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3/11 Rooting Guide

PSAL_Hoops

All American
Feb 18, 2008
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Pittsburg (2 PM)

A Pitt win would eliminate NC State from bubble contention and help RU’s computer numbers as a fellow opponent. Easy one.


Washington (5:30 PM)

This one is close. With a NET of 14, Arizona won’t get left out of the field regardless and we certainly don’t want Washington winning the auto bid. But looking at Arizona’s resume of wins against the field, it seems like it would be hard to seed them ahead of RU if they take a first round loss to a non-contender. I think. I’ll take my chances rooting for Washington and hoping Oregon takes care of eliminating them.

Nebraska (8:30 PM)

Unlikely to happen with half the team suspended, but RU played Nebraska twice and some brackets still have Indiana ahead of RU (which is ridiculous). Taking a loss would knock Indiana off the bubble. Also, Indiana isn’t likely to fall from NET 59 below 75 on a neutral floor - even to Nebraska so the home win would remain Q2 regardless.

California (9 PM)

Biggest game of the day. A Stanford loss would be huge for a variety of different reasons.

DePaul (9:30 PM)

I don’t see Xavier jumping RU barring a major run but you never know. Best for them to just get eliminated and also makes for an easier game for Nova.

Vanderbilt (9:30 PM)

I don’t see Arkansas passing RU without a deep run but best not to give Palm and company a thread to hang on for his bracket theories. Yes - I know Palm isn’t on the committee but I still prefer not to see CBS one of the major websites having a pre selection day bracket with RU as one of the last teams in.

Washington State (11:30 PM)

Same concept as Arizona with Colorado. I’d rather the profile of the whole conference just go down. Take our chances on Oregon winning out for the auto bid.
 
That SFA Duke win, and them being 27-3 in general has to be one of the biggest strokes of RU scheduling luck in RU history. They weren’t supposed to be good this year. On paper pre-season RU scheduled one of the weakest possible OOC slates. That game singlehandedly made the schedule respectable based on the fact that they use RPI for SOS which blends the sum of all opponents total wins and losses. That 27-3 record is a huge help.
 
yes....and RU non conference has now dipped to 95..thats okay considering overall is 45 but it could be better going forward so I hope there is a metrics guy advising Pike on which type of schools to schedule. Obviously more road or neutral site games need to be scheduled. I would hope that RU finally gets a quality opponent in either the ACC or Big East challenge and not the usual bottom schools. No more Wakes, Miamis, St Johns, and De Paul. Its time for Villanova in the Big East challenge
 
That SFA Duke win, and them being 27-3 in general has to be one of the biggest strokes of RU scheduling luck in RU history. They weren’t supposed to be good this year. On paper pre-season RU scheduled one of the weakest possible OOC slates. That game singlehandedly made the schedule respectable based on the fact that they use RPI for SOS which blends the sum of all opponents total wins and losses. That 27-3 record is a huge help.
About time something broke our way, I’d say we are due.
 
yes....and RU non conference has now dipped to 95..thats okay considering overall is 45 but it could be better going forward so I hope there is a metrics guy advising Pike on which type of schools to schedule. Obviously more road or neutral site games need to be scheduled. I would hope that RU finally gets a quality opponent in either the ACC or Big East challenge and not the usual bottom schools. No more Wakes, Miamis, St Johns, and De Paul. Its time for Villanova in the Big East challenge

Had this written as a side project. These match-ups make sense to me:

Rutgers and Nebraska have played two road games in a row, Penn State and Maryland have played two home games in a row. So I'm 100% confident in those four getting flipped this year. They might flip other matchups and give other teams two road/home games in a row, but for now I'm assuming they will alternate when possible.

I've made estimates based on them grouping similar teams together, and I've also eliminated matchups that would be repeats of 2019.

NC State @ Rutgers
Illinois @ Florida State
Minnesota @ Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech @ Northwestern
Pittsburgh @ Iowa
North Carolina @ Michigan
Indiana @ Virginia
Michigan State @ Notre Dame
Purdue @ Miami
Boston College @ Nebraska
Maryland @ Duke
Syracuse @ Wisconsin
Louisville @ Ohio State
Penn State @ Clemson

Wake Forest sits out, tied for last with UNC and Pitt. Zero chance UNC sits out, toss-up between Pitt and WF but WF could be in year 1 of a new coach, similar to Virginia Tech this season.

