way too early bracketology

[bilsker]

Is this a team that has devoured all of it's press clippings??? Was last year just a fluke? Or do we heed Aaron Rodgers...and just R-E-L-A-X ?

I think there was a bit of a fluke factor involved last year.

Prior to the streak that put them in the dance they were 9-9 and 1-5. Generally "flukes" don't last a month and a half so you can't entirely say it was a fluke. But NU was very ordinary before it and they are very ordinary right now. They lack some key ingredients to consistently good play. A point guard. A couple guys that are consistent from the perimeter. And some serious basketball IQ...which shouldn't be dismissed.

The run last year was great...but in the end it was also a bit of a negative in the expectations it created. The top 20 ranking at the beginning of the year and projections as high as 2nd in the Big 10 were simply not realistic.

 

[BGRed]

Predicting a 12-16 record? Not good. I don't think it'll be that bad, but the conference schedule is particularly easy. NU will have to get some road upsets to offset last night's loss.

The website uses advanced metrics from actual results to run thousands of simulations every day. Based on those simulations, they have us winning only 7 more games on average. When they project how well we may do against specific teams, they indicated that we are only above 50% against 5 teams.



Easiest Remaining Games
Date Opponent Loc Win Odds
1/8 Rutgers Home 89.2%
2/3 Northwestern Home 81.6%
12/22 Hawaii Away 69.4%
12/13 Cincinnati Home 61.4%
12/31 Indiana Home 53.3%
2/7 Penn State Away 48.2%
1/20 Minnesota Home 46.5%
3/8 Maryland Home 41.3%
2/22 Iowa Home 38.2%
1/11 Illinois Home 34.0%

 

[Ackos]

Now Projecting NU to finish 13-15 and 12th in the conference.

Cincinnati as an 8 seed.

 

[Merle]

I like the WAY TOO EARLY stuff, we were in the mix. Play a few games, and we are nowhere to be found.

I disagree with calling our last nine regular season games last season a "fluke"! Nine games is too much to be flukish! Saying that is simply an excuse:confused: for Miles and his poor preparation for this season!

 

[BGRed]

Updated morning of Dec 21 - Hawaii is known opponent on here. Other games from the tournament are NOT on there; so, getting some wins seems to be extremely important.

There are quite a few games that could easily go either way - we'll need to pull a few 'surprises' to get above .500.

Easiest Remaining Games
Date Opponent Loc Win Odds
1/8 Rutgers Home 89.4%
2/3 Northwestern Home 79.8%
12/22 Hawaii Away 67.9%
12/31 Indiana Home 48.6%
2/7 Penn State Away 47.1%
2/22 Iowa Home 44.9%
3/8 Maryland Home 43.7%
1/20 Minnesota Home 42.7%
1/11 Illinois Home 41.4%
1/27 Michigan Away 38.7%