10 Games Left in BE Play - Predictions?

[CaribouJim]

I think MU needs to be at least 11-7 in final BE play to ensure that MU is in the NCAA's w/o having to have any BE Tourney heroics.

I think that is what MU ends up at - 11-7 or 5-5 for the balance of league play. Three X-Factors that would lead me to think otherwise - Todd Mayo (O.J. Mayo's brother BTW - does everyone know that??) gets earned substantive minutes (20 - 25 range) and the "bad" J. Wilson is taken over by the "good" J. Wilson (a combination of Bo Ellis and Oliver "O-Zone" Lee) and Otule continues his recent upward trend as a defensive stopper.

Two of those three come through and I could see 13-5 and if all three a possible repeat of last year's 14-4.

BTW, MU is now 20-6 in their last 26 BE regular season games - pretty darn impressive.

What does everyone else think?

PS - Games at USF scare me.

[Markedman]

I'm going to say losses at Georgetown, Nova, and 2 of Syracuse, Pitt, ND, and St. Johns. 6-4 finish 12-6 final record which would be a great season. 10-8 would be worst case scenario for me.....13-5 best case.

[bleedbluegold03]

I'll cosign Marked's predictions.

Not to sound overly aggressive, but what in the last 5-6 games has indicated to you that either of these could happen?

"Todd Mayo (O.J. Mayo's brother BTW - does everyone know that??) gets earned substantive minutes (20 - 25 range) and the "bad" J. Wilson is taken over by the "good" J. Wilson (a combination of Bo Ellis and Oliver "O-Zone" Lee)"

The better question is if Todd will see 20-25 minutes a week. He's been averaging around 10 minutes or less a game the last few weeks.

[Goose85]

Get road win at USF and home v. DePaul. That gets MU to 8-2. Go .500 the rest of the way and end up 12-6.

[CaribouJim]

I'll cosign Marked's predictions.

Not to sound overly aggressive, but what in the last 5-6 games has indicated to you that either of these could happen?

"Todd Mayo (O.J. Mayo's brother BTW - does everyone know that??) gets earned substantive minutes (20 - 25 range) and the "bad" J. Wilson is taken over by the "good" J. Wilson (a combination of Bo Ellis and Oliver "O-Zone" Lee)"

The better question is if Todd will see 20-25 minutes a week. He's been averaging around 10 minutes or less a game the last few weeks.

He is a highly skilled, athletic player and I don't think MU can make a long run without him bringing close to his best and he has shown how good he can be - he was coming on strong at the end of last year after his conference games slump. For whatever reason, it takes some players longer than it should for the light to go on. Chris Crawford, Bernard Toone, Amal McCaskill are some examples. Admittedly,Todd's situation is different that those guys - missing the first semester etc., but I'm not close to throwing in the towel on the value he can bring MU from here on in and I bet Buzz feels the same way. He still is getting the rust off his game. Now if his alleged attitude problems are creeping to the surface again then I agree with you.

[TrevorCandelino]

Get road win at USF and home v. DePaul. That gets MU to 8-2. Go .500 the rest of the way and end up 12-6.

Agreed. These next two games are very very important. 8-2 gives you a nice cushion for the stretch run.

[MU_Iceman]

Wow, everyone is always so pessimistic about MU. Win tonight, win Saturday, they are 8-2, over halfway thru the BE season and will be tied for 1st...No way do they go 3-5 in their last 8. 6-2. 14-4 overall.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

The last set of games is a pretty difficult stretch, while we may be 8-2 if things go as they should we will have gotten there by a very thin margin of overtime games and last minute shots, odds would say they will lose a few more down the stretch.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

I'll say 6-4 in the final stretch.

[kneelb4zerg]

This team is rapidly improving (up to 22 in Ken Pom). I'll go with 6-3 for a 13-5 finish.

[warriorfan4life]

I will break down the remaining schedule here, and I predict 5-4 down the stretch for 12-6 in the Big East

Should Win:
DePaul
Notre Dame
@ Seton Hall

Toss-Ups:
Pitt
Syracuse
@Villanova
@Rutgers

Likely Loss:
@Georgetown

[MUAlphaBangura]

sticking with my pre-season prediction of 13-5. They are completely capable of this. Also think this would certainly lock up a double bye for the Big East tourney. Back in October, people said I was crazy. Let's see how crazy.

