Ole Miss

[Sanantoniobird]

Looks like they are still coming to Redbird even with the coaching change. [emoji3]
http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/060518aaa.html

 

[JHBird]

Looks like they are still coming to Redbird even with the coaching change. [emoji3]
http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/060518aaa.html

I'm hoping this is another win versus an SEC opponent. Heck, we beat them at their place with half our team...and with Gassman playing power forward at the end! Or was he playing center??? Can we can't count on Matt Hein playing out of his mind again...that was the most memorable game of the year for me.

 

[Redbirdwarrior]

I'll 100% be there for that one. That'll be our second SEC game. Would love to sweep the SEC this year.

 

[Bdub777]

Glad they honored their commitment. Speaks well of the new coach there.

 

[Reggie Redbird]

Glad they honored their commitment. Speaks well of the new coach there.

Honoring their commitment really only matters if they will be a quality win or a huge draw of fans (over 8k for a decent-sized gate). If not, taking a $150k-$200k buyout could have done more if we parlayed some of the money into our staff or into a better non-P5 opponent.

It would be great to say we are "2-0" vs the SEC, but even if we do win, they may not end up being quality wins. If UGA struggles getting used to Tom Crean, it would be more important to beat UGA to get a game against Clemson in the semis and then another good opponent in a 3rd game. This tournament may only matter if we avoid a loss to UGA and then games against Akron and ???. Losses to Ole Miss and potentially UGA could be held against us if we are in a Selection Sunday situation without an auto-bid.

Is it nice to say we're playing two games against the SEC, but peel back the onion to see Ole Miss was last in the SEC (12-20, 5-13) and probably will take at least a season or two to rebuild. I hope UGA is at their last year's level or better.

 

[redbirdrc]

Hopefully this game isn't schedule when the students go on winter break.

 

[Adunk33]

Glad they honored their commitment. Speaks well of the new coach there.

Losses to Ole Miss and potentially UGA could be held against us if we are in a Selection Sunday situation without an auto-bid.

In theory yes, but if the past five years have taught us anything, specifically ISU two years ago and Loyola last year, its that there are not auto bids to be had for non p6 right now. I know the A10 got like 3 teams or whatever but that is the east coast bias working in full force. Last year, a Final 4 team would not have been in the tournament had they lost on a faithful Sunday in Saint Louis.

Playing SEC teams or P5 teams on a regular basis, may not benefit us when it comes to Q1 wins (whatever that means) but I think it can help us on the recruiting trails. The pitch could be used that ISU is not your typical mid-major. When the big boys, or power conference schools agree to play, the Birds give them a game or win. Look at #1 Kentucky, #2 Maryland, Depaul, Northwestern, Louisville, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, or TCU.

Did any of those games help us on selection Sunday? No. Had we won all of them would it have helped? I don't believe so. It's been said before but the committee will always look for reasons to keep non-p5 out. ISU figured out a way to beat the RPI system, and then they changed what they look for. RPI is supposed to be a true rating of how good a team is supposed to be but of the 68 teams that made the NCAA Tournament the number 32 team didn't?

If ISU lost say, 3 non-con games this season, only 3 conference games, and a close loss on Sunday in STL they would be out. 7 losses and 25 wins leaves a team out.

Call me cynical, but I will always believe ISU should not put their fate into someone else's hands. Get the job done in STL and punch your own ticket. Don't leave it up to chance so you can be the team who isn't selected in favor of a P6 team with a losing conference record.

So scheduling power conference teams is a good thing for recruiting. For helping for an at-large, regardless of who it is, I won't hold my breath.

The down side of scheduling these P6 games against the lower teams in those conferences would be that if we give the lower teams a game (Ole Miss, Vandy, or South Carolina), why would the better teams in the league (Auburn, Tennessee, Florida) even bother scheduling our team? I think Muller has painted himself into a bit of a corner with this. He wants to schedule well, and he has been. But being competitive in and winning these P6 games may turn off some of the better P6 teams to the idea of playing the Birds.

I'm hoping we get a buy game in California for Phil to play close to home before he graduates. Cal would be a pretty good option for that. We've already played in Florida for Key, up north for Milik, and we're close enough to Boogie's home.

 

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Cal is horrible. Not even worth it. I'd rather play Fresno State. A buy game with Stanford would be ideal.

 

[Adunk33]

Cal is horrible. Not even worth it. I'd rather play Fresno State. A buy game with Stanford would be ideal.

I agree but its no different than playing Ole Miss or, DePaul with the bad teams in Power Conferences.

 

[SgtHulka]

Cal is horrible. Not even worth it. I'd rather play Fresno State. A buy game with Stanford would be ideal.

I agree but its no different than playing Ole Miss or, DePaul with the bad teams in Power Conferences.

Strangely though, wins against those teams are resume builders for their conference mates when it comes to overall conference positioning.

 

[isuquinndog]

Hopefully this game isn't schedule when the students go on winter break.

It's the last day of classes for ISU on 12/8. Finals is the following week.

https://events.illinoisstate.edu/academic-calendar/#academic-calendar-tabs3

 

[WSpringsBird]

Glad they honored their commitment. Speaks well of the new coach there.

Honoring their commitment really only matters if they will be a quality win or a huge draw of fans (over 8k for a decent-sized gate). If not, taking a $150k-$200k buyout could have done more if we parlayed some of the money into our staff or into a better non-P5 opponent.

It would be great to say we are "2-0" vs the SEC, but even if we do win, they may not end up being quality wins. If UGA struggles getting used to Tom Crean, it would be more important to beat UGA to get a game against Clemson in the semis and then another good opponent in a 3rd game. This tournament may only matter if we avoid a loss to UGA and then games against Akron and ???. Losses to Ole Miss and potentially UGA could be held against us if we are in a Selection Sunday situation without an auto-bid.

Is it nice to say we're playing two games against the SEC, but peel back the onion to see Ole Miss was last in the SEC (12-20, 5-13) and probably will take at least a season or two to rebuild. I hope UGA is at their last year's level or better.

Ole Miss apparently has some pretty good players coming in next year. They beat out 3G for a juco small forward and have two 4-star freshmen coming in. Even their lower-ranked recruits attracted some pretty good offers. I don't have firsthand knowledge of any of these players, but based on the types of teams that tried to recruit them, there's a lot of talent there. I hope it will take some time to gel.