Bracketology-so you're telling me there's a chance

espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

Lunardi has us as an 8 seed with Cal as the 9 seed. Surely we're better than a Pac 10 team.

After that, we'd get Duke as the 1 seed. We're due a win against. Duke. Plus... that would be one of the weaker 1 seeds in recent memory.

Then it's a Pitt team we've already beaten (3 seed) or a Purdue team that's been hobbled by injuries (2 seed).

Call me an optimist, but I don't think we could ask for a better bracket (if we could get this one).

 

Max, I agree that this is a good bracket (although I see a good and underrated Duke team flying under the radar and making a run at the championship). However, and no offense to you, but it is this optimism that kills this Texas basketball program. I am not saying you should not be optimistic and root for your team, but this team has given Longhorn fans very little reason to cheer this year. I find myself looking for other things to do when a Texas basketball game comes on, just so I do not have to watch this travesty of a team. I can't believe it has come to this and it saddens me.

The worst thing that could happen for this team is to win a game (or God forbid 2 games) in the tournament. It will make a very bad season more palatable for non-die hard fans but will also mask that this was a team that should be competing for the Final 4 and not playing Cal as an 8 seed.

This is a very bad season and the only way it could not be considered a very bad season is if we make the Final 2, or maybe the Final 4 (which ain't going to happen).

 

The Pitt team we played didn't have two of its top six players. Brown and Dixon each started playing mid-season. Pitt now has wins over Syracuse, West Virginia, and Villanova. If Pitt wins out against Rutgers and Providence, then it will be no worse than the 3rd seed for the Big East Tournament.

 

I don't think a 5 seed is out of the question at all. I think Texas was about a 25 in the rpi and polls going into tonight's game. A win over Baylor coupled with a win over Mizzou (the likeliest second round opponent if Texas beats Baylor in Waco) should be enough to put Texas in the top 20 in both rpi and the polls. Add wins over MSU and PItt, two teams that will get high tournament seeds, and you still have a pretty good resume.

Of course, if your comment was about whether Texas actually wins those games, well . . . (cough) . . . um, tonight showed promise, right?

 

Yea!!! We beat OU!!!

Yea!!!! We might get a 6 seed or even a 5 seed!!!!

Oh wait, what is that? We have the most talent in the country and should have been competing for a 1 seed and possible Final 4 berth. You don't say? Wow, what happened?

It doesn't matter. Complacent Longhorn fans will still consider this a good season and the basketball program will remain stagnant.

 

busterbrown16, I don't think any of us are happy with a 5 or 6 seed. We're just happier than we would be with an 8 or 9 seed. I would not be so ready to jettison Barnes after one disappointing year, thiough.

Rex, I can see the 6 as I can see the 5, but if I can, er, waste our time here, I would say that under the scenario of UT beating Baylor and winning the first two games in the conference tournament, it would be 7-3 over the last 10, with road losses to Missouri, A&M, and a tournament loss to KU. That's not bad at all. (When you add the 7 games before that, then it looks pretty ugly, true.)

The worst seed I can find for a major conference team with 8 losses in the last 5 years was Clemson last year as a 7. That team finished 4-6 over its last ten, lost in the first round of the conference tournament, and had only one notable OOC win (vs. eventual 5 seed Illinois).

UCLA (6-4 over last 10) was a 6 seed last year and had no notable OOC wins. 1-1 in conference tournament.

Purdue (7-3 with 1st round conference tournament exiit over last 10) was a 6 in 2008, with an OOC win over Louisville (a 3 seed).

OU (6-4 over last 10) was a 6 in 2006, but they lost in the first round of the Big 12 tournament to an iffy Nebraska team, were mudholed in the last regular season game by Texas, had only 20 wins and nothing of significance OOC.

Finally, Wisconsin was a 6 in 2005 after finishing 7-3, 22-8, and having an OOC win against 5 seed Alabama. Cincy (in C-USA) was also a 6 seed in 2005, but C-USA wasn't really a power conference at that point and was about to lose Cincy, Lousville, Marquette and DePaul to the Big East.

On the other hand, there have been 24 teams from the big conferences with 8 losses or more that finished with a top 5 seed or better. UConn even got a 2 in 2005, and there have been a few 3 seeds.

I like my chances in a 24/5 ratio, but part of it will depend on how MSU and Pitt finish. If they wind up with 2-3 seeds and Texas closes fairly strong, I can see the 5, particularly with the Big 12 having the top or second highest conference RPI.

