable.
Next, I did say North Carolina and Columbia were the best teams we played and that they might have been the only ones to give us insight into how good we are. Yes NC was missing their best player. If you don't think that a top 5 team losing it's best player isn't a significant loss for that team then we will have to agree to disagree. Yes they were still good-- I said that.
I don't know what your point is with the Baylor game 3 years ago. We got our asses whooped. I don't remember saying anything positive about that game.
After the beginning of the conference season CC's first year it is true I didn't think we would win a game. I wasn't the only one.
Butler was ranked 23 when we played them. They were ranked 23 at the end of the season. I wasn't that impressed by them when we played. We finished the year 15-17. They went to the NCAA Tournament. Not sure what your point is.
You would have to show me what Vic Law posts you are talking about. Vic was clearly struggling at the start of his freshmen year. As is often the case around here, people place an unreasonable amount of expectation on incoming freshmen because of recruiting hype (people thought Johnny Vassar would be a starter and Dererk Pardon would get significant playing time this year). Kids usually take time to develop. Vic was no exception. I don't recall saying that he "wasn't very good." He clearly has tremendous potential and losing him really hurts this year. You make it sound like I said he was a bum and it just isn't true.
I absolutely contend that just about everyone says the same thing after official visits. My point is that when a kid says a visit was a "10" I pay no attention to it until they sign on the dotted line. I guess that makes me a bad fan. As for Harvard, what I said was that it gives you unmatched opportunities after college. You're in the minority if you disagree with that. Not saying that you can't rise to the top of your field going somewhere else-- obviously you can (I did). But the Harvard brand is unmatched. And for what it's worth, I'm not sure I've ever said a "peep" after any kid committed under any coach. I just tend not to follow high school basketball to know enough about the kids.
Glad my posts on women's ball don't make your stomach turn. I would encourage you to put me on ignore. I don't want to be the cause of your hypertension.
I do think that our SOS and the current weakness of the B1G is going to make getting to the tournament this year almost impossible. It could happen, and it would be amazing if it did, but there just aren't enough opportunities for big wins in my opinion to make it feasible. Also, as I stated, the goal of the schedule makers this year was likely not the Big Dance but rather a step forward just shy of that.
Next, I spent ZERO time figuring out the SOS numbers in order to grind my axe. All that work was done for me and I took it from the social media postings of others who did the work. I was frankly surprised that our schedule was that bad, although I knew it wasn't good. Fact is, our SOS is terrible. It is undeniable.
Next, I did say North Carolina and Columbia were the best teams we played and that they might have been the only ones to give us insight into how good we are. Yes NC was missing their best player. If you don't think that a top 5 team losing it's best player isn't a significant loss for that team then we will have to agree to disagree. Yes they were still good-- I said that.
I don't know what your point is with the Baylor game 3 years ago. We got our asses whooped. I don't remember saying anything positive about that game.
After the beginning of the conference season CC's first year it is true I didn't think we would win a game. I wasn't the only one.
Butler was ranked 23 when we played them. They were ranked 23 at the end of the season. I wasn't that impressed by them when we played. We finished the year 15-17. They went to the NCAA Tournament. Not sure what your point is.
You would have to show me what Vic Law posts you are talking about. Vic was clearly struggling at the start of his freshmen year. As is often the case around here, people place an unreasonable amount of expectation on incoming freshmen because of recruiting hype (people thought Johnny Vassar would be a starter and Dererk Pardon would get significant playing time this year). Kids usually take time to develop. Vic was no exception. I don't recall saying that he "wasn't very good." He clearly has tremendous potential and losing him really hurts this year. You make it sound like I said he was a bum and it just isn't true.
