**OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

[MnPantherFan]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

Because the selection committee is made up of Sportcenter's JV cast....

Let's just say I respect their opinion a he// of a lot more than certain people's in this thread.

Hey, we got our 'bad' game out of our system. We get Jordan back and we start our run! Then again, I'm a Vikings fan, I'm used to getting kicked in the gut late in the season. I should know better.

[Panther789]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

Today's Bubble Watch

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bubblewatch?id=104

"It's still hard to imagine UNI not making the NCAA field."

[ryan19]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

Today's Bubble Watch

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bubblewatch?id=104

"It's still hard to imagine UNI not making the NCAA field."

Trust me Panther789, people on PN know more about the selection committee than those fools over at ESPN

[Victory_For_UNI]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

We have an RPI of 22 right now. It will fall a little bit as the season winds down, but probably only to 25 or 28.

A team with that high of RPI and with 25 wins, will not be left out.

You mean like the 2006 Missouri State team who had an RPI of 21 (and a record of 22-9) and was left home?

Or like the 2008 Creighton team who shared the championship with us at 14-4 (27-8)?

Or like 2008 St. Mary's who were left out at 26-5?

We have 4 losses, and three of them are very bad losses in the committee's eyes. We are going to either need to win the rest of our games by 15+ or win the tourney.

Feel free to attack my opinion, but if you're going to come back with some derelict response like "well ESPN says we're in" or "well I think we deserve to be in," don't bother. At least give me some facts or reasoning, otherwise you're wasting both of our time.

I'll be just as excited as the next guy should we make it, but I wanted a place where those of us who wanted to piss and moan could do so in peace without some of you idiots coming here saying things like "you think you know more than the folks at ESPN," or "This whole thread, and me for even reading it, deserves a double face palm picture. " Like I said at the VERY BEGINNING of this thread, if you don't want to hear anything negative, don't read this. Nobody's forcing you to read or respond.

[Panther789]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

We are going to either need to win the rest of our games by 15+ or win the tourney.

Even if we accept this as the truth, I still don't understand why you are "hoping" for a #1 seed in the NIT.

I know the loss stinks, but given our body of work, we are the clear favorite in St. Louis. At the very least, "hope" for 3 wins there.

[Victory_For_UNI]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

1. I don't think we will win the tournament. I think SIU should have beaten us the last time we played. They are a sleeping giant with a lot of talent, and will beat us on a neutral floor. I think WSU would beat us on a neutral court, especially if we play them the way we have played our last 5 games (excluding ODU and CU). I also think Bradley would beat us right now on a neutral floor.

2. I don't think we will get in even if we win out until the MVC final. Our losses far outweigh our wins. As I've said previously, our "good wins" are not really that good or anything to go beating our chest about. Our losses (outside of WSU) are flat-out embarrassing.

I think a lot of people are confusing what I see as being realistic for me rooting against the team. This is not a time when I want to be right, but I think the facts that I have presented throughout this thread are hard (for me at least) to argue with.

[Panther789]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

You mean like the 2006 Missouri State team who had an RPI of 21 (and a record of 22-9) and was left home?

Or like the 2008 Creighton team who shared the championship with us at 14-4 (27-8)?

Or like 2008 St. Mary's who were left out at 26-5?

We have 4 losses, and three of them are very bad losses in the committee's eyes. We are going to either need to win the rest of our games by 15+ or win the tourney.

Feel free to attack my opinion, but if you're going to come back with some derelict response like "well ESPN says we're in" or "well I think we deserve to be in," don't bother. At least give me some facts or reasoning, otherwise you're wasting both of our time.

Sorry for the multiple posts but.....

I'm fairly certain that many of the ESPN talking heads that say we are in were right about MSU, CU, and St. Mary's.

[Victory_For_UNI]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

Sorry for the multiple posts but.....

I'm fairly certain that many of the ESPN talking heads that say we are in were right about MSU, CU, and St. Mary's.

And I'm sure it's just as easy to find people who thought they were "still in" as well.

[unipanthers8907]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

This is from ESPN chat with Bilas and Schlabach this afternoon:


Brad (Iowa):
As of right now, is UNI in the field of 65? How many more wins do they need to be a "lock" for the NCAA tournament, or do they need to win the MVC Tournament?

Mark Schlabach
(2:13 PM)
They need to quit losing to Evansville, first and foremost. I thought they were going to be in the NCAAs, and still feel that way even after the loss at Evansville. Not a lot of meat on the resume, but the Panthers pass the eye test. Can't lose to Illinois State or get bounced from MVC tourney in early rounds. That would make it interesting.


Jay Bilas
(3:56 PM)
Yes, the Panthers are in. Northern Iowa has eight top 100 wins, beat Siena, Iowa State and Iowa and has done a really good job all season long. They pass the test on paper, and they pass the "eye test" (depending upon whose eyes are on them, I guess). I am not bothered by the loss to Evansville. The key for me is whether you can beat good teams and are competitive on the highest level. Northern Iowa is. They are in.