Funny thing is, with this team, I wonder if maybe being seeded so it has to face the one seed after 5 days rest might not be better than facing it with one day rest. On the one hand, Texas will have a lot of experience with playing on one day rest. On the other hand, Texas was 2-2 in those games, looking pretty bad in the two losses against KSU and KU, and Pittman was dreadful in the first three, only performing fairly well last night. So maybe we want the strongest opponent on Thursday or Friday.

But enough of this speculation. Just win, baby.

 

Lunardi, FWIW, now has UT as a 7 seed with a FSU, Purdue, Pitt, Kansas route to the Final Four, with Kansas having to get past Tennessee first.
The Link

 

bierce, I hear you and please understand I am not ready to jettison Barnes. He has done a lot for this program. However, what is wrong with putting a little pressure on the guy. Sort of like saying, "Well, Rick, you have gotten us this far and we really appreciate everything you have done, but we think this program can go farther. We would love for you to be the guy to take us there, but if we don't see some major strides towards a championship in the next 3-4 years, we may need to start to look elsewhere."

 

But I think he is getting pressure. This isn't the only place in which he is receiving criticism. I suspect it is coming his way from all quarters, and I suspect he feels it from the department, the team, the fans, and certainly TV and print commentators.

I think I'd much rather have an AD call in the coach and tell him in a quiet meeting that the department expects better results than have the AD make specific demands in public concerning the coaching staff and team management.

 

I don't disagree. Media is pointless so you can throw them out. The angle I see most is the fans and I see a lot of complacency with our fan base. Both on boards and just alums that I talk to. I was not a fan in the 1970s and 1980s, which apparently were the "dark years," but I get the sense that fans much prefer what we have today and will stick with it over what we had previously. Maybe Rick is a victim of his own success. I am not sure. But this program can do more and Rick needs to feel that pressure to get this program where it needs to be.

 

One and Done, against just about any teams seed in the top 11 seeds.

 

I've been saying 9 or 10 seed for a while, nobody else seems to want to go that low. How can we possibly be higher than a 9 seed, especially if we lose to Iowa State?

Maybe I'm so used to the last ten games having slightly more emphasis than the first 20 games. I read yesterday that somebody told the committee to consider the year as a whole.

I think they should give more weight to the last ten. not a whole bunch, just slightly more.

Just think, we could be a 10 and sneak up on somebody, as opposed to being the favorite. We don't deserve to be favored over anybody in the top 40, IMO.

 

beat ISU - beat Baylor - lose KSt.

7 seed in a suck region , beat a #10 than catch a #1 beat down. Two and glue. Mark it and rack em Rick. Start the next great coach search cuz Rick ain't ever going to get it done. Calhoun, Boheim, and Izzo, have all gotten it done with much lesser caliber talent.

Actually, I came to my senses. I think we'll actually lose to ISU. End up a #9 or #10 and get ousted; ending the season on the lowest possible conceivable note I can recall in 15 years of Texas basketball.

 

We tied for 3rd in the Big XII the year before. We won the Big XII the year after. It wasn't "expected".

There's a reason Penders got fired.

 

I think you missed my point entirely Max but ok.

 

No, I got it. You're saying being expected to finish number 1 and finishing number 6 is worse than being expected to finish 3/4 and finishing 10.

In the end, it's subjective, but nowhere near the absolute claim you originally made.

And please, don't talk down to me like that again.

Thanks!

 

Damn, This sounds like BC . Is that a compliment,or insult??

Did Ipowers come over here? Is that you Ipowers.

 

overmaars *eating crow*.

Now lets' go kick the **** out of the Bible Bears and get this #6. 3rd time HAS to be the charm. Damian's beard says so.

 

I flipping love the potential match-up with a 2nd seed Purdue in the secound round of the Big Dance as currently predicted by Lunardi. This is an ideal route for Texas to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Purdue is a big of a doughnut team with only 6'10" string bean Jujuan Johnson in the paint. With Robbie Hummel's injury, Chris Kramer the Boiler's gritty 6 foot 3 guard defends the 4 man. I cannot see Kramer having much for Damion James. Purdue is the only top 10 team I see Texas easily beating.......

 

Joe, you're right, I did not know that. But 5-6 does look pretty good compared to this last 15 games.

I would say because of the collapse we are now #8, compared to the 7 of last year.

that being said, I don't see who we should be favored to beat in the top 40. We finally came alive and beat an Iowa State team with a losing record.