I absolutely contend that just about everyone says the same thing after official visits. My point is that when a kid says a visit was a "10" I pay no attention to it until they sign on the dotted line. I guess that makes me a bad fan. As for Harvard, what I said was that it gives you unmatched opportunities after college. You're in the minority if you disagree with that. Not saying that you can't rise to the top of your field going somewhere else-- obviously you can (I did). But the Harvard brand is unmatched. And for what it's worth, I'm not sure I've ever said a "peep" after any kid committed under any coach. I just tend not to follow high school basketball to know enough about the kids.
Glad my posts on women's ball don't make your stomach turn. I would encourage you to put me on ignore. I don't want to be the cause of your hypertension.
In fact when has NU had a "strong" pre-season schedule? Still waiting for "that" poster to actually support the current coaches, as previously claimed by "that" poster.
Please try to read a bit more carefully. Nobody is asking for a "strong" preseason schedule of the type Michigan State often plays. But more games (and preferably at home) against real quality opponents would be good for fans in terms of entertainment and good for the team in terms of preparation, and this would be preferable to one of the weakest schedules in the country amongst the power conference schools. And clearly this is spewing more hate from me to the current program.
I'd suggest that the 2009-2010 non-conference schedule was the last "strong" one. Notable games were:
Butler (L 67-54, finished 33-5)
Notre Dame (W 72-58, finished 23-12)
Iowa State (W 67-65, finished 15-17)
@NC State (W 65-53, finished 20-16)
Stanford (W 70-62, finished 14-18)
ND and ISU were in a tournament at UIC. NU went 12-1 OOC and 7-11 in the Big 10. That is just about a perfect OOC schedule: a good tournament (which NU won), a tough OOC road game, a couple of name Power 5 teams in W-R, and 8 tune-up games against gimmes. I suspect that we will see a similar schedule in 2017-18 as Collins shoots for the Tournament.
Iowa State and Stanford were very weak that year. Butler, ND, and NC State were good games, though.
Stanford had a KenPom rating of 47 so I disagree they were weak. ISU was 111 so I agree. NU was 65. Butler was 40 and ND 41.
As I have said before, either you are lying to yourself or you think we are all stupid. I first came to dislike your posts when I realized that you were the same guy that was consistently critical of the football program and almost universally optimistic about the basketball program when Carmody was coaching. Now that he is gone, you are almost consistently negative about both programs. I don't even care if you want to be critical of the programs. Just be honest about it and stop trying to appear as if you don't have an agenda. My whole point about the Falzon discussion was that you consistently state that you don't see the point in following recruiting or caring about what some 17 year old kids says. I can't disagree with that. Why then, do you feel compelled to downplay his very positive comments about the Collins and the program? If everyone says that, then why comment at all. You then made several posts extolling the virtues of a Harvard education before Falzon had made his decision. Again, you don't follow recruiting, except when it gives you an opportunity to discourage (of course not intentionally!) a potential recruit. And, yes, we all know Harvard is a great school. So is Stanford, but I thankfully don't see anyone on the football board writing about Stanford's academic superiority when discussing recruits considering the two schools. And look at your supposed purpose in making this post. It started with just an observation that we can't assess team at this point because the schedule is so weak and it evolved into it being impossible for the team to make the tournament. Next time, just say what you mean. "Our schedule is way too weak and almost certainly eliminates any NCAA tourney chances." Done.
And for perspective, 111 would be well inside the top half of our non conference opponents this year. Probably top quarter or better.
A schedule like the one we played in Collins' first year wouldn't be bad at all.
Using Kenpom:
2013-14:
4 1-100 teams (2 road, 2 neutral)
4 101-200 teams (4 home)
3 201-300 teams (2 home, 1 road)
2 301+ teams (2 home)
This year:
1 1-100 team (1 neutral)
5 101-200 teams (2 home, 2 road, 1 neutral)
3 201-300 teams (3 home)
4 301+ teams (4 home)
It still had the problem of bad home games, but at least we got Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, and DePaul in the building for local flavor.
