Strength of Schedule

[Sweetest OU Girl]

I just watched the Texas - Sam Houston State game on the LHN. It has run several times the past couple of days.

That led me to wonder about a couple of things.

1. How much of an advantage/disadvantage is it to play lower division teams - and get guaranteed wins in the non-conference season? We would have been much better off playing say UCO instead of North Texas. It has turned out that NT is looking better than expected, but that loss (admitting we should never have lost this one) has hurt us in the rankings ever since it happened, and will hurt us to the very end. Both Texas and Baylor have built almost perfect records before conference season by doing that. OSU has gone to much the same strategy. In fact, last year Texas was unbeaten in non-conference just like this year. But they struggled mightily in the conference then with the help of a really beneficial placement (mostly due to all the wins in their non-conference record) made a decent run in the tournament. We did the opposite last year – and that is the main reason we ended up playing on Stanford’s home court in our early tournament loss.

2. I wonder if Texas is getting a substantial advantage with the LHN. They can replay games where they look really good as much as they want – and not run the bad losses. It is pretty hard to even see some of our early games on TV – and you almost never see them rerun. Advertising strategy says show what makes you look good, hide the weak points.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I just watched the Texas - Sam Houston State game on the LHN. It has run several times the past couple of days.

That led me to wonder about a couple of things.

1. How much of an advantage/disadvantage is it to play lower division teams - and get guaranteed wins in the non-conference season? We would have been much better off playing say UCO instead of North Texas. It has turned out that NT is looking better than expected, but that loss (admitting we should never have lost this one) has hurt us in the rankings ever since it happened, and will hurt us to the very end. Both Texas and Baylor have built almost perfect records before conference season by doing that. OSU has gone to much the same strategy. In fact, last year Texas was unbeaten in non-conference just like this year. But they struggled mightily in the conference then with the help of a really beneficial placement (mostly due to all the wins in their non-conference record) made a decent run in the tournament. We did the opposite last year – and that is the main reason we ended up playing on Stanford’s home court in our early tournament loss.

2. I wonder if Texas is getting a substantial advantage with the LHN. They can replay games where they look really good as much as they want – and not run the bad losses. It is pretty hard to even see some of our early games on TV – and you almost never see them rerun. Advertising strategy says show what makes you look good, hide the weak points.

You need to recheck UT's schedule.

 

[sybarite]

Both last year and this, Texas may have been deluded by some preseason victories over teams that had been strong in the past. Voters are also impressed, despite the fact that these teams may be losing to a lot of folks. It would be nice to play these when they have a down year.

We were hurt last year with a strong preseason schedule with a team that hadn't gelled yet after losing Vegas, Morgan, and Nicole. It did cost us to have losses, even though they were to good teams. Some teams lose without having it affect their rankings. We don't seem to be able to do that.

Usually, which schedule would be tougher?

Tennessee
Stanford
Mississippi State

or

Boston College
BYU
Washington
Texas A&M
Utah

 

[soonerstar]

Tennessee, Stanford, and Miss. State are all ranked in the top 13 in todays AP po... Texas A&M is number 16. The other 4 you mentioned are not in the 37 teams that got votes this week.

 

[sybarite]

Tennessee, Stanford, and Miss. State are all ranked in the top 13 in todays AP po... Texas A&M is number 16. The other 4 you mentioned are not in the 37 teams that got votes this week.

Are the rankings anywhere near an accurate account of their respective seasons?

 

[SoonerNorm]

Tennessee, Stanford, and Miss. State are all ranked in the top 13 in todays AP po... Texas A&M is number 16. The other 4 you mentioned are not in the 37 teams that got votes this week.

Correct. Texas has beaten 3 top twenty teams where we are still looking for our first one.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

So it appears several think it is better to play a few good teams and lose them than to play weaker teams and win them all?

One other factor is the decision on home/away mix. Texas has played 2 of those 3 at home. Baylor has played 9 home games, 4 neutral court, and not even one road game. That seems like a good plan if you want to get to conference play with an excellent record.

Admitting we lost to a team we should have been able to beat pretty easily. So no guarantees exist. But only scheduling 5 home games (which we did) non-conference seems like a bad idea to me. Two or three additional home games against weaker teams should give us 2 more wins. As it is, we must win 11 Big-12 games before we get to 20 wins. That is not likely to happen until near the end of the season - meaning we stay low in the polls until near the end of the season - which will leave us struggling when seeding time comes.

 

[sybarite]

Correct. Texas has beaten 3 top twenty teams where we are still looking for our first one.

Well, the two of you should both remove "sooner" from your names. At least, look at the schedules before making your statements.

Tennessee: Lost to Texas and VPI at home. Lost to Stanford on the road. Big wins? Chattanooga and Syracuse in Knoxville? Do they belong in the top twenty at all?

Stanford: lost to Santa Clara and Texas at home. Good win? Tennessee? Maybe Dayton? Do they belong in the top twenty at this point? On the basis over Tennessee, also questionable?

Mississippi State: lost to Texas. No good wins. Beat SMU by two. SOS about #250. They are so strong right now that the rpi has them at about #70. You really think they are top ten? Top twenty?

Now, go look at the teams I mentioned.

BYU beat that A&M team that beat us.

Boston College is undefeated, except for us. Included is a win at Purdue.

Washington: remember that Santa Clara team that beat Stanford at Palo Alto? Washington beat them 100-55.

Utah has a pretty decent record. But, they have lost three---to BYU, Boston College, and OU. Where have we heard those names before?

Are you sure that Tennessee or Stanford could beat BYU, BC, or Washington?