[JayJ79]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

what would suck is if people from the selection committee happened across some of the discussions around here, and were like: "well, if their own fans don't think the team is good enough to be in the tournament, then we'll just take someone else".

I'm sure that is unlikely, as the selection committee surely has better things to do than to read drivel like this. But anyway.

[PantherHawk]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

You mean like the 2006 Missouri State team who had an RPI of 21 (and a record of 22-9) and was left home? Did they have a quality win that year? NO! They didn't have any top 50 wins that year! I think they only had 1 top 100 win.

Or like the 2008 Creighton team who shared the championship with us at 14-4 (27-8)? Same thing, no quality wins

Or like 2008 St. Mary's who were left out at 26-5? Sorry the WCC should not get 2 teams in unless someone upsets gonzaga in the tourny champ. This conference is not that good! Also their out of conference was weak.

We have 4 losses, and three of them are very bad losses in the committee's eyes. We are going to either need to win the rest of our games by 15+ or win the tourney.

Feel free to attack my opinion, but if you're going to come back with some derelict response like "well ESPN says we're in" or "well I think we deserve to be in," don't bother. At least give me some facts or reasoning, otherwise you're wasting both of our time.

I'll be just as excited as the next guy should we make it, but I wanted a place where those of us who wanted to piss and moan could do so in peace without some of you idiots coming here saying things like "you think you know more than the folks at ESPN," or "This whole thread, and me for even reading it, deserves a double face palm picture. " Like I said at the VERY BEGINNING of this thread, if you don't want to hear anything negative, don't read this. Nobody's forcing you to read or respond.

I am sorry but your points are not valid. We are going to the dance! No matter what, we have done our body of work! Our RPI should go up now, BC beat Va Tech and we moved up just from that! I am sure ISU, Iowa, BC, Sienna, and ODU will keep winning and help our RPI.

[UNIChippewa]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

I also saw this exchange between Bilas and a Georgia Bulldog fan from the same chat...

Dylan (ATL)


its ridicilous that teams like Northern Iowa are locks bc of a weak sched. use the eye test.UGA would beat northern iowa by 10+.if you have seen both play,no one can say different

Jay Bilas (4:49 PM)


I don't know if I agree with that. I think that Georgia is doing a good job and can beat people, but are inconsistent. Mark Fox is doing a great job in Athens, and will have that program back in pretty short order. But, Northern Iowa would be a handful for Georgia because the Panthers are strong, have some size inside, and can control tempo. They have played a tough schedule, and have played well against it. Would Northern Iowa win the SEC? No, but they wouldn't be patsies or an easy out, either.


You know, for a guy that supposedly hates mid-majors Bilas gives us a lot of props.

[06panther10]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

Georgia is just another mid to low BCS conference team. Just like Iowa State, Boston College, Iowa, Auburn from last year. We won all those games.

And btw, this is a stupid thread.

[Victory_For_UNI]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

Didn't realize we had this many people with low reading comprehension on this board. Very mature and well-thought out argument, 06. Are you applying to law schools yet? Because I'm sure Harvard would be more than willing to accept somebody who can put together such coherent and outstanding statements like "btw this thread is stupid."

Like I said, if you don't want to read it, or don't want to believe it, fine. Go to your "we WILL make the NCAA" thread and enjoy yourself. I just wanted a place where idiots like you wouldn't come and chastise people like me who may want to look at what will happen if *gasp* the Panthers don't get the respect that many feel they deserve.

Back to my question that many have actually responded to, I think the problem we will have if NIT is our best option is that we have awful attendance numbers given the quality of the product on the floor. Will this hurt us in our seeding?

[06panther10]

Re: **OFFICIAL** The sky IS falling thread

Didn't realize we had this many people with low reading comprehension on this board. Very mature and well-thought out argument, 06. Are you applying to law schools yet? Because I'm sure Harvard would be more than willing to accept somebody who can put together such coherent and outstanding statements like "btw this thread is stupid."

Like I said, if you don't want to read it, or don't want to believe it, fine. Go to your "we WILL make the NCAA" thread and enjoy yourself. I just wanted a place where idiots like you wouldn't come and chastise people like me who may want to look at what will happen if *gasp* the Panthers don't get the respect that many feel they deserve.

Back to my question that many have actually responded to, I think the problem we will have if NIT is our best option is that we have awful attendance numbers given the quality of the product on the floor. Will this hurt us in our seeding?

You aren't just saying 'what if?'. You are saying that we aren't good, and don't deserve to be in. Which is ridiculous.

You just flat out stated that we aren't as good as SIU (who we've beaten twice), Bradley (who we've beaten 5 of 6 times), and Wichita (who we have also beaten).

Its almost as if you don't want us to succeed.

Fact is, if the season ended today, we would be in the tournament. Everyone that studies this stuff for a living has said as much. At this point, we don't have to play our way in, rather we can play our way out with more losses. We've got a couple of important games left, and if we do what we have done 90% of the season, we are going to win those games, and be in the NCAA's again.