[MU_Iceman]

I will break down the remaining schedule here, and I predict 5-4 down the stretch for 12-6 in the Big East

Should Win:
DePaul
Notre Dame
@ Seton Hall

Toss-Ups:
Pitt
Syracuse
@Villanova
@Rutgers

Likely Loss:
@Georgetown

If they lose @ Nova(a place where Providence won), and at Rutgers they don't deserve a double bye, period. Also should not lose to Pitt at home...Syracuse either for that matter, if they still have 7 guys. You are also missing @ SJU. Let's put it this way...there is not a game left on the schedule that they can't win, and I don't think there are any they should lose. The toughest remaining game(s) to me, are Georgetown next Monday night(but MU matches up well with them), and Cuse at home. The rest...I'll take MU without question.

[kneelb4zerg]

If they lose @ Nova(a place where Providence won), and at Rutgers they don't deserve a double bye, period. Also should not lose to Pitt at home...Syracuse either for that matter, if they still have 7 guys. You are also missing @ SJU.

I love when you make posts like this. Syracuse AND Louisville lost @ Nova; Pitt lost @ Rutgers; should NO ONE get the double bye???

[MU_Iceman]

I love when you make posts like this. Syracuse AND Louisville lost @ Nova; Pitt lost @ Rutgers; should NO ONE get the double bye???

Providence won at Nova...so what's your point?? I'm saying MU should NOT lose at Nova or Rutgers...Idc what happened to Cuse or UL or Pitt where they played. Draw your own conclusion from what I am infering from that.

[kneelb4zerg]

Providence won at Nova...so what's your point?? I'm saying MU should NOT lose at Nova or Rutgers...Idc what happened to Cuse or UL or Pitt where they played. Drawn tyour own conclusion from what I am infering from that.


My point (which should be glaringly obvious) is that if they do lose @ Villanova (or @ Rutgers), it doesn't mean they don't deserve the double bye. By your logic, no one deserves it if they drop a game they "should" win.

[ValiantSailor]

I will break down the remaining schedule here, and I predict 5-4 down the stretch for 12-6 in the Big East

Should Win:
DePaul
Notre Dame
@ Seton Hall

Toss-Ups:
Pitt
Syracuse
@Villanova
@Rutgers

Likely Loss:
@Georgetown

You forgot the Johnnies.

I tend to be optimistic. From what I saw last night, I predict we'll finish 7-2. I know there's no justification; it's just what I feel!

VS

[MU88]

Frankly, I don't think this team is that good. I see a bubble team watching them and think that's where they end up, on the bubble. I say 11-7, and they get in the NCAA. 10-8 and I think they stay home. That said, I think they win Saturday. They need to find 3 more wins, which will be difficult with the remaining schedule. I would rather have our easy games at home, to increase your chances at winning. I think SJU, Rutgers, and SH at home would be wins. On the road, not so sure. Right now, their margin for error is very small. But for DePaul, no game is a likely win. Remember, we lost to UWGB only a month ago.

[CaribouJim]

sticking with my pre-season prediction of 13-5. They are completely capable of this. Also think this would certainly lock up a double bye for the Big East tourney. Back in October, people said I was crazy. Let's see how crazy.

Did you really predict 13-5 before the season started or before conference play? Either way, pretty impressive. You're still crazy though...maybe even an idiot...a loud one at that, but I digress.

As I initially stated - get Mayo and Jamil on the straight and narrow 13-5 is very reasonable. MU now 21-6 in BE regular season play since last year - that's 77.8% for 1 1/2 conference seasons!

[kneelb4zerg]

Frankly, I don't think this team is that good. I see a bubble team watching them and think that's where they end up, on the bubble. I say 11-7, and they get in the NCAA. 10-8 and I think they stay home. That said, I think they win Saturday. They need to find 3 more wins, which will be difficult with the remaining schedule. I would rather have our easy games at home, to increase your chances at winning. I think SJU, Rutgers, and SH at home would be wins. On the road, not so sure. Right now, their margin for error is very small. But for DePaul, no game is a likely win. Remember, we lost to UWGB only a month ago.