As of today, it would be the second-highest Kenpom rating behind only UNC. (VT is currently #2 at 113)
Read into my posts anything you want. That's all I can say to you. I am one of the biggest fans that NU has and have been for almost 50 years. The people that matter-- the folks that actually run NU athletics and, yes, that includes Chris Collins and Pat Fitzgerald-- know me and know that I am a big part of their support network. I have spent thousands of hours following ALL of our teams and continue to do so. I have parted with a sizable chunk of cash in support of ALL of our programs and continue to do so. That is not something that someone with an "agenda" against our programs (any of them) would do. Clearly if you had your way I wouldn't post anything about anything. And that is why I recommend putting me on ignore.
Well that settles it people...Doc is one of the biggest fans NU has ever had for almost 50 years! You can definitely tell by his posts...
We've been through this before. I am happy that you make donations of time and money to the athletic department. That's great. No sarcasm intended. It doesn't change the unrelenting undercurrent of negativity in almost all of your posts since Carmody left. I can only assume it is because you don't like Phillips and Fitz and you resent Collins for replacing Carmody. Who knows? You were strangely critical of Persa simply because you were completely wrong in predicting his development into our best quarterback in recent memory. If you were to pull all of your posts about the football program and the basketball program (post-Carmody) and read them to Jim, Pat and Chris, would they feel the support or would you just be embarrassed. Almost none of them are constructive (this is the one where I apologize to the Wisconsin fans for beating them... this is the one where I get righteously indignant that Chris Collins should be fired if he did something that no one had ever suggested he did ... here's the one where I suggest that Jim Phillips is the devil for firing Carmody... here's the one where I proclaim that Pat "had a brain fart plan and simple" for calling a 30 second timeout when it turns out I didn't know that the coach doesn't make that determination...). You are now on ignore.
I find it ironic that each of the two people in question is equally as guilty of what they accuse the other person of doing.
And I find it somewhat confusing that they would prefer to put >100 posts up trying to score message board points in some long-past battle that no one cares about outside of maybe 5 people, rather than talk about this year's basketball team.
But, to each their own I suppose.
And I find it somewhat confusing that they would prefer to put >100 posts up trying to score message board points in some long-past battle that no one cares about outside of maybe 5 people, rather than talk about this year's basketball team.
But, to each their own I suppose.
IMHO you both are just embarrassing yourselves. Thanks for hijacking another thread with your bickering.
thewildcat2011 high-jacked the thread...it was all downhill after that. I did very much enjoy clarificationcat's posts, though. He absolutely hit the nail on the head. Hopefully it will cause Doc to try and actually be positive for once so others stop perceiving him as another Felis...
Yup, only the wealthy can be real fans. Not sure why other schools would consider us elitist though.
Not even
I encourage everyone to keep following InsideNU and check out Hate Week for the Bowl Game when it is released. It's funny.
Not even remotely what I said, but screw it. I am completely exhausted by constant accusations of hating on our program or coaches or whatever every time a critical comment is offered as though one cannot be a fan or a supporter without total and blind affirmation of everything that happens on or off the field. The nit-picking, the bringing back of posts made years ago that I have no memory of, the convoluted logic that somehow tries to make the point that I have some agenda of our programs failing-- it's enough already. This site is completely toxic. Rather than fostering a community of people who share (I think) a love of NU and NU athletics I find myself actually loathing some NU fans instead. This is not why I wanted to belong to this online community. I've had enough.
I encourage everyone to keep following InsideNU and check out Hate Week for the Bowl Game when it is released. It's funny.
Doc and VA, if everyone else is constantly misinterpreting what you're saying, maybe they're not the problem.
Who's misinterpreting me? I think a olshin and clarificationcat laid it down nicely. It doesn't hurt losing another Felis from the board...
