JasonEvans
02-16-2016, 12:45 PM
Wojo - Marquette has had an OK season, but nothing special. They are 16-10, but only 5-8 in the Big East and their RPI is 114. They've got some decent wins over Wisconsin and Providence and their only bad loss is to DePaul (146 in the RPI), but they would have to get insanely hot to make the dance. Their remaining games are (Opponent RPI in parenthesis): Depaul (146), Creighton (83), Villanova (3), Georgetown 79), and Butler (64). I think NIT seems likely.
Collins - CC can still pull off the impossible. He can still lead NWestern to the NCAA tourney for the first time in history, but it is a real longshot. Right now, NW is 17-9 (5-8 in B!g Ten) with an RPI of 105. They really don't have any bad losses (Penn St and Ohio St are the worst teams they have lost to), but they don't have any good wins. The best team they have beaten is Wisconsin. After that, it is probably Va Tech. That says something about their resume. Still, I think they have a shot but it takes a cleam sweep of the following games: @Purdue (20), @Michigan (51), Rutgers (251, what are they doing in a major conference?!?!?!), Penn St (117), and Nebraska (150). Obviously, Purdue is the mountain they need to climb. Even if they sweep those 5 games, they likely need to win at least 1 game in the B!G tourney. The truth is that the moment they lost Vic Law, their season was probably toast. He seemed primed to have a big soph campaign. Oh well... I'm sure Collins is going to get the Wildcats there... some day. They're almost certainly headed to the NIT.
Hurley - The Sun Devils have an RPI of 80, but are another longshot to make to NCAA tourney. Their record is 14-12 and they are just 4-9 in the Pac whatever. They've got nice wins over Texas A&M (24) and USC (22), but they have a really bad loss from back in November to Sacramento St (261). Regardless, with just a 4-9 conference record, even if they win out it will be hard for them to make the dance. They close with: @Az (25), @Utah (17), @Colorado (27), and then Stanford (73), and Cal (23) at home. The only game they will be favored in is the Stanford one. Hurley will have to wait until season two to make the Dance... and we should all be rooting for him to pull off a big recruiting coup by getting Thon Maker!
JD - I love Johnny, but the Cardinal are just 11-11 this season (RPI #73) and just 5-7 in the Pac whatever. Unlike the other Dukies, he is not in a new job, Johnny has been steering the ship in Stanford for 8 seasons now and they have only made the big dance one time. Yikes! He got an undisclosed contract extension after the wonderful run Stanford had to the Sweet 16 in 2014 and they did win the NIT last season ("we're #69!!!) but one has to wonder if this season is the end of the road for Johnny in Stanford. They do close with largely winnable games that could give him a boost: @ Wash St (175), @ Wash (60), USC (22), UCLA (63), @Az St (80), @ Az (25). Plus, the recruiting has been pretty bad lately. Stanford only has 1 recruit signed for 2016, 3-star center Trevor Stanback, the 12th best player in the state of California. The future does not look good for JD... that's just the reality at the moment.
-Jason "did I miss anything?" Evans
Collins - CC can still pull off the impossible. He can still lead NWestern to the NCAA tourney for the first time in history, but it is a real longshot. Right now, NW is 17-9 (5-8 in B!g Ten) with an RPI of 105. They really don't have any bad losses (Penn St and Ohio St are the worst teams they have lost to), but they don't have any good wins. The best team they have beaten is Wisconsin. After that, it is probably Va Tech. That says something about their resume. Still, I think they have a shot but it takes a cleam sweep of the following games: @Purdue (20), @Michigan (51), Rutgers (251, what are they doing in a major conference?!?!?!), Penn St (117), and Nebraska (150). Obviously, Purdue is the mountain they need to climb. Even if they sweep those 5 games, they likely need to win at least 1 game in the B!G tourney. The truth is that the moment they lost Vic Law, their season was probably toast. He seemed primed to have a big soph campaign. Oh well... I'm sure Collins is going to get the Wildcats there... some day. They're almost certainly headed to the NIT.
Hurley - The Sun Devils have an RPI of 80, but are another longshot to make to NCAA tourney. Their record is 14-12 and they are just 4-9 in the Pac whatever. They've got nice wins over Texas A&M (24) and USC (22), but they have a really bad loss from back in November to Sacramento St (261). Regardless, with just a 4-9 conference record, even if they win out it will be hard for them to make the dance. They close with: @Az (25), @Utah (17), @Colorado (27), and then Stanford (73), and Cal (23) at home. The only game they will be favored in is the Stanford one. Hurley will have to wait until season two to make the Dance... and we should all be rooting for him to pull off a big recruiting coup by getting Thon Maker!
JD - I love Johnny, but the Cardinal are just 11-11 this season (RPI #73) and just 5-7 in the Pac whatever. Unlike the other Dukies, he is not in a new job, Johnny has been steering the ship in Stanford for 8 seasons now and they have only made the big dance one time. Yikes! He got an undisclosed contract extension after the wonderful run Stanford had to the Sweet 16 in 2014 and they did win the NIT last season ("we're #69!!!) but one has to wonder if this season is the end of the road for Johnny in Stanford. They do close with largely winnable games that could give him a boost: @ Wash St (175), @ Wash (60), USC (22), UCLA (63), @Az St (80), @ Az (25). Plus, the recruiting has been pretty bad lately. Stanford only has 1 recruit signed for 2016, 3-star center Trevor Stanback, the 12th best player in the state of California. The future does not look good for JD... that's just the reality at the moment.
-Jason "did I miss anything?" Evans