OU and the Bubble...

[thebigabd]

Kenpom 76th
Sagarin 70th
BPI 70th

Like I said.... They need to win their final 2 games. If they do that, they are in, IMO.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Temple isn’t good.

I didn't mean to turn this into a debate on the merits of Temple. Some people seem to think that a team has to be top 25 to be "good." By good, I meant that if we played in that league and had to play them home and away, the game in Philly would be anything but an automatic win, and since your question was how many wins we would have in that league, that seems to be an appropriate way to look at it. As of now, they are probably on the wrong side of the bubble.

 

[BoulderSooner]

currently a 9 seed per USATODAY

 

[stormspencer]

Like I said.... They need to win their final 2 games. If they do that, they are in, IMO.

I believe Temple is currently on the "outside looking in". If they don't win their last 2 games (one of those being a Q-1 opportunity against UCF), then they aren't getting in. Temple only has (1) Q-1 win and they also have a bad loss (Q-3). Even if they do win their final two games, I'm not sure they are absolutely safe....imo. Their resume, like many other bubble teams, is rather flimsy.

 

[Soonerinkc]

guess the moral of the story is to schedule decent to better teams and have an uglier record...than schedule easier with a bolstered record...

good for OU...

I hope we can split these last 2 games and win first game in KC. We'll likely play pokes at 8 pm...then to the #2 seed on Thursday.

 

[Hollisp]

guess the moral of the story is to schedule decent to better teams and have an uglier record...than schedule easier with a bolstered record...

good for OU...

Bingo. Props to Joe C and Lon for realizing this and doing the right thing. I am assuming they deliberately did this. If they didn’t its a hell of a coincidence. I expect other teams to start following our lead.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Bingo. Props to Joe C and Lon for realizing this and doing the right thing. I am assuming they deliberately did this. If they didn’t its a hell of a coincidence. I expect other teams to start following our lead.

No question it's intentional. OU and KU understand how to schedule. Texas also played a good nonconference.

Reminds me of the preseason debate about the first two games down in Texas. Well, if we had played two home games against weak opponents instead, we very well could be on the other side of the bubble right now.

 

[Hollisp]

No question it's intentional. OU and KU understand how to schedule. Texas also played a good nonconference.

Reminds me of the preseason debate about the first two games down in Texas. Well, if we had played two home games against weak opponents instead, we very well could be on the other side of the bubble right now.

My brother and I discussed the two early season away games and how it could be the difference maker for the committee this past weekend. Ha! Great minds...:chestram2:

 

[152219]

Like I said.... They need to win their final 2 games. If they do that, they are in, IMO.

No way you would call OU good with those numbers.

 

[AdaSooner]

No question it's intentional. OU and KU understand how to schedule. Texas also played a good nonconference.

Reminds me of the preseason debate about the first two games down in Texas. Well, if we had played two home games against weak opponents instead, we very well could be on the other side of the bubble right now.

I was genuinely concerned about those games. Lon had everything to lose and very little to gain by playing two former assistants on their home floors. I doubt if many power five head coaches would have tipped off their season with two games on the road where an upset was a possibility. It worked out in our favor, but I would not want to see that early season schedule repeated anytime soon.

 

[152219]

For fairness, we can look at the team sheets for the teams.

OU
Q1 3-9
Q2 6-2
Q3 9-0
Q4 0-0

Temple
Q1 1-6
Q2 5-1
Q3 7-1
Q4 8-0

Many of you are impressed by 21 total wins, but is it impressive when 15 of 21 of those wins are Q3/4 wins with 8 of those being Q4 games. OU has ZERO Q4 games.

 

[152219]

I was genuinely concerned about those games. Lon had everything to lose and very little to gain by playing two former assistants on their home floors. I doubt if many power five head coaches would have tipped off their season with two games on the road where an upset was a possibility. It worked out in our favor, but I would not want to see that early season schedule repeated anytime soon.

If OU gets into the tournament this season, that type of schedule will be exactly the reason they get it. Scheduling cream puffs shouldn’t be rewarded.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I was genuinely concerned about those games. Lon had everything to lose and very little to gain by playing two former assistants on their home floors. I doubt if many power five head coaches would have tipped off their season with two games on the road where an upset was a possibility. It worked out in our favor, but I would not want to see that early season schedule repeated anytime soon.

How can you say there was very little to gain?? It likely gained us a tournament berth -- that seems pretty big to me. Again, if you replace those games with what most major conference teams do, we have a pair of home, Q-4 wins to show for it. That takes away one of the biggest strengths of our resume. Almost every expert who writes about OU references the fact that we are the only team not to play a Q-4 game this season.

 

[AdaSooner]

How can you say there was very little to gain?? It likely gained us a tournament berth -- that seems pretty big to me. Again, if you replace those games with what most major conference teams do, we have a pair of home, Q-4 wins to show for it. That takes away one of the biggest strengths of our resume. Almost every expert who writes about OU references the fact that we are the only team not to play a Q-4 game this season.

True, but no one including you knew that at the time. I’ll give Lon props for having the vision and the guts to schedule those games. He took a chance and it paid off. But if OU had lost even one of those games, the result could have put us square on the bubble right now.

 

[BoulderSooner]

guess the moral of the story is to schedule decent to better teams and have an uglier record...than schedule easier with a bolstered record...

good for OU...

I hope we can split these last 2 games and win first game in KC. We'll likely play pokes at 8 pm...then to the #2 seed on Thursday.

OU has played one of the hardest schedules in america #12

 

[WichitaSooner]

True, but no one including you knew that at the time. I’ll give Lon props for having the vision and the guts to schedule those games. He took a chance and it paid off. But if OU had lost even one of those games, the result could have put us square on the bubble right now.

Agree to disagree. The NCAA formula is well known. Playing horrible teams at home has no benefit even if you win, and is a disaster if you lose. That is truly the epitome of a no win situation. Playing bad but not horrible teams on the road, on the other hand, at least gives you potential upside if you win. Lon absolutely understood that, and he also knows going on the road does more to prepare your team for more difficult games later in the season. Again, had we chosen the former approach, we'd be like last year's OSU team.

 

[Zimwillett]

For fairness, we can look at the team sheets for the teams.

OU
Q1 3-9
Q2 6-2
Q3 9-0
Q4 0-0

Temple
Q1 1-6
Q2 5-1
Q3 7-1
Q4 8-0

Many of you are impressed by 21 total wins, but is it impressive when 15 of 21 of those wins are Q3/4 wins with 8 of those being Q4 games. OU has ZERO Q4 games.

Thanks for the breakdown. This is as clear an explanation I've seen as to why basically all bracketologists have OU solidly in as an 8-10 seed.

This is due, in part, to an incredibly weak bubble. Just go look at Lunardi's last 4 in, last 4 byes, and last 8 out, and it's pretty easy to start getting some perspective. As frustrating as OU has been this season, their resume stacks up very favorably to some of the true bubble teams.

 

[152219]

What bubble?

 

[oudna]

Ticket punched!

 

[hoopsaustin]

Ticket punched!

Cha ching