Reading the prior post about the men's basketball team 5 years ago today brought me to thinking about the current state of affairs in the program and this upcoming season.
I want to be the guy that sides with the, “We have a great nucleus of players coming back and the league is down this year, so we will have a lot better team and go to the tournament,” crowd.
Here is my reason for pessimism: We have gone from 14 conference wins in Bruce Weber’s first season, to 10, to 8, and finally 5 league wins last season. That is not a pattern of success.
In addition, we’ve gone from 6 conference road wins in Weber’s first season, to 2, to 1, and finally 1 road win last season. Again, that is definitely trending downwards, not upwards.
Lastly, we’ve gone from 8 conference home wins in Weber’s first season, to 8, to 7 and finally 4 home league wins last season. Another trend in the wrong direction.
Even with the league projected to be down this season, we were still picked to finish tied for 8th in the coaches poll. Another downward vote.
Just to finish .500 in the league this season we will need to go 6-3 at home – that obviously includes games against Kansas, Oklahoma, W Virginia, Texas, Baylor and Iowa State, which will all be stacked and projected to make the NCAA Tournament -- and 3-6 on the road . . . or 7-2 at home and 2-7 on the road. We haven’t won more than 2 conference road games since Weber’s very first season.
While I want to side with the positive crowd, I just find it extremely difficult to imagine anything better than 9-9 in conference play this season and sitting on the proverbial bubble come NCAA Tournament selection time.
Can anyone please raise my hopes and brighten my spirits for higher success and more victories this season?
Go Cats!
I want to be the guy that sides with the, “We have a great nucleus of players coming back and the league is down this year, so we will have a lot better team and go to the tournament,” crowd.
Here is my reason for pessimism: We have gone from 14 conference wins in Bruce Weber’s first season, to 10, to 8, and finally 5 league wins last season. That is not a pattern of success.
In addition, we’ve gone from 6 conference road wins in Weber’s first season, to 2, to 1, and finally 1 road win last season. Again, that is definitely trending downwards, not upwards.
Lastly, we’ve gone from 8 conference home wins in Weber’s first season, to 8, to 7 and finally 4 home league wins last season. Another trend in the wrong direction.
Even with the league projected to be down this season, we were still picked to finish tied for 8th in the coaches poll. Another downward vote.
Just to finish .500 in the league this season we will need to go 6-3 at home – that obviously includes games against Kansas, Oklahoma, W Virginia, Texas, Baylor and Iowa State, which will all be stacked and projected to make the NCAA Tournament -- and 3-6 on the road . . . or 7-2 at home and 2-7 on the road. We haven’t won more than 2 conference road games since Weber’s very first season.
While I want to side with the positive crowd, I just find it extremely difficult to imagine anything better than 9-9 in conference play this season and sitting on the proverbial bubble come NCAA Tournament selection time.
Can anyone please raise my hopes and brighten my spirits for higher success and more victories this season?
Go Cats!