 

[TheMont]

I'm interested in what Rick Pitino did with the Louisville men this year -- their nonconference schedule was filled with 11 guaranteed wins and 2 (basically) guaranteed losses (at Michigan St and at Kentucky). Their schedule was almost certainly going to be 11-2 and that's how it ended up. They're a young team adding transfers into the mix and their 11 easy games allowed them to gel, find effective lineups, and gain very important confidence. Those 3 things allowed them to lose their 2 hard games by a combined 6 points. Now I'm not saying this year's OU women's team could go play at UCONN and Notre Dame and play both of them that closely, but it is a good strategy because it gives invaluable experience while allowing teams to pad their W-L record.

 

[skilledserv]

Well, the two of you should both remove "sooner" from your names. At least, look at the schedules before making your statements.

Tennessee: Lost to Texas and VPI at home. Lost to Stanford on the road. Big wins? Chattanooga and Syracuse in Knoxville? Do they belong in the top twenty at all?

Stanford: lost to Santa Clara and Texas at home. Good win? Tennessee? Maybe Dayton? Do they belong in the top twenty at this point? On the basis over Tennessee, also questionable?

Mississippi State: lost to Texas. No good wins. Beat SMU by two. SOS about #250. They are so strong right now that the rpi has them at about #70. You really think they are top ten? Top twenty?

Now, go look at the teams I mentioned.

BYU beat that A&M team that beat us.

Boston College is undefeated, except for us. Included is a win at Purdue.

Washington: remember that Santa Clara team that beat Stanford at Palo Alto? Washington beat them 100-55.

Utah has a pretty decent record. But, they have lost three---to BYU, Boston College, and OU. Where have we heard those names before?

Are you sure that Tennessee or Stanford could beat BYU, BC, or Washington?

Why do you fail to mention everything? Is it because it doesn't support your silly argument?

Tennessee beat Oregon St.

 

[sybarite]

Why do you fail to mention everything? Is it because it doesn't support your silly argument?

Tennessee beat Oregon St.

So what? What has Oregon State done of merit?

I throw questions at each of the "highly-rated" teams that really have no justification for their ratings at this point. Let them play and beat someone of merit.

You are welcome to join the boards which detract from OU as much as you do.

 

[Soonerb36]

So what? What has Oregon State done of merit?

I throw questions at each of the "highly-rated" teams that really have no justification for their ratings at this point. Let them play and beat someone of merit.

You are welcome to join the boards which detract from OU as much as you do.

What has OU done of merit? Beaten a so so Washington team team

 

[sybarite]

What has OU done of merit? Beaten a so so Washington team team

Go study the schedules of all of these teams.

Example: that so so Washington team you cite beat Santa Clara 100-55. Santa Clara beat Stanford in Palo Alto.

With the exception of UConn and ND, we really haven't seen anyone establish themselves this year. Don't look at the polls. Look at what each team has actually done.

 

[zacj33]

The AP and Coaches basketball rankings are the most overrated rankings in all of sports. The strong SOS will help OU get a better seed when the NCAA tournament roles around. Every year the teams that play the tougher schedule get the benefit of the doubt. Finish in the top 3 in the Big 12 and they will get a good seed.

 

[Soonerb36]

Go study the schedules of all of these teams.

Example: that so so Washington team you cite beat Santa Clara 100-55. Santa Clara beat Stanford in Palo Alto.

With the exception of UConn and ND, we really haven't seen anyone establish themselves this year. Don't look at the polls. Look at what each team has actually done.[/QUOTE
Texas has played and beaten some strong teams. I'm not saying OU is trash but they wasted a golden opportunity to be someone of merit in non conference when they lost to A&M

 

[skilledserv]

So what? What has Oregon State done of merit?

I throw questions at each of the "highly-rated" teams that really have no justification for their ratings at this point. Let them play and beat someone of merit.

You are welcome to join the boards which detract from OU as much as you do.

So losing to Notre dame by 1 isn't of merit? What makes BYU so good? Because you say so? Who are you to say who is of merit and who's not?

You are the parent who's kids never do anything wrong. Lol

 

[SoonerNorm]

So losing to Notre dame by 1 isn't of merit? What makes BYU so good? Because you say so? Who are you to say who is of merit and who's not?

You are the parent who's kids never do anything wrong. Lol

:ez-laugh:

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

So losing to Notre dame by 1 isn't of merit? What makes BYU so good? Because you say so? Who are you to say who is of merit and who's not?

You are the parent who's kids never do anything wrong. Lol

No! That was my parents. I still haven't. :ez-roll: :woot

 

[sybarite]

So losing to Notre dame by 1 isn't of merit? What makes BYU so good? Because you say so? Who are you to say who is of merit and who's not?

You are the parent who's kids never do anything wrong. Lol

Let's see. BYU did beat A&M, one of those ranked teams. Now, exactly which team did Oregon State beat?

Oh. And, we did beat BYU by 26. Which team looked the best in that circle of BYU, A&M, OU?

 

[skilledserv]

Let's see. BYU did beat A&M, one of those ranked teams. Now, exactly which team did Oregon State beat?

Oh. And, we did beat BYU by 26. Which team looked the best in that circle of BYU, A&M, OU?

You still haven't said anything about Oregon state losing by 1 to notre dame. Also do you understand that on any given night a lesser team can beat a team? I don't think north Texas is better than OU but OU lost that game. That's why you rank teams according to there body of work.

The Portland trailblazers beat the cavs by 30 and without Damion lillard.......so do you think Portland is better? Or do you want to go and say well they played this team close and beat this team.

Just stop trying to make everyone else's wins look less important than OU's. I do think Baylor's schedule was very soft but i do think Texas had a few good wins.