For Rutgers, the most likely teams are NC State, Georgia Tech, and Syracuse although Syracuse might be too big of a "brand" for them to be sent here.



For the Gavitt Games everyone except Michigan State has played three times. So they're in, and I assume the six schools that sat out last year are in: Rutgers, Wisconsin, Indiana, Nebraska, Maryland, Illinois. That gets us to 7, who knows who'd they pick for the 8th.

I think it's possible we'll be on the road for this even though it would make three road games to one home game. Most likely opponents are Providence, Xavier, Butler, and Georgetown but would it surprise anyone to see us against St. John's again?
 
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Best time of the year.

Clemson can Miami on now, meaningless game but still watching
 
yes....and RU non conference has now dipped to 95..thats okay considering overall is 45 but it could be better going forward so I hope there is a metrics guy advising Pike on which type of schools to schedule

For sure, but whether it’s 95 or 80, the key is that it’s not an eye saw like NC State’s was last year and easily could’ve been.

The fact that the Southland Commissioner will be in that deliberation room wont be insignificant either if SFA gets in the field. Definite vested interest there to advocate for RU.
 
Miami vs Clemson pretty poor display for the first half. 23-21 at the half, Miami up.
 
I’m not sure, but on paper I think we probably want Iowa to win their first game so Illinois gets a better opponent for quad purposes. The same can be said about Indiana for PSU but the way PSU has been playing I’m more concerned about Indiana reeling off 2 wins and somehow jumping ahead of us. I want Indiana to lose ASAP.
 
yes....and RU non conference has now dipped to 95..thats okay considering overall is 45 but it could be better going forward so I hope there is a metrics guy advising Pike on which type of schools to schedule. Obviously more road or neutral site games need to be scheduled. I would hope that RU finally gets a quality opponent in either the ACC or Big East challenge and not the usual bottom schools. No more Wakes, Miamis, St Johns, and De Paul. Its time for Villanova in the Big East challenge

Do you think with this year's showing RU has a chance to be invited to a decent pre season tourney?

Edit: No more Caldwells
 
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Do you think with this year's showing RU has a chance to be invited to a decent pre season tourney?

Most of those are filled. The Jamaica Classic is still the one I have my eye on (UMass, St. Bonaventure, and Wake Forest committed so far).

Iowa, Maryland, and Rutgers are all uncommitted in the Big 10 (can't have more than one school per event).

Only other two possibilities I see are:

MGM Main Event makes sense for Maryland as a "premier" program (Louisville and Arkansas in, two spots TBA)

Las Vegas Invitational has one spot left and would make sense for Iowa as they're much closer to LV than RU/MD (DePaul, New Mexico, and Santa Clara in, one spot TBA)

Not sure how much interest Maryland, Iowa, and Rutgers have in playing in these but RU playing in the Jamaica Classic would make the most sense if they get in one.
 
Think about this for a minute. Let’s say the tournament were to actually get postponed a month or two. In reality, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. More time to enjoy the whole experience.

The play in game, however, would likely still be held now without fans... would be the worst possible situation to be in that game.
 
Most of those are filled. The Jamaica Classic is still the one I have my eye on (UMass, St. Bonaventure, and Wake Forest committed so far).

Iowa, Maryland, and Rutgers are all uncommitted in the Big 10 (can't have more than one school per event).

Only other two possibilities I see are:

MGM Main Event makes sense for Maryland as a "premier" program (Louisville and Arkansas in, two spots TBA)

Las Vegas Invitational has one spot left and would make sense for Iowa as they're much closer to LV than RU/MD (DePaul, New Mexico, and Santa Clara in, one spot TBA)

Not sure how much interest Maryland, Iowa, and Rutgers have in playing in these but RU playing in the Jamaica Classic would make the most sense if they get in one.

I dont like this Jamaica tourney..we play at umass next year and just played bonnies..that a real c list tourney

Would like the program to challenge itself..the mgm event is where we should shoot for
 
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