If history and stats were so important, we never would have sniffed the Elite 8, followed by playing in the title game just a year later......I don't expect '18-'19 to be the norm, but I think finishing in the top half of the conference is a reasonable expectation given the run he's had the last two years with what he's had to work with...

BarleyMcDougal said:

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zebbie said:

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You have to look not just at what Beard has done, but how he's done it. It's not like he's lucked out and got an easy bracket- or was able to play in a bracket where the top seeds got knocked out early. And, while he's had talent, not much of it was highly regarded on signing day. And he did it so quickly. There's definitely huge upside for him at Tech.

He's already attracting better talent than what got him to the title game-he will get even more after the last two seasons. It's not out of the question that we pretty much make the NCAAs every year Beard is at Tech.

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Ok sure. If you just don't look at statistics and history, you're right. Good luck with that.

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Yeah, making the NCAAs every single year is a tall task. Only 4 schools accomplished it over the past 10 years and only a handful more made it 9 of 10 years:

10 Duke
10 Gonzaga
10 Kansas
10 Michigan State
9 Cincinnati
9 Kentucky
9 North Carolina
9 Villanova
9 Wisconsin
8 Florida
8 Kansas State
8 Louisville
8 Michigan
8 Ohio State
8 Purdue
8 Syracuse
8 VCU
8 Xavier
7 Arizona
7 Butler
7 Baylor
7 Iowa State
7 Notre Dame
7 Texas
7 Virginia
7 West Virginia
7 Wichita State

BarleyMcDougal said:

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I think KU in any Top 10 is the real shocker. They're *kinda* talented on paper, but not special. That roster is gonna be an ankle injury away from really, really bad.

I think UT is gonna be a surprise this year. Iowa State could be as well.

It will be definitely be a close conference race like last year.

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KU just got a transfer from Iowa, Isaiah Moss. Consensus is he'll be a 40-45% 3 pt shooter even with the line moved back. Plus, 4 star wing forward Jalen Wilson just committed to KU. Chose KU over No Carolina and Michigan. Looks like the upcoming Big 12 BB season will go through the wheat field. With the above 2 new additions the #5 poll position is palatable.

CHP Bear said:

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BarleyMcDougal said:

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I think KU in any Top 10 is the real shocker. They're *kinda* talented on paper, but not special. That roster is gonna be an ankle injury away from really, really bad.

I think UT is gonna be a surprise this year. Iowa State could be as well.

It will be definitely be a close conference race like last year.

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KU just got a transfer from Iowa, Isaiah Moss. Consensus is he'll be a 40-45% 3 pt shooter even with the line moved back. Plus, 4 star wing forward Jalen Wilson just committed to KU. Chose KU over No Carolina and Michigan. Looks like the upcoming Big 12 BB season will go through the wheat field. With the above 2 new additions the #5 poll position is palatable.

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With the addition of Moss now, I would say KU is odds on favorite to win the Big XII. Biggest challengers will be Baylor, Tech, and maybe a surprise Texas team.