Even if you don't think MU is "any good,"...who's so much better that would somehow put them "on the bubble?" Can you really name 40 teams better than MU?

[Markedman]

Yeah we would have to collapse to not make it at this point. Look at the consensus first 4 out.....
Boise State.....Virginia....etc...not to mention all of the other schools that we are currently ahead of but who are already in the field.

You can't look at level of play and say "we look like a bubble team" because if that was the standard the field would probably be 16 teams this year......everybody else looks like a bubble team depending on when you see them.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/matrix.htm

[MUAlphaBangura]

Did you really predict 13-5 before the season started or before conference play? Either way, pretty impressive. You're still crazy though...maybe even an idiot...a loud one at that, but I digress.

As I initially stated - get Mayo and Jamil on the straight and narrow 13-5 is very reasonable. MU now 21-6 in BE regular season play since last year - that's 77.8% for 1 1/2 conference seasons!

Yes, I really predicted 13-5 before the season started. Yes, I'm still crazy. Yes, I very well could be an idiot. And yes, a loud one at that. There. That about covers it. Hate it when people digress.

[MU88]

Its the NCAA, other teams don't have to be better, they only have to be perceived at being better. If we finish 10-8 in conference, we would have gone 3-7 in our last 10, with losses to some less than great teams. I don't see us getting in under that scenario. I think we end up 11-7 in conference. I see us struggling on the road, e.g. at Rutgers, where we have never played well. If we finish 11-7, we would be 4-6 in our last ten. I think we get in, but we will talked about as on the bubble, given our late season failings.

In short, I think we can finish anywhere from 15-3 to 9-7 in conference. I don't see a complete collapse, but the schedule is tougher than people are suggesting. There is something about this team that gives me cause for concern. Their effort is a bit inconsistent. Clearly, they play to level of their competition. They don't shoot the ball particularly well. Plus, they aren't a great defensive team. They are not bad at a lot of different things, and when the effort is there, they are more than decent. However, I see this as Buzz's weakest team since being at MU. Something is missing.

[kneelb4zerg]

Its the NCAA, other teams don't have to be better, they only have to be perceived at being better. If we finish 10-8 in conference, we would have gone 3-7 in our last 10, with losses to some less than great teams. I don't see us getting in under that scenario. I think we end up 11-7 in conference. I see us struggling on the road, e.g. at Rutgers, where we have never played well. If we finish 11-7, we would be 4-6 in our last ten. I think we get in, but we will talked about as on the bubble, given our late season failings.

In short, I think we can finish anywhere from 15-3 to 9-7 in conference. I don't see a complete collapse, but the schedule is tougher than people are suggesting. There is something about this team that gives me cause for concern. Their effort is a bit inconsistent. Clearly, they play to level of their competition. They don't shoot the ball particularly well. Plus, they aren't a great defensive team. They are not bad at a lot of different things, and when the effort is there, they are more than decent. However, I see this as Buzz's weakest team since being at MU. Something is missing.


Well, this team is 15 in RPI and 22 in Pomeroy...that's not the profile of a bubble team. Their resume will be just fine, even if they stumble and go 10-8.

[Markedman]

If we finish 10-8 we will be 4-6 in our last 10 not 3-7.

We were 6-2....4-6 = 10-8

I think you are right that this team isn't all that good.....It might very well be Buzz's worse team and yes something is missing....with that being said given the profiles of other schools and where we currently stand it's very unlikely we end up on the bubble even at 10-8 which I believe now is very unlikely.

Other schools are going to lose too.....and our computer numbers and top 50 wins will be more then good enough to get us over the hump if needed.

[Goose85]

It is February and MU is ranked in the top 25 and tied for first place in the Big East. A tough team with a tough coach, so I won't count them out of any game left on the schedule.

Relative to all other college basketball teams this year, we do not look like a bubble team, and that is really all that matters.

A win over DePaul and MU moves up in the rankings as teams ahead of them lost.
Play two ranked teams next week, and if MU is 1-1 I think they continue to stay nationally ranked, with less than a month to Selection Sunday.