Champ Week - Tuesday
March 12th, 2019 at 10:36 PM ^
So far St. Mary’s has had the answers but Gonzaga is definitely going to make a run. The interesting thing is that St. Mary’s has played them so as to limit transition opportunities. They’ve hit some threes but mainly it’s all been about the pacing and winning the turnover battle.
Should we face Gonzaga in the Tourney this game would definitely be a nice blueprint to beating them.
March 12th, 2019 at 10:41 PM ^
Thanks for the heads up! Looks like it could be a good finish.
March 12th, 2019 at 10:46 PM ^
I watched Gonzaga nearly lose to Loyola Marymount - live in LA. Let's just say - I'd be surprised to see the Zags see the second weekend.
March 12th, 2019 at 10:47 PM ^
The other thing is that Gonzaga killed this team in their two meetings this season.
Yes, Michigan State beat us twice but I have faith if we face them again there is a strong possibility for a different result.
Gonzaga beat this team by 40 some odd points in one of their meetings.
Have to play the game.
March 12th, 2019 at 10:59 PM ^
Saint Mary's is #33 in KenPom. An upset but not totally shocking. Sort of like Duke losing at home to Syracuse (#39 in KenPom).
Still, Gonzaga now falls to 4-3 in Quad 1 games. I don't think that's good enough for a #1 seed. They should fall to a #2.
Is there a resume comparison somewhere where we could make a blind jusdgement on reocrds in Q1-4?
Id be very interested in that
Gonzaga is trash, them even being #1 is like Houston being #1 in college football. The zags ceiling should be a 3 seed. I don't see how rewarding them when they play in a garbage conference does anyone any good. Put them in the Big Ten and maybe they are Maryland, closer to a Iowa even.
March 13th, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
Year in, year out it's like this with Gonzaga
March 13th, 2019 at 10:28 AM ^
Elite 8, Sweet 16, NCAA runner up, Sweet 16.
Those are Gonzaga's last four years of tournament appearances. If they're trash, then so are we.
At what seeds though? That's my beef, they got the benefit of good seeds which obviously means easier draws. They have 5 quality wins this season, and 2 of those are St. Marys, but yet yeah, lets lock them into a 1 seed
March 12th, 2019 at 10:59 PM ^
Game over. Gonzaga goes down. Could be good for Michigan if we enter as a 2/3 seed and Duke moves up to a 1.
No, it’s just shuffling the deck chairs.
March 13th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
This doesn't help us unless we win the BTT. It probably helps Sparty more
March 12th, 2019 at 11:23 PM ^
feeling a little vindicated about my comments a few weeks back. i was picking on nevada having no business ranked something like 5th back then, but also indirectly gonzaga as well. apparently the two western teams, emperors if you will, did in fact have no clothes....
down went the wolfpack. down go the zags. if either played in the B10 they'd be penn state, game teams, but so far from the top.
March 12th, 2019 at 11:54 PM ^
You feel vindicated after a loss in the conference tourney final to a pretty good team? Anyway, Michigan had their chance for the 1 if they had won at MSU. I still think Gonzaga is a 1, but this could help the winner of the SEC, maybe MSU if they win the big ten.
gonzaga's conference is extremely weak on the whole. st. mary's might be a decent team, but after them, then who? the zags did have a couple of nice out of conference wins, but when you only play a handful of tough games its a lot easier to only have 2 or 3 losses. if they had to play a B10 schedule they would be a good, but not great, B10 team and record. i revise my earlier comment about them being penn state, they'd be better than that, but they sure wouldn't be 16-4, 15-5, etc.
March 13th, 2019 at 10:50 AM ^
How is St. Mary's a pretty good team? St. Mary's lost to Pepperdine who is absolutely terrible. Lost by almost 50 to Gonzaga in their 1st meeting. Got housed by Utah State. They had 5 losses in the Dog Shit Taco Conference.
Name one good team they beat before the game last night.
March 13th, 2019 at 11:35 AM ^
Saint Mary's is #33 in KenPom. that's not a bad team.
March 13th, 2019 at 12:07 PM ^
Something is screwed up with them being that high in any rankings. They lost to every decent team they played until last night. They are basically Rutgers with one good win.
March 13th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
Regarding St. Mary's: a 15-point win AT New Mexico State is pretty good - and 4 point neutral-court losses to each of Mississippi State and LSU indicate they are competitive with good Power 5 teams.
I know KenPom isn't gospel, but their algorithms are picking up on something as regards St. Mary's. I don't think they are Rutgers.
March 12th, 2019 at 11:53 PM ^
St. Mary's is off of the bubble.
Perfect example why the Conference Tournament is more important than a Regular Season Championship. You win it you get in the tourny. Its all about the tourny, get in and how far you get.