Lo
This is a fairly weak OOC schedule. Especially at home. But are we really talking about? Maybe two games? And at home, next year it will be better as the ACC/BIG challenge will be here as well as DePaul. Quirk of the schedule. So we are likely missing one OCC home game. Our other strength of schedule games are likely to be in whatever tournament that we play in. This year, while NC is a strong team, MO was less so. Just the way it worked out. So again, we are talking about one game difference in home schedule and maybe another difficult game on the road and we would have been talking about how strong the schedule was.
(Facepalm). You two are both incorrigible. When it comes to dealing with each other, anyway.
Well...if Doc keeps to his word, that won't be a problem. And we won't have to read any more posts that apologize to the opposing fan base for "unjustly" (sic) beating them...
Greenstein has a column this week in the Trib discussing, in part, next year's noncon. Here's what's slated so far:
"Next season the Wildcats will host a game in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, visit a Big East team (perhaps Marquette) in the Gavitt Tipoff Games and play in the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn against two of these three: Notre Dame, Texas and Colorado.
They'll also host DePaul and they remain in talks with the United Center, aiming to schedule an accomplished program." We now know that UC game, if it happens, is likely to be Dayton.
So let's parse this out a bit:
If we finish somewhere between 6-9 in the B1G this year, which seems reasonable under the circumstances, we'll get matched up with a similar ACC team. In 2014-15, that tier was Miami, NC State, Syracuse and Pitt. The year before, it was Clemson, NC State, FSU and Maryland. So we can project that we're going to get a team somewhere in that area at home.
Then we'll have a Big East road game. Not sure if Marquette is idle speculation or based on something, but there are a lot of quality teams in that league. We've played Butler, Creighton, Seton Hall, St. John's and obviously DePaul over the past few years. Geographically, Marquette or Xavier would make some sense, as they won't schedule us with DePaul twice in one year. Either way, no real bad games there.
All three of ND, UT and Colorado are very strong noncon games. Whichever two we get will be a challenge. Since it's in Brooklyn, I'd like to think we'll have a decent fan turnout vis a vis UT and Colorado, at least, if we play them. But on a neutral floor, those will be great opportunities for good wins.
Altogether, that's six games already accounted for. The Legends Classic will have two more against low-major teams. Those teams in 2015 were Belmont, IUPUI, Kennesaw State and South Alabama. So that's eight. That leaves likely five more noncon slots, which will probably all be home games against low-majors. I'd like to see a MAC game and a Horizon game to keep it local, but with the rest of those games already, we'll have the opportunities for resume builders, and we'll get a couple of better quality opponents at home, too.
Wow. Shapes up to be a very interesting non-conference home schedule.
- I'd love to see NU play either Syracuse or Pitt in the Big 10 -ACC challenge. Two former Big East powers, get them in McGaw Hall with hopefully a packed house of purple. Great fun.
- DePaul comes to McGaw. Fun.
- UT will be a top 10 team under Smart, but playing them on a neutral court will be fun to watch.
- Hopefully Ellenson will be one-and-done at Marquette. He is a beast.
- 6 big time games plus 7 gimmes is about what a team with aspirations to the NCAA should have on their resume. Must win 3 of the 6 big time games and beat all the gimmes, but a top-half Big 10 team should do exactly that.
Looking forward to the ride next year!
Indiana's home noncom schedule is as follows: Eastern Illinois, Austin Peay, Creighton. Alcorn St, Moorehead St, IPFW, McNeese St, Kennesaw. Not exactly a murderer's row for a well-established program. They did play a tourney and Duke and Notre Dame on the road, but still...Lots of BIG teams schedule this way even when they aren't in a developmental stage.
Now Santa, I am going to ask you nicely this year. Please let DocCatsFan be true to his word this time. I know Santa, he's threatened to quit the board a jazillion times before, but not once did I ask of you to hold him to his word.
But since he has threatened to leave around Christmastime, this has presented me with this opportunity to seek your assistance.
Remember when I was 9 years old and I asked for those Lionel trains? Well. you never gave me those trains. Please let me have this.
Yup. That was the worst post of the year on the football board, and it was not even close.
