FWIW...Lunardi saying BU needs to find 2 more wins to secure their spot.

Pretty sure we will be a one and done...but as frustrating as this season has been I still want to see us get in somehow just to at least have a game.

Not beating CU makes it hard for me to feel confident about BU finding 2 more wins though.

pic.twitter.com/11GGqKmOAG

— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 25, 2025

As Stefano likes to say, the bubble is baby soft this year but if we can't win 2 games in a schedule that includes Cincinnati, TCU, Oklahoma St and a first round conference tournament game against a bottom 8 team, do we really deserve to be in the NCAA tournament? If we lose 3 of our final 4, we will essentially finish somewhere between 9th and 12th in the conference. That is such an underachievement relative to the expectations of this team that sitting at home would be well deserved.

I'm hoping the turnaround starts tonight.

That's what I was saying multiple times at the end of the Colorado game thread..we just need to go 2-2 while others saying we needed 3-1 and Houston was a must.

Losing to Houston won't hurt us..if anything we'll get a SOS bump .

Big 12 gonna have more elite 8 teams than the SEC. Calling it

— Michael Luke (@ironmikeluke) February 25, 2025

I'll smoke what he's smoking.

IowaBear said:

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I'll smoke what he's smoking.

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I could see two of either UH, ISU, or TT making E8 assuming full rosters. SEC has a great chance to put in more than 2.

Yeah those 3 are the B12's best chances agree with that

UH and Iowa St could make it to the Elite 8. I think Tech and Arizona could go out the first weekend with the wrong matchups. Otherwise, Sweet 16 will be their ceiling. They both have a lot of talent but also have some very exploitable deficiencies.

I reiterate Joe Lunardi needs to stop smoking crack. If this is an NCAA team pigs can fly

IowaBear said:

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I reiterate Joe Lunardi needs to stop smoking crack. If this is an NCAA team pigs can fly

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I said in one of the threads after the CU game. You could see it in Drew's face and in his comments after the game, one of the few times all of the optimism and positive vibes were completely washed away from him.

We didn't have a lot of fight in the first half tonight but at least they appear to be fighting in the 2nd half.

Yep...this thing is circling the drain. Just painful to watch. I don't know why I keep wasting my time.

boognish_bear said:

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Yep...this thing is circling the drain. Just painful to watch. I don't know why I keep wasting my time.

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Because we know drew and this squad is capable of more and m I'm not sure why he's not getting it out of them.

Is this squad actually capable of more? This is a deeply flawed team and has been since day 1….. this team isn't near as talented top to bottom as some want to believe

IowaBear said:

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Is this squad actually capable of more? This is a deeply flawed team and has been since day 1….. this team isn't near as talented top to bottom as some want to believe

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It's capable of more than it is doing right now, the Colorado loss is effort and execution not the awful roster. It is not capable of competing at any reasonable level in the tournament.

It really doesn't matter.

From pre-season #8 in the country to currently sitting in 8th place in the conference pending results of TCU's game tonight.

In a bad B12… pathetic season

We were #30 NET prior to tonight's game so there's a chance we will finally fall below 30. The following teams will lose a Quad 1 victory if we fall since they will no longer have a home win against a Top 30 NET team:


UConn
Iowa St.
Arizona
BYU
Texas Tech
Houston
Colorado
Cincinnati

Been watching Auburn destroy a good Ole Miss team by 30+ points. They look like a buzzsaw.

boognish_bear said:

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Been watching Auburn destroy a good Ole Miss team by 30+ points. They look like a buzzsaw.

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Tonight will be their 15th Quad 1 win, which is unheard of. You could tell when the brackets were drafted in '21 that was likely gonna be Baylor vs. Gonzaga. We're getting close to that this year with Auburn and Duke. Great teams have slipped before but here at the end of the season those two are playing on a level no one else is.

Big12Fan2024 said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Been watching Auburn destroy a good Ole Miss team by 30+ points. They look like a buzzsaw.

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Tonight will be their 15th Quad 1 win, which is unheard of. You could tell when the brackets were drafted in '21 that was likely gonna be Baylor vs. Gonzaga. We're getting close to that this year with Auburn and Duke. Great teams have slipped before but here at the end of the season those two are playing on a level no one else is.

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I agree

I'm just not sure I trust Duke if they get matched up against an old physical team. Could see a Houston/Tenn/Mich St team beating them

Oh I don't think any team is infallible, just like Gonzaga almost coughed it up against UCLA and we were not looking that great after the 1st half against Nova. That's why I said great teams have slipped before. But they both have the depth and the talent to withstand things like foul trouble, sickness for a game, an injury or anything that can derail a team (Houston with Shead getting hurt during the Duke game last year). They both have the most foolproof chances in my mind.

they beat Illinois by 43. that's tough to do

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/bracketology/

Lunardi has us as a 10 seed...#37 overall so we're at the top of the 10 seed line..

He has W.Va as a 9 seed..#36 overall so they're the bottom of the 9 line...

The absolute floor of the bubble is Texas and OU..and with our struggles our resume is still better than both.

IowaBear said:

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I'm just not sure I trust Duke if they get matched up against an old physical team. Could see a Houston/Tenn/Mich St team beating them

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Depends on the officiating. The way most tournament games are officiated, those teams would get in heavy foul trouble early => game over. I don't see this as a team you can out-tough but 23 yrs old v 18 yrs old is real, that's why they play.

Duke has too much size that can handle, pass, and shoot against tough forwards that aren't used to defending the perimeter in that way. The experience (freshman reliant) issue is the only thing I see that might stop them. Any given game. Auburn or an Alabama type team that gets really hot can beat them.

ITS MARCH pic.twitter.com/oJ2T1KQDgy

— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) March 1, 2025

pic.twitter.com/eYLYMeDpOz

— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) March 1, 2025

Bubble update of a team that could move past us..or separate more depending on what bracketologist you follow..

Lowly South Carolina up on bubbly Arkansas by 26 late.. Arkansas 0-17 from 3..

Kind of a double edged sword. We created separation from Arkansas, but then again we only had 3 wins against projected tournament teams: SJU, KU and Arkansas. I guess we're down to 2 now.

West Virginia counts too...Similar to West Virginia... they're right there with us.. scenarios where they continue winning..it helps us .or hurts us ...and if they tank...it could help us .or hurt us . depending on the scenario..

Stefano DiMera said:

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West Virginia counts too...Similar to West Virginia... they're right there with us.. scenarios where they continue winning..it helps us .or hurts us ...and if they tank...it could help us .or hurt us . depending on the scenario..

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Good point on WVU. I inadvertently missed them. Looks like we picked up separation from OU and Nebraska as the both go down although OU's loss was to another tournament team while Nebraska's lost to Minnesota should send them tumbling a few spots.

Lundardi has Utah St at #33 and I'm sitting here watching them losing by 38 to a decent, not great, Colorado St team. So then I look at their record and they've beaten a grand total of 7 teams with winning records this year and the only large school they played in non-conference was Iowa. The 3 external ratings systems used by the committee: KenPom has them at #50, Torvik has them as #80, BPI has them at #43. How on earth are they #33 in